{"id":30697,"date":"2018-08-30T11:37:44","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T16:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=30697"},"modified":"2018-09-07T09:16:20","modified_gmt":"2018-09-07T14:16:20","slug":"the-shadow-of-the-opioid-crisis-looms-over-doctors-considering-medical-marijuana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2018\/08\/30\/the-shadow-of-the-opioid-crisis-looms-over-doctors-considering-medical-marijuana\/","title":{"rendered":"The shadow of the opioid crisis looms over doctors considering medical marijuana"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jackie Fortier \/ StateImpact<\/p>\n

Dr. William Yarborough, right, speaks with patient Richard Potts at the Oklahoma Pain and Wellness Center in Tulsa.<\/p>\n<\/div>

William Yarborough walks across the hall from his office to an exam room. His Hawaiian shirt and matching khaki pants aren\u2019t the typical doctor\u2019s garb. <\/span><\/p>

As he opens the door, the informality is reflected in the <\/span>Oklahoma Pain and Wellness Center<\/span><\/a>\u2019s,grey-and-white exam room where Richard Potts sits on a black leather chair \u2014 instead of an exam table \u2014 waiting to talk to him. What follows is a conversation that Yarborough estimates he has about 20 times a day at the after State Question 788 passed in June. <\/span><\/p>

\u201cDr. Yarborough, do you think the medical marijuana would help, not the pain, but the muscle spasms and stuff?\u201d Potts asks. <\/span><\/p>

\u201cWell I can\u2019t really say for sure, one way or another since we don\u2019t really have the studies,\u201d Yarborough said.
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