Welcome to AIMLegal.org

Frank H. Lucido M.D.
2300 Durant Avenue
Berkeley, Ca, 94704
510-848-0958
drfrank@drlucido.com
www.MedBoardWatch.com
www.DrLucido.com

General and Family Practice: Your Family Doctor since 1979
Medical Cannabis Consultant Since 1996
Expert Witness for Patients and Physicians/Courtroom Testimony
Lecturer on “Medical Cannabis: Medicine, Politics, and the Law”
Founder of MedicalBoardWatch.com
Founder of AIMLegal.org

Call 510-848-0958
for an appointment,
and tell my staff
it's for a medical cannabis evaluation.

Safe and Appropriate Recommendations
For a Safe and Effective Medicine

Any patient with good documentation of ongoing care of their serious illness or symptom should obtain their recommendation from an experienced physician, with a reputation for giving the best medical-legal consultation available.

I have been performing medical-cannabis evaluations since the passage of the CCUA of 1996, and I have successfully defended patients in court. More often, I have been able to help patients avoid legal expenses by speaking with law enforcement, attorneys, employee health officers, and even judges on the phone, or by writing authoritative letters.

Included in my fee are:

Consultation (45 minute first appointment; 30 minute yearly follow-up re-evaluation)
Recommendation for up to one year (if the patient’s use of medical cannabis is appropriate under the California law and the patient has met all my other requirements, which are described at the time of scheduling the appointment).
Brief telephone conferences with law enforcement, attorneys, employee health officers, etc, as needed, to verify validity of the recommendation.
Thorough knowledge of the medical and legal aspects of cannabis so as to be able to testify in support of my patient in a court of law, and the willingness to do so.

My requirements are designed to be most protective of patient’s PHYSICAL health, and MEDICAL-LEGAL health, and be MOST defensible to law enforcement.

Dr. Lucido's published practice standards at:
http://www.medboardwatch.com/implementation-of-7-year-plan.htm and at:
http://www.ccrmg.org/journal/04spr/medicalpractice.html

Initial Survey Results

A physician’s approval to use cannabis should be appropriate, credible, and ultimately, a bullet-proof vest, not a "fig leaf."

Purpose: to help patients and patient advocates, caregivers, attorneys, doctors, etc. differentiate between the wide variance in medical-legal protection offered by the many medical cannabis physician consultants now in practice,

many of whom have excellent EXPERIENCE, ETHICS and practice STANDARDS and offer superior MEDICAL-LEGAL PROTECTION;
but some of whom offer a MINIMALIST "fig-leaf", cursory, quick-in, quick-out "encounter", and are more likely to be an embarrassment should they need to defend a patient to law enforcement.

I HAVE SURVEYED THE PRACTICE STANDARDS OF ABOUT 2 DOZEN of the more visible medical cannabis physicians, and find:

the MAJORITY to be knowledgeable, ethical, and credible. (Remember: according to California NORML, over 1500 doctors in California have written at least one recommendation.) Unfortunately, as in any field, whether medicine, politics, business, journalism, there are a few "LOW STANDARDS" practitioners. (As I have pointed out before, cannabis is so safe and effective that even the lowest standard doctor I have heard of has not harmed a patient, and probably never will.) In spite of that, due to the irrational drug war, we will still have inappropriate actions by law enforcement, necessitating patients, caregivers, and physicians to be MORE careful, and MORE thoughtful to patient medical-legal protection, rather then LESS.

Findings of my initial survey

I found a VERY wide range of services, fees, and other qualities. Qualities include: ethics, credibility, and time and effort taken by the medical consultant to establish medical-legal protection.

Range of standards:

Time spent with patient:

--from 3-15 minutes "fig-leaf", assembly line, minimalist standards --to those who schedule 45-60 minutes for a first appointment, and 30 minutes for yearly follow-up.

Fees:

$100-250 (Ironically, the worst and most embarrassing minimalist work was done by those who charged $100, AND by those who charged $250.00! So cost didn't seem to be the best test of protection. (my sound bite for this level of garbage is "A $50 value for only $100-250!".) Avoid it as all costs, especially if you are a legitimate patient, and/or growing your own medicine for yourself or another patients)

Pre-requirements of "documentation of diagnosis":

from None
to Yearly follow-up by your own doctor to establish a defensible, credible, record of documentation should you be challenged by inappropriate or overzelous law enforcement. Remember, this is all about your proof of medical need: a papertrail that shows you have a legitimate illness.

Ethics in advertising, and increasing "business".

The worst cases of this involve doctors working out of dispensaries. A major "no-no" that loses for physicians, and their employees, and their patients, the full protection of Conant v. Walters. The next worst are the doctors who "no longer do this", pretending they don't, but still have a cross-referring of patients. There is a reason that this is even illegal when one does it with a "legitimate" pharmacy, such as Walgreen's or Long's.

I encourage legitimate patients to consult with reputable doctors with good standards, and to avoid the rash of low standards "clinics" that have opened up next to many dispensaries.

EMAIL ME for further information at:

DrFrank@DrLucido.com for any further questions about standards. I am also soliciting patient reports of any adverse experiences with their medical cannabis consultant, or with law enforcement.

General Information

There are a number of illnesses or symptoms which can be an appropriate use for medical cannabis under California Health and Safety Code 11362.5 (California Compassionate Use Act of 1996 or Prop 215), if it is truly helping you.
(See: http://www.medboardwatch.com/my-acceptable-standards.htm)

This law is quite specific in applying to "seriously ill Californians". I will need some documentation of your diagnosis. I will also require that you have ongoing care with your physician for your condition. You will also have to have a valid California ID or driver's license, and you must be 21 years of age. (Any exceptions to these requirements above must be discussed with the doctor before making appointment.)

Call 510-848-0958 for an appointment, and tell my staff it's for a medical cannabis evaluation.

peace and health,
Frank Lucido M.D.
www.MedicalBoardWatch.com
www.DrLucido.com

PS: NOTE: we don't accept insurance for medical cannabis evaluations. Also NOTE: A medical cannabis evaluation does not constitute primary
care. It is assumed that you already have a primary care practitioner. If not, I am advising you to obtain one.

PPS: No one may give or obtain a "prescription" for marijuana/cannabis. Under California's Compassionate Use Act, it may be appropriate for a physician to "recommend" or "approve" cannabis use by a patient. This involves giving a medical opinion as to whether cannabis might be helpful in a specific case.We cannot "prescribe" cannabis in the sense of directing you to use it, nor will we help you to obtain cannabis or direct you to sources of cannabis.

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