Ounce Oklahoma Fall 2018 by Ounce Magazine

MULTIPURPOSE MGZ

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CONTENTS CHECK OUT OUR DOCTOR LOCATOR AT OUNCEMAG.COM/GETLEGAL

HOW TO GET LEGAL IN OKLAHOMA

Now that cannabis is legal, here's how to get your card.

10 24

THREE TIPS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS IN OKLAHOMA'S NEW CANNABIS MARKET

THE GREEN WAVE IS CRASHING OVER OK! Uncle Grumpy talks about Oklahoma's new green wave and important next steps.

13 F E AT U R E

AN OPEN LETTER TO JEFF SESSIONS FROM A CANNABIS DOCTOR

RED DIRT NURSE'S ASSOCIATION COMMITTED TO CARE

LEARN HOW TO GROW AT HOME. GUIDES AVAILABLE ONLINE AT OUNCEMAG.COM

These Oklahoma nurses were willing to organize and mobilize political action..

TERPENE OF THE MONTH: MYRCENE A key feature in many popular cleaning solvents, but it also has healing properties.

Ounce is the first magazine in Oklahoma to focus on medical cannabis patients, industry, and legislation. Printed in full color and delivered old school. Distributed in retail shops, medical clinics, and events throughout the state. For advertising and subscription information please visit www.ouncemag.com.

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Oklahoma Will Set the Standard for Medical Cannabis Research This inaugural issue of Oklahoma Ounce is packed with articles written by real doctors, real researchers, real medical professionals, real experts, and real patients with real stories. These stories are meant to be shared. We encourage you to read this magazine cover-to-cover and discover the truth about cannabis that should have been told to us decades ago. When youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re done with this magazine, pass it around. Give it to your doctor. Spark the conversation.

Corey Hunt, Co-founder

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR Shannon Anderson shannon@ouncemag.com EDITORIAL Corey Hunt corey@ouncemag.com EDITORIAL & SALES Courtney Boze courtney@ouncemag.com

CONTRIBUTORS Joe Goldstrich MD, FACC David Bearman, MD Josh Winningham, PharmD Erika Gee Angela Bacca Garyn Angel Amanda McCandless, LMT Bridget Kenyon Wood Laura K. Bales, RN Chris Moe Tony Baker Pamela Street BSN/RN (retired) ADVERTISING (918) 303-2552 sales@ouncemag.com

HOW TO GET LEGAL IN OKLAHOMA IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, YOU MAY CALL THE OKLAHOMA MEDICAL MARIJUANA AUTHORITY DIRECTLY AT (405) 522-6662 OR EMAIL THEM AT OMMA@OK.GOV.

COMPLETE APPLICATION

TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR

Print and complete the patient information portion of the physician recommendation form.

Schedule an appointment with an Oklahoma Board Certified MD or DO. During your visit present the Physician Recommendation Form for your doctor to complete and sign. Note: Minor patients need a recommendation from two physicians.

You can download a copy here: http://omma.ok.gov HOW TO REGISTER AS A CAREGIVER If you are homebound you may choose to designate a caregiver. Complete the Adult Patient Caregiver Designation Form. You may withdraw your designated caregiver at any time using the Patient Withdrawal of Caregiver Form.

This is NOT a prescription, your doctor’s signature is simply certifying you have a medical condition and may receive therapeutic benefits from the use of medical cannabis. This form must be submitted to OMMA within 30 days of the physician’s signature to be valid.

Register with OMMA. Access the patient portal and create an account. Please note whichever email address designated to log in will be used by OMMA to send notices once the account is created. The application fee is $100 (Medicaid patients will pay a reduced fee of $20) and can be paid using a Visa or MasterCard credit or debit card. This fee is non-refundable. You will receive an approval letter including your Patient Identification Card within 14 days of submitting the application.

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LIMITING SIDE EFFECTS & INTERACTIONS

LOW & SLOW BY JOSH WINNINGHAM, PHARMD Medical cannabis is a non-toxic, non-lethal, and natural means for symptom relief. Despite the general safety of cannabis as medicine, patients still need to understand potential side effects and interactions of medical cannabis. Studies have shown that slower consumption at lower doses has a marked reduction in adverse events while also improving the therapeutic efficacy of medical cannabis.1 A “low and slow” dosing protocol, starting with low THC and higher CBD content and utilizing quarterly cannabis detoxes, is the most appropriate protocol for most medical cannabis patients. Discussing side effects of medical cannabis requires nuance, because what is negatively perceived for one condition may be seen as beneficial for another. The varied phytochemical makeup of a specific strain can also alter the perceived effect. Potential adverse effects of cannabis have been described in several reports.2,3,4 Common side effects include the following: • Dry mouth (often referred to as “cotton mouth”) • Dry and/or red eyes • Increased appetite (often referred to as the “munchies”) • Unexpected increase in unfocused energy • Increased sedation or lethargy The same appetite, energy, and sleep effects can be beneficial depending on condition symptom relief desired. If a patient is suffering from insomnia, the central nervous system depressive effects of cannabis can induce sleep. If a patient has been diagnosed with cachexia, the appeti-

