Doctor: Marijuana helping patients
Not many prescribe the drug in the area
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. >> A Rensselaer County doctor who can prescribe medical marijuana to his patients said he doesn’t know why the medication isn’t more of a mainstream drug yet.
Throughout New York state there are 1,000 practitioners prescribing more than 18,000 patients medical marijuana, according to the state’s official list.
Dr. Laxmikant V. Bhoiwala, from Integrative Medicine at 598 Columbia Turnpike, is one of them.
It all started when some of his patients were using marijuana they secured on the black market.
“They [would] come to see me [with] problems like different aches, back aches, and they were getting much better results [with marijuana,]” said Dr. Bhoiwala. “They said it was working even better than other pain medicines like opioids, so that got me interested in that.”
Dr. Bhoiwala attended different conferences with experts in the medial marijuana field before becoming certified to prescribe medical marijuana.
“I have more than 250 patients over here and I see the results and it’s phenomenal,” Dr. Bhoiwala said.
Dr. Bhoiwala said the medication works.
“The advantage to medical marijuana is there’s no side effects,” said Dr. Bhoiwala. “There’s no side effects of overdoses that can kill anyone. This is the best medication.”
Overall about eight practitioners prescribe medical marijuana in the Capitol Region.
New York state became the 23rd to legalize medical marijuana in July 2014.
According to New York state’s website, to be eligible for medical marijuana, you have been diagnosed with a specific severe, debilitating or life threatening condition that is accompanied by an associated or complication condition. By law those conditions are: cancer, HIV infection or AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury with spasticity, epilepsy, inflammatory bowel disease, neuropathy, and Huntington’s disease. The associated or complicating conditions are cachexia or wasting syndrome, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures or severe or persistent muscle spasms.
On Tuesday, a bipartisan bill adding post- traumatic stress
disorder as a qualifying condition for the state’s medical marijuana program passed the Senate Health Committee, 15-1.
“I am grateful to the Senate Health Committee for advancing this compassionate bill, and on behalf of countless veterans who could benefit, I urge the full Senate to promptly approve the bill,” Michael Krawitz, executive director of Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access, said in a statement. “Veterans with PTSD should not have to choose between FDA-approved medications that carry a black box suicide warning and off-label drugs with no clinical efficacy and horrible side effects. There is another way: medical marijuana has helped veterans have a restful night’s sleep instead of night terrors, and thus experience a better quality of life.”