Last weekend I attended the free informational session about medical marijuana put on by the folks at Pheonix Botanical at the Champaign Public Library. I learned some interesting factoids and I thought I’d share them with you.
- Medical providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants) do not prescribe marijuana. What they can do is fill out paperwork provided by the state indicating that you do in fact have one of the qualifying conditions that allows you to receive medical marijuana.
- Pheonix Botanical has a list of medical providers who have in the past been friendly about filling out this paperwork. The list has providers from Champaign and surrounding areas. This is helpful if your current provider does not feel comfortable filling out the paperwork.
- If you’re a firefighter, emergency medical technician, or police officer, you do not qualify for medical marijuana. Pheonix essentially said that this is because if there was an accident during their work day there would be more liability involved than anyone wants to deal with.
- You can own a gun and have a medical marijuana license. Meaning you can keep your guns, buy guns from private sellers, and keep your current FOID and concealed carry certification. However, the catch is that you can’t renew your FOID, concealed carry or buy a gun from a licensed firearm dealer.
- Marijuana can help but they’re not sure what it can make worse. Phoenix Botanical is very good at explaining how and why marijuana can help many health conditions but do not have much guidance on what it can make worse. They do admit it can make anxiety worse but were unaware of the potential, fatal side effects marijuana can have one someone with, say, heart disease.
- Here’s a link to the qualifying conditions that make you eligible for medical marijuana.