CRx Podcast

Exploring the Medicinal Benefits of Psychedelic Therapy | CRx Podcast

Dr. Regina Moore, PharmD
The Psychedelic Pharmacists Association is PsychedelicPharmacist.org. The PPA is unique as an organization focused on psychedelics and healthcare professionals as we do not require licensure for entrance and are open to the public to join.
 
Here is a link to the chart with drug harms https://www.businessinsider.com/chart-drugs-that-cause-the-most-harm-2013-9 . Journal is behind paywallhttps://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61462-6/fulltext 
 
New Zealand replicated this and published this year https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12240599/Alcohol-harmful-meth-cigarettes-worse-heroin-says-NZ-research-vapes-cannabis-rated.html
 
Here’s a more recent publication by Roland Griffiths et al on psychedelics and palliative care: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34958455/
 
From the PPA here is our “top papers of the psychedelic renaissance” write up for those focused on studies: https://psychedelicpharmacist.org/top-psychedelic-research-papers/
 
You can find me at ReginaMoore.me and Hello@ReginaMoore.me
 
Lisa Solomon's Contact: lisa@illinoispsycyedelicsociety.org

Who’s Developing Standards for Medical use Cannabis? | CRx Podcast

Acannability is a cooperative voice of education and quality standards and a source for accurate information on hemp and marijuana products. This group of medical professionals brings together trusted advisors, passionate experts and committed organizations to power the credibility of collective knowledge about cannabis as a part of different treatments.We're joined by CRx Podcast host Joe Friedman and Lisa Solomon Mann.Lisa has completed multiple certification courses on medical cannabis, training and studying alongside world-renowned scientists. She is often invited to curate cannabis education events, advise on programs for cannabis conferences, and serve as a moderator on a variety of cannabis panels. Lisa is actively involved with social equity and social justice organizations who support the cannabis industry.Learn more:https://acannability.com

Plants and Prescriptions: Bringing Medicine back to it’s Roots | CRx Podcast

Dr. Alan Ao, PharmD has 10+ years experience working in retail pharmacy at an Independent pharmacy and has experiences with compounding and non-traditional medicines including cannabis. 
Dr. Ao is on a mission to develop an industry where cannabis and modern-day healthcare collide while he helps to bridge the gap in education from clinicians all the way down to the patients. Alan is also focused on how to provide 3rd party reimbursement for medical cannabis. 
Dr. Alan Ao is part of the following organizations & projects: 
Plants and Prescriptions - Medical/Industry consultations
Society of Cannabis Clinicians - ACPE accredited pharmacy course
NJ Cannabis Certified and Minority Cannabis Academy course instructor
Collaboration with Garden State Pharmacy Owners - independent pharmacy network
Applied for an adult-use cannabis retail license recently
References: 
The Effectiveness and Safety of Medical Cannabis for Treating Cancer Related Symptoms in Oncology Patients
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2022.861037/full?utm_source=fweb&utm_medium=nblog&utm_campaign=ba-sci-fpain-The-effectiveness-and-safety-of-medical-cannabis-for-treating-cancer-related-symptoms-in-oncology-patients 
Plants and Prescriptions: 
https://plantsandprescriptions.com/ 
Mississippi medical marijuana card applications open June 1st All applications will go through the State Health Department and require a physician’s approval.
https://www.actionnews5.com/2022/05/31/mississippi-medical-marijuana-card-applications-open-june-1st/ 
North Carolina Medical Marijuana Bill Set For Senate Vote, As Poll Shows Overwhelming Public Support 
https://www.marijuanamoment.net/north-carolina-medical-marijuana-bill-set-for-senate-vote-as-poll-shows-overwhelming-public-support/ 
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COVID-19: Does Medicinal Cannabis Help or Hurt? | CRx Podcast

Advances in research have led to increased interest in the properties and potential of cannabis to treat many illnesses that have alluded modern medicine. Now, practitioners and consumers turn their attention to the role that it may play in the treatment of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Special guests:
Jason Nelson | Senior Vice President, Horticulture
Marion McNabb, DrPH, MPH
Founder and President
Cannabis Center of Excellence, INC
The focus has been on the immune modulation and vascular effects of cannabis.1,2 As with any pharmacological treatment, the effects will depend on patient specifics and the stage of disease. To grasp the current state of research, CRx evaluates the weight of evidence and speaks with experts in the field of medicinal cannabis. When working with medicinal cannabis in the age of COVID-19, it may help to think in wo separate categories: COVID-19 naïve (cannabis use in a population that is not and has no record of having been infected by COVID-19) and acute COVID-19.
Can Using Cannabis Make People More Susceptible to COVID-19 Infection?
David Bearman, MD, executive vice president of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine and a certified cannabinoid medicine specialist, notes that it’s important to distinguish between adult and medicinal cannabis use.
Concerning adult use, Bearman would err on the side of caution and recommends people “take an herbal vacation until they’ve been successfully vaccinated.” If a person is using cannabis to relieve symptoms of a serious illness, such as cancer or epilepsy, Bearman believes it may be beneficial for some patients to continue treatment but makes it clear that “risk assessment for cannabis during the COVID-19 pandemic needs to be made in conjunction with the health care provider on a case-by-case basis.”
The intent is to ensure that potential benefits outweigh the risks. Bearman also emphasizes that any inhalation—whether via smoking or vaporizing—increases a person’s risk of COVID-19 because the respiratory route of cannabis increases both sputum and bronchial irritation, making a person more susceptible to infection. Essentially, if cannabis is being used medicinally, clinicians should discuss the immune modulation effects and route of administration with patients.
Reference Links:
COVID study data will be released in August 2021 when the study is completed
Cannabis and COVID Research Event held by COE in Dec 2020 with 6 COVID and Cannabis Researchers
Link to sign up If companies are interested in partnering on the Healthcare provider medical cannabis study this year with COE and Medicinal Genomics
https://www.cannacenterofexcellence.org/CCOE on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
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The Last Prisoner Project | CRx Podcast

