RECOMMENDING CANNABIS IN NORTH CAROLINA
As a state-licensed and certified neurologist affiliated with a state-licensed hospital, you may recommend or approve, on a case-by-case basis, the use of non-psychoactive hemp extracts acquired by a registered caregiver from another jurisdiction for the treatment of patients that have not responded to three or more treatment options overseen by the neurologist. Under North Carolina law, neurologists meeting these criteria are exempt from all criminal and civil penalties related to recommending the use of cannabis extracts.
In order to register with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services ("DHHS"), the patient's caregiver will need a written statement from you stating:
- the patient has been examined and is under the neurologist's care,
- the patient suffers from intractable epilepsy (epilepsy that has not responded to three or more treatments), and
- the patient may benefit from treatment with hemp extract.
The statement must also include your name, address, and hospital affiliation must be provided to DHHS by the registering caregiver, and DHHS is required to treat this information as confidential.
Eligible Medical Conditions:
- Cancer
- Epilepsy
- HIV/AIDS
- ALS
- Crohn's disease
- Sickle cell anemia
- Parkinson's disease
- PTSD
- Multiple sclerosis
- Cachexia (Wasting Syndrome)
- Severe or persistent nausea (for hospice patients or the bed-bound
Medical professionals have a legal right to recommend cannabis as a treatment in any state, as protected by the First Amendment. Established by a 2004 United States Supreme Court decision to uphold earlier federal court rulings that found doctors and their patients have a fundamental Constitutional right to freely discuss treatment options.
More resources for medical professionals can be found here.
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