Marin hospital could be first in state to allow medical marijuana
Published on 9/14/16
Hospitals may be the next businesses to allow for marijuana use in California as Marin General Hospital considers an open use policy for the drug. Marijuana seems to be the only drug that isnt' permitted for open use by patients, however Dr. Larry Bedard mentioned he knows it's being used behind closed doors as kind of a 'wink-and-nod' practice. Dr. Bedard hopes to bring marijuana into the hospital's light by introducing a resolution to the Marin Healthcare District that would have hospital staff research the implications of medical marijuana use by patients. After the DEA failed to reschedule marijuana last month, Dr. Bedard chose to focus the resolution the staff's approval of the drug.
Patients wouldn’t be allowed to smoke it, since smoking is prohibited. But Bedard, a retired emergency physician at Marin General who now serves on the Marin Healthcare District board, says he knows of no other legally prescribed drug that cannot openly be used by patients in a hospital.
The doctor is taking steps toward bringing it out into the open by introducing a resolution at Tuesday’s board meeting for Marin Healthcare District, which governs Marin General. The resolution, if approved, would direct the hospital’s administrative and medical staff to review and research the clinical and legal implications of using medical marijuana in the hospital and report back to the board
