Marijuana was a secret I kept from others growing up. I remember a conversation with my primary care Doctor after graduating from medical school. One of the screening questions was "any other drug use?" After a brief pause, I told him I used Marijuana. He paused for a much longer time & told me, "I am going to pretend like I did not hear that." Another experience I observed was a professor of mine a physician was found to have a small amount of Marijuana in his jacket pocket at the hospital and was forced to pay for his own rehabilitation before he could work there again and was working under a restricted medical license. For these among many other reasons Marijuana was going to be my secret. Something I would never discuss with anyone. 

I worked in Emergency Medicine for many years. This was a stressful life & I did not handle the stress as well as I could have. I was overweight, not exercising, and enjoyed alcohol more than what was healthy for me. My younger brother Josh took his life after a life long struggle with alcohol. From the grief of that loss I slowly was able to get rid of alcohol. 2 years after my brother Josh's death I broke my arm which led me to find I had eaten myself into Diabetes. Having been able to stop drinking I was ready to change my diet and change my exercise routine. Pirate, my dog, came into my life around that same time. He is more social than I am which has helped me as well as has his endless energy for hiking around the hills and streets of Morrison. After 2 years of my new diet and exercise, I have eaten my way out of Diabetes. I am no longer diabetic. 

Medical Marijuana (MMJ) has been a big part of my personal transition. It gives me the patience and the fortitude to try new things. To try to do something you are sure you can't do. I have seen this in other people as well. I see people getting rid of prescription medications they have been on for years or decades. People getting off of pain meds, muscle relaxers, anxiolytics, antidepressants, sleeping meds & several psychiatric medications. My personal favorite substance that people including myself have quit using MMJ is alcohol. I don't tell people they should quit using meds. They ask me how to get off of them. People don't want to be on an ever-expanding list of medications all with side effects. I have watched as thousands of patients make changes in their lives and their medications every year. 

Doc Morrison is a realization of my dreams and personality. I realized the application process is confusing and so from the very beginning one of our biggest priorities at Doc Morrison is making sure patients make it through the complicated application process with as little frustration as possible. I realized that many doctors do not listen to their patients. So I listen. I have found MMJ to be mainly helpful but have found some areas of concern including using lungs as part of the delivery and using too much THC. I share these experiences & concerns with all my patients. Doc Morrison started in 2014. My practice has grown since then, mainly by word of mouth. I have developed broad experience with the different ways of getting MMJ into your body and the various active ingredients in MMJ and share this information with my patients. I am a fan of the Edibles and encourage them for my patients. 

With COVID19 being a part of our reality Doc Morrisons has been ahead of the curve in terms of Telemedicine. I love my office. I love meeting people face to face. The world as we know it changed in March 2020. I feel Telemedicine will be a part of my practice forever. I see many patients who live far from my office and some who are ill enough that they can not or should not leave the comfort of their home. I wrote several letters & phone calls to Governor Polis begging to allow us to use Telemedicine. Telemedicine has been wonderful. People thank us daily for allowing a safe, convenient way of seeing an MD to learn about & use Medical Marijuana. 

I have had the privilege of working with many people who have helped make this the best experience of my life. I have met wonderful patients who teach me about life every day. Amazing mountains climbed literally and as well mountains of illness and pain. I meet people every day who make me want to be better, try harder, complain less, and live every day as if it may be your last. Here is to all of those people. Thank You for helping me to be my best self.