Recent vote on cannabis in Cherokee causing legal, medical hesitation

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — An operation based out of Cherokee could provide medical marijuana to patients across North Carolina, according to our partners at WLOS in Asheville.

Over the coming weeks, hundreds of medical cannabis patient cards will be headed to North Carolinians who have applied to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) medical cannabis program.

“Just because Cherokee has decided it wants to do this, it doesn’t mean it can speak on behalf of the state of North Carolina. It can’t, or on behalf of the federal government,” Asheville attorney Stephen Lindsay, of the Lindsay Law firm, told WLOS.

The Cherokee’s Cannabis Control Board will reach out to approved patients within the next week. Currently, hundreds of applications are awaiting further information, WLOS reports.

An investigation done by WLOS took a look at legal concerns following the recent approval from the tribe for adult or recreational cannabis.

Currently, the line between North Carolina residents looking for medical marijuana and cannabis on tribal land near Coopers Creek in Swain County is the location for a health professional’s signature, WLOS reports.

The tribe’s Cannabis Control Board’s application form requires documentation of one of 18 conditions and a healthcare professional’s signature. Over 750 people have applied, but incomplete forms have caused the board to reach out to hundreds of applicants, according to WLOS.

A recent thread on Reddit concerning Cheroke’s marijuana program shows certain physicians being hesitant when it comes to providing their signatures for patients, WLOS reports.

A WLOS producer let a crew join her as she headed to her yearly checkup, where she planned to ask about medical marijuana and whether or not the use of it would help her.

“The biggest thing was having trouble sleeping, and we kind of went from there,” the WLOS producer told her doctor.

While at the annual appointment, she brought up issues around anxiety, and if those symptoms met the criteria for a disorder, she was soon met with more questions from her doctor.

“Asking a lot more about my day-to-day life and the things I had already done to try to, you know, like, help with relaxing and kind of calming down at the end of the day,” the producer said.

By the end of the appointment, WLOS reported their producer was steered away from the use of medical cannabis by her health provider.

“She leaned more toward natural options that weren’t anything with cannabis or anything like that,” the producer said to WLOS.

WLOS reached out to mountain area health systems, but many wouldn’t address whether they’re discussing signing off on medical cannabis forms with physicians.

Another post on Reddit showed a cancer doctor, based in Hendersonville, who had readily filled out the forms, WLOS reports.

Local holistic physicians would not return calls; instead, WLOS reached out to Lindsay regarding the silence from health systems. Years ago, Lindsay was the lawyer for a doctor convicted of distributing marijuana to patients.

“As long as this gray area, if you will call it that, is out there, I think physicians are going to be reluctant to do something that could be helpful to their patients,” Lindsay told WLOS.

Lindsay went on to explain the two major legal concerns that may be making doctors hesitant to sign off on their patients’ applications.

“From a legal perspective, it’s still unlawful in many states, including North Carolina, right? So, when you have a physician who gets a form where they know this form is going to be used by a patient to purchase or obtain something that’s illegal, two concerns come to mind: one is their license to practice medicine in North Carolina going to think about this,” Lindsay said.

WLOS reports that the state’s medical board has not had “any requests for supportive statements regarding medical cannabis,” and it “has not taken a position” on the matter.

Florida’s medical cannabis program and its state’s Board of Medicine created both training and guidelines for medical staff, including warnings that violators will face consequences, WLOS reports.

“Secondly,” Lindsay told WLOS, “they got a concern about maybe they’re going to get charged. They have taken a step by signing this form to help somebody obtain an illegal substance. Even if it’s not going to be enforced, there’s got to be a concern.”

Over in Wisconsin, tribes have legalized cannabis, but the state has not; the programs are adult-use programs removing medical requirement concerns, WLOS says.

ECBI’s latest vote to approve a recreation/adult-use program is one step closer to the current state in Wisconsin, but currently, with only a medical program in place, your doctor may hesitate or provide alternatives to medical marijuana.

“When you get a form like this and you realize it’s going to be used by somebody for medical care and it’s medical care you’re not directly supervising, wouldn’t you be concerned?” Lindsay said.

(WATCH BELOW: Western NC reservation votes to legalize possession of marijuana)

Western NC reservation votes to legalize possession of marijuana

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