Hartford

Doctors Debate Whether Chronic Pain Reason for Medical Pot

A state board is divided over whether to add "chronic pain" as one of the approved conditions for registration in Connecticut's medical marijuana program.

The Hartford Courant reports Connecticut is one of the few states with medical marijuana programs that do not include chronic pain as a condition warranting use of cannabis by patients.

The Medical Marijuana Program Board of Physicians made five additions last month to the list of eligible conditions, but put off a decision on chronic pain.

Board member Deepak Cyril D'Souza, a psychiatry professor at Yale University School of Medicine, opposes adding chronic pain, calling it a "very broad and poorly defined clinical entity."

Other board members, including William Zempsky from Connecticut Children's Medical Center, disagree. Zempsky suggests a requirement that patients first attempt other treatments before being approved for medical marijuana.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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