Here's the problem in the US as I see it. Medical cannabis should be Federally legal and doctors should be allowed to prescribe it. If that were the case, we could deduct it on our tax returns just like we can with ANY supplement that a doctor prescribes as medically necessary. The dispensary I use is very accurate in dosage amounts. Big pharmacy can't stand not getting the profits. Their argument is that the products being sold are not tested as rigorously as "prescriptions" are tested. Charlotte's Web has been effective in treating epilepsy for years. We have a big problem with the insurance industry and big pharmacy here and, until that is fixed, we'll wait years for approval.
When I buy medical cannabis or just Charlotte's web, I know exactly what fillers are in it and I know which products are organic. Lately, one of my drugs started coming from India and it's a different color. It doesn't "feel" like the same drug. The pharmacist couldn't tell me what was in it besides the active ingredient. Why? After a few weeks I wasn't sleeping so I asked my doctor to prescribe the brand name. It was expensive but effective. I decided to pursue the matter further. I called a retired psychiatrist friend and he told me that particular drug, in some generic forms, "has issues." He really didn't know why but when it went generic many of his patients could no longer tolerate it. They were switched back to the brand and did fine. My point is that many generics are not as "regulated" as we are led to believe. People can and do react to the fillers.
Our healthcare and taxation systems are very intertwined. I've done my pro-forma tax return for this year and I will pay a higher marginal tax rate and more gross taxes than last year because of their greedy corporate welfare tax changes simply because I itemize deductions and I've lost my personal exemption.
When cannabis becomes legal on a recreational basis at the Federal level, they will tax it like cigarettes and find a way to make it cost prohibitive. I hope that proper legislation is passed in order to keep "medically necessary" cannabis available and make insurance companies pay for it.