While some may think that smoking marijuana is a personal thing that does not need to be disclosed to anyone, it does however need to be disclosed to your anesthesiologist.
Colorado state’s surgeons, nurses and anesthesiologists are pushing for users to tell their doctors about their marijuana use.
Roughly 17 percent of Coloradans said they used marijuana in the previous 30 days in 2017, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
“It has been destigmatized here in Colorado,” said Dr. Andrew Monte, an associate professor of emergency medicine and medical toxicology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and UCHealth. “We’re ahead of the game in terms of our ability to talk to patients about it. We’re also ahead of the game in identifying complications associated with use.”
A small study of Colorado patients back in May found that marijuana users required more than triple the amount of one common sedation medicine, propofol, as did nonusers.
“We really don’t want patients to feel like there’s stigma. They really do need to divulge that information,” said Linda Stone, a certified registered nurse anesthetist in Raleigh, N.C. We are just trying to make sure that we provide the safest care.”
