Using medical cannabis in any of the more than three-dozen states with legal programs requires a state-issued card. Most states issue their cards digitally after patients complete applications and visit with medical providers. Those medical providers are usually doctors. In some states, they have the legal right to determine a medical cannabis card’s expiration date.
Doctors, nurse practitioners, and other medical professionals play a vital role in ensuring that medical cannabis is only used by patients with a legitimate need for it. The states have devised their own qualifying conditions lists for that purpose. But should a patient’s doctor determine how long a medical cannabis card is valid for?
How It Works in Utah
Utah is a perfect example for illustrating the idea of doctors determining card expiration dates. According to BeehiveMed, an organization that assists Utah patients in obtaining their cards, the cards were only good for three months when Utah’s program was brand new.
Lawmakers eventually extended card length to six months and then to one year. That is where things stand today. However, doctors do have the legal right to establish a shorter duration if they feel it is appropriate for a particular patient. Consider a patient hoping to get a medical cannabis card in anticipation of an upcoming surgical procedure.
Utah allows the use of medical cannabis for acute pain if a patient’s doctor would otherwise recommend opioid painkillers. It is expected that the patient will use cannabis only as long as necessary following surgery. To ensure a patient doesn’t go longer, a doctor could limit the duration of his card to just three months.
Most patients will be sufficiently recovered within that three-month window. But in cases where a patient is still experiencing significant pain, they can always renew their existing card.
Restrictions on Prescription Medications
Giving doctors the ability to determine the expiration date of a medical card seems reasonable when you consider that there are similar restrictions on prescription medications. Even drugs prescribed for maintenance purposes are restricted.
A patient has only allowed so many refills before having to go back to see his doctor. The reasoning here is pretty simple: things change. Restrictions are in place to force doctors and patients to get together on a regular basis so that patient health can be assessed. Open-ended prescriptions with no need for regular assessments just create problems.
Card Renewal Isn’t Terribly Burdensome
One of the criticisms against allowing doctors to determine card expiration is the perceived burden of renewal. Critics say that expecting patients to renew frequently is too much of a burden and one that sends them to the illicit market. I am not so sure I believe it.
Card renewal is not all that difficult, at least in Utah. You simply log on to the state’s electronic verification system, complete the renewal application, and visit with your doctor either in-person or via telemedicine. It is no more burdensome than applying for your initial card.
I can understand being frustrated at having to renew every three months. That’s one of the reasons Utah lawmakers extended the standard duration for a medical cannabis card to one year. Having to renew annually is no more burdensome than having to visit your doctor for a new blood pressure medication prescription.
It Is Still a Medication
The whole idea of medical cannabis cards with expiration dates is rooted in the understanding that medical cannabis is still a medicine. It needs to be treated like any other medicine. To prevent abuse and to make sure it’s used properly, lawmakers put restrictions in place. Those restrictions are good.