Is This What the Doctor Ordered?

By Alonzo Orozco

While it’s common for cancer patients to use cannabis as a means of comforting nausea following chemotherapy and radiation treatments, there are few that comprehend the power of the versatile herb. The plant’s illegal status made researching its potential almost impossible. Fortunately, nowadays laboratories and academic institutions have more opportunities to investigate the healing potential of green medicine.

Äsa Olsson

Amy Orozco HER2+ breast cancer patient Äsa Olsson, a high profile community member who was recognized as Carpinterian of the Year in January 2018, was hesitant to try cannabis for her debilitating arthritis and the painful side effects after a year of chemotherapy. “I first tried hemp oil which tasted horrible to me, and when you already are trying so hard to fight your nausea ... I couldn’t even stand the smell,” recalls Olsson of her attempts to ease the pain.

Her daughter, Linnea Beedy, owner of KLONA nursery, recommended Ojai Greens dispensary to her mother as a good starting point for cannabis. In the fall of that same year, she decided to give CBD a chance. Olsson then made the commitment to try a week’s supply of capsules with a 30:1 (CBD:THC) ratio. Not experiencing any negative reactions, she next opted for a 30-day supply. Roughly six months after her CBD regimen, she once again was able to open doors with round doorknobs and felt strong enough to jog.

But, cannabis isn’t just helpful in dealing with cancer, Santa Barbara County resident Shirley Strickler found that it helped with her autoimmune disorder and osteoarthritis. She suffers from Sjögren’s syndrome, also known as sicca syndrome, which is an immune system disorder that can cause dryness in the eyes, mouth and skin, along with profound fatigue, achy joints, and brain fog.

“There is no cure and it progresses differently in each patient. Mine is usually mild to moderate, annoying but livable except when I have flares, then everything is exacerbated and more intense,” says Strickler, who was a nurse at Kern Medical Center. There she met Dr. Margaret Peterson when she was working as a resident in Family Practice at the facility. “I never forgot her; she was outstanding. When I retired and moved to Carpinteria seven years ago, I called her at once and have been her patient ever since.”

Fortunately, she also discovered that Dr. Peterson understood cannabis.

Guided by Dr. Peterson, the retired nurse began to use a CBD tincture. Sensitive to THC, she used a CBD to THC ratio of 20:1. I take 60-80 mg per day sublingually.

It [cannabis] diminishes the inflammatory responses that are the basis for the disorder, I feel a daily reduction in joint pain, brain fog, and fatigue,” Shirley Strickler she explains. “I feel strongly that we will discover, now that we are able to research, that cannabis will be beneficial for many conditions and perhaps even curative.”

Alonzo Orozco

Dr. Peterson practices Family Medicine in Ventura and understands the effectiveness of medical cannabis. She notes that for the myriad of side effects that one gets [from chemotherapy and radiation], it’s shown to be a tremendous benefit. Studies using animal models such as mice and rats, show that cannabis can reduce and kill the early proliferation of cancer cells. Whether it can be used to cure cancer is still not proven.

Do we use cannabis to treat cancer? She’s very cautious about saying that and to turn toward something that doesn’t have the studies yet. That’s not in the patient’s best interest. In the near future, if given the opportunity, science may determine if cannabis is indeed a cure for cancer.

Dr. Margaret A. Peterson, MD. Olsson suggests, “Learn what your body likes and what it doesn’t.” Olsson’s husband, a Vietnam War veteran who suffers from Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and has a rare form of blood cancer, also uses cannabis to deal with sleep issues, pain and a variety of other ailments.

“Has it been life changing? No, but medical cannabis has certainly made a huge impact on my quality of life, I feel good,” Olsson adds. C S

Alonzo Orozco has written and taken photographs for various South Coast newspapers and magazines, including Carpinteria Magazine, Coastal View News, and Santa Ynez Valley Journal. He also served on the Carpinteria Valley Water District Board for eight years.