When Lehigh Valley doctor Charles Harris started approving patients for medical marijuana a few years ago, most of them were dealing with chronic pain.... How anxiety came to dominate the big business of medical marijuana cards in Pennsylvania

When Lehigh Valley doctor Charles Harris started approving patients for medical marijuana a few years ago, most of them were dealing with chronic pain. Using cannabis helped them tremendously, he said. Patients told him their pain wasn’t keeping them awake at night anymore — they could finally get a good night’s sleep, or at least a few hours of rest in a row.

Then, in the summer of 2019, the Pennsylvania Department of Health changed its rules to allow patients to use medical marijuana for another condition: anxiety disorders.

The move, Harris later joked with friends, caused his business phone to melt.

“It was a veritable tsunami of patients,” Harris told Spotlight PA.

That wave spread to doctors across Pennsylvania, one of only a few states to specifically endorse cannabis as a treatment for anxiety. Anxiety disorders are now the leading reason Pennsylvanians get a medical marijuana card, a first-of-its-kind analysis of more than 1.1 million certification records obtained by Spotlight PA reveals.

The records — which the Department of Health attempted to keep secret by suing Spotlight PA in state court — offer the first comprehensive look at how a decision by former Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration transformed Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program, and, in the eyes of some, made it possible for basically anyone to get a medical marijuana card.

[Read more at GoErie.com]

MJ Shareholders avatar

MJ Shareholders

MJShareholders.com is the largest dedicated financial network and leading corporate communications firm serving the legal cannabis industry. Our network aims to connect public marijuana companies with these focused cannabis audiences across the US and Canada that are critical for growth: Short and long term cannabis investors Active funding sources Mainstream media Business leaders Cannabis consumers

No comments so far.

Be first to leave comment below.

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )