Dr Liang Bartkowiak, of Atloona, Pennsylvania, says she was shocked, since she’s an obstetrician-gynecologist who treats women exclusively, and she can only prescribe oils
A Pennsylvania gynecologist says she has been inundated with calls from men trying to set up appointments after hearing she was permitted to prescribe medical marijuana.
Dr Liang Bartkowiak was mentioned in a newspaper article on Thursday as one of the state’s first doctors eligible to certify medical marijuana users.
Within hours, her office phone started ringing off the hook. It was primarily men on the line, many seeking smokeable marijuana to treat pain.
Bartkowiak says she was shocked, since she’s an obstetrician-gynecologist who treats women exclusively, and she can only prescribe oils.
A 2016 state law gives people under a doctor’s care access to medical marijuana if they suffer from an illness on a list of 17 qualifying conditions.
The law permits pills, oils, vapor or liquid marijuana, but not marijuana in plant form.
‘The people calling my office … were not understanding that these are tinctures and vapors and balms in whatever form is targeted to the specific illness,’ she told the Atloona Mirror today.
‘I think laypeople are going to need very plain terminology. You’re going to have to come right out and say, “You are not going to get a joint to smoke.” That is not what medical marijuana is going to be.’
According to Pennsylvania’s Health Department, around 200 doctors are currently being trained to qualify for medical marijuana prescribing.
Dr Bartkowiak said she got qualified by taking a four-hour course in a bid to find an alternative to opioids for pain management.
No states have specifically stipulated the drug can be prescribed for dysmenorrhea (menstrual cramps), but most states with medical marijuana do allow it for pain, including Pennsylvania.
It can also be prescribed to people with epilepsy, HIV, sickle cell anemia, post-traumatic stress disorder and Crohn’s disease, among other conditions.
Doctors must certify the illness and patients must obtain an identification card from the Health Department.