Beginning in 2015, Georgia lawmakers recognized cannabis as a treatment for patients with qualifying medical conditions. However, you may not realize that this includes all patients receiving hospice care.
At Georgia Marijuana Card, our expert team will compassionately guide you through the process of becoming an official medical marijuana cardholder. Meanwhile, we’re also an expert source of information on the ways cannabis can enhance your wellbeing at every stage of life.
Read on to learn more about how medical marijuana can bring peace and pain relief to individuals receiving hospice care.
What exactly is hospice care?
Patients typically enter hospice care once they have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Rather than being a unique diagnosis, terminal illness is the term used to describe any potentially life-threatening medical condition that is no longer responding to conventional medical treatment.
The goal of hospice care is to make terminally ill patients as comfortable as possible as they approach the end of life. Some hospices admit patients to a medical facility. Others send healthcare workers directly to a patient’s home.
Hospice care may involve helping patients make arrangements for their estate, as well as helping patients cope with the intense anxiety, depression, and physical pain that often accompany terminal illness.
While no doctor can say for certain how long a terminally ill patient will live, the average time is 6 months or less. Hospice care can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks, and it can be renewed if a patient survives 6 months but continues to show signs of advanced disease.
How does medical marijuana benefit Georgia’s hospice patients?
All Georgia hospice patients are qualified to possess up to 20 ounces of cannabis oil that contains no more than 5 percent delta 9 THC. Meanwhile, legislation has been introduced to enact a comprehensive medical marijuana program in Georgia.
While consuming a full spectrum of cannabinoids offers the most potential benefits for hospice patients, the low THC oil still contains a powerful dose of CBD, which relieves pain, stimulates appetite, and can reduce anxiety and depression. The result is a broad-scale improvement in terminally ill patients’ quality of life.
Thanks to medical marijuana, hospice patients may avoid heavy sedation with opiates while experiencing a significant level of psychological and physical relief. This enables them to participate more actively in their end of life care and to have meaningful experiences with loved ones.
Within a culture that typically feels uncomfortable discussing terminal illness and death, medical marijuana offers the potential for positive change accepting and navigating the inevitability of our mortality.
How do hospice patients apply for medical marijuana cards?
Before being diagnosed with a terminal illness and entering hospice, patients typically live many years with chronic medical conditions. Many of these qualify for treatment with Georgia’s low THC medical cannabis oil.
If you have one of Georgia’s qualifying conditions, or even think that you might have some symptoms, it pays to go ahead and register for a medical marijuana card. This way you can receive the benefits of medical marijuana absolutely as long as possible.
Alternatively, Georgia allows patients’ caregivers to register as cardholders. Caregiver registration may be the best method of obtaining care once a patient has already entered hospice care.
Ready to register for your Georgia medical marijuana card?
When you or your loved one is facing a terminal illness, receiving medical marijuana should not be a source of additional stress.
As a result, Georgia Marijuana Card will guide patients and caregivers through each step of the process with clarity, efficiency, and compassion.
Give us a call at 833-781-5605, or visit our website, to schedule an appointment and qualify for your Georgia medical marijuana card today.