Local woman says more education needed when prescribing medical marijuana

“I prefer the natural way if it’s possible,” she said, adding that allergies to certain medications limit her options for pain killers.

Her doctor wrote a prescription and gave her a name of a distributor but from there she was on her own.
“So I went on their website, and saw all of these pictures with all of these strange names on it and it looked like a biology paper more than something that would help me,” she said.

“I had no idea what I had to order and it was up to me.”

According to her prescription, she needed CBD, one of two main compounds within the marijuana plant. But there was no mention of what amount so she called the distributor.

“She said well this one has the highest CBD, but it also has THC, which is the hallucinogenic part of it,” said Brooke.

Brooke said she still felt unsure what to do and had no idea what ratios of CBD and THC were appropriate. Kelly Eby with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta says prescribing medical cannabis is optional and doctors are not required to guide patients through the process or provide specifics on prescriptions.

“The vast majority of physicians are not experts in all the different strains of marijuana for medial purposes, nor should they be,” she said adding that their job is to determine if prescribing it is the right approach for the patient.

Dr. Josh Foley works part time at Natural Health Services in Medicine Hat. The clinic focuses on educating patients on medical marijuana, but he admits before he worked there he had little knowledge of the system himself.

“The legalization for medical use came about without an education process for physicians as well, and I sometimes worry that we might have been dropped into it without the proper resources,” he said.

He added that as a doctor it was up to him to take the initiative to learn all about it and not all physicians do that.

Brooke says she understands medical marijuana is still new to doctors, but wishes her doctor had at least explained more about what ratios of CDB and THC she needed.

“THC is the one that can cause patients to have the euphoric affect, the psychotropic affects, CBD doesn’t cause that but it can still give you the beneficial effects the medical marijuana is known for,” said Foley.

He said that a focus at NHS is educating patients on if they need CBD, THC or a combination. Brooke is now registered with NHS and has ordered an oil with no THC but she says she’d like there to be more direction and education from all doctors, and not just prescriptions.

by Alicia Draus

Local woman says more education needed when prescribing medical marijuana

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