How did the “The War on Drugs” disproportionally affect racial minorities? How did the “The War on Drugs” specifically affect Black Americans?
As the United States moves away from the criminalization of cannabis, giving rise to a major new industry, there remains the fundamental injustice inflicted upon those who have suffered criminal convictions and the consequences of those convictions.
At the Last Prisoner Project we utilize a three-pronged approach to securing FULL freedom for the communities we serve. Through intervention, advocacy, and awareness campaigns the Last Prisoner Project works to redress the past and continuing harms of these unjust laws and policies.
The Last Prisoner Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to cannabis criminal justice reform. LPP was founded in 2019 out of the belief that if anyone is able to profit and build wealth in the legal cannabis industry, those individuals must also work to release and rebuild the lives of those who have suffered from cannabis criminalization.
https://www.lastprisonerproject.org/mission-and-vision 
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Cannabis and Sexual Health | CRx Podcast

Dr. Lynn and Dr. Madeo join Joseph Friedman, RPh., on the CRX Podcast. 
What is the range of sexual problems or sexual health conditions for which cannabis may be helpful (or harmful)? Some examples may include:
Endometriosis
Fibroids
Sexual Assault
Dyspareunia
Transgender and LGBTQ sex barriers
The internet is rife with anecdotal reports that cannabis use improves sexual experience. According to users, it can boost libido, arousal, and orgasm, among other benefits. But how much data are there to support these benefits?
Unfortunately, research on how cannabis affects sexual function is limited, and the studies that exist are generally poor quality. “A lot of them are observational. There haven’t been large prospective studies looking at the effects of cannabis or THC on sexual function or dysfunction,” says Saneal Rajanahally, MD, a private practice urologist in Atlanta who specializes in men’s health, male reproductive medicine, and surgery.
Still, the existing research gives reason to believe cannabis does in fact influence sexual function—both positively and negatively. Survey data consistently suggest that using cannabis has a beneficial impact on libido, sexual pleasure, and orgasm in both sexes. On the negative side, it’s also been linked with increased erectile dysfunction in men. Here, CRx Podcast breaks down the existing research and identifies the questions that remain to be answered.
Reference:
https://www.crxmag.com/issues/2020/summer/cannabis-and-sex.shtml 
 
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Arrested Development, Cannabis & Adolescents | CRx Podcast

Arrested Development 
https://www.crxmag.com/issues/2021/winter/arrested-development.shtml
The related research letter published in JAMA Psychiatry on 3/27/2019 titled; Association of Prenatal Cannabis Exposure With Psychosis Proneness Among Children in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. 
Jeremy Fine is entering medical school this fall was a key contributor behind the creation of this research letter. 
Association of Prenatal Cannabis Exposure With Psychosis Proneness Among Children in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2729440
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Cannabis Industry Election Victories | CRx Podcast

