By Amanda Siebert on www.Leafly.com
Medical cannabis has been legal for over two decades in Canada. So why don’t ER staff know even the basics of cannabinoid medicine? (Leafly)
It’s been 21 years since the first iteration of Canada’s medical cannabis program was introduced, and yet, the fact that cannabis is medicine for over 300,000 Canadians is something doctors seem ill-equipped to handle, particularly for patients requiring urgent care.
Imagine heading to the emergency room with serious medical concern, and having it dismissed by hospital staff after disclosing that you use medical cannabis. Emergency room staff aren’t just ill-equipped—they are biased.
This isn’t just a problem in Canada, either. In the news, there is usually a story or two about high people going to urgent care scromiting, kids getting into cannabis, or some salacious data about increased hospital visits since adult-use legalization.
Regular cannabis consumers and medical marijuana patients have concerns about whether to disclose their use when visiting the emergency room. The fear is very real and often validated by dismissive healthcare professionals dismissing urgent health issues as symptoms of reefer madness.
H/T: www.Leafly.com
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