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The Legalization Of Medical Marijuana

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The legalization of medical marijuana has brought into question various components of medical care for advance practice nurses (as well as others within the larger healthcare profession). In addition to navigating the legal complexities of care associated with this particular method, advance practice nurses must understand prescriptive rights, best practices for us and how statutory language as it is currently written has been amended for medical use. This is a growing movement in the healthcare sector and one that will continue to evolve as legalization continues to be a large part of the national health care conversation. Advance practice nurses, as professionals that can and often do prescribe medication, must be knowledgeable about the parameters surrounding prescriptive rights. Moreover, they are required to know the latest information from a legalization perspective in order to ensure professional boundaries are not being crossed in the process of helping patients. Background Medical marijuana is characterized by the use of an unprocessed, unaltered marijuana plant that is used whole or through extracts in order to treat medical conditions (National Institute on Drug Abuse 2015). It should be noted that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved marijuana as a form of medical treatment (National Institute on Drug Abuse 2015). Conversely, however, the FDA has approved two medications with some of the same chemicals found in marijuana – cannabinoids –

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