Autumn 2005
O'Shaughnessy's
Journal of the California Cannabis Research Medical
Group
|
Dr. Denney Advises Shasta County
Officials:
Confidentiality Concerns May Keep Patients
From Getting Cards
Philip A. Denney, MD, cannot count the times he has had to
intervene on behalf of patients whose right to medicate with cannabis
has been
sabotaged by Probation and Parole Departments and other government
agencies. Denney has tried, as a concerned citizen and an authority
in his field, to influence policy; but his efforts often fall on deaf
ears.
The letter in the box at right to David A. Reiter, Administrator of
the Alcohol/Drug Program of the Shasta County Department of Mental
Health, typifies Denney’s effort —and the bureaucratic
response. It was written in May and never answered.
Denney is heartened by the CHP’s revised policy on medical marijuana. “Having
worked as a doctor on a jail ward, I know the esteem in which the CHP
is held within the law enforcement community,” he says. “I
hope all concerned follow their lead and make a commitment to abide
by California law.”
Denney has been having “an ongoing battle” with the Department
of Corrections over the right of a Shasta County patient to use cannabis. “They’re
still saying that even though someone has a right to use cannabis,
and even if someone has an I.D. card, they’re still going to
assess each case on a case-by-case basis. In other words, they’re
going to practice medicine by deciding if the condition is ‘serious
enough.’ That, I would argue, is illegal. The appelate court
ruling in the Sparks case makes that very clear: it’s the doctor’s
job to decide whether it’s a serious condtion.
“
In this case the patient went through the process of Shasta County
and actually got an order from a Superior Court judge allowing him
to use cannabis while under court supervision. Someone from the Department
of Corrections told me over the phone they don’t care about the
court order! I said, ‘What do you mean? Are you telling me you’re
going to ignore a court order?’
“
It’s an ongoing fight.”