Need a pot primer?
A new downtown doctors' office will help guide those suffering from one of 17 conditions through the medical marijuana maze.
Compassionate Certification Centers held a ribbon-cutting Friday at their office at 127 E. Cunningham St.
Dr. Bryan Doner, CEO and medical director, said the six doctors who rotate through the company's regional offices will evaluate patients and help provide them with certifications to get their medical marijuana cards.
Only patients suffering from one of 17 state qualifying conditions can be treated with medical marijuana.
The patients then take the card to a dispensary to collect the medical marijuana product the centers' doctors feel would best ease their symptoms.
Doner said the doctors are all full-fledged physicians with varied specialties, including emergency medicine, oncology and pain management.
Doner himself is an emergency room doctor at the ACMH Hospital in East Franklin Township, Armstrong County.
He said individuals experiencing one of the approved conditions can come in on their own or be sent by a doctor.
Center doctors will evaluate each person, determine whether they are eligible or would benefit from medical marijuana, and help them get their card.
The center will then create a medical marijuana treatment plan and follow up with the patient as needed.
“We'll function like any other medical specialty office,” Doner said.
The only difference is that the doctors will not give patients a prescription for medical marijuana, as that could violate the physicians' licenses because medical marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
The patient would receive a card with a bar code, and that bar code would be scanned at the dispensary along with the products they are buying.
That way, patients can easily be tracked throughout their treatment.
Known as “seed to sale tracking,” all medical marijuana products, whether inhaled, topical or oral, are tracked digitally from the time they are planted to dispensation, Doner said.
He explained that while THC is the widely recognized component in marijuana and the one used to vilify the product by its detractors, many other components of cannabinoids work to treat pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, seizures and other symptoms.
“I can give the patient all the benefits of medical marijuana and not the psychoactive effects,” Doner said.
He said unlike opioids, there is no lethal dose of medical marijuana and the human brain has an endocannabinoid system that works like other biochemical systems in the body.
“So our bodies were set up for (cannabinoids),” Doner said.
He said the dispensary products in other states have cost patients an average of $100 to $150 per month.
Doner said he got into medical marijuana because research shows its effect on seizures.
He said many doctors keep medical marijuana at arm's length because of the stigma associated with recreational marijuana and that its benefits are not taught in medical school.
Doner hopes medical marijuana will help stem the opioid crisis, as it provides the same or better relief without the side effects or addictive qualities.
Geno Bonetti, a patient at the center who has been a health care executive for 35 years, said a spinal cord injury and subsequent eight surgeries left him with severe pain.
“I never took a drug in my life,” Bonetti said. “I believe medical marijuana is actually going to be a miracle treatment for a lot of people.”
Bonetti said he has his medical marijuana card and is waiting for dispensaries to open next week.
He has tried cannabidiol, known as CBD, which is a marijuana derivative that does not contain THC.
“It helped ease the pain,” Bonetti said.He hopes medical marijuana will help not only with his chronic neck and back pain, but the insomnia that sometimes causes five or six consecutive sleepless nights.“I'm at my rope's end,” Bonetti said.State Rep. Brian Ellis, R-11th, attended Compassionate Certification Centers' ribbon cutting on Friday.“It's an effort at the state level to help folks in pain have options,” Ellis said of his support for medical marijuana.He said having a facility staffed by physicians and other medical professionals is a boon to those who suffer from one of the 17 conditions.“They can talk to a real doctor,” Ellis said. “I'm excited that they are here in Butler.”He said while the medical marijuana bill passed with overwhelming support, there are still legislators who are resisting it.“A lot of legislators have concerns about legalizing (recreational) marijuana and they're afraid this is going to be the first step,” Ellis said.He hopes medical marijuana will have an effect on the opioid crisis.“I had a family member who tried opioids and this certainly may have been another option,” said Ellis, who served on a bipartisan task force on medical marijuana.Leslie Osche, chairman of the county commissioners, also attended the event with Commissioner Kevin Boozel.Osche has a personal interest in the legalization of medical marijuana because her grandnephew lives with a genetic brain disorder that can cause seizures, abnormal muscle stiffness and spasticity, and feeding difficulties.“He has the potential to be helped by (medical marijuana),” she said.Osche said medical marijuana could have an effect on the opioid crisis, which killed 92 people in Butler County last year.“This doesn't have the addictive qualities you would get with opioid pain treatment,” she said.The commissioners and others will likely hear opposition to medical marijuana as the business continues to gain a foothold in Butler County.“There's always going to be blowback,” Osche said. “I expect it, and you cannot make everyone happy.”
