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https://globalnews.ca/news/5081814/marijuana-pot-companies-pitching-to-doctors/?utm_source=Article&utm_medium=MostPopular&utm_campaign=2014
Experts say they’re concerned that pot is being pitched as a miracle cure when there is still little research into its benefits.
Illustration: Lauren Robb
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At the Family Medical Forum in 2017 — the largest family medicine conference in Canada — Dr. Sarah Giles was angry.
The family physician was upset for a few reasons, including that drug reps were lining the pathway to the food area (meaning docs were forced to walk through sales booths to eat), and lunchtime talks sponsored by pharma companies were not clearly labelled as such.
But what really stuck out to Giles was how many cannabis companies had set up shop in the event’s exhibitor hall.
“[Cannabis companies] are coming to these conferences in large numbers,” Giles, who is on the board of Canadian Doctors for Medicare, said. “In 2017, I think there were around 12 different [cannabis] booths, and they were telling the doctors: ‘Oh, use it for this, use it for that,’ but none of it was evidence-based.”
WATCH: Daily use of high-potency cannabis linked to developing psychosis — study
Cannabis companies are becoming an increasing presence in the medical industry, touting the drug as a remedy for a variety of ailments, from pain and anxiety to endometriosis and glaucoma — and they do it with little oversight.
The legalization of recreational marijuana in 2018 no doubt helped legitimize cannabis in the eyes of many patients. But some experts say they’re concerned that pot is being pitched as a miracle cure when there is still little research into its benefits.
The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), which hosts the event, confirmed to Global News that there were 16 cannabis vendors at the last Family Medical Forum in November 2018.
READ MORE: ‘It’s a totally different drug’: Why edibles feel different from smoking cannabis
The organization said it will only allow approximately 10 cannabis vendors at the forums in 2019 and 2020 and will “reassess” that number each year.
But Giles is concerned. She isn’t comfortable with the way cannabis companies are trying to sell medical marijuana to doctors.
“Marijuana is the next OxyContin, where everyone’s like, ‘Oh, it’s not addictive, it’s harmless, it’s good,’ and people are kind of using it willy-nilly because you can get it prescribed and not prescribed,” she said.
“I think we will look back at this time and just be like, ‘What the hell was going on?'”
Is medical cannabis effective?
Many cannabis companies have been quick to tout the drug as a pain reliever and a therapeutic product — which has created some pushback.
“If we look at the evidence for marijuana as a therapy or as a medicine, for pain or for anything, frankly, it wouldn’t meet the threshold for what we consider a body of evidence in medicine,” said Dr. Abhimanyu Sud, a pain expert and the academic director of the Safe Opioid Prescribing program at the University of Toronto’s School of Medicine.
Sud points to a recent systematic review of medical marijuana that found the drug wasn’t a very effective treatment for pain (the review says that if cannabinoids do improve pain, it is neuropathic pain and the benefit is likely small). He also says it’s not proven to be effective for anxiety, either. Where there is some evidence for cannabis, he said, is around treating certain kinds of seizure disorders.
But beyond that, there are a lot of legitimate concerns that require further research about using cannabis.
“There’s reason to think that marijuana intervention can make [certain] things worse,” Sud said. “It’s not like a sugar pill; it has the potential for harm.”
Giles echoes this and says she’s seen first-hand the harm cannabis can have on certain people.
“I see a lot of people who smoke a lot of pot and end up with marijuana-induced psychosis,” she said.
A recent study published in the medical journal The Lancet found that daily use of high-potency cannabis is “strongly linked to the risk of developing psychosis.”
Health Canada also warns that cannabis use increases the risk of developing mental illnesses such as psychosis or schizophrenia, especially for people who start young, use it frequently or who have a family history of mental illness.
Rest of story here: https://globalnews.ca/news/5081814/marijuana-pot-companies-pitching-to-doctors/?utm_source=Article&utm_medium=MostPopular&utm_campaign=2014
Experts say they’re concerned that pot is being pitched as a miracle cure when there is still little research into its benefits.
Illustration: Lauren Robb
A A
Listen
At the Family Medical Forum in 2017 — the largest family medicine conference in Canada — Dr. Sarah Giles was angry.
The family physician was upset for a few reasons, including that drug reps were lining the pathway to the food area (meaning docs were forced to walk through sales booths to eat), and lunchtime talks sponsored by pharma companies were not clearly labelled as such.
But what really stuck out to Giles was how many cannabis companies had set up shop in the event’s exhibitor hall.
“[Cannabis companies] are coming to these conferences in large numbers,” Giles, who is on the board of Canadian Doctors for Medicare, said. “In 2017, I think there were around 12 different [cannabis] booths, and they were telling the doctors: ‘Oh, use it for this, use it for that,’ but none of it was evidence-based.”
WATCH: Daily use of high-potency cannabis linked to developing psychosis — study
Cannabis companies are becoming an increasing presence in the medical industry, touting the drug as a remedy for a variety of ailments, from pain and anxiety to endometriosis and glaucoma — and they do it with little oversight.
The legalization of recreational marijuana in 2018 no doubt helped legitimize cannabis in the eyes of many patients. But some experts say they’re concerned that pot is being pitched as a miracle cure when there is still little research into its benefits.
The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), which hosts the event, confirmed to Global News that there were 16 cannabis vendors at the last Family Medical Forum in November 2018.
READ MORE: ‘It’s a totally different drug’: Why edibles feel different from smoking cannabis
The organization said it will only allow approximately 10 cannabis vendors at the forums in 2019 and 2020 and will “reassess” that number each year.
But Giles is concerned. She isn’t comfortable with the way cannabis companies are trying to sell medical marijuana to doctors.
“Marijuana is the next OxyContin, where everyone’s like, ‘Oh, it’s not addictive, it’s harmless, it’s good,’ and people are kind of using it willy-nilly because you can get it prescribed and not prescribed,” she said.
“I think we will look back at this time and just be like, ‘What the hell was going on?'”
Is medical cannabis effective?
Many cannabis companies have been quick to tout the drug as a pain reliever and a therapeutic product — which has created some pushback.
“If we look at the evidence for marijuana as a therapy or as a medicine, for pain or for anything, frankly, it wouldn’t meet the threshold for what we consider a body of evidence in medicine,” said Dr. Abhimanyu Sud, a pain expert and the academic director of the Safe Opioid Prescribing program at the University of Toronto’s School of Medicine.
Sud points to a recent systematic review of medical marijuana that found the drug wasn’t a very effective treatment for pain (the review says that if cannabinoids do improve pain, it is neuropathic pain and the benefit is likely small). He also says it’s not proven to be effective for anxiety, either. Where there is some evidence for cannabis, he said, is around treating certain kinds of seizure disorders.
But beyond that, there are a lot of legitimate concerns that require further research about using cannabis.
“There’s reason to think that marijuana intervention can make [certain] things worse,” Sud said. “It’s not like a sugar pill; it has the potential for harm.”
Giles echoes this and says she’s seen first-hand the harm cannabis can have on certain people.
“I see a lot of people who smoke a lot of pot and end up with marijuana-induced psychosis,” she said.
A recent study published in the medical journal The Lancet found that daily use of high-potency cannabis is “strongly linked to the risk of developing psychosis.”
Health Canada also warns that cannabis use increases the risk of developing mental illnesses such as psychosis or schizophrenia, especially for people who start young, use it frequently or who have a family history of mental illness.
Rest of story here: https://globalnews.ca/news/5081814/marijuana-pot-companies-pitching-to-doctors/?utm_source=Article&utm_medium=MostPopular&utm_campaign=2014