te stimulation becomes a beneficial effect. These side effects tend to resolve within one to four hours. Increased dosage amount and/or concentration can produce varied effect. For example, the same medical cannabis product at a low level can have anxiety relieving effects while at a high level can increase or amplify anxiety. Acute adverse side effects attributed to consuming too much cannabis (overdose) include: • Panic • Paranoia • Hallucinations • Heart palpitations • Shortness of breath • Nausea • Cold sweats

• Shaking or trembling • Extreme lethargy/sedation resulting in immobilization These effects are more commonly seen in high THC medical cannabis products compared to low-to-no THC products. If acute adverse effects are experienced, there are steps that can be taken to alleviate the symptoms. It is important to remain calm and know the feelings will usually pass within 2-12 hours. Recommendations for working through the feelings of being overmedicated include: • Drink plenty of fluids • Eat a healthy snack such as whole fruit, which will increase possible low blood sugar • Take a warm shower • Go for a walk • Take a nap, or go to bed • Refrain from driving or operating heavy machinery while under the influence • Cannabidiol (CBD) can alleviate some of the physiological effects associated with cannabis toxicity5 (though it does not reduce the psychotropic feeling of being high.6) These effects can be very uncomfortable, but, it is important to note, cannabis alone cannot cause a fatal overdose.7 Endocannabinoid receptors are not found in abundance in the parts of the brain that support vital functioning such as respiration and circulation. Most illicit drugs that cause fatal overdoses affect these areas. Pharmaceutical medications that cause fatal overdoses affect these areas, or can CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

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be combinations of drugs that can include things like acetaminophen, which, taken in excess, can cause liver failure. Cannabis has shown to be both non-lethal and non-toxic. Longitudinal studies of chronic adverse effects are not prevalent and have resulted in a variety of opposing conclusions.8 No long-term negative side effects are currently associated with intermittent or low-to-moderate cannabis use. In general, there are concerns about long-term effects on brain development and memory in adolescents who are heavy cannabis users. Adults who are heavy cannabis users seem to have higher chances of developing anomic aphasia, or a problem with word recall. Regular users of inhaled cannabis have a higher risk of chronic bronchitis and impaired respiratory function. Cannabis’ relationship to heart conditions may very well not be causal, but rather correlate to enhancing cardiovascular issues related to an existing condition.9 Patients with pre-existing mental health conditions and their health care providers should be mindful of the benefit v. risk analysis of medical cannabis use when determining the best treatment strategies. Statistically, cannabis has a 6-10 percent addiction rate.10 This is a lower addiction rate than tobacco, alcohol, and some prescription drugs, but nonetheless should be a consideration when evaluating the appropriateness of therapy for individual patients.

REFERENCES 1 Russo E. B., Mead A. P., Sulak D. (2015). Current status and future of cannabis research, in Clinical Researcher. 58–63. 10.14524/CR-15-0004 2 Hall W, Solowij N. Adverse effects of cannabis. Lancet 1998;352:1611-6. 3 Ashton CH. Adverse effects of cannabis and cannabinoids. Br J Anaesth 1999;83:637-49. 4 Handbook of Cannabis Roger Pertwee (ed.) Published in print: 2014 Published Online: January 2015 Publisher: Oxford University Press DOI: 10.1093/ 5 Karniol IG, Shirakawa I, Kasinski N, Pfeferman A, Carlini EA. Cannabidiol interferes with the effects of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol in man. Eur J Pharmacol 1974;28(1):172–7. 6 Lemberger L, Dalton B, Martz R, Rodda B, Forney R. Clinical studies on the interaction of psychopharmacologic agents with marihuana. Ann NY Acad Sci 1976;281: 219–28. 7 The Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse. Acute Effects of Marihuana. Retrieved September 15, 2017, from http://druglibrary.net/schaffer/Library/studies/nc/nc1e. htm 8 Volkow ND, Baler RD, Compton WM, Weiss SRB. Adverse Health Effects of Marijuana Use. The New England journal of medicine. 2014;370(23):2219-2227. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1402309. 9 Ibid., 47. 10 Anthony, James C.,Warner, Lynn A.,Kessler, Ronald C. Comparative epidemiology of dependence on tobacco, alcohol, controlled substances, and inhalants: Basic findings from the National Comorbidity Survey. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Vol 2(3), Aug 1994, 244-268

YOU COULD REACH A LOT OF PEOPLE!

