Pubdate: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 Source: Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ) Copyright: 2013 The Arizona Republic Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/sendaletter.html Website: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/24 Author: Yvonne Wingett Sanchez STATE TARGETS LAX MEDICAL-POT DOCTORS Arizona health officials want to collect more-nuanced information about medical-marijuana users who claim they suffer from "chronic pain" when seeking pot recommendations as part of an effort to find physicians improperly recommending pot to their patients. Patients seeking permission to use medical marijuana cited chronic pain as a debilitating condition about 26,500 times from July 2012 through June 2013, representing 73 percent of Arizonans who qualified to use the drug. Will Humble, director of the state Department of Health Services, said he wants to more quickly root out physicians who are improperly recommending medical marijuana, and continue intensive training for doctors who recommend pot in high volumes. A new report by the health department analyzed the second year of the state's medical marijuana program and found that a small number of physicians write a big share of the pot recommendations Just several hundred physicians appear to specialize in the recommendation of medicinal cannabis, according to the report, which was released Friday. It said 472 physicians certified 36,346 patients from July 2012 through June 2013. The report found that 99 naturopathic physicians, who combine traditional medicine and natural medical approaches in treating patients, certified 27,275 patients. Seventy-five percent of patient certifications were issued by naturopaths, and just 21 naturopaths were responsible for about 72 percent of certifications by such medical professionals. Medical doctors certified 6,434 patients while osteopaths certified 2,587 patients and three homeopathic physicians certified 50 patients. Humble said he was troubled that so few physicians were writing so many marijuana recommendations. Arizona's medical-marijuana program, narrowly approved by voters in 2010, allows people with certain debilitating medical conditions to use marijuana. They must obtain a recommendation from a physician and register with the state, which issues identification cards to qualified patients and caregivers. Humble reiterated that the numbers raise concerns that patients are seeking recommendations from what he has called "certification mills" instead of primary-care doctors who are generally more well-versed about individual patients' medical histories. "It's a problem that all the states (that allow medical-marijuana use) face: Just a handful of physicians write the certifications," Humble said. "We've got to start doing a better job to broaden the base - and I don't mean writing more certifications - but ... have them be written closer to the patients medical home." Humble said that over the past year, he has lectured at a naturopathic college to help physicians better understand the regulatory process. Regarding a different issue, state health officials could change the way they interpret rules regarding the distance patients must live from medical-marijuana dispensaries in order to grow their own pot. Over time, the vast majority of patients who live within 25 miles of dispensaries have lost permission to legally cultivate pot as dispensaries have opened statewide. The Arizona Department of Health Services, which oversees the program, issues cards that allow patients to use medical marijuana, grow it or both. Those cards must be renewed each year, and those who live within 25 miles of an operating dispensary cannot, in most cases, be allowed to grow the plant. But how the distance is calculated, whether it's "as the crow flies" or "as the car drives," is a key point of controversy. State health officials interpret the rule as the area within a 25-mile radius of a dispensary. Many patients and advocates, however, say the rule should be interpreted as driving distance - actual mileage measured on an odometer driving from one location to another. They argue that the state's interpretation unfairly covers too much ground and bans too many people from growing in their homes. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom