LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The head of a family clinic has become the first doctor in the capital city to write medical marijuana certifications, and he makes house calls.
Dr. Archie Hearne is one of about two dozen doctors across the state serving patients.
They charge anywhere from $150 to $250 per certification.
The Arkansas Department of Health has approved more than 3,000 Arkansans to buy medical marijuana. Dr. Hearne has seen about 200 of those.
“The word gets around,” said Hearne. “But I haven’t been bombarded by 100 calls a day.”
Only a quarter of the people Dr. Hearne wrote medical marijuana certifications for were his patients.
Many traveled much farther to get the piece of paper needed to treat their cancer, neuropathy, PTSD and seizure disorders. Most were older than 50.
“These people are professional people,” Hearne said. “I don’t get a flood of young people coming in here, saying, ‘I want to be certified.’ I don’t see it.”
Dr. Hearne has done some driving himself, making house calls in Pine Bluff and Hot Springs.
“That’s a courtesy,” he said. “That’s what I’ve always done. If you can do something for somebody, you’ve got to do it.”
But the capital city’s first pot doc wants to stress he only educates patients. He doesn’t recommend or prescribe the drug.
“I refuse to because I operate under a certain standard, under the standard of the FDA,” Hearne said. “If it’s FDA approved, I can write it, I can prescribe it, I can monitor it.”
Dr. Hearne doesn’t expect that to happen until recreational marijuana is approved federally.
“I think the federal government will step in and say, ‘Well, we not only want to regulate this but also get some of the revenue that’s being generated by it,'” he said.
Certified patients will receive their card one month before dispensaries open.
The Medical Marijuana Commission plans to award those licenses in late April.
credit:fox16.com