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What sets your brand apart?

Your story. Expertly told, visually stunning.

CannaStories.tv

AN OPEN LETTER TO JEFF SESSIONS:

From a Doctor Whose Patients Rely on Medical Cannabis BY DAVID BEARMAN, MD Dear Mr. Attorney General, Let me start by introducing myself. I am Dr. David Bearman, I am considered to be one of the most clinically knowledgeable physicians in the field of medical cannabis in the United States. I have spent 40 years working in substance and drug abuse treatment and prevention programs. I was a pioneer in the free and community clinics that are now available to Americans everywhere. I was even a member of then-California Governor Ronald Reagan’s Interagency Task Force on Drug Abuse. I urge you, to take medical cannabis seriously and not only allow state programs to continue to flourish but urge the president, the DEA, Congress and FDA to work on seriously reconsidering America’s current drug laws and policies. This, unlike almost everything else, is not a partisan issue. There are many Republicans, like Dana Rohrabacher (California), who believe that Mr. Trump understands the medicinal use of cannabis. Dr. Ron Paul (Texas) has supported the state rights’ view that regulating medicine is a power of the state. His son, Mr. Rand Paul (Kentucky), also a physician, also recognizes that the 1925 SCOTUS decision Linder v the United States and the 9th and 10th Amendments to the Constitution that give states, not the federal government, the right to regulate the practice of medicine. I am guessing you may be unaware that over 150 medical organizations including the American Medical Association (AMA), American Nurses Association (ANA), (American Public Health Association (AAPHA) and American College of Physicians, endorse the medical use of cannabis. Mr. Sessions, you are a lucky man if none of your family and friends suffer from multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s Di-

JEFF SESSIONS [PHOTO CREDIT: MARK REINSTEIN/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM]

sease, seizures, migraine headaches, ADD/ ADHD, PTSD, autism spectrum disorder or cancer. These are all medical conditions that thousands of years of history, tens of thousands of research studies and modern experience with millions of patients are proven to be relieved with botanical cannabis. The federal government approved a phase III clinical trial with tincture of cannabis (Nabixamol and Epidiolex). Nabixamol is legal to prescribe in 24 countries. If you have taken the time to read the literature then you must know that cannabis is safe. In 1937 the AMA, testifying AGAINST the Marijuana Tax Act, told the House Ways and Means Committee that the AMA knew of no dangers from the medicinal use of cannabis. In 1988 after a two year rescheduling hearing, the DEA’s Chief Administrative Law Judge, the late Francis Young, recommended rescheduling cannabis. In his Finding of Fact, he found that cannabis was “one of the safest therapeutic agents known to man.” One of the most exciting potential therapeutic benefits is the well documented (in basic science studies) anti-cancer potential of cannabinoids. Dr. Donald Abrams, oncologist and professor at UCSF School of Medicine, has said there is more than enough basic scientific evidence and anecdotal

reports to justify doing human clinical trials to determine if cannabis can actually cure cancer. Currently, human trials are ongoing in the United Kingdom and Israel on the use of cannabis to cure glioblastoma multiforme. This is based on research done in Spain by Manuel Guzman and in Italy by Vincenzo Di Marzo, PhD and Israel by Raphael Mechoulam, Ph.D. I have no doubt you have good intentions, Mr. Sessions, however a more aggressive stance by the federal government in utilizing the 1942 Supreme Court decision Wickert v. Filburn to stretch the commerce clause of the Constitution beyond all recognition will not only threaten states rights, but quite likely will interfere with treatment of many who have been receiving palliation, therapeutic and possibly life extending benefit from the medicinal use of cannabis. Mr. Sessions, you owe it to the ill people of the United States who benefit from cannabis to educate yourself on the long history and substantial research on the medicinal value of cannabis. You can do it in private by viewing any of the following videos: “Medicinal Cannabis and It’s Impact on Human Health,” “What If Cannabis Cured Cancer” and the CNN Sanjay Gupta, MD documentary. If after learning more you would like to educate the staff of the AG’s office in DC regarding cannabis, cannabinoids and the endocannabinoid system, I would be happy to arrange such a presentation, through physician members of the American Academy of Cannabinoid Medicine. This medicinal use of cannabis is serious science and medicine. I am confident that an open-minded review of the science will inform you that the government needs to do more to promote scientific research in the medicinal use of cannabis and to do less to interfere with the treatment of the ill.

OunceMag.com FALL 2018

THREE TIPS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS IN

Oklahoma’s Cannabis Market BY ERIKA GEE

If you are a part of the more than 1,000 groups who have submitted an application to become a cultivator, processor or dispensary under SQ 788, congratulations! You’ve cleared the first hurdle to become a successfully operating cannabis business. In fact, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA) has implemented the application process so efficiently that you may be thinking that it’s smooth sailing from here. However, there are still some potentially significant bumps in the road ahead of you. This article will address three things that any aspiring cannabis business owner needs to know to be successful in the Oklahoma market; taxes, the rules and investors.

