Page 6 - Cannabis News Florida Sept 2021

Florida Medical Marijuana Physicians Group (FMPG)

Legislative Priority Statement

Talking Points for the Provisions of the are approved to certify patients to use healthcare via telehealth, so should med- cannabis causes less sedation than opi-
FMMPG Compassionate Care Clarification medical marijuana are not required to ical cannabis patients who require recer- ates such as Vicodin or Percocet, less
have any clinical knowledge of cannabis tification. And especially since a signifi- than benzodiazepines such as Ativan or
Bill Which Amends s. 381.986 Medical Use
medicine, nor are they required to edu- cant number of medical cannabis Xanax, and even less than over the
of Marijuana cate the patients they certify about how patients have mobility issues due to counter antihistamines such as Benadryl.
to use medical cannabis properly. The severe pain, Multiple Sclerosis, If employees are permitted to take those
1. Defining “Telehealth” only requirement is that a qualified Parkinson’s Disease, Amyotrophic medications, they should be permitted to
The definition proposed in the bill is physician have knowledge of the admin- Lateral Sclerosis or other physically take medical cannabis. The employment
consistent with the statutory definition istrative rules of the statute, which is the debilitating conditions, or may be protection provisions would still protect
in s. 456.47, with the addition of allowing subject matter in the mandated course and immunosuppressed and at risk of infec- employers who could lose a monetary or
audio-only telephone calls if audiovisual test which physicians are required to com- tion due to cancer or may have severe licensing-related benefit under federal
technology has been attempted and fails, plete to become qualified to certify anxiety when they have to leave their law or federal regulations. It also does
which can happen for technical reasons patients for medical marijuana use. home due to PTSD, it is even more not restrict an employer from taking
with any patient, and because of a lack of Most patients have either no knowledge important that medical marijuana adverse employment action against an
technological knowledge with senior citi- or experience with medical cannabis use, patients be able to receive their recertifi- employee who is impaired by marijuana
zens. There was an unsuccessful attempt or only recreational knowledge or experi- cation evaluations via telehealth. on the job, just as they are able to take
to amend 456.47 (SB 700) which would ence. How are they to know how to prop- The eligibility criteria for medical mar- adverse employment action against an
have lowered the standard for telehealth erly use cannabis for medical treatment if ijuana recertification via telehealth is employee who is impaired by any pre-
technology by allowing e-mails and FAX’s they are not educated, especially if the exactly the same as those established by scription medication, alcohol or any
to be considered “telehealth”. Florida physician certifying them to use medical the state Surgeon General in Emergency other substance.
medical cannabis specialists feel that a cannabis may not possess that knowledge. Order DOH No. 20-002: Telehealth may
higher standard of communications—real- Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers are be used for recertification visits only (not 7. Establishing reciprocity for visiting
time two-way communication between a not required to have certified medical for initial certification visits), and may out of state qualifying patients and care-
physician and patient—is needed for effec- cannabis educators or to provide educa- only be used if the patient has previously givers
tive doctor-patient communications and tion. been certified (seen in person) by the Medical marijuana is medication. For
want to maintain that standard for medical For a physician to certify a patient to use qualified physician. many people it is the only medication
cannabis recertification visits, which is medical marijuana without providing edu- they take. Florida attracted over 130 mil-
why it is being codified in s. 381.986. cation about the proper dose, means of 5. Waiving the fee for issuance and lion tourists in 2019. In addition, a lot of
administration, and frequency of adminis- renewal of Registry identification cards people come to Florida to visit relatives.
2. Adding an additional Qualifying tration, would be like a physician certify- for honorably discharged military veter- These people need to be able to get their
Medical Condition: “A chronic medical ing that a patient has diabetes and leaving ans medication. And if they can’t, they are
condition for which the patient has taken it to the patient to figure out if they should Most military veterans who seek med- less likely to visit Florida.
opioids or benzodiazepines” use insulin or tablets or both, and what ical cannabis certification are doing so At least 7 other states recognize med-
Opiates (prescribed for pain) and benzo- strength, and how often to administer the for debilitating physical or emotional ical cannabis certifications issued by
diazepines (prescribed for anxiety and medication. That is not acceptable medical injuries they sustained in the line of duty. other states and permit these patients to
insomnia) both reduce a person’s drive to practice and certifying patients to use Even if their medical condition is not purchase medical cannabis products in
breathe. That’s why overdoses of these medical marijuana without education service-related, they have served our their state. Florida statute has a provision
substances can result in death. Cannabis about how to use it properly, and possibly country and made sacrifices that very for people from out of state who reside in
does not reduce the drive to breathe, not even having the knowledge to do so, is few other Floridians have. Certain other Florida for 31 consecutive days (Seasonal
which is why no one has ever died from a not acceptable medical practice either. state initial and renewal fees are waived Residents) to become certified to obtain
cannabis overdose. In addition, these med- by the state of Florida for honorably dis- medical cannabis, but not for people who
ications cause a physical addiction. 4. Permitting a telehealth encounter charged veterans by the Florida visit for 30 days or less.
Cannabis used in medical doses does not. for recertification of a physician’s exist- Department of Agriculture and The proposed reciprocity provision
Florida, as well as rest of the country, is ing patient Consumer Services. Out of state tuition would utilize the current procedure of
working to reduce the legal and illegal use Telehealth has been a means to provide fees are waived at state universities, col- patients being entered into the OMMU
of these substances. Cannabis is very effec- and receive healthcare for decades. Its leges and career centers. Military veter- Registry by a qualified physician. Having
tive for pain, anxiety and insomnia, and use increased exponentially as a result of ans who have served our country honor- an unexpired medical cannabis certifica-
even for helping patients decrease, and in the COVID-19 pandemic. It proved to be ably also deserve to have the $75 annual tion from another state would be their
many cases completely discontinue using an effective and efficient means to pro- fee waived for the issuance and renewal qualifying condition for Florida. This
these medications to which they have vide and receive medical care for many of their OMMU Registry identification could be done in advance of their visit
become addicted. A review article pub- medical conditions, including during the card. via telehealth so that the OMMU could
lished in July 2020 which looked at the 15 months it was used for recertification process their application before the visi-
results of nine studies showed “There was evaluations of medical marijuana 6. Establishing employment protec- tor arrives in Florida. The visiting quali-
a 64-75% reduction in opioid dosage when patients, which focuses primarily on the tion parity for medical marijuana fying patient would be subject to the
used in combination with medical patient’s history rather than on their patients with patients taking other pre- same dosing limit as Florida residents,
cannabis.” Florida’s medical cannabis spe- physical examination. However, the scription medications prorated for their 30-day visiting patient
cialists’ practices have also seen a reduc- authority to perform and receive medical When taken medically, medical certification period.
tion in opioid dosage, with many patients marijuana recertification evaluations via
being able to discontinue opioids com- telehealth expired with the expiration of
pletely. Florida’s opioid dispensing rate per the Governor’s Executive Order 20-52 on
100 in 2016 (before the medical marijua- June 26, 2021.
na program was established) was 66.6. It Medicare and almost all private insur-
went down to 45.4 in 2019 (the most ers have recognized the value of tele-
recent year for which the CDC published health and continue to permit it as a
data). means to provide and receive medical
care. No payors, including the state of
3. Requiring qualified physicians to Florida, pay for medical cannabis servic-
provide clinical education about med- es, therefore payment authorization for
ical marijuana to patients for whom telehealth recertification visits is not at
they issue a certification issue. Because the vast majority of other
Currently, physicians in Florida who
patients are permitted to receive their

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