The state's therapeutic cannabis program is up and running, with the opening of its fourth and final dispensary, but debate continues over who should access the drug . For example, some argue it's a good alternative to opioids for chronic pain sufferers, but others warn of unintended consequences and inadequate research.
In New Hampshire, there does not have to be any formal education for the people that recommend cannabis at the dispensaries. And this has been a little bit of a stumbling block for a lot of physicians sending patients to a dispensary because physicians in general don’t know very much about medical marijuana; they don’t know about the different strains, the different routes of administration. So they’re a little bit concerned that the people that are making recommendations and dispensing drugs to their patients don’t really have any formal training. -- Dr. Gil Fanciullo
GUESTS:
- Dr. Gil Fanciullo - Director of the Pain Management Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Professor of Anesthesiology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He is also medical advisor for the Merrimack marijuana dispensary.
- Dr. Stuart Glassman - rehabilitation medicine physician at Granite Physiatry in Concord. He represents the NH Medical Society on the Cannabis Oversight Committee.
- Joe Lachance - Republican Representatitve from Manchester who sponsored a failed bill that would have broadened the state's medical marijuana law.
- Tymothy Rourke - Director of Substance Use Disorders Grantmaking at the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Chair of the Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Other Drugs.
