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In a state where marijuana is fully legal, a doctor uses marijuana tincture 3 times per month in evenings after work around time of her menses. She was working part time at a hospital. Was asked by hospital to work full time. She said okay.

They said, “You’ll have to do an employee physical and that will include a drug test.”

She said, “Just so you know I’m using marijuana tincture 3 times per month around my menses after work, never at work.”

They say no problem whatsoever. Just go do the test. Test comes back positive for THC.

Hospital lawyer is like ummm . . . “Just go get cleared by the PHP.”

She just sort of blindly submits (and this unfortunately happens all the time that people who have no knowledge of PHPs through no fault of their own they just don’t know anything about them). Then what happens is what happened to this woman. PHP says she’s got to go out of state for a 4-day evaluation at a cost of $6,000.

She says, “What? Wait a second.” Then (realizing she’ll lose her career if she refuses) agrees to go.

I read the records so this is not second hand. They did a hair sample which showed no THC (hair samples provide a 90-day window), diagnosed her with severe marijuana dependence, and said you need to stay here for 60 days at a cost of $60,000.”

She said, “I can’t do that. I’m the first person in my family who has gone to med school. I’m 3 years out of training. I can’t afford that.”

They said, “Isn’t your career worth it?”

She said, “I’m going to think about it.”

The second she started to walk away, that program called her PHP and said she was noncompliant. PHP called the board of medicine in her state and said she’s noncompliant. Board forced her to sign a “voluntary” agreement not to practice. She did that. She hasn’t worked as a doctor in the last 7 or 8 years.

Per J. Wesley Boyd, MD, PhD, Psychiatrist, Director of Education in the Center of Bioethics at Harvard Medical School.

View full podcast interview here.

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