This letter is a warning to every chronic pain patient in North Carolina. As of March, physicians can no longer prescribe opioid medication to their patients. Chronic pain sufferers must now go to “pain clinics,” where if marijuana is found in their urine, they will promptly be deprived of the medication they need to function.

Twenty-nine states have passed laws legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. If you, your friends or family members know anyone in these states, ask them to contact their physicians, who in “legal” states would be free to prescribe your pain medication.

The first principle of medicine is do no harm. This basic premise does not matter here in North Carolina. No one should suffer because they cannot get the medication they need.

— Name withheld

Hendersonville