Doctor: Marijuana is a needed option

Dr. Blick sits in the pharmacy at the Circle Care Center in Norwalk, Conn. Along with synthetic medications, Dr. Blick looks forward to utilizing the benefits of medical marijuana for patients with a variety of medical conditions including cancer, glaucoma and HIV/AIDS. less Dr. Blick sits in the pharmacy at the Circle Care Center in Norwalk, Conn. Along with synthetic medications, Dr. Blick looks forward to utilizing the benefits of medical marijuana for patients with a variety ... more Photo: Autumn Driscoll Photo: Autumn Driscoll Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Doctor: Marijuana is a needed option 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

NORWALK -- There was a personal reason why Dr. Gary Blick became one of the nearly 100 physicians in the state who are licensed to prescribe medical marijuana.

"I did this because my 91-year-old mother, who has glaucoma," he said. "Her glaucoma eye drops had failed to produce the desired results and she was facing surgery."

Glaucoma is a disease in which the eye typically has excessive internal pressure, damaging the nerve fibers of the retina, the delicate tissue at the back of the eye that's sensitive to light and color.

"She was needing surgery to repair her eyes," he said. "But after we started her on medical marijuana, her pressures dropped, and when she stopped smoking marijuana, the pressures went back up again."

He said her testimony in Hartford last year had the legislative committee considering the bill "in stitches," even though her testimony countered testimony of the president of the Connecticut Society of Eye Physicians, who said marijuana would not be helpful to glaucoma patients.

"So one of the senators said, `Are you aware of Gloria Blick's testimony?' To which he replied, `Well, I guess it would help some people.' To which the senator replied, `Isn't that what we're here for?' "

Blick sees medical marijuana as just one of the arsenal of options that physicians should have to ease pain and provide relief for various diseases.

"We're not saying that this is a first-line drug, but rather just another option for people," he said. "My mom spoke for a lot of people who are older, and who may be suffering from glaucoma, cancer, wasting syndrome and chronic pain."

The state limits medical marijuana use to the following conditions: cancer, glaucoma, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, certain cases of spinal cord damage, epilepsy, wasting syndrome, Crohn's disease and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Other conditions may be added later.

"Certainly, there's anecdotal evidence that it's helpful for things like chronic insomnia and chronic pain conditions," he said.

Blick, 57, said that he'd like to see an federal drug study to investigate this further. "At least a quarter of my patients with HIV/AIDS could benefit from this," he said. "There haven't been many large clinical trials because, remember, this is a schedule 1 drug."

He said that work is progressing on alternatives to the time-honored joint for delivering the active ingredient -- delta-9 tetrahydro-cannabinol or THC -- into the bloodstream. As one might expect, many elderly patients aren't thrilled about smoking reefers, even if it gives them relief.

One is a small vaporizer known as GroundClouds that's being manufactured in Bridgeport. Oral ingestion by mixing it with foods, such as brownies, is another option, he said. Still, he said that the field is hampered because transport over state lines remains illegal.

Blick treats about 500 HIV/AIDS patients and another 700 with assorted other chronic conditions. "So it looks like we'll be enrolling a minimum of 125 and probably upwards of 250 in medical marijuana treatment," he said.

He said he was "happy but not surprised" that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed the bill into law.

"When (then-Gov. M. Jodi) Rell refused to sign the medical marijuana bill, I was disappointed, but not surprised."

But there remains resistance in the medical community to the idea.

"A lot of patients will be going from physician to physician to look for someone who can help them with medical marijuana," he said. "With anything that's new and out on the fringe, yes, there's a lot resistance to it."

jburgeson@ctpost.com; 203-330-6403; http://twitter.com/johnburgeson