Are you supposed to tell your doctor if you smoke weed?

[Portasaurus]

Always wondered if you're supposed to tell your doc if you enjoy dope or not.

I figure this community is probably a good place to ask for real-life experience with this dilemma.

I've attached a poll to help collect the responses. I briefly considered adding a "Bush smoked some asmag before knocking down T1 and T2" option, but then people would just vote for that and effectively not answer the poll. So yeah.

Thanks for your input!

[loramin]

I do all the time (and not just to the doc who gives me my weed prescription).

Let me put it like this:

A) the doc is bound by law (patient confidentiality) not to tell anyone (unless maybe it's a felony or something ... not sure about the details, but don't tell your doc you deal heroin and you'll be fine)
B) would you want to die because you didn't tell your doctor about a drug that interferes with the one he just prescribed to you? (not sure such a drug even exists, but I'd rather be safe than sorry)

Usually when I tell the doc it's because he/she asked "Do you smoke", and when I reply "Just weed" they laugh and move on to the next question.

[Millburn]

Originally Posted by loramin [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

B) would you want to die because you didn't tell your doctor about a drug that interferes with the one he just prescribed to you? (not sure such a drug even exists, but I'd rather be safe than sorry)

I agree with you but it should be noted that doctors generally aren't aware of potential prescription contraindications. If anything this is an argument to tell your pharmacist you smoke weed. :P

[Big_Japan]

Pro tip: there is virtually nothing useful medically about knowing someone smokes weed. If you're going in for respiratory or psychosomatic problems, or you're older with cardiovascular issues, then maybe at that point. But you shouldn't be smoking weed daily at that point, you fucking degenerate.

Telling your doc you use drugs is wayyyy more likely to affect his judgment in prescribing drugs with abuse potential than to improve the care you get.

And if you think that shit stored in electronic medical records is actually confidential I've got a bridge to sell ya.

[Skittlez]

Originally Posted by Big_Japan [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Pro tip: there is virtually nothing useful medically about knowing someone smokes weed. If you're going in for respiratory or psychosomatic problems, or you're older with cardiovascular issues, then maybe at that point. But you shouldn't be smoking weed daily at that point, you fucking degenerate.

Telling your doc you use drugs is wayyyy more likely to affect his judgment in prescribing drugs with abuse potential than to improve the care you get.

And if you think that shit stored in electronic medical records is actually confidential I've got a bridge to sell ya.

Spoken like a true addict.

[feanan]

If you want the fact that you smoke pot to be permanently in an electronic file somewhere that the government has access to...than yes.

[2pacalypse]

the amount of submission to perceived medical authority in this thread is pretty comical. Do some research on marijuana drug interactions; they don't exist outside of subjective effects when taking antipsychotics.

It's useless information and exposes you to the potential prejudices of the doc, altering his prescribing practices not on the basis of proper medical care but out of liability management. This effect can be overt or hidden; extant or not. Medicine is a business first, and it has to function within the Empire. It's a political reality related to the drug war and is less of a problem in some US states than in others, so your mileage may indeed vary.

When you start to feel sick the first confounding variable you need to remove is drug use. I don't really get how you could need to say to a doc that you smoke weed unless you're a degenerate daily weedsmoker who is allowing addiction to fuck with his health. If you're not at that point, why would you choose to have this datapoint added to your NSA file?

[Swish]

Just finish with "snitches get stitches" and you'll be good.

[khanable]

Don't lie to your doctor or your lawyer

Everyone else is fair game

[myriverse]

Originally Posted by khanable [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Don't lie to your doctor or your lawyer

Everyone else is fair game

Yes. It's important that a doctor know these things for diagnoses.

Just know that the Feds do not recognize doctor-patient confidentiality. Generally, it's an ethics thing, not a legal one, but many jurisdictions do honour it, as long as there's no threat to others.