Colorado looks to medical marijuana to ease opioid crisis
As the nation grapples with an opioid crisis that kills more than 130 people every day, Colorado thinks a solution may lie in a joint, a vape pen or a topical.
On Friday, it becomes the third state in the nation after New York and Illinois to allow doctors to recommend medical marijuana for any condition for which they would prescribe an opioid.
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Older adults and medical marijuana: Reduced stigma and increased use
As a primary care doctor who has incorporated medical cannabis into his practice, it is notable how many silver-haired patients are coming in to discuss the pros and cons of a trial of medical cannabis. These patients range from people in their 60s with kidney failure who can no longer take certain pain medications but…
Read More Systematic review: Efficacy and safety of medical marijuana in selected neurologic disorders
Report of the Guideline Development Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology: We performed a systematic review of medical marijuana (1948–November 2013) to address treatment of symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), epilepsy, and movement disorders. We graded the studies according to the American Academy of Neurology classification scheme for therapeutic articles. Read the full…
Read More PTSD: Is There Any Relief?
In honor of PTSD awareness month, let’s take a look at the debilitating mental health condition and how medical marijuana could help.Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental health condition caused by witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event. It is understandable for one to be taken aback and impacted by a traumatic event, but if specific…
Read More Unstructured EHR data more useful for predictive analytics, study shows
A new report in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association has shown that real-world data contained in unstructured narratives has big predictive value when it comes to clinical research. WHY IT MATTERSWhile structured clinical notes in the electronic health record have obvious value, the research in JAMIA suggests that real-world data captured in unstructured notes…
Read More Survey of oncologists finds knowledge gap on medical marijuana
As more states legalize medical marijuana, two key groups — researchers whose job is it to understand its benefits and drawbacks, and physicians charged with advising potential users — are struggling to catch up with policymakers. Ilana Braun, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and chief of the division of adult psychosocial…
Read More Finally, Georgia can grow medical marijuana. Here’s what you need to know.
Four years ago, Governor Nathan Deal signed into law Haleigh’s Hope Act, which made low-THC cannabis oil legal to use by those with certain medical conditions. However, as it was still against the law to buy or grow marijuana in the state, it was virtually impossible to obtain the oil in Georgia. Patients were forced…
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