Don't Get High….. Get Well

Archive for June, 2010

I thought this article from Americans For Safe Access was worth posting. This state level reclassification as cannabis as a therapeutic substance. Although I would prefer it ultimately be reclassified as an “Herb”, this is a great start. As more states do this, the Federal Government will ultimately be forced to make the change.

Check it out:  Oregon Reclassifies Cannabis

As I have discussed in numerous blogs, tinctures are primarily absorbed through the sub-lingual veins. This makes them different than edibles, which are absorbed through the stomach and must go through hepatic metabolism which turns the cannabis molecules into much longer lasting and very, very stony medicine.

In addition, when a patient uses a tincture in their mouth, they can enable some lung absorption by taking deep breaths in through their mouth and out through their nose. I can’t currently prove that this cannabinoid pulmonary absorption in fact takes place, but clinically the tinctures work much better when the breathing is done. So, below is my best advice when it comes to medicating with tinctures.

1. Place the dose of tincture under your tongue.

2. Use your tongue to gently “paint” the tincture around your inner cheeks

3. Take ten very slow and very deep breaths: in through your mouth and out through your nose and then swallow the tincture

Try very hard not to swallow until the ten breaths are done

The first time you use a new tincture, be sure to be around a safe place and not plan on driving.

Happy tincturing!!

As medical cannabis doctors in California we are adding our support to 1068! Seattle is looking to legalize cannabis!

The New England Journal of Medicine April 22, 2010, says:

“Although state laws represent a political response to patients seeking relief from debilitating symptoms, they are inadequate to advance effective treatment. Medical experts emphasize the need to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug to facilitate rigorous scientific evaluation of the potential therapeutic benefits of cannabinoids and to determine the optimal dose and delivery route for conditions in which efficacy is established. This research could provide the basis for regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. Current roadblocks to conducting clinical trials, however, make this more rational route of approval unlikely and perpetuate the development of state laws that lack consistency or consensus on basic features of an evidence-based therapeutic program.

Reliance on state laws as the basis for access to medical marijuana also leaves patients and physicians in a precarious legal position. Although the current Justice Department may not prosecute patients if they use marijuana in a manner consistent with their states’ laws, the federal law remains unchanged, and future administrations could return to previous enforcement practices.”

Legalization in states like Washington, and California (also with a ballot initiative this November to legalize cannabis) will benefit this national cause. I believe this is a small issue but important to people everywhere. I made someone cry recently when I told her she could legally use cannabis, the less pejorative term. For some people it is medicine, and it’s affordable. With cannabis there is no lethal overdose or lethal complication of withdrawal. Not true for FDA approved drugs like benzodiazepines, or opiates. There are plenty of medical reasons a beneficial plant should be freely grown by citizens I’m glad to answer any questions.

*p.s. you too may post a comment to show support for 1068 at the link:

http://www.publicola.net/2010/06/21/extra-fizz-pot-petition-in-80000-copies-of-the-stranger/#comments

In several countries, intravenous or IV THC is being experimentally used for anesthesia. It shows a lot of potential for a totally safe anesthetic that has no lethal dose.

Michael Jackson would have been way better off with Intravenous THC. I am sure it will be a number of years before this is possible in this country, but hopefully as costs in medical care continue to mount, more options will be available in the Land of The Free.  Some months ago I received from somewhere an order form for IV THC and IV CBD as well as THC eye drops. I never placed the order to Austria, but I admit I was tempted. :)

By the way, did you ever wonder why there is no lethal dose for cannabis? The reason is that although the brain has very large number of cannabinoid receptors, there are virtually no receptors in the brain stem. The brain stem, as you might remember, is what controls the heart and lungs. No receptors – no problems.

SJR-14 is an assembly bill that has passed through a senate committee and is to be presented to the State Legislature in the near future. I have posted a link to a PDF containing the text of the bill. Essentially, the state of California is telling the Federal Government to leave California alone. This is a very strong statement with the state telling the feds to not only leave patients alone, but also will allow clinical trials to begin in California.

Once the bill passes the assembly, it does NOT to go to the governor. This is terrific as our governor has just not been a cannabis supporter. The bill will go directly to Washington and will land on President Obama’s desk. I am proud to be a member of Americans For Safe Access and a resident of California as our legislature most certainly passes this bill and tells the Feds we are starting research and plan on having a rational cannabis system in California.

Here is the Bill

As most of you remember from high school, George Orwell wrote “Animal Farm” in 1945. It was a spoof on the Russian Revolution, where the pigs and other farm animals tried to destroy any animals that walk upright.

As is often the case in a revolution, the baby is thrown out with the bath water. In this case, the pigs did not properly investigate how their new found anxiety, fear and anger might have been best treated with Cannabis.

So, in “Animal Farm II”, we see that Napolean, the head pig, discovers that Cannabis can help the farm animals cope with these stresses and they watch in horror as they see surviving humans smoking Cannabis and making tinctures – none of which the pigs can do without human thumbs and fingers. So, over time, the pigs begin to befriend their human slaves and over time the pigs, other animals and upright beings of all kinds live together in peace and harmony.

Morale of the story: don’t get your pigs stoned too soon. :)

I have been working with the LA Medical Association and the Young Physicians organization. I did my first Physician lecture last month. It was received very well by the physicians and there are now 5 more lectures and panels scheduled. I am extremely excited by this as it is being driven by the medical community who is now beginning to accept cannabis medicine as something to consider as a part of a patient’s treatment plan.

This has been my dream and hence the name GreenBridge Medical. I finally feel like I have crossed the bridge and the climate is becoming more comfortable.

It has come to my attention that it is currently difficult to predict what properties a tincture will have based upon the effects from smoking the same strain.  I clearly do not understand why this happens, but recently, a very activating Sativa strain turned out a very, very sedating or “Indica Like” tincture. During the formation of this tincture, a lot of waxy terpenes were seen floating in the tincture. Sadly we can’t find a lab to test for these terpenes, but hopefully that will be rectified in the near future.

We don’t even understand what the chemical differences are between Sativa and Indica. It does not seem to be in the cannabinoids but perhaps more in the terpenes. As new tinctures are made, I encourage everyone to save some of the really useful tinctures for lab testing when it becomes available in the future.

GreenBridge Medical is growing. Dr. Craig Cohen recently began seeing patients.  His impressive resume follows and Craig is a very welcome addition to GBM.

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT EXPERIENCE
Assistant Clinical Instructor, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco CA 1999-2005
• ACLS Instructor
Attending Physician, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, 2003
Attending Physician, Hurley Medical Center, Flint Michigan, 1999
CERTIFICATION/LICENSE
Diplomat American Board of Emergency Medicine, to be renewed September 2010
California Physician & Surgeon’sLicense, to be renewed October, 31 2010
Certified by Society of Addiction Medicine for Office-Based Treatment of Opiate
Dependency, 2007
EXPERIENCE
Private practice recommending cannabis as alternative medicine, 2006- present
English Teacher, Sechuan University, China 1991
Research Assistant, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 1990
Paralegal, Howrey & Simon, Washington, D.C., 1989-90
EDUCATION
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine 1992-96
Emergency Medicine Residency, University of Michigan 1996-99
BA, Amherst College, cum laude 1989
Indiana Area High School, Indiana, PA 1985

Here is a link for you guys to the open dispensaries