As you can already probably envision, talking to a doctor about using marijuana in any way can be quite uncomfortable. Obviously, any awkwardness regarding discussing cannabis use with your physician is primarily due to how illegal this plant has been over the past century globally. However, marijuana laws regarding both medical and recreational use have started to change quite a bit throughout the United States in the past decade. If you are starting to wonder if using cannabis medicinally may be a good option for a condition you suffer from, you are going to need to speak to your physician first. Here are some ideas that can help assuage any nervousness or discomfort you have about this conversation so that it can go as smoothly as possible.
Should I tell my doctor I smoke weed or that I want to? Questions like these are almost always the first to pop up in our minds when it comes to traversing the potentially uncomfortable conversation of using medical marijuana with our physicians. However, it is especially important to be transparent to maintain the best possible relationship with your doctor. Talking to them about the possibilities of using a newer, more holistic treatment method such as cannabis also ensures that you receive the best possible care from your physician. Remember that they are there to treat your health issues and not to judge you. Even though it may feel awkward, you have nothing to lose (and possibly everything to gain) by just being honest about why you think marijuana use might help you. You should also let your doctor know if you have ever used this drug before so that they can more easily anticipate any negative physical and mental reactions you may have to it. It is at the utmost importance to share any benefits that you may have felt regarding your ailment or if you think a particular strain of marijuana or marijuana-infused product might be especially useful for you. Doing so will help your doctor have a more complete understanding of how your body and mind react to cannabis and allows them to create a confident plan on how to use it to manage your condition.
Doctors take all of the recommendations and prescriptions that they give their patients very seriously because people’s health is at stake. Therefore, if you want to talk to your physician about using medical marijuana, you need to clearly show how serious you are about using weed as a medicine. By now, most doctors recognize that marijuana has some extremely legitimate medicinal benefits and that there is plenty of scientific research to back this. However, they will be extremely apprehensive and maybe even alarmed if they sense that you are simply trying to get a medical cannabis card to legally get high.
It can help your cause quite a bit if you ensure that you have a solid understanding of medical marijuana and how it can be used to treat your condition and symptoms before your approach your doctor about your thoughts. Doing so will help develop the conversation between you and your physician in a systematic and reasonable manner. This will help your physician get more of a complete picture of how weed use can be used to help treat your ailment and its symptoms. Doing your prior research will also help you come across as more thoughtful and informed on the subject of cannabis. This can be of critical importance if your doctor is somewhat skeptical about your motivations to get a medical marijuana card.
In order to be prepared for the visit with your healthcare provider, you will want to understand as much as you can about your condition and get in touch with how it affects you personally. Then you will want to do a deep dive into the literature and research available on the benefits of medical marijuana for your specific health problem. For example, if you suffer from a chronic inflammatory condition such as arthritis, you will want to be completely clear on the main ways that this ailment affects your life and which of its symptoms (such as pain and inflammation) have been shown to positively react to medical marijuana therapies. Being prepared like this will help fuel the conversation with your doctor and ease any stress you may feel. Luckily, there are plenty of resources available online to get all the information you need!
While you want to be prepared with plenty of information on how marijuana can help your condition, you don’t want to dominate the entire conversation with your doctor. Doing so can seem overly pushy and in some cases, even desperate. One way to let them know that you are serious about cannabis treatment options is to make sure that you ask them plenty of questions as well. It only makes sense since they are the experts! Take the time to find out about their opinion about medical marijuana and whether or not they have seen any of their other patients react to it favorably. While they have to remain confidential about the specific details regarding their other patients, most doctors are quite happy to share the results they have seen in the past. Asking the right questions can also help clear up any doubts that you may have about how medicinal weed can affect your condition. Examples of good questions to consider asking your physician are:
While it is increasingly rare nowadays, some doctors are very skeptical about the benefits of using medical marijuana for any condition. If this seems to be the case or if you doctor simply does not think that cannabis is a good option for you, make sure that you respect their decision; they may have a valid point and their professional training often allows them to see things that we simply do not. Make sure to not act emotionally especially since if you feel the need to get a medical marijuana card, you can always see another physician and get a second opinion. Now that you know what happens if you tell your doctor you smoke weed, perhaps you are feeling an inclination to start the process of getting a medical marijuana card. Do you happen to live in the greater Miami metropolitan area? Then perhaps, you should get more information on how to get a valid medical cannabis card for the state of Florida at Biofit! We are one of the most renowned medical marijuana education centers in the state and would love to help you out on any part of the journey! Please don’t hesitate to give us a call today at (305) 876-6613!
Biofit is a clinic located in Miami, Florida offering wellness, weight loss, and medical marijuana card evaluations. Our supportive staff is here to meet your healthcare goals by gaining access to a variety of services.
