The Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis launched the portal for patient medical cannabis card applications on January 1.
Kentuckians, however, have been able to meet with authorized practitioners such as Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Marlena O’Neil with Heartland Medical Cannabis Health and Wellness since December 1.
“The medical certifications, we were able to start those at that time, and so we have been seeing patients since the beginning of December to qualify their medical conditions and provide education and make sure that they were safe for medical certification,” O’Neil said.
O’Neil is one of 267 authorized registered practitioners located in 68 counties across the commonwealth. She says while studying alternative therapies during her doctorate studies she learned more about medical cannabis, and she wanted to be part of the transition as Kentucky’s medical cannabis program debuted.
“We know by reading about cases in other states that medical cannabis works for many, many conditions, and we’re in the epicenter of the opioid crisis and other problems, so it just made sense,” O’Neil said.
O’Neil says the authorized registered practitioners are tasked with determining if a patient has a qualifying medical condition for medical cannabis. A patient who has previously been diagnosed with one of the qualifying conditions can visit a practitioner’s office, but O’Neil says that visit is more than just looking at a diagnosis.
“We also just have to qualify that there’s no contraindications and we have to provide follow-up care if they want or need that,” O’Neil said. “We have to make sure we’re educating on side effects, potential drug-to-drug interactions. We have to advise them not to operate a motor vehicle, heavy equipment, or make important decisions while under the influence of medical cannabis, so there’s certain guidelines set up by the state that we have to make sure that we’re covering at that visit as well for their safety.”
O’Neil says she hopes to eventually set up educational opportunities through her office that go beyond the diagnostic elements of the process.
Visit kymedcan.ky.gov to learn more about the state’s medical cannabis program and find registered practitioners like O’Neil.