TAXES It’s no one’s favorite topic but it’s completely different and more crucial in this industry than in any other in which you may have had experience. This is because of § 280E of the federal tax code, which reads: “No deduction or credit shall be allowed for any amount paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business if such trade or business…consists of trafficking in controlled substances [within the meaning of Schedule I and II of the Controlled Substances Act] which is prohibited by Federal law.” In plain language, this means that you will not be allowed to deduct normal business expenses for your cannabis business. If you fail to follow this rule, you could end up with a huge tax bill, potential criminal liability and a major headache for your new business. But don’t panic just

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yet—there are some deductions that are allowed under §280E and proper planning of your corporate structure and operating processes will allow you to maximize those deductions and keep more of your profits. Your to-do list should include a consultation with a tax attorney experienced in this industry sooner rather than later.

THE RULES You can be assured that the current rules will change to incorporate new restrictions and specifications. For example, I can’t imagine that the state will allow the market to open and mature without putting laboratory testing requirements and standards in place. Similarly, the current rules don’t have guidelines for security, access and other operational issues that have become the industry standard in other states. As a result, you should plan your business to meet the industry standards nationwide, not the minimum requirements as they currently exist. By going above and beyond now, you will not lose valuable time and money retrofitting your facility when the Legislature acts, either on the legislation that has been proposed or its own ideas. A good place to start is by reading the proposed legislation by different industry and patient groups in the so-called “unity draft" and the CARE Act.

INVESTORS I know that many of you have put together a business plan and pro forma and realized that you will need more capital than you have on hand. If seeking out in-

vestors is new to you, there is one thing to be aware of before you accept a check: be very careful about making any promises on the return on an investment. For example, you might be asked to agree to 10% equity and repayment of $100,000 with 10% interest in the first 12 months of operation. If you are unable to deliver on that repayment promise for whatever reason—catastrophic crop failure, a fire, unexpected tax bills, etc—your investor could contend that you defrauded them by promising certain investment returns that you did not provide. As with the federal tax issue, an experienced attorney can help you to structure the investment so that you can accomplish the investor’s goals without opening yourself up to securities fraud issues. The bottom line: the size of the potential patient market under SQ 788 and the easy licensure process has created a real opportunity for Oklahoma businesses to get established quickly and create a well-known brand. Don’t waste that opportunity and endanger your business by missing crucial planning steps on the front end. Erika Gee is the team leader of the Wright Lindsey Jennings Medical Marijuana and Industrial Hemp practice, a member of the firm’s Government Relations Practice and a former Chief of Staff and Chief Deputy in the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office.

A LETTER FROM A

CANNABIS NURSE BY LAURA K. BALES, RN

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought the two words “cannabis” and “nurse” would be used together, but today I am proud to say I am a “Cannabis Nurse”. I first became aware of the health benefits of the cannabis plant 20 years ago while working as a registered nurse in the fields of medical-surgical nursing, oncology research and patient care and hospice/palliative care. I heard so many patients talking about how marijuana was relieving their nausea, anxiety, insomnia and pain while also giving them an appetite when they had none. Because it was so effective for treating the symptoms of cancer and cancer treatment, some of the doctors I worked alongside would even quietly tell their patients to find some and smoke it. I really began to take note of the additional health benefits of cannabis as I moved from oncology to hospice and palliative care. I became convinced of the benefits for symptom treatment but was still skeptical of any of the curative effects on cancer, until I saw it myself. Years ago I met a patient in her early 50s whose body was

ravaged with lung cancer, including in the lining in her heart, and she had a large visible tumor in the side of her neck. She only had weeks to live and one of the first things her loved one told me on admission to hospice was that they were going to get a special cannabis oil that had been shown to treat and possibly cure cancer. Had the cancer not been in the lining of her heart, the result quite possibly could have been very different based on the dramatic response I observed. This patient no longer needed morphine and lorazepam, the tumor on her neck was shrinking and her breath sounds opened completely up. Another major reason I am so passionate about medical cannabis is the countless people who I’ve spoken to over the years that have told me they were able to get completely off opioids. These were patients who had been living on those hose nasty, addictive, harmful, life-destroying chemicals just to be able to function in their daily lives for years and even decades. Lastly, I am a Christian and I feel that God has called me to this work.

