Why Isn't Medicinal Marijuana Treated Like Other Pharmaceuticals And Controlled And Dispensed By....

[global1]

pharmacists? The system is set up already. They handle controlled substances now. Why shouldn't they be handling medical marijuana?

[Warren Stupidity]

1. Because schedule 1 controlled substances cannot be dispensed by pharmacies.

Thanks to the fucked up war on drugs, now in its 5th decade, sane drug policies are impossible.

[djean111]

2. Because Pharmaceutical companies do not make it and control it. They of course would LIKE to!

When anyone can grow a controlled substance in their back yard, and ingest it with very little processing, Big Pharma has lost its chance to control it. Oh sure, this was tried, but pot is too easy to grow and has not got bad side effects. Like, um, an awful lot of the stuff I cant get at a pharmacy. As drugs become less lethal or whatever, they do change to over the counter. Pot just skipped the pharmacy and the counter. IMO and all that.

[global1]

8. Big Pharma Has Nothing To Do With Running Community Pharmacy's.....

They have nothing to do with my original question from the original post.

What motivated my question in my original post is that Illinois has just licensed or awarded medical marijuana dispensaries in the State. One license was awarded to a guy that runs a strip club. Tell me that isn't an accident waiting to happen.

Pharmacies are regulated by State Boards of Pharmacy. They are licensed to handle pharmaceuticals and pharmacists are knowledgeable about pharmaceuticals - their actions, adverse reactions and side effects.

If some states are able to sell marijuana legally - like Colorado - I don't know why pharmacies in other states that are getting into marijuana from a medical standpoint - can't be the legal entities that would be allowed to dispense it for medicinal purposes. The system is in place and works well.

So even if marijuana is a Schedule I drug - I ask you - is it better to let common folk that applied for the right to handle it - like a strip club owner - or is it better to run it through a tried and true system that is currently set up to handle pharmaceuticals and is regulated (and some would argue over-regulated} like pharmacies and pharmacist's?

[djean111]

10. What I was trying to get at - badly - is that pot is already out there.

Years of very expensive attempts to eradicate or control it have failed.
Once a state can sell pot for any reason at all - not just medical reasons - that pretty much puts pot in the same league as liquor.
It is a recreational drug. Substance. Whatever.
Anyone can have a liquor store, there are a few checks and balances, but someone will always be able to weasel in when they should not be able to.

[Bluenorthwest]

3. It's schedule 1, no physician can write a prescription for it and no pharmacy can provide it.

nt

[global1]

9. So Tell Me - How Do Patients That Need MJ For Medicinal Purposes Get It?....

Am I being dense here - or does a physician have to prescribe it?

[icymist]

4. They're getting there: Marinol

http://www.marinol.com/
<snip>
MARINOL should not be used if you are allergic to dronabinol or any of its ingredients, including marijuana and sesame oil.

[AgingAmerican]

6. Marinol only contains THC

It does not contain CBDs (pain, aggressive cancers) or CBN (sleep) or any other medicinal cannabinoids.

[AgingAmerican]

5. It can be bought recreationally here

I do agree medical marijuana should be regulated to assure it contains no mold or pesticides, but I don't think it need be dispensed in regular pharmacy's.

[hunter]

7. It's much deeper than that.

Dysfunctional substance abusers need community assistance. Addiction is a medical problem.

Alcohol, cannabis, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines, glue sniffing, whatever...

Unlike alcohol or amphetamine abusers, cannabis and and opiate abusers tend to be fairly harmless if they don't have to fight for money to support their addiction. Even the amphetamine abusers can be functional if they have clean drugs and are not fundamentally psychopaths

Most unfortunately our U.S.A. society is all about fighting for money, not loving and watching out for our neighbors