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Would-be patients in the Tulsa area have few options for providers able and willing to sign medical marijuana recommendations, and that may be due to major health care systems telling their doctors not to talk to patients about cannabis treatment options.

Individuals seeking patient licenses are reporting that they’ve been turned away from their primary care providers within the Saint Francis and Oklahoma State University Medical Center systems.

A Saint Francis Health System spokeswoman said in a statement: “Warren Clinic’s provider contracts and our hospitals’ bylaws require that physicians follow both state and federal laws governing the practice of medicine. … To this end, Warren Clinic physicians and providers are not able to endorse or promote the use of cannabis with their patients.”

“Schedule I drugs lack clinical evidence for therapeutic purposes,” a statement from OSU Medical Center states. “To this end, OSUMC physicians and providers are not able to endorse or promote the use of cannabis with their patients.”

Integris and Hillcrest health care systems have a more open policy regarding how their physicians handle patients and medical marijuana, with the former allowing the decision to be made by individual providers.