The cannabis industry won at the ballot box in the recent election, with four states passing laws to make cannabis legal for adults and two approving cannabis for medical purposes. These results moved the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) closer to its goal of building a robust cannabis industry while supporting state laws and advocating for federal policy reforms.   
On November 3, 2020, voters in five states made a definitive statement about cannabis use. Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota approved adult use of cannabis. South Dakota also approved a medical initiative, along with Mississippi, which approved comprehensive cannabis medical options.  
The National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA) has been working toward outcomes such as these since 2010. With 2,000 members nationwide, the organization is supporting the industry as cannabis becomes a thriving business and a real economic force. In recent years, NCIA has been a vocal advocate for social equity, working to promote expungement of criminal records of many people—largely from minority communities—who were unfairly incarcerated as part of the ill-conceived War on Drugs.
The results of the initiatives in these five states illustrate how far the industry has come. The people have spoken, and their voice was definitive.
“The margins were higher than we expected,” says Morgan Fox, spokesperson for NCIA. “In Arizona, there was a 60% margin, while the margin in New Jersey was 66%, 10 points higher than it was in California when it passed an adult use initiative in 2016. These results are not just political victories; they will likely have widespread ramifications. Importantly, it will be much more difficult for law enforcement to use cannabis as a weapon against minority populations. Instead, we will likely see more economic opportunities in the industry and fewer arrests overall.”
Although there were differences among the measures passed, those that supported legalization all set 21 as the legal age for use. In New Jersey, the law requires that the state set a regulatory structure, along with limits for possession and homegrown cannabis plants. Arizona established the number of plants allowed at six, while South Dakota limited cultivation to three. The law in Arizona also stated that the Department of Health Services must promote business ownership and industry participation among people from communities who have been harmed by former cannabis policies. Furthermore, a portion of cannabis tax revenue will be set aside for the newly created Justice Reinvestment Fund.    
To date, almost 34% of Americans live in states with laws establishing cannabis as legal and regulated for adults. Four of the five states that recently passed laws legalizing cannabis have been responsible for roughly 60,000 cannabis arrests each year, mostly for simple possession. On the economic side, researchers estimate that the combined value of the cannabis markets in these five states will climb to more than $3.1 billion by 2025. In states where cannabis is now legal, Congressional representation will increase by 29 representatives and eight senators.
In sum, cannabis is now legal for adults in 15 states, as well as the District of Columbia and the territories of CNMI and Guam. What’s more, 36 states and several territories have comprehensive medical cannabis laws. Cannabis is now legal in some form in 47 states in the United States.
Guests: 
David L. Nathan, MD, DFAPA
President, Board of Directors
Doctors for Cannabis Regulation
Abby Stoddard, PharmD, MBA 
The Client Centered Network
www.clientcn.com 
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The Cancer Pain Conundrum | CRx Podcast

Opioids play a critical role in managing cancer-associated pain, but they’re highly addictive, and they don’t always provide sufficient pain relief for cancer patients. Many patients therefore turn to cannabis or cannabis-derived products to help manage their pain, using them either as standalone treatments or as an adjuvant therapy to opioids. But does research support cannabis use for this purpose? The evidence is mixed, and some studies suggest there may indeed be benefits for cancer pain—but there’s also reason for caution.
How Much Research Is There?
There’s a relatively strong body of research on cannabis for the treatment of chronic pain generally, according to Eloise Theisen, RN, MSN, president of the American Cannabis Nurses Association and co-founder of Radicle Health, a cannabis education and advocacy organization. However, much of this research has focused on neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries, and comparatively few studies have examined pain in the cancer context. Among the studies that exist for cancer, many have small sample sizes, and study design is also an issue. “We have animal studies and some clinical human studies,” says Theisen, but there’s “a lack of randomized controlled trials, which are considered to be the gold standard.”
A further complicating factor in the research on cannabis and cancer pain is that most of the existing studies on this topic have relied on products that do not match those cancer patients actually use in practice. According to Hance Clarke, MD, PhD, associate professor of anesthesia at the University of Toronto and author of a recent review article on cannabis and pain,1 the products that have been studied most extensively are pharmaceutical-grade cannabis isolates, such as nabiximols (an extract containing THC and CBD in a precise one-to-one ratio), nabilone (synthetic THC), and dronabinol (also synthetic THC). However, cancer patients outside of the research context are much more likely to use dispensary cannabis and non-pharmaceutical-grade plant-based extracts. “We’re kind of stuck without enough evidence on the products that people are currently using,” says Clarke. This is important, because patients may react quite differently to a dispensary product than to a pharmaceutical product, according to Clarke.
Guests: 
Eloise Theisen, MSN, RN, is a board certified Adult Geriatric Nurse Practitioner who specializes in cannabis therapy. For over 20 years, Eloise has worked primarily with cancer, dementia and chronic pain patients. In the last several years, Eloise has focused her efforts on cannabinoid therapies. Eloise was one of the first healthcare professionals to bring a clinical dosing regimen to the cannabis space. In 2019, Eloise was elected President of the American Cannabis Nurses Association and will serve through 2022. In 2019, Eloise co-authored Pain Free with CBD: Everything You Need to Know and Effectively Use Cannabidiol with Alice O’Leary Randall.   
Joe Jeffries, Pharm D is currently Director of Pharmacy at FarmaceuticalRx, a medical cannabis dispensary in East Liverpool Ohio. Joe is the former Director of Pharmacy at Barnesville Hospital and was named the Healthcare Worker of the Year, largely for his creation of a program to help those struggling with drug addiction. Joe was also President of the Ohio Pharmacists Association from 2000-2001. 
Host: 
Joseph Friedman  CannaRPh Consultants
CRx Magazine Advisory Board, CRx Podcast 
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The Launch of the CRx Podcast | January 2021

The Great Valley Publishing Company has partnered with the Pharmacy Podcast Network to deliver the best audio source of education, innovation, and evidence-based podcasts about medical cannabis. The CRx Podcast is the new podcast for the CRX Magazine: http://www.CRxMag.com 
Great Valley Publishing Company has been serving health professionals for over 25 years. Our current B-to-B publications target specific audiences within several areas of health care — health information management, radiology, nutrition, social work, and aging. 
For The Record, Radiology Today, Today's Dietitian, Social Work Today, and Today's Geriatric Medicine are each leaders in their respective fields.
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