Medical Marijuana: What Physicians Need to Know

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As of March 2019, in the United States, “medical marijuana” has been approved in 33 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Marijuana, however, remains a schedule I drug per the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) based on its findings that marijuana (a) has a high potential for abuse, (b) has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and (c) lacks accepted safety for use under medical supervision. Nevertheless, today the marketplace is flooded with over 2,500 “strains” of the marijuana plant (named variously as “Mango Kush,” “Skywalker,” “Purple Haze,” “Obama Kush,” and so-called cannabidiol [CBD] strains such as “Harlequin,” “Ringo’s Gift,” “ACDC,” and “Cannatonic”) and marijuana-infused products (including edibles, concentrates, dabs, waxes, oils, and vaping fluids), each claiming unique, yet unproven, “medical” benefit.