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Red Dirt Nurses Association Committed to Care BY PAMELA STREET BSN/RN & LESLIE COLLUM RN

ED DIRT CANNABIS NURSES Association was born out of the clear need for medical cannabis in Oklahoma and the passion of two local nurses and longtime cannabis advocates. We were long aware of the supportive research, the beauty of the endocannabinoid system, the homemade remedies and anecdotal reports, the miraculous healings amongst our friends and family and the unfortunate commitment of the legislators and law enforcement to fill up our prisons. We gained new friends and developed a network of like-minded educated advocates. Unfortunately, nurses in particular were not receptive to the body of evidence about the safety and medical efficacy of cannabis and this is why we needed to start RDCNA. Perhaps this was due to professional bias and/or employment and legal concerns. But because of this, in the lead up to the passage of SQ 788 we reached out to medical and nursing associations, legislators, nursing programs, we wrote

op/ed pieces, filed ethics complaints, hosted educational events and placed signs in the hopes that OK could have a progressive, swiftly implemented medical cannabis program. Having medical conditions ourselves, we applied the principles of nursing and determined that patient rights and professional ethics have been lacking in medicine and medical legislation. Nurses are taught to promote the â&#x20AC;&#x153;wholeâ&#x20AC;? person in the journey to health. When a patient is empowered with information and healthcare choices they begin to experience personal autonomy, they gain hope. This is essential in treating whole people. RDCNA is administered by nur-

ses with the hopes of providing healthcare professionals, patients and citizens that want referenced information and the support of like-minded individuals. We will develop separate files for patient and nursing reports of experiences. We are working on training modules related to cannabis nursing. We hope to merge all cannabis knowledge in our files and database. You will find information on topics like the role of cannabinoids in homeostasis and in different disease states, safety considerations, nutritional support, the routes and preparation of cannabis-based medicine. We are new, we hope to grow with integrity and ensure this service is rooted in truth and compassion. We have a mission statement, rules and goals. We remain committed to cannabis medicine and stand with Oklahomans and against the forces we know will try to cripple SQ 788. We move forward in confidence because education is never wasted.

Leslie Collum, RN holds a sign at a SQ 788 rally before Oklahoma voted to pass medical cannabis on June 26, 2018.

Massage Therapy

Massage Therapy Cannabis:

A One-Two Punch in the Face of Pain BY: AMANDA MCCANDLESS, LMT

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Ahhh, massage therapy…the ever overlooked lifesafer of so many. My career; my passion. I’ve seen my fair share of people living in pain. I’ve listened to countless stories of folks who went to their doctor for their pain first because they grew up being told that if something is wrong you see a doctor and trust what he says because he knows more than you do. Most often they were given pills without an actual diagnosis. And when the pills didn’t work, they were given different pills. And then steroid injections. And when all that failed, they were recommended for surgery. Working as a massage therapist in a chiropractor’s office taught me a few things: general practitioners don’t seem to know very much about the musculoskeletal system or muscle pain in general, specialists don’t look at the body as a whole, and pain management specialists don’t seem to care as much about your well being as you were raised to believe a doctor does. A shift happened somewhere in the last 30 years, when pharmaceutical

companies started ruling the medical field. Pills typically prescribed for pain are usually extremely addictive and dangerous opiates, yet physicians hand them out like candy. More importantly, they’ve been doing so with little-to-no education regarding addiction. Worse yet, there’s no education about what these pills are even doing to solve the problem. Spoiler alert - it’s nothing. Pain narcotics work by blocking your pain receptors. In layman terms, they turn your nerves off so that you don’t feel the pain. Pain is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong, so if you’re using a narcotic to block it, your body won’t improve and the side effects are likely to further impair your quality of life. Enter Cannabis. Because THC is not yet readily available in my state, I’m going to focus on CBD. CBD is incredibly similar to chemicals that our bodies make naturally that are involved in the body’s reception of and response to pain. CBD is believed to reduce inflammation and relax tight muscles. It has also been shown to reduce anxiety and

stress levels, which in turn is less stress on your muscles. Many of the muscular issues people face can be remedied by reducing inflammation. Inflammation is increased blood flow to an area of the body that your nerves think is under attack. That ‘attack’ is lactic acid build up within your muscle fibers, commonly known as muscle knots (picture a steak with a pocket of fluid injected into it). Because of that lactic acid and extra blood flow, there is too much mass in the area and this causes your muscles to impinge your nerves. CBD helps reduce inflammation and deep muscle manipulation pushes out the lactic acid and helps restore proper muscle fiber length and blood flow. When CBD oils are used in conjunction with massage therapy, the results can be astounding. I’ve been practicing massage for over seven years and have always wanted to be at the forefront of new techniques and/or applications that will help my

clients. My passion for helping to rid people of chronic pain and bring back a quality of life some of them haven’t seen in decades made it impossible to ignore what the Cannabis plant has to offer. I urge every single massage therapist out there to integrate CBD oil into all of their massages. I urge you to learn all there is to know about CBD, become wildly passionate about it and join the movement to help end opioid addiction and improve your clients’ lives. I also highly recommend having a line of salves, oils and lotions available on hand, as getting clients to do their part is a huge part of what we do. Send your clients home with a sample or allow them to purchase from you and have them use it in between visits to keep their inflammation at a minimum. The improvement to their life will not be forgotten and trust me, you want them to remember you for being the one to alleviate their chronic and debilitating pain.

