California nurses and medical marijuana

Specialties Pain

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We had an interesting topic in discussion today about how the State Board Of Nursing is pro medical marijuana.

For many people suffering from chronic pain it's a great alternative to narcotics - which in my opinion hold a much higher risk for destruction of life style through addiction.

What I could not answer, nor anybody else in the class - since none of us are Nurses - is will a RN lose their license for receiving a Medical Marijuana License legally in the state of California (or any other state where it is legal) and testing positive on a urine screen?

What are your thoughts on this? Should Medical Marijuana continue to be an alternative choice for those suffering from chronic pain? Should Nurses who suffer from chronic pain - with legitimate medical conditions - be allowed to use Medical Marijuana? Can Nurses who have Medical Marijuana card continue their practice without fear of bias judgment by their place of work due to the Federal vs. State laws on the drug?

Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.
I can grow antibiotics in my kitchen and I can plant poppies in my back yard. And, if we're talking street value, pot is already cheaper than narcs. Crack is cheaper than picking up a prescription for Vicodin.

And, any hillbilly can cook up meth in his garage. :p

Narcs are addictive. Pot is as well, but in the sense that one can also become addicted to water.

There are much more functional pot smokers than there are functional crack users, narc abusers, and meth heads.

Well if you trust your moldy bread to treat your bronchitis...lol. If we could replace more natural things we could do away with the less natural, like vicodin. There is a world of herbs (and no not pot, regular herbs) out there that most people do not realize, and they can treat just about anything and you do not need a prescription or have to try to buy it off some street corner.

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Specializes in Utilization Management; Case Management.
I can grow antibiotics in my kitchen and I can plant poppies in my back yard. And, if we're talking street value, pot is already cheaper than narcs. Crack is cheaper than picking up a prescription for Vicodin.

And, any hillbilly can cook up meth in his garage. :p

Narcs are addictive. Pot is as well, but in the sense that one can also become addicted to water.

There are much more functional pot smokers than there are functional crack users, narc abusers, and meth heads.

ETA: The government can only benefit from legalization. And, if Amsterdam is a model, usage will actually decrease. (Along with crime.) There really isn't a good argument against marijuana legalization.

And not many ppl will have the patience to grow weed. All the stuff they show that has to be done on tv is ridiculous...I mean how many ppls thumbs are that green? :lol2: get it, green...hehe :lol2:

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And not many ppl will have the patience to grow weed. All the stuff they show that has to be done on tv is ridiculous...I mean how many ppls thumbs are that green? :lol2: get it, green...hehe :lol2:

hehe I get it, man, and you're totally freakin' me out!

From what I understand, not all cannabis plants contain the much coveted THC. So, unless you can trace the genealogy of your plant, it may not even be the good kind.

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Specializes in Utilization Management; Case Management.
hehe I get it, man, and you're totally freakin' me out!

From what I understand, not all cannabis plants contain the much coveted THC. So, unless you can trace the genealogy of your plant, it may not even be the good kind.

I think its not all sativa plants, not cannabis plants (Took a hallucinogens and culture class for an elective at Univ) All Cannabis has it just the amount varies, the thc is in the lil 'hairs.' Sativa is the plant family and you can get sativa at headshops as an alternative to the mary, no THC there. Now the bush weed or Johnny weed grows wild and doesnt have much of anything, the male plants have more but the female is supreme (girl power!) Its great what you can learn in college isn't it :yeah:

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I think its not all sativa plants, not cannabis plants (Took a hallucinogens and culture class for an elective at Univ) All Cannabis has it just the amount varies, the thc is in the lil 'hairs.' Sativa is the plant family and you can get sativa at headshops as an alternative to the mary, no THC there. Now the bush weed or Johnny weed grows wild and doesnt have much of anything, the male plants have more but the female is supreme (girl power!) Its great what you can learn in college isn't it :yeah:

Educational. Thank you!

I learned alliteration in college: Puff, Puff...Pass! ;)

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Specializes in Education,Trauma, Med-Surg, SSU, IVT.

