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Dr. Kweis Ntiforo

(Courtesy of Kwesi Intiforo)

GREENFIELD — As marijuana dispensaries are getting ready to open their doors for business, a Baystate Franklin Medical Center doctor has been certified by the state to approve the use of the drug for his patients.

Dr. Kwesi Ntiforo divides his practice between his main office in New York and Baystate, where he works part-time. Recently, he opened his own Greenfield office, DocsConsult Medical, where he can certify patients for marijuana use.

It works like this: Ntiforro does not give prescriptions for the drug. Instead he certifies its use for up to 60 days for patients, making their possession of it legal, as long as it does not exceed a certain amount.

"This is the thing a lot of people don't understand," Ntiforo said in a telephone interview. "I don't prescribe per se, but I say the use is valid and beneficial."

Ntiforo, who does not use marijuana himself, said he became persuaded of its benefits by treating veterans out of his New York office, where he received referrals from the Veterans Administration.

"Veterans stay functional by using marijuana," he said.

Research, most of it done in Europe, confirms this, said Ntiforo.

"These are people who lay down their lives for their country, and I don't feel they are treated as they should be treated," he said.

Before medical marijuana use was legal on New York, some of Ntiforo's patients had it illegally. When it was legalized in Massachusetts by way of a ballot question, Ntiforo decided to avail veterans here of his services. Despite its proven benefits for medical conditions such as multiple sclerosis and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as psychological ones like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, some patients still shy away from the drug.

"In this day and age it's a huge stigma," he said.

In his New York practice, Ntiforo treated a Catholic priest who was reluctant to use marijuana. He asked the priest if he would have similar reservations about using a prescribed narcotic like Oxycodone.

Although his office is open to all patients, Ntiforo said the veterans he sees are still special to him.

"I try to help the people who feel closest to my heart," he said.