Amanda McCandless is a licensed massage therapist in the state of Oklahoma and has been practicing for over 7 years. She specializes in muscle release and deep muscle manipulation, with an emphasized focus on Ilio-Psoas and Rhomboid release.

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A PATIENT’S GUIDE:

How to Talk To Your Doctor BY ANGELA BACCA

So you have decided you want to try medical cannabis-- or you want to tell your doctor that you are using it. This could go one of two ways; either the doctor will informally signal their support or they will tell you there is not enough

BE FAMILIAR WITH THE STUDIES YOURSELF

summary of the study’s parameters (what

You may not be a professional medical

tements. Perhaps print some out and have

researcher, or even have familiarity with reading studies, but it is important that you

they are studying and how they plan to do it) plus the results and forward looking stathem with you to share with your doctor, who will have a more critical mind toward

research and suggest you try something

the study’s methodologies and how that

harder instead.

could apply to you personally.

If your doctor is the latter, perhaps it is

DON’T BE COMBATIVE

time to find a new doctor. Doctors are not taught about the en-

If a doctor is unwilling to even listen to

docannabinoid system, nor do many of

you on this issue, fighting with them won’t

them have any formal training whatsoe-

change their mind. Don’t accuse them of

ver with the cannabis plant. But, a doc-

being in big pharma’s pocket or having

tor who hasn’t been living under a rock

ulterior motives (even if you are thinking

the last 20 years (or choosing willful ig-

it), but instead, personalize your message.

norance) will know that cannabis cannot

You will have a much bigger impact if you

kill you and is being found to have more

say something along the lines of, “I find

and more medical applications. If your

it really unfortunate you won’t consider

doctor has not even taken the time to

looking into this as it could significantly

look into this issue his or herself, then

improve my quality of life, and therefore I

you should probably question their ju-

will have to find a new doctor who has my

dgement on the drugs they do recom-

best interests in mind.”

mend in its place. It is important to remember that your doctor cannot turn you in or punish you for being honest about your cannabis use. Your doctor should be able to check for any harmful drug interactions of currently prescribed pharmaceuticals.

OunceMag.com FALL 2018

BE EXPLICIT

understand why you want to use cannabis for your symptoms. Take a trip to to Pub-

Tell your doctor why you are using

Med or Google Scholar and enter the name

cannabis, how it makes you feel and how

of your condition or symptoms and “can-

it affects your symptoms. Take personal

nabinoid” or “marijuana” or “cannabis."

notes so you can share results with your

Each study will have an “abstract” or short

doctor.

OKLAHOMA MEDICAL CANNABIS DOCTOR LOCATOR

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TULSA HIGHER CARE CLINIC

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ABRAHAM MEDICAL CLINIC

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AFFINITY HEALTH

HERBA VERDE

10960 N. May Ave . Oklahoma City, OK 73120 (405) 595-3575

301 N. Broadway Poteau, OK 75953 (918) 208-7497

3100 W. Britton Rd., Suite F OKC, OK 73120 (405) 757-7830

OKLAHOMA HEALTH & WELLNESS CLINIC

ALTERNATIVE TOTAL HOLISTIC CARE

INTERNAL MEDICINE CLINIC

8401 S. I-35 Service Rd. Oklahoma City, OK 73149 (405) 588-6161

ARBUCKLE INTERNAL MEDICINE GROUP 921 W. 11th St., #2 Sulphur, OK 73086 (580) 622-2353

NORTHWEST SINUS & ALLERGY CLINIC

410 N.E .12th S. Guymon, OK 73942 (580) 338-5500

JEFFREY SMITH, MD 1800 S. Renaissance Blvd. Suite 210 Edmond, OK 73013 (405) 470-6767

LEAF & RELIEF HERBAL CLINIC

5622 N. Portland Oklahoma City, OK 73112 (405) 528-8193

701 N.E. 36th St. Oklahoma City, OK 73105 (405) 438-0349

DAVID JAYNE M.D.