Oregon also has a Medical Marijuana law where it is legal to use if prescribed by a physician. In November we will be voting on legalizing dispensaries just like California. I have been a Nurse for 30 years, and spent 9 of those in management. I also worked with State Board of Nursing when I had Nurses who were being monitored for drug and alcohol use. Bottom line was no mind altering substances while on duty. I believe all nurses would agree with this policy for reasons of patient safety. I have had several serious back injuries over the course of my career. I have taken narcotics for the pain, but never when working. I rarely take anything other than Ibuprophen. I would like to obtain a medical marijuana card and use it for chronic back pain and the muscle spasms. I doubt that I will until either it is legalized or I retire. I know that employers will not tolerate its use, and I seriously doubt the State Board of Nursing would approve either. Personally I think marijuana is safer and more effective than narcotics. Back in the 1980's we were conducting research on the effectiveness of both Marinol (THC pills) and Marijuana cigarettes for the treatment of pain and nausea in cancer patients. It was very clear to all of us that the Marijuana cigarettes were the most effective of all the treatments we tried with this population. It wasn't just the THC, it was also the cannaboids. I truly believe that marijuana should be legalized. It was criminalized in the US back in the 1930's for political reasons. We need to be able to do research again in clinical settings to assess it's efficacy for the treatment of different conditions.

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Hopefully the boards would consider it as any other narcotic use and if a person had a script would accept it. My state is ultra conservative who know how they would react. I do know smoking pot makes you spacey, though people deny it, its true. So how does that effect job performance. On the other hand I would assume like any narcotic use a person builds up a certain amount of resistance to drugs over time. The other thing is medicinal use of marijuana for cancer patients helps the appetite, decreases nausea and creates a needed euphoria, so if a nurse has these symptoms such as manifested in cancer, why do they not have the right to treatment with the same drugs, without loosing their license.

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It never ceases to amaze me different peoples attitudes to the word marijuana, no matter what context it is used in.

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a concern.

no doctors are writing "prescriptions" for marijuana. they are actually writing recommendations for self medication. i have never seen a doctor write a prescription for marijuana, but if its asked for they will definately prescribe marinol, which is marijuana in pill form.

does anybody understand the legal implications of prescriptions vs recommendations, and what that might mean for a registered nurse who has back pain, and does not want to be on any habit forming drugs such as vicodin and would much rather use marijuana, off the clock of course.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
When taken as prescribed and under a physician's care, I disagree with the "kill" statement.

Michael Jackson was killed by medications taken as prescribed and under a Physicians care, so it's not foolproof. I've had patients who were prescribed large temazepam doses at home, when we continued the temazepam at the same dose we've noticed they are clearly over-sedated on that dose. The same it true for opiates. There's no reason to believe that a Doctor will never prescribe an inappropriate or unsafe dose.

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a concern.

no doctors are writing "prescriptions" for marijuana. they are actually writing recommendations for self medication. i have never seen a doctor write a prescription for marijuana, but if its asked for they will definately prescribe marinol, which is marijuana in pill form.

does anybody understand the legal implications of prescriptions vs recommendations, and what that might mean for a registered nurse who has back pain, and does not want to be on any habit forming drugs such as vicodin and would much rather use marijuana, off the clock of course.

This is the issue. An MD can RECOMMEND you use it for certain conditions, but not prescribe.

Personally, I think there is much less harm done by smoking pot than drinking alcohol (if either are done in moderation). If alcohol is legal, I don't see why pot isn't (lets not forget how well prohibition worked before :D).

How many people get off work and have a few drinks? Do those people come into work drunk?

I guess some people do go into work drunk...:confused:

The point is, if you want to get high, you can do it with alcohol, and it is legal/socially acceptable. Not the same for pot, and I don't quite know why. BTW I do not smoke pot (did back in undergrad :smokin:). I just feel so many resources are wasted on enforcing anti-marijuana laws, which are ineffective at best.

As far as medically using and RN testing positive, I don't think that would fly. DEA says no. :down:

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Specializes in Infectious Disease, Neuro, Research.
Soft drugs when widely accessible seem to lose much of their appeal.

An interesting observation, with some profound, possibly disturbing, implications, from this article:

http://www.amsterdam.info/drugs/

I will assume that the price of shrooms is significantly higher in the Netherlands. It isn't the drug/sensation, it is the anti-social behavior that is most generally attractive, at least among the Bohemians I know.;)

An intoxicated practitioner is an intoxicated practitioner. The penalites (depending on # of offenses) are generally the same, FWIW. (Alc/pot)

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