More than three-dozen states and the District of Columbia allow patients suffering from certain types of medical conditions to use medical cannabis. It sounds simple enough. However, the reality is anything but simple. As anyone with a chronic condition can testify, navigating the medical cannabis world isn’t easy.
Navigating medical cannabis use with a chronic condition requires careful planning. It also requires collaboration. Most patients cannot do it alone. They need the help of family members, friends, and medical professionals.
Appropriateness Is the Doctor’s Domain
Medical cannabis is considered an adjunct therapy for qualifying conditions like:
- Persistent (chronic) pain
- Chronic nausea
- Certain seizure disorders
- PTSD
- Cancer (both disease and treatment symptoms)
As an adjunct therapy, medical cannabis is not curative. It only helps relieve symptoms. Whether or not it is appropriate for a given patient is up to a doctor to design. Patients should resist the temptation to make the determination for themselves. Otherwise, consuming cannabis could be more harmful than good.
Delivery Methods and Dosing
One of the hardest parts of medical cannabis to navigate, even with a doctor’s recommendation, is actual consumption. Medical cannabis isn’t prescribed the same way traditional medications are. You don’t pick up a bottle of pills at the pharmacy and take one twice a day.
At the Beehive Farmacy medical cannabis dispensary in Salt Lake City, Utah, you’ll find medical cannabis in multiple forms. The dispensary carries plant material, cannabis vapes, gummies, tinctures, and more. Each delivery method has its own characteristics. Most important, each one significantly impacts symptom relief.
Beehive Farmacy staff says that navigating this particular part of the medical cannabis equation is a lot easier when patients consult with their pharmacists. In Utah, every medical cannabis pharmacy must have a licensed pharmacist on-site whenever the doors are open. This is good in that it gives patients access to qualified medical advice whenever they stop in for a purchase.
Monitoring and Adjusting
It often takes a bit of trial and error before a patient and pharmacist home in on the best delivery method and dosage. But even at that, it’s common for pharmacists to recommend different delivery methods throughout the day. A patient might be advised to use gummies during work hours, and cannabis vapes at night.
All the recommendations are just that: recommendations. They are open to modification based on how a patient is feeling. So keeping on top of things requires regular conversations between pharmacist and patient.
Patients are also advised to follow up with their doctors on a regular basis. In the state of Utah, annual consultations are the bare minimum. It would probably be better for patients to see their doctors more frequently.
Other Resources Can Help
While medical providers and pharmacists represent the two best resources for navigating the complex medical cannabis environment, other resources can help too. For example, official state websites can keep residents up to date on laws and regulations.
Private websites, podcasts, and videos offer a plethora of helpful information – much of which comes from other medical cannabis patients willing to share their experiences. Even though such experiences are not considered scientific in nature, they are still valuable to a patient struggling to navigate their medical cannabis journey.
In closing, patients should always remember that using cannabis as a medicine is not a one-off experience. It is called a journey for a reason. Using cannabis as an adjunct therapy requires effort. It also requires time, an open mind, and a willingness to take charge of one’s own healthcare. Patients are fortunate in that plenty of help is available.
