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One of the most commonly reported reasons patients use cannabis for medical purposes in the United States is to treat chronic pain that is not caused by cancer (chronic non-cancer pain, CNCP) (NASEM, 2017). This includes neuropathic pain, arthritis, back pain, neck and shoulder pain, and headaches.
hysician has a conscien-tious objection to facilitating patient access to marijuana. This article is intended to provide an ethical framework for physicians who receive le-gitimate patient requests for assistance in obtain-ing legal medical . Types of Physician Involvement.
The principles of biomedical ethics--beneficence and nonmaleficence, respect for autonomy, and justice--can help to guide cannabis care. To uphold the principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence, providers should recommend cannabis only for conditions where the evidence base is well-established.
Many of those states in which medical marijuana is legal require physician involvement to facilitate patient access. In addition, physicians may have ethical objections to medical marijuana use or may not believe there is adequate scientific evidence to support its use.
The main objection to the medical use of marijuana by the federal government is largely attributable today to a national policy of zero-tolerance toward illicit drugs.
An ethical objection to recommendation of medical marijuana use but not attestation of a qualifying condition may hinge on what the physician perceives to be their degree of involvement, and thus, moral culpability, in a patient's immoral action.
review of marijuana statutes, rules, and state medical board policies currently enacted across the country, and considered research reports, peer-reviewed articles, and policy statements regarding the recommendation of marijuana in patient care.
