SACRAMENTO -
With names like "Afghan Train Wreck," "Grand Daddy Purple," "Pink Panther" and others, the list of available pot at local dispensaries reads more like a menu than a prescription pad. But in the state of California, we call it by a different name: "medicine."
California's medical marijuana law is one of the most liberal in the nation. So how easy would it be to game the system? The first step to our FOX40 News investigation was simple: get a doctor to write a prescription. Legally, however, doctors must call pot prescriptions a "recommendation."
Magazines and the internet are crowded with come-ons to call cannabis friendly physicians. And it turns-out their waiting rooms are pretty crowded too. But ater only a half-an-hour on the phone, I got directions to a doc who welcomes walk-ins.
"Here's what you really want to know," said Dr. David Allen in an interview later. "It's ridiculous to have physicians examine patients for medicines safer than table salt. And really what I want to do is put myself out of a job by letting the world know that this is idiotic."
Dr. David Allen's resume is impressive. Hes performed innovative cardiac procedures. Hes performed open heart surgeries that saved the lives of patients on the table.
Now, though, he's recommending pot to patients. And the law says it can be recommended for cancer, anorexia, migraines, and "any illness for which marijuana provides relief."
Dr. Allen didn't remember me from our ten minute consultation. His staff took my blood pressure and weight that day, and had me fill-out a form the doctor changed for me when we met.
"Is that typical that you walk a patient through the form that they need to fill-out in order to get legal?" I asked Dr. Allen.
"First off, most these patients have been using this medicine for 30 to 40 years some of them.. And when they leave my office, no matter what I think, no matter what my opinion is, they're going to be using this medicine. So they're desperately trying to be compliant," Dr. Allen said.
So after 40 minutes, without a documented medical history but with a $160 dollar fee, I was able to get a recommendation.
Across town at a dispensary, they checked my ID and called the doctor to see if my recommendation is legit.
"How much do you rely on the doctor in the screening process to make sure that this is going to the people who should have it?" I asked at the dispensary.
"100%. I cannot question a doctor's authority," said Lanette Davies of CanaCare.
And that was it - with a few parting reminders about the law, and a package full of pot, I was on my way out with a treatment I never intend to use.
I told the doctor I get anxious sometimes... sometimes depressed... sometimes spend sleepless nights. All truth: but so often during this story I found truth depending on definitions. Do I suffer an illness or just symptoms of a modern life? Is this just a drug, or it is medicine. Even when you follow the letter of California's Law, so much meaning is left on the table.
California's medical marijuana law is one of the most liberal in the nation. So how easy would it be to game the system? The first step to our FOX40 News investigation was simple: get a doctor to write a prescription. Legally, however, doctors must call pot prescriptions a "recommendation."
Magazines and the internet are crowded with come-ons to call cannabis friendly physicians. And it turns-out their waiting rooms are pretty crowded too. But ater only a half-an-hour on the phone, I got directions to a doc who welcomes walk-ins.
"Here's what you really want to know," said Dr. David Allen in an interview later. "It's ridiculous to have physicians examine patients for medicines safer than table salt. And really what I want to do is put myself out of a job by letting the world know that this is idiotic."
Dr. David Allen's resume is impressive. Hes performed innovative cardiac procedures. Hes performed open heart surgeries that saved the lives of patients on the table.
Now, though, he's recommending pot to patients. And the law says it can be recommended for cancer, anorexia, migraines, and "any illness for which marijuana provides relief."
Dr. Allen didn't remember me from our ten minute consultation. His staff took my blood pressure and weight that day, and had me fill-out a form the doctor changed for me when we met.
"Is that typical that you walk a patient through the form that they need to fill-out in order to get legal?" I asked Dr. Allen.
"First off, most these patients have been using this medicine for 30 to 40 years some of them.. And when they leave my office, no matter what I think, no matter what my opinion is, they're going to be using this medicine. So they're desperately trying to be compliant," Dr. Allen said.
So after 40 minutes, without a documented medical history but with a $160 dollar fee, I was able to get a recommendation.
Across town at a dispensary, they checked my ID and called the doctor to see if my recommendation is legit.
"How much do you rely on the doctor in the screening process to make sure that this is going to the people who should have it?" I asked at the dispensary.
"100%. I cannot question a doctor's authority," said Lanette Davies of CanaCare.
And that was it - with a few parting reminders about the law, and a package full of pot, I was on my way out with a treatment I never intend to use.
I told the doctor I get anxious sometimes... sometimes depressed... sometimes spend sleepless nights. All truth: but so often during this story I found truth depending on definitions. Do I suffer an illness or just symptoms of a modern life? Is this just a drug, or it is medicine. Even when you follow the letter of California's Law, so much meaning is left on the table.
