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Medical marijuana dispensaries do business throughout Florida, but have enough mainstream physicians embraced cannabis as medication?
A webinar held by Trulieve, the state’s biggest medical marijuana company, addressed the continued stigmas around the natural drug among medical professionals even as the public embraces cannabis as a remedy to ailments.
With the event taking place as part of National Cancer Survivors Month, Dr. William Troutt, a licensed naturopathic doctor, said the effects of marijuana have long had value among oncologists.
“The nice part is oncologists, as physicians go as a specialty, are typically a lot more open to cannabis than many others because cannabis has been used so prolifically for the nausea and vomiting that goes along with chemotherapy,” he said.
The event included testimony from Amanda Hingson, a Tampa woman who survived three bouts with cancer and now works for Trulieve as general manager of a Tampa Fairgrounds dispensary. She was diagnosed at various points with osteosarcoma, lung recurrence and breast cancer, and became passionate about medical cannabis for its role in improving the quality of life for patients.
She recalled how before being prescribed medical marijuana, she became so malnourished while on a feeding tube during treatment that her weight dropped to 90 pounds.
“I was unable to keep any nutrients in,” she said. “I was, of course, on multiple different pain medications that made me a little aggressive — short temper, angry, emotional — sometimes so bad that I just blacked out and forgot the day. And then a nurse came in one day and gave me a Marinol pill, and it completely changed my outlook on medicine. I was able to eat again.”
The appetite-inducing and pain-relieving aspects of marijuana use grabbed the attention of those treating cancer patients well before a substantial number of states legalized its use. At this point, most states have legalized marijuana use for medical reasons, and a few decriminalized it entirely, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Troutt said the benefits of cannabis for cancer treatment are numerous, from sleep assistance and calming anxieties to helping soothe irritated intestinal tracts and reducing swelling. And it turns out that marijuana can address many of those symptoms of cancer, or cancer treatment, with fewer toxic side effects than many manufactured prescription drugs.
Hingson said at this stage of her life, she won’t use pain or anxiety medications besides cannabis.
“The only pill I take is a hot flash medicine because I’m forced to. Cannabis is the medication of choice and it will forever be my medication of choice,” she said.
“In the morning, I normally start with a one-to-one capsule, so it’s half THC, half CBD. That kind of just helps me get up and moving in the day. My body’s very stiff. I have a metal rod that runs down my back so it’s hard to get up and motivate it. That gets me out of the bed, moving and grooving in the day.”
Troutt said depending on ailment, cannabis products can be induced in different ways for the most appropriate effects, whether that means ingestion, inhalation or other forms of exposure in varying concentrations. He also said marijuana holds psychoactive and sedative effects that all have benefits to the mental and emotional state of patients.
But Troutt acknowledged a reluctance among many medical professionals to consider medicinal qualities beyond cancer treatment.
“Some physicians and oncologists still don’t necessarily feel comfortable in making those recommendations because they are not necessarily trained in all the different cannabis medicines,” he said.
“But if that’s the case, there are some very good cannabis specialists in your area that can come on board as part of the team, to guide patients and make those specific medical cannabis product recommendations for the individual.”
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“}]] Trulieve hosted physicians and cancer survivors for a webinar addressing the stigma of medical marijuana. Read More
