Doctors need a lot more education about cannabis and its benefits, and our country needs to do a lot more large-scale testing. The tests that are out there have been on a very small scale. In this country, they're used to prescribing medicines that have had a whole lot more research and clinical trials than cannabis has. It's been my experience with my med school professors and the doctors we know socially that a good portion of doctors know it has some benefits, but since testing isn't being done on it in this country, most of them feel they don't have anything very current or concrete to go on. Even in states where medical MJ is allowed, patients often still have to seek prescriptions from a tiny group of pro-cannabis docs instead of their regular physicians.

As far as continuing education goes, docs aren't learning about cannabis from classes and seminars since it's not a prescribable drug in the majority of places. They usually learn about the latest research in their fields of medicine, and for docs like surgeons and cardiologists and others who do procedures, they learn about the latest techniques. They can't get fired or found criminally negligent for not attending their required continuing education, but they can lose their licenses or have them refused for renewal.