I would like to share my thoughts on medical marijuana.

First I do believe it can provide relief for certain patience and am not opposed to the prescription and dispensing. What I do not understand is why a controlled substance is dispensed by people other than a licensed pharmacist.

Any laws regarding dispensing marijuana should require a licensed pharmacist only can fill the prescriptions. All dispensaries must be staffed by licensed pharmacist. Also all drugs sold must have the units of the drug in the prescription. Example, aspirin – you can buy 100 mg, 200 mg, 300 mg, 500 mg, etc.

I believe that dispensaries or drug stores must provide proper labeling of the drug dispensed, the patient’s name and dose prescribed by their doctor on a label and actual units of the active ingredients. This can vary greatly from plant to plant so testing machines should be on site and monitored and regularly calibrated.

I cannot go into a drug store and buy test strips to monitor my blood sugar levels without a prescription. Yet while waiting two hours for my prescription to be filled for my test strips, I can buy as much marijuana as I want from a dispensary after getting a prescription from a doctor for having pain in my finger from sticking it with a lance to get blood for blood sugar testing. Something is very wrong here.

It could benefit the whole community to make dispensaries comply with laws of dispensing a controlled substance. Just maybe more people will be employed to build testing equipment, or will go to school to be a pharmacist if this is what they want to do, not drop out of school to grow marijuana or work at a dispensary.

Drug testing should also be a requirement so the pharmacist is not using the controlled substance while at work. Also they should have proper liability insurance to cover mistakes in providing a controlled substance.

Another point is the tasting rooms involved with medical marijuana. Could you imagine going into a drug store and asking for a sample of Valium, Codeine, OxyContin and generics – it won’t happen.

If we are going to call marijuana medicine then it should be treated that way.

Randy Knibb lives in Kelseyville.