Oregon Expands List of Providers to Sign Cards

Starting January 2, 2022, the list of those who can now sign an APS will include, Naturopathic physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Clinical Nurse Specialists, and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists.

This change was long overdue and will give patients greater flexibility when enrolling in, or renewing, an Oregon Medical Marijuana Program card especially in underserved communities and areas. Providers who could sign these forms were previously restricted to only M.D.’s or D.O.’s.especially in areas underserved by MD’s or DO’s.

The law also extends the protection from licensing boards taking disciplinary actions agains any of these providers for making recommendations for the use of cannabis to mitigate a debilitating condition or a sypmtom thereof. The ldegislation also provided protection for nurses who may discuss “the medical use of marijuana with a person with whom the nurse has a patient-provider relationship.”

The protection offered these healthcare professionals is important to ensure Oregon’s licensing boards allow providers to evaluate, discuss, and recommend cannabis as beneficial in the treatment of debilitating conditions for those in their care without fear of adversely affecting their licenses for making these recommendations.

The next important step on the agenda for patient advocates is will be passing legislation that would use the list of qualifying conditions as only a guideline for recommendations for the use of cannabis and to allow doctors, Nurses, PA’s and others to recommend cannabis for any condition within the scope of their licensed practice. This flexibility would allow cannabis to be recommended for sleeplessness, mental health disorders and other conditions hard to encompass in a single list.