LINDEN & ASSOCIATES, PC

925 W. I-35 Frontage Rd. Suite 148 Edmond, OK 73034 (405) 348-8850

4900 Richmond Square Suite 102 Oklahoma City, OK 73118 (405) 840-1999

MIND & BODY MEDICAL CLINIC

721 W. Queens St. Broken Arrow, OK 74012 (918) 268-1014

2216 NW 164th St. Suite A Edmond, OK 73013 (405) 285-4755

FAMILY MEDICINE CLINIC 5500 Northwest Expy, Suite A Warr Acres, OK 73132 (405) 722-8100

FRUGALDOCTOR 7136 South Yale Ave., Suite 340 Tulsa, OK 74136 (918) 720-0886

4110 S 100th E. Ave. Grant Building, Suite 201 Tulsa, OK 74146 (918) 271-7904

2227 W. Lindsey St. Suite 1550 Norman , OK 73069 (405) 790-0500

TAHLEQUAH FAMILY MEDICINE CLINIC 204 Woodlawn Ave. Tahlequah, OK 74464 (918) 456-8000

THERAPEUTIC HEALTH CLINIC 1417 N.W. 150th St . Edmond, OK 73013 (405) 418-4041

NATURAL REMEDY MD 1405 E. Ayers Edmond , OK 73034 (405) 430-5449

NATURE'S CARE CLINIC 1450 Carson Road Sallisaw, OK 74955 (918) 776-0050

PRECISION PAIN MANAGEMENT

SERENITY WELLNESS

BOGIE EYE CARE

EVOLVED HEALTH & WELLNESS

400 N. Walker, Suite 140 Oklahoma City, OK 73102 (866) 265-2492

UKPSYCH 8988 S. Sheridan Rd., Suite D2 Tulsa, OK 74133 970-834-8610

WALK IN DIET & MEDICAL CLINIC 3019 Denver St. Muskogee, OK 74401 (918) 686-6551

WALK-IN MEDICAL & DIET CLINIC 3019 Denver Street Muskogee, OK 74426 (918) 686-6551

WELL BODY LONG LIFE CLINIC 6501 S. Western Ave. Suite 102 Oklahoma City , OK 73139 (405) 632 0111

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ZEIDERS ORTHOPEDICS 1800 S. Renaissance Blvd. Suite 210 Edmond, OK, 73013 (405) 509-7370

TISHOMINGO DOCTORS MEDICAL CLINIC 508 E 24th Tishomingo, OK 73460 (580) 371-9117

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FOR HELP LOCATING A PHYSICIAN VISIT: OUNCEMAG.COM OunceMag.com FALL 2018 17

FORMER DEA SPOKESWOMAN:

“CANNABIS IS SAFE and the DEA knows it!” BY ANGELA BACCA “Marijuana is safe, we know it is safe. It’s our cash cow and we will never give up,” Belita Nelson told an audience of doctors and nurses at the Marijuana for Medical Professionals Conference in Denver, Colorado in 2016. Nelson says that was the first thing she learned from her Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) education coordinator, Paul Villaescusa, when she was hired in the Dallas office in April 1998. “I was having fun, I was very good at my propagandist job—I was the chief propagandist for the DEA,” she said. Nelson represented the DEA in the in-

THE DEA AGENT & THE DALLAS COWBOYS STAR She says in 2000, two years into her tenor at the DEA, a close friend and Dallas football player was diagnosed with stage-4 lung cancer. She watched him go through three rounds of chemotherapy and deteriorate from 340 to 140 pounds. She says he could no longer eat or sleep and was miserable. Nelson went home and asked her then-teenage son if he could find her marijuana. “Even if the DEA is behind my

name I am not willing to sit here and watch my friend die,” she said. The cannabis helped; he started eating and gaining weight and slept more restfully at night. With new motivation he started a clean eating and juicing diet to complement the marijuana therapy and lived an additional nine years. Nelson says she even grew the cannabis herself so that she knew it was safe and not smuggled from Mexico.

LEAVING THE DEA FREE & CLEAR In 2004, Nelson resigned from the DEA.

ternational media from 1998 to 2004. She

She had been investigating the heroin epi-

did regular appearances on the talk show

demic in Plano, Texas and learned that ad-

circuit, including the Oprah Winfrey show

dicts who turned to cannabis were having

and Nightline, espousing the dangers of

a higher success rate getting off opiates

cannabis. Today she advocates for its me-

using it. She chose to resign.

dical use, specifically in the treatment of

“[When they hired me] they forgot

chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

to get me to sign a confidentiality agree-

in professional football players through

ment—and boy did I know the dirt. They

an organization she founded: The Gridiron

called me in and said ‘name your price,

Cannabis Foundation.

$10,000 a month? $20,000? What do you

Belita Nelson grew up in what she calls

want Belita?’”

a “Texas Football Family." Her father loved

She said she left the office screaming,

the Dallas Cowboys and taught her “life

“You know this is safe and you are kee-

lessons from football.” Football has always

ping it from people who are sick! I am not

been a major part of her life and she has of-

taking your money and you better worry

ten called well-known players her friends.

about what I am going to say!”

