I don't live in the US myself, but I've always wondered why doctors doing house calls was a UK thing but wasn't a North American thing, even in Canada.
Are there real obstacles preventing doctors from making house calls in the US, or is it just tradition to "go see your doctor" instead of them coming to see you?
You can adjust the numbers around a bit but the point remains the same unless you radically change the transit time and the wage by a factor of 10.
Or rather, a health care system where visiting a doctor is free, but house calls are only included in the health care plan if your have a disability that restricts your movement, allowing you to pay for house calls out of pocket if you chose to.
Also: "During Prohibition, Your Doctor Could Write You a Prescription for Booze" http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/during-prohibition-you...
EDIT: A recommendation increases the amount of marijuana or marijuana-based product one can legally possess (strictly speaking, it offers an affirmative defense for people possessing more than the amount authorized by I-502).
Source: http://www.doh.wa.gov/YouandYourFamily/Marijuana/MedicalMari...
If it is merely a matter of keeping more than an ounce legally, the urgency is all but gone, and with it the advantage of the house-call system.
Also I sure as hell wouldn't start a business based on the current state of medical marijuana in Washington state; the system will likely be gutted and reworked relatively soon. Furthermore states that legalize in the future will likely follow Colorado's example more than Washington's.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/06/harvey-family-marij...
(Edit: wording)
There are also different tax and quantity rules around MMJ in Colorado. Medical card holders pay 2% (I think) tax while recreational pay over 20% tax. Medical card holders can also purchase 2oz at a time while recreational users can only buy an ounce at a time. Medical card holders can also grow twice the amount at home than non-card holders.
Until there's no differentiation between medical and recreational MJ, there will still be a need for doctors who are willing to fill out the paperwork for medical cards.
https://www.google.com/search?q=doctor+recommended+cigarette...
The high-availability-doctor/one-stop-shop variety of weed business relies on loose medical laws but draconian recreational laws. Recreational users don't want to shop around for a doctor to approve their "condition", so these businesses do very well for themselves. Legalization, combined with regulation of medical, will remove a large segment of these businesses target audience.
Some people seem to think I am saying that medical marijuana will go away. I am not. I am just saying that these "convenience businesses" cater primarily to recreational users in markets with draconian recreational laws. Those people are their bread and butter.
Do you think that Florida's infamous "pill farm clinics" would still do well if you could buy Vicodin over the counter in 7-11's? Doctors would still be prescribing Vicodin because it is a useful medication, but would those businesses that specialize in getting prescriptions for middle-class addicts stay in business?
http://tobacco.stanford.edu/tobacco_main/images.php?token2=f...
I think the floodgates have opened towards full legalization, but for VC/Investors/Accelerators to invest in a company who's product is illegal -- that's bold. Good for them!
(No, I didn't read it, I simply scanned, I stopped reading after the first sentence. If you cannot bother to tell me in the first sentence why I should continue, I don't. And telling me you visited a website doesn't tell me why you did so. Whatever.)
What does it mean, you ask? That the company described has struck a deal with local physicians to perform on-demand evaluations for medical marijuana prescriptions.
A better headline, less link-baity, would be "Meadow (YC W15) hires doctors for {just in time|on demand|favourite term here} medical marijuana evaluation.
But that wouldn't be as sexy as uberizing, now, would it?
A better headline, less link-baity, would be "Meadow (YC W15) hires doctors for {just in time|on demand|favourite term here} medical marijuana evaluation."
