A gynecologist in Pennsylvania has suddenly become quite popular. She is set to be the first doctor in her city to be authorized to prescribe medical marijuana. Naturally, people have been calling her up to make an appointment. The only problem is, most of these wannabe patients are men.
Pot In Pennsylvania
Dr. Liang Bartkowiak practices medicine in Altoona, a city in central Pennsylvania. Last year, Pennsylvania became the 24th state in the nation to establish a medical marijuana program. Although progress has been slow, the program has been moving forward.
Over the summer, the Department of Health launched an online registry to set the path for doctors interested in prescribing cannabis for their patients. In just 10 days, over 100 doctors in the state registered to take part in the program. And yesterday, the Department of Health opened up a registry portal for patients.
Bartkowiak is one of the many doctors who expressed enthusiasm and interest in the program. In an interview with a local paper, she said that she treats women suffering from painful conditions like endometriosis.
Bartkowiak is a gynecologist, and she exclusively treats women. And yet, her office has been fielding calls from men seeking medical marijuana.
As per the fine print in Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program, doctors are not able to prescribe smokeable weed. However, they can offer tinctures, pills and vape liquid.
Therefore, the men seeking medical marijuana who have been calling Bartkowiak’s practice seem to have some misconceptions about how to actually get medical marijuana in Pennsylvania. According to the doctor, they seem to think she can prescribe them cannabis in flower form. They also don’t seem to realize that if a gynecologist prescribed a male patient medical marijuana, it might raise a few flags.
Gynecological Ganja
For Bartkowiak’s patients, however, her qualification to prescribe medical marijuana could prove to be a boon.
Studies show that cannabis can help a number of health problems people with uteruses can experience. Painful bouts of pre-menstrual syndrome can be treated with cannabis. Additionally, ganja can successfully treat the chronic condition endometriosis.
Since gynecologists specify in female reproductive health, they might also be able to recommend cannabis-infused lubricants for women who have problems in their sexual lives.
Final Hit: Gynecologist Inundated By Calls From Men Seeking Medical Marijuana
While we all like to laugh at headlines like “Gynecologist Inundated By Calls From Men Seeking Medical Marijuana,” we need to take a pause and think about the implications. Although Pennsylvania is making progress, there are still tons of people who are desperate for medical marijuana. So much so that they are trying to make an appointment with a gynecologist, who is, so far, the only medical marijuana provider in the city.
This is an indication of two things.
The first is that there needs to be more medical marijuana providers across the state of Pennsylvania. The other is that people need to be more educated about what kind of products will actually be available in the state.
