ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Medical marijuana could soon be available to patients in North Carolina from a new operation in Cherokee.
Cherokee’s budding medical marijuana operation sparks legal concerns, doctor hesitation
“Just because Cherokee has decided it wants to do this, it doesn’t mean it can speak on behalf of the state of North Carolina. It can’t, or on behalf of the federal government,” Asheville attorney Stephen Lindsay, of the Lindsay Law firm, said.
EBCI medical cannabis patient cards being prepared for the mail
Over the next few weeks, hundreds of medical cannabis patient cards will be headed to North Carolinians who’ve applied to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians medical cannabis program.
Cherokee’s Cannabis Control Board will be reaching out to approved patients in the next week. Still, hundreds of applications are pending further information.
A News 13 investigation looked at the legal concerns, even with recent approval from the tribe for recreation or adult-use cannabis.
Right now, the line between North Carolinians seeking legal medical marijuana and cannabis on tribal land near Coopers Creek in Swain County is the space for a health professional’s signature. The EBCI’s Cannabis Control Board’s application form requires documentation of one of 18 conditions and a health professional’s signature. More than 750 peoplehave applied. But, incomplete forms had the board reaching back out to hundreds.
Health care hesitation
A recent Reddit thread on Cherokee’s marijuana program shows some physicians unwilling to attest to patient’s needs.
A WLOS News 13 producer recently let us tag along as she headed for her annual physical. She planned to ask whether medical marijuana might help concerns she had.
“The biggest thing was having trouble sleeping, and we kind of went from there,” the producer said of how the conversation went with her physician.
During the appointment, she raised issues of anxiety and if it met the criteria for a disorder. That just prompted more questions from her doctor.
“Asking a lot more about my day-to-day life and the things I had already done to try to, you know, like, to help with relaxing and kind of calming down at the end of the day,” the producer explained.
In the end, the physician steered our producer away from medical cannabis.
“She leaned more toward natural options that weren’t anything with cannabis or anything like that,” the producer said.
Reaching out to mountain area health systems, many wouldn’t address whether they’re talking with physicians about signing off on medical cannabis forms. UNC Health Pardee had “nothing to contribute to our story.” MAHEC said, “it’s not something they’ve addressed yet.” HCA-owned Mission Health Systems didn’t have much to share, saying they were “asking around, but no luck.” AdventHealth never responded.
Another Reddit post showed a Hendersonville cancer doctor “readily filled out the forms.”
Left with unreturned calls from holistic physicians locally, News 13 reached out to Lindsay about the silence from health systems. Years ago, Lindsay represented a doctor convicted of distributing marijuana to patients.
“As long as this gray area, if you will call it that, out there, I think physicians are going to be reluctant to do something that could be helpful to their patients,” said Lindsay, owner of the Lindsay Law firm.
Legal questions
News 13 questioned, legally, what should physicians be concerned about?
“From a legal perspective, it’s still unlawful in many states, including North Carolina, right. So, when you have a physician that gets a form where they know this form is going to be used by a patient to purchase or obtain something that’s illegal, two concerns come to mind: one is their license to practice medicine in North Carolina going to think about this,” Lindsay said.
North Carolina’s medical board tells News 13 it has not had “any requests for supportive statements regarding medical cannabis” and it “has not taken a position.”
In Florida’s medical cannabis program, its state’s Board of Medicine created training and guidelines for medical staff, warning violators face discipline.
“Secondly,” Lindsay said, “they got a concern about maybe they’re going to get charged. They have taken a step by signing this form to help somebody obtain an illegal substance. Even if it’s not going to be enforced, there’s got to be a concern.”
In Wisconsin, where tribes have legalized cannabis, but the state hasn’t, the programs are adult-use programs removing medical requirement concerns.
EBCI’s recent vote to approve a recreation/adult-use program is one step toward that, but, right now, with only a medical program in place, your doctor may hesitate.
“When you get a form like this and you realize it’s going to be used by somebody for medical care and its medical care you’re not directly supervising, wouldn’t you be concerned?” Lindsay questioned.
There may be another approach patients can take. Find out what happened when News 13 explored other avenues for approval online when our Seeing Green investigation continues at 6 p.m. Thursday.
H/T: wlos.com