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If you think the DEA are the good guys, they are not. They are really not. We are talking corruption on steroids.”

STAYING OUT OF THE SHADOWS In 2014, with a longtime friend and former Denver Broncos player Rick Upchurch, Nelson began to advocate for cannabis as part of the treatment of CTE—a brain disease caused by repeated trauma that has killed many former NFL players or led them to take their own lives. Based on their studies, they put together a plan for alternaIMAGE: KIM SIDWELL

tive and holistic treatments for CTE, including medical cannabis. Together they designed a program and have recently purchased property in Colorado to host former NFL players and their families to provide these alternative therapies and see if they can stop brain degeneration. Together, Upchurch and Nelson are hoping to Former DEA spokeswoman, Belita Nelson, speaking out against prohibition and corruption.

prove the efficacy of cannabis in treating CTE so that the National

Nelson relocated to Colorado with little idea what she

At the end of her presentation, Nelson appealed directed to

would do next, but quickly found a place in the state’s burgeoning medical cannabis industry. She started testifying in support of medical cannabis, citing her official role at the DEA as expertise. “Gradually, I came out of my shell and that dark place I had been because of what I had experience and what I had seen…

Football League (NFL) agrees to allow its use among players. the crowd at the Marijuana for Medical Professionals conference, “There is so much work to do here and I honestly never thought I would see us get where we are. This is a very special time—get excited about this, understand we aren’t just doing it for fun— we are changing history folks. Be a part of this, help me change history—let’s see what this plant can do.”

OunceMag.com FALL 2018

HERE’S WHY

A CARDIOLOGIST TOOK A SECOND LOOK

at Cannabis

It was 2012, and I had recently turned 74. I had retired from a satisfying career in preventive cardiology, nutrition, integrative medicine, and clinical lipidology. I was bored and depressed. Still fit and able to think clearly, what was I to do with the rest of my life? All my medical licenses except for California and Missouri were now inactive. I saw an ad for a job in Pomona, California, to work in a medical marijuana clinic. I wasn’t exactly sure what this entailed, so I investigated and found that it was a job providing recommendations for the use of medical marijuana, which had been legal in California since 1996. I thought this might provide relief from my doldrums and malaise, so I signed on. I saw about 25 patients a day— mostly young men with purported low back pain who were looking for a legal way to smoke marijuana. There were a few interesting patients who told me how cannabis relieved their migraine headaches,1 Crohn’s disease,2 low back pain,3 glaucoma,4 multiple sclerosis spasms,5 and insomnia.6 One woman was looking for cannabis to relieve the side effects of chemotherapy.7 Some, but not all the applicants, brought medical records documenting their diagnosis. I lasted six days because providing the recommendation without supporting medical records, a requirement of the Cali-

OunceMag.com FALL 2018

IMAGE: DAVID SYGALL

BY JOE D. GOLDSTRICH, MD, FACC

Dr. Joe is all smiles.

fornia medical board, was too stressful for me. I was fortunate enough to find other interesting work as the medical director of a nutritional supplement company. I remembered those interesting medical marijuana patients and continued to follow the medical marijuana job opportunities in California. In late 2013, I saw an ad for a medical marijuana clinic in Oakland, California. This clinic was part of a group of clinics

belonging to Jean Talleyrand, MD, founder and president of MediCann. Dr. Talleyrand advertised that his clinics were “highly professional, ethical…founded and run by physicians.” I flew to California and spent three days seeing patients with Dr. Talleyrand. I was impressed with his professionalism and extensive experience with MediCann in providing medical marijuana recommendations to more than 300,000 California patients. I signed on again, and over the next nine months interviewed close to 3,000 patients seeking a recommendation for medical cannabis.8 During this period of time, my list of medical conditions for which patients found cannabis useful grew to include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,9 asthma,10 anxiety,11 seizures,12 depression,13 post-traumatic stress disorder,14 erectile dysfunction,15 and cancer.16 (Regarding cancer, cannabis not only provided relief from chemotherapy but also appeared to treat the tumor—more on this later.) It gradually dawned on me that while I had been providing the legal mechanism for patients to use medical cannabis to treat their medical condition, I had little to no firsthand knowledge or experience in guiding patients on using cannabis to treat their conditions. It was then that I decided to become a bona fide cannabinologist.

CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE

MORE TO LEARN In 2014, I joined the Society of Cannabis Clinicians,17 a professional society devoted to the exploration and investigation of medical and scientific applications of cannabis medicine. Shortly after joining, Mara Gordon, a layperson who had been making cannabis oil for medical purposes, spoke to the society. She had been advising patients on how to use cannabis medicinally for several years. In September 2014, while attending a continuing medical education program on medical cannabis in Denver, Colorado, I heard