Only 13% of medical professionals learn about the endocannabinoid system in medical school, and we want to change that. Oaksterdam’s Endocannabinology course offers doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals a comprehensive foundation on the human endocannabinoid system, the substances that interact with it, and the latest research on cannabinoid use, effects, side effects, and therapeutic applications. This critical cannabis education is a 3.5-hour certification equips healthcare providers with the foundational knowledge of the endocannabinoid system and allows them to confidently incorporate cannabis and cannabinoids into clinical practice. The follow is an excerpt from the course’s introduction written by authors David Bearman, MD, Maria Pettinato, PhD, RN, Carolina Nocetti, MD, and Angela Bacca.
The cannabis community says, “All use is medical.” Is it?
The campaigns to re-legalize the medicinal use of cannabis in the 1990s directly resulted from the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. The medical community had little to offer patients even to treat the symptoms. Many patients discovered that cannabis alleviated much of their suffering, although it wasn’t curative. The concept of medical use spread beyond HIV/AIDS patients to patients with cancer and other chronic and difficult-to-treat illnesses.
Dennis Peron, the leader of the movement to pass California’s groundbreaking Proposition 215, the first state-level law to relegalize cannabis since Prohibition began, famously decried that “all use [of cannabis] is medical” amid criticisms from conservatives and the medical community that these laws were just cover for people who “just wanted to get high.”
To medical professionals, the concept that “all use is medical” sounds rather absurd. Medical substances are approved by governments, are tested in clinical trials, and come with reliable data about effects, side effects, contraindications, and efficacy. These data points are hard to nail down with cannabis, a botanical substance that, by nature, is not standardized. The idea that cannabis cannot be medicinal because it is not government-approved exposes a major flaw in our drug approval system. Nature is not standard, and no herbal substance in its natural form can meet these requirements. Current medical education is falling short.
Cannabis led to the discovery of the endocannabinoid system
However, research conducted to understand cannabis and how cannabis interacts with the human body led to the identification of an entire physiological system that is critical to human health—the endocannabinoid system. We now understand that cannabis is not the only plant that produces cannabinoids, and cannabinoids are not the only plant compounds that interact with the endocannabinoid system.
We now understand that cannabis is not the only plant that produces cannabinoids, and cannabinoids are not the only plant compounds that interact with the endocannabinoid system.
Studies on the endocannabinoid system highlight the need for allopaths to take a more integrative approach to cannabis and everything else that affects the endocannabinoid system, such as diet, lifestyle, and “alternative” approaches like acupuncture, all of which have been shown to interact with this critical system. More importantly, the reality is that patients utilize cannabis and other herbs with or without the help of medical professionals. It is time for doctors, nurses, researchers, and other healthcare professionals to meet the moment.
Using cannabis in clinical care is not an either-or or better-than option; it is a tool that can lead to the discontinuation of treatments with a greater potential to do harm and can empower patients to take control of their own health by providing them with the knowledge they need to utilize it safely. Unfortunately, current medical education falls short.
This course provide doctors, researchers, healthcare professionals, patients, and their caregivers with critical information about cannabis, the endocannabinoid system, and how to consider the addition of herbalism in medical care. Additionally, the course’s authors demystify cannabis treatment as a panacea and base the conversation about cannabinoid treatment in reality by examining it seriously but not overselling its benefits or efficacy. At the same time, we encourage more honest research about contraindications, side effects, and downsides, as this research, too, has been politicized by Prohibition policies rather than science.
This course aims to provide critical medical education about the endocannabinoid system, and how to consider the addition of herbalism in care plans.
In the context of wellness—of potentially preventing the development of a serious illness, or even simply supplanting the use of alcohol or illicit drugs—is not all use of cannabis then potentially medical? The authors of this course lay out the body of information so that readers can answer this question for themselves.
The first part of this course provides the necessary context for current policy through a historical look at the social and political demonization of the cannabis plant that led to its prohibition and continues to stigmatize meaningful research. It introduces the endocannabinoid system, the constituents in cannabis (and many other plants) that interact with it, and the mechanisms of action that cause its effects. The second part of this course provides the necessary information about side effects, potential contraindications, drug interactions, dependence, and toxicology care providers need to understand to utilize cannabis safely. The third and final part of this course takes a deeper and more scientific approach to examining specific disease states and their interaction with cannabis and the endocannabinoid system. This vital medical education will close the gap for care providers everywhere.