CATCHING UP WITH TARA DEMOND

WITH TARA DEMOND CATCHING UP BY JORDAN PERSON

The first time GRAM wrote about Tara DeMond was in our May/June 2019 issue. A year later, we felt it was a good time to catch up with this very busy RN who works as a consultant for medical marijuana treatment centers in Florida, while running a nonprofit she started with her husband, Jeff. Tara and her husband created The Grateful Veteran. 1 Their mission is “promoting change through education.”

Tara was thrilled to tell us all about the exciting things they have coming up and the changes that have taken place in the last year with Florida’s medical marijuana program. Things at The Grateful Veteran have been extremely busy. “We have a lot of upcoming educational events in the cannabis industry. In addition to providing education to patients and veterans with PTSD, this year we are even more focused on community outreach as a whole,” says Tara.

So far, The Grateful Veteran has assisted over 100 veterans with receiving their medical marijuana recommendation. “We help them with the $75 application, we have doctors who donate their services, there are teams of volunteers who make everything we do possible. Thanks to these teams, we are creating future events and fundraisers with local artists,” says Tara.

November 8, 2016, medical marijuana finally passed in Florida. 2 “When the industry first began, only two routes of administration were allowed. Now, all routes are available. Some patients (myself included), require a topical, a tincture, and a hit of a vape pen at bedtime. That is three routes of administration just to go to bed,” Tara tells us.

“One of the most common things we assist new patients with is their paperwork. Changes occur in the patient registry all the time, so we also assist physicians by showing them how to properly fill out all the forms. On the upside, more patients have access to their medicine thanks to more and more dispensaries opening.”

“Thanks to more dispensaries opening we have an increase in access and availability, growth in availability of products, ratios in tinctures and pain patients using concentrates. And whole flower now being available has officially changed the game. It has been so interesting getting to know patients. Older people in South Florida didn’t want to vape, etc. they wanted flower because that’s what they knew from back in the day. They are going back to making their medicine via edibles using whole flower in any way that they choose. You simply can’t categorize age groups when it comes to medical cannabis. We have seen every single age in the spectrum,” explains Tara.

In addition to running their nonprofit, Tara and Jeff are actively involved at Florida Gulf Coast University in the Cannabis Career Club (also known as C3). They assist students by getting them jobs in the industry at dispensaries, doctors’ offices, and more. They hold weekly meetings based on students’ schedules. Last year they created a Cannabis Carnival called CannaCon, and it was such a great success it will now be held as an annual event.

Tara leaves us with her future passion, “My goals in the future include something that is near to my heart in general. I want to look more into Alzheimer’s research and science supporting the disease utilizing cannabis, in honor of my mother.”

CBD + PARKINSON’S DISEASE BY BEN OWENS

Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease that affects 10 million people worldwide, and cannabinoids such as CBD are being studied for their neuroprotective properties as well as their efficacy with symptom management. 1-9 Parkinson’s can have a noticeable impact on quality of life due to symptoms such as tremors, spasticity, and pain that can make everything from walking to talking difficult, which can lead to anxiety—all symptoms that CBD has shown to be helpful in managing. 10 Early studies are showing CBD can specifically be effective for managing life with Parkinson’s. 1-8

While CBD’s legality on a national level is still relatively new, there are quite a few studies already on CBD’s ability to manage the symptoms of Parkinson’s, helping to improve quality of life for those living with the condition. As discussed at length in previous issues of GRAM, CBD has proved to be helpful in managing muscle spasticity often experienced by patients. Additionally, CBD has been shown to mitigate pain and the inflammation that causes it, also be a source of damage to nerve networks within the body in patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, CBD has been found to be helpful with anxiety that can arise from a variety of situations, including those where symptoms may become noticeable.

In addition to general research supporting CBD’s efficacy in symptom management for con- ditions such as Parkinson’s, re- searchers are specifically studying CBD’s ability to help Parkinson’s patients with sleep-related issues and psychosis. 1-3 In a pilot study, researchers studied a small sam- ple of men and women with Par- kinson’s who had psychosis for at least three months. Participants were given 150 mg of CBD every day for four weeks and showed a “significant decrease” in psy- chosis during treatment without worsening motor function or oth- er adverse effects. 1 Another study examined four Parkinson’s pa- tients experiencing REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) who were treated with CBD and found the treatment had “prompt and sub- stantial reduction in the frequen- cy of RBD‐related events without side effects” and indicated “CBD is able to control the symptoms of RBD” in those with Parkinson’s. 2 Furthermore, a larger sample of

21 patients examined the effects of various daily dosages compared with a placebo and found CBD could improve quality of life in Parkinson’s patients, but the authors reiterated that larger samples in future studies are needed to corroborate these early findings. 3 A literature review of current research on CBD and neurodegenerative disorders suggests CBD’s neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties could prove promising for treatment of neurodegenerative disorders across the board, including Parkinson's. 5 This review found that “at preclinical level, accumulated findings appear more exhaustive and convincing for a possible medical utilization of CBD to improve symptoms and/or delay disease progression” as well as helping to prevent damage to nerve cells. 5 These neuroprotective properties are mainly associated with CBD’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, and early investigations have found that CBD might have a neurorestorative component as well. 4 CBD’s ability to target the CB2 receptors without activating CB1 receptors, in addition to its other properties, has suggested that CBD could prove to be helpful in the treatment of Parkinson’s. 7 EARLY STUDIES ARE SHOWING CBD CAN SPECIFICALLY BE EFFECTIVE FOR MANAGING LIFE WITH PARKINSON’S. Specific to Parkinson’s, CBD has also been shown to be effective with dystonic movement disorders and the motor and cognitive impairments often brought on by the disease. 6,8,11 In a small pilot study of five patients with dystonic movement disorders, patients were administered “oral doses of CBD rising from 100 to 600 mg/ day over a 6 week period” and found “dose-related improvement in dystonia was observed in all patients.” The authors conclude that “CBD appears to have anti-dystonic and Parkinsonism-aggravating effects in humans.” 6 Animal studies designed to model the effects of Parkinson’s disease resulted in findings that suggest CBD is effective in treating motor and cognitive impairments in Parkinson’s patients. 8 To date, most of the research available has been done in preclinical settings with small sample sizes. These findings need to be corroborated by much larger clinical studies for accurate generalization, but these early results suggest CBD could be effective in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and the management of its symptoms. If you’re considering CBD as an alternative or complementary treatment for Parkinson’s for you or someone you know, talk with a physician who is familiar with the patient’s case and treatment program to see if CBD may be an option that could help improve quality of life.