High Times?

More research needed on recreational marijuana, House determines

Concern over growing public acceptance of marijuana spurred two resolutions, which the House did not pass.

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Inspired in part by the growing public acceptance of marijuana—two U.S. states legalized recreational use of the drug in 2012—the Ohio Osteopathic Association submitted two resolutions to the AOA House of Delegates this year: one opposing recreational marijuana use by physicians and medical students and another noting the potentially harmful effects of recreational marijuana. The House referred both resolutions to AOA bureaus and other groups for further research, with the recommendation that the AOA Bureau of Scientific Affairs and Public Health develop a comprehensive white paper addressing both topics.

Regarding marijuana’s potentially harmful impact, Paul T. Scheatzle, DO, the president of the Ohio Osteopathic Association, said his group was struck by reports of increasing recreational marijuana use around the country and the fact that today’s strains are much more potent than what people were using in decades past.

“Going back 30 to 40 years ago, the THC concentration of marijuana was about 4%, and now it’s about 15%,” he told The DO. “The marijuana is much stronger than it used to be, and you don’t know how much you’re getting. It’s not a measured substance that has been chemically purified. In pregnant mothers, marijuana use can affect the development of newborns. For high school kids, it can affect their ability to learn. Marijuana is really not a benign substance.”

Concern about the drug’s cognitive effects prompted the Ohio association to draft a resolution codifying AOA opposition to its recreational use by osteopathic physicians and medical students, Dr. Scheatzle said. Marijuana impairs one’s ability to solve problems, learn and remember information, according to a report from the National Institutes of Health.

“It also decreases your reaction time,” Dr. Scheatzle said. “So definitely, if you’re caring for a patient or doing manual activities with your hands, you’re not going to want to be under the influence of marijuana.”

Shown during reference committee deliberations on Friday, Paul T. Scheatzle, DO (left), is president of the Ohio Osteopathic Assocation, which submitted the two resolutions on recreational marijuana.

On the House floor, supporters echoed Dr. Scheatzle’s sentiments while opponents brought up policy overlap and state sovereignty.

“In light of the fact that even Colorado has stated that even physicians who legally use medicinal marijuana to treat their own debilitating conditions are unsafe for practice until such time that they no longer need this treatment, I believe that we need to have a policy on this,” said Greg D. Cohen, DO, an Iowa delegate.

However, the AOA already has policy on impaired physicians, noted Florida delegate Marc G. Kaprow, DO.

“There is adequate legal status regarding impaired physicians and impaired physician programs in every state,” he said. “[The AOA does] not have a policy on alcohol use. We do not have a policy on prescription drug use such as Ambien and other things that are clearly able to incapacitate physicians.”

Colorado delegate Thomas J. Mohr, DO, argues that current laws obviate the need for an AOA policy on marijuana use by physicians and students.

Thomas J. Mohr, DO, a Colorado delegate and the vice dean of Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Parker, Colorado, also mentioned state policies, and he noted that his school’s policy is to follow the federal law as opposed to the state law when it comes to recreational marijuana.

“We have in our state and in most of our states very strong and active programs to deal with impaired physicians, and I believe that this puts the AOA in a position of upholding something that should be taken care of by the states,” he said.

The House ultimately referred the resolution to the AOA Bureau of Scientific Affairs and Public Health, the AOA Bureau of State Government Affairs, the AOA Bureau of Socioeconomic Affairs and the American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine for review and comment.

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