Ethics of Controversial Medical Therapies: Medical Marijuana

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Ethical and Legal Guidelines for Therapeutic Services
Border General Hospital must consider the ethical and legal aspects of encouraging the use of medical marijuana within the hospital. While such treatment may be helpful for patients in certain situations, it may not always be the best choice. For example, while a cancer patient may be prescribed THC in liquid or other form, all aspects of use, including whether it may be legal or illegal for the patient to use at home, the patient's social and living environments, and the patient's level of self monitoring should be considered. A patient with no family, living alone, may not pose as much risk to society, in terms of the potential illegal sale of prescribed marijuana. This is especially true for a priest who has little mainstream contact with the public on a regular basis. However, if the priest is unable to maintain confidentiality of his marijuana use, those who are aware of the use could potentially engage in illegal/criminal activity, such as theft or assault on the priest, in order to obtain the marijuana.

The necessity of an on-site pharmacy for tailored cancer treatment is rarely argued. Many of the drugs used to treat various forms of cancer are biological hazards to those not seeking treatment. Additionally, pharmacies open to the public do not administer the IV cancer treatments. So, carrying such drugs in the pharmacy would not make much sense, as obtaining them would be inconvenient for physicians and nurses administering treatments to cancer patients. However, making non-standard treatments like medical marijuana available can create controversy and can put patients' and community members' well being at risk. Two main controversies exist over the use of medical
marijuana. One controversy centers on the drug classification of marijuana, which is Schedule I "Hallucinogenic" according to the Controlled Substances Act 1970 (Thomson, 2015). Based on this classification, some experts believe it would be wrong to allow marijuana for medical or any other purpose, as schedule I drugs are also classified as having no medical or therapeutic value.

Those who promote the use of medical marijuana often do so from the perspective of making cancer patients (and others with chronic or serious diseases that contribute to chronic pain) more comfortable and allowing them to have a better quality of life during treatment. In Colorado, patients can apply for a medical marijuana use registration card, as long as they are residents of Colorado and are suffering from one of several qualifying medical conditions, as long as the application is signed by an MD or DO, and accompanying social security numbers and photo identification are provided. The application form must also be notarized (Thomson, 2015). For physicians, the implications are that the patient must be diagnosed with one of the qualifying conditions and the provider must be able to provide clinical evidence, to justify the use of marijuana. In addition, providers who prescribe marijuana must make sure patients submit the application properly and must adhere to any standards in dosage prescribing guidelines. This helps prevent patients and others from taking legal action against the hospital. However, just like prescription pain medications, there is always a chance that a patient may become dependent on marijuana, even if pain no longer exists.

While the substance is not thought to be physically addicting, it can cause psychological addiction problems. Some medical scientists believe medical marijuana may be a safer alternative to physically addicting ...