Don't Get High….. Get Well

Every month I pay around $850 to Blue Shield. I have a pretty typical PPO plan, which means it sucks and it is way too expensive. I have previously blogged on StateWide.EVERYTHING as a Collective, Co-op, or community. In reality, it seems to me we are quickly on our way to completing the community part and already have dozens of patients signed up; we need thousands.

So, yes, even as a physician, I am stating that I advise as a “backup” or “Plan B”, STW as being necessary. Also, SWC has no down side that I can see. I am not “supposed” to advise on a collectives, and rarely do I recommend one; however, this is an exception and a huge part of this exception is based upon the title of this blog. I can now easily see a way in which, with under 100 members of the “community”, we can obtain 50% discounts on our typical high end PPO insurance plans. This is something that must be done and can be done. Linking with a collective just begins making it into a total health care delivery system. As a physician, I see a monumental opportunity for my patients. How can I not advise this? I discuss personal “reimbursement” below, as this is a potential issue.

If the group were to grow to 1000, it is possible that we could get rid of deductibles and/or the patients cannabis medications could be included on a monthly basis! Over time, if our “risk profile” improves, our cost savings will be passed to “The Community” or we will ultimately just self-insure. This makes sense to me. Doesn’t it make sense to you?

Our health care system has failed and the same system is trying to take away our dosable “Real” or “CBD” based cannabis medicines; this is a certainty. So, with one easy signup, you plan on:

1. TAKING a big step towards cutting your health insurance costs in half

2. HOPING to make a statement that the “group” is critical now and we must organize in some manner

3. HOPING TO to protect our medicine even as storefronts are closing daily

4. WISHING TO exploring endless other ways of integrating this huge community.

While we are wishing and hoping; please do the right thing for the medical cannabis community and:

1. Continue to support your local collective

2 Signup with Statewidecollective.org and be certain to enter your email address

You can trust that this entire subject is one I have given much thought to over a very long.  This is an aggressive position for a physician to take but I have studied the subject well. I have been to 37 patient pre-trial hearings and trials, always pro-bono. I have been attacked by the State Of California and the Medical Board and have prevailed. I am entirely committed to helping this effort and I believe in the end there is no possible jury to convict a physician for “aiding and abetting” when he never gains by one cent, is improving his patients’ medications and trying to protect them. I owe it to all of you and myself to not participate in any cash flow; EVER. This gives us all great protection. So, to explain this:

Any and all of my efforts, other than seeing patients directly as part of my daily practice, will not be reimbursed in any manner; you can trust this.

I believe my readers by now trust that I am very serious in this blog and that I am very serious with regard to being 100% financially detached from all potential $$ benefits. To begin with, I really don’t care; I just really don’t.

However, in addition, I must remain neutral on two levels and they are eternally interconnected:

1. The search for the best dosable cannabis medicines is a goal that is just way above money – at least in my world.

2. In fact I do have some self interest; if dosable cannabis medications were to disappear, I truly do not believe I could continue doing what I do every day. Once I entered the dosable world, there is just no going back. I would have to leave and do something else and I just don’t want to do that. I do not mean to slight any physicians practicing cannabis medicine and doing great work. I think I was doing great work before CBD, but I am doing much better work now and how does one go back? Should I go back? Should a physician be forced to go back to a poorer treatment plant? I don’t think a jury will find me guilty of aiding and abetting or “medicine manufacturing” for just helping all the right things happen.

Today, I was able to discuss with a patient over the phone, their CBD/THC ratios on two different tinctures he had obtained as well as that increased Mercine, a Terpene, will make him drowsy. When I hung up the phone, I felt a new world had opened up; I had discussed the dose of a Terpene and the mg/spray of his tincture. WOW!

This is worth saving. I can’t think of anything better to do. I believe patients who take dosable cannabis medications seriously and are serious about their health insurance and other SWC potential benefits, should go to:

http://statewidecollective.org and sign up

AND AGAIN

TO DONATE TO A 501C3 putting every penny into research and improving and guarding dosable medicines, please help all of us.