How Tennessee Can Move Into The Medical Cannabis Business

[Katelyn Baker]

There are good reasons why many medical professionals such as Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN have looked at the evidence and support therapeutic use of cannabis.

One example is our effort to reduce Tennessee narcotic overdose deaths. Medical cannabis is an alternative to excessive use of narcotics such as oxycodone and fentanyl. Adding cannabis increases safety by decreasing the dose of narcotics needed for pain relief and preventing escalation of narcotic dose.

Cannabis has a low potential for addiction, and has not been shown to be a "gateway to harder drugs".

Here are a few examples from the medical literature:

• The Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine published findings that states with medical marijuana laws have rates of anticipated opioid-related deaths 25 percent lower than states that don't have such a program.
• Health Affairs reported that doctors in states that allow medical cannabis wrote an average of 11 percent fewer prescriptions for opioids.
• A University of Michigan study concluded, "Patients using medical marijuana to control chronic pain reported a 64 percent reduction in their use of opioids."
• The Journal of Psychoactive Drugs noted, "When used in conjunction with opiates, cannabinoids lead to a greater relief of pain, resulting in a reduction in the use of opiates and associated side-effects by patients. Cannabinoids can prevent the development of tolerance to opiates."
• The Drug and Alcohol Review found that 80 percent of medical marijuana users reported substituting cannabis for prescription painkillers when taking medical marijuana.
• And the Clinical Journal of Pain reported medicinal cannabis treatment resulted in a decrease in opioid consumption by 44 percent.

Of course, any medical recommendation to use cannabis needs to be based on sound clinical judgment and a thorough knowledge of the literature. There is potential for abuse, cognitive impairment and risk of dependence in susceptible patients. Yet from a harm-reduction standpoint, these problems are less serious and less common than the potential risks of opioid abuse.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will likely never allow doctors to prescribe the whole cannabis plant. That is why more than half of the states in our country have acted on their own.

Some solutions may be politically feasible.

• Physicians prescribing opioids might consider adding an off-label prescription for a small dose of Marinol (dronabinol), an FDA approved synthetic form of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. While this is currently legal, many patients find the pure THC has unacceptable side effects and they prefer extracts of the whole plant, such as homemade butters or oils.
• The legislature could expand existing law allowing cannabidiol (CBD) oil for seizure patients to also include those with a diagnosis of chronic pain or opioid addiction, and allow Tennessee growers to provide the substance. Non-intoxicating CBD oil has been shown to be helpful in pain management and treating movement disorders in Parkinson's disease.
• State criminal penalties could be reformed for persons who have been diagnosed with chronic pain syndrome or opioid addiction. This could allow both simple possession of cannabis for personal use and growing up to 5 cannabis plants. Persons with such a diagnosis could submit medical documentation allowing them a card that would serve as a defense against criminal prosecution.
• And Tennessee could follow the lead of other states in setting up well-regulated medical cannabis dispensaries.

It's time to pass legislation allowing a well-controlled medical cannabis program for patients in Tennessee.

News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: How Tennessee Can Move Into The Medical Cannabis Business
Author: Matthew Hine
Contact: 615-259-8095
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Website: The Tennessean