A New Era of Elder Care: Concierge Cannabis Doctors Make House Calls

For anyone raised during the Reefer Madness propaganda era, the thought of going through the embarrassment of asking their primary care physician to recommend medical marijuana is often more painful than the condition that would make them ask in the first place. For those who muster the courage to ask, the incredulity they might get from a doctor who doesn’t understand how cannabis could help them is enough to make them give up on medical marijuana as an option. In this new era of holistic care, particularly for elderly patients who could benefit the most, concierge cannabis doctors might help new patients bypass the humiliation and get the relief they need.

As a society, we have come to accept that prescription medication is just a part of life. We have come to accept that it comes with adverse side effects, and that there will be more drugs to bring us back into balance. We rarely question a medicine cabinet full of drugs that work with, or against, one another to make us feel better.

Our bodies just aren’t naturally equipped to process synthetic substances. This is particularly true among the elderly. How often have you visited a nursing home to find most patients half sleeping in wheelchairs during the daylight hours? How many times have you wondered if that’s just an affliction of age? Have you ever wondered if that obtunded state is a result of the sedatives and anti-psychotic medications that are routinely prescribed in skilled nursing facilities?

Having dealt with this on a personal level, I witnessed first hand how cannabis can replace some of the most routinely prescribed “maintenance” drugs and vastly improve quality of life for elderly patients without any harmful side effects that would strip them of any dignity.

But how do you convince someone who has a deeply engrained belief that “marihuana” is the “Devil’s Weed” that it could actually be a lifesaver? That’s the topic of today’s show and Phoenix-based concierge cannabis doctor, Nezar “Dr. Naz” Dahdal, M.D. shares his insights about it.

Dr. Nezar Dahdal is a Phoenix-based Internal Medicine specialist who is also board-certified in Palliative and Hospice Medicine. Having cared for patients with life limiting illness throughout his career taught him to pay extra close attention to the wants and needs of critically ill patients and their families. An advocate for cannabis as an alternative to harsh pharmaceutical medicines, he began certifying critically ill patients for medical marijuana as part of his concierge medicine practice several years ago. He remains affiliated with a number of Phoenix-area hospitals and also works with palliative and hospice care organizations.