NABIS N A C N E M WO IN
Martha r monetemayo
Certified Nutritional Consultant Martha Montemayor founded Healthy Choices Unlimited, a medical cannabis evaluation clinic with locations across Colorado, in 2012. The next year, Sanjay Gupta’s “Weed” program aired on CNN. People from all over the world called her clinic asking about using cannabis to help sick children. Then hospitals started calling her saying “Help! All these parents are calling asking us about medical marijuana, but we don’t know anything about it.” Montemayor started speaking at hospitals. There, she discovered a huge knowledge gap: the average hospital doctor knew less about cannabis than the average teenager did. While speaking at Denver Health, a neurologist held up a research paper Montemayor had passed around and asked, “Do you think I could talk to this Raphael Mechoulam guy?” Since she already had Dr. Mechoulam’s contact information in Israel, she replied “Yeah, I think I can arrange that.” And the Marijuana for Medical Professionals Conference was born.
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In 2014, Montemayor founded Cannabis Clinicians Colorado, a non-profit professional society dedicated to supporting health professionals and medical marijuana professionals through education and research. She and BFF, Sarara Corva, have now produced over 50 hours of Continuing Medical Education (CME) certified learning through their Marijuana for Medical Professionals–known as MJ for MDs–conferences. This year, MJ for MDs is going international with a CME program at the CannAmerica conference in Uruguay in August 2019. She’s also curating an online learning program with Green Flower Academy. CCC’s first IRB-approved research study on retired athletes and CBD is currently underway in Denver, CO and Miami, FL with former Buffalo Bills linebacker-turned-MD, Dr. Hervé Damas. Look for results to come out this fall. We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Martha about her journey through healthcare and cannabis, and here’s what she had to tell us...
