With the legalization of medical marijuana treatment in California a whole new medication has become available to a large base of prospective patients through medical marijuana evaluations. However, with all the controversies surrounding the issue by battling sides of punditry it is hard to come to a focused decision on whether or not applying for a medical marijuana card is the best course of treatment for you, especially if you are on the fence about the issue to begin with. The purpose of this article is to offer some truths and to clear up the argument surrounding medical marijuana for the sake of a prospective patient, not as a form of legitimization or advocacy for marijuana.

                There is a myth that a medical marijuana doctor will prescribe the treatment to just about anyone. One CANNOT get a marijuana card from a medical marijuana doctor without having an actual illness or malady that requires treatment. A licensed physician or osteopath MUST give you a written recommendation to be approved for a medical marijuana card, and when they recommend that course of action they take on an aspect of legal responsibility of their patient's treatment. The exact wording of SB 420 (the bill that legalized medical marijuana in California) reads that the doctor can only prescribe the treatment if the patient presents a serious medical condition, which is defined as:

                "any of the following: AIDS; anorexia; arthritis; cachexia (wasting syndrome); cancer; chronic pain; glaucoma; migraine; persistent muscle spasms (i.e., spasms associated with multiple sclerosis); seizures (i.e., epileptic seizures); severe nausea; any other chronic or persistent medical symptom that either substantially limits a person's ability to conduct one or more of major life activities as defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or if not alleviated, may cause serious harm to the person's safety, physical, or mental health." – California Department of Health

Basically, this all means that a medical marijuana doctor will not sacrifice their time or reputation to prescribe you the medication if they believe that you do not need it, or if they believe you will not be treated for your condition from it.

                Also, before your medical marijuana evaluation, as a prospective patient you must think about if medical marijuana is the ideal treatment for you. With so many detrimental side effects of traditional prescription drugs, many patients are switching from their old prescriptions in favor of medical marijuana treatments. About half of medical marijuana patients applied for their medical marijuana card after a traditional prescription didn't treat their illness effectively.

                Finally, a huge misconception about marijuana is that it must be smoked, and getting high is a desired side effect of the treatment. Taking a minute to read the legitimate blogs of medical marijuana patients clearly shows that the high is generally an unavoidable nuisance. The patient cannot really be productive if they are high all day, so the prescription seeks to find the right dosage to treat the condition without causing the intense side effect of being high. Also, there are numerous ways to consume marijuana without smoking. These range from cooking it into foods, to slow release pills and capsules.

                Do NOT attempt to seek out a medical marijuana card if you want to use it recreationally, it simply is too much effort on your part to ultimately get turned down. However, if you suffer from a real condition and you've found more conventional prescriptions and treatments to be unsuccessful, keep an open mind about medical marijuana and call a medical marijuana doctor to schedule your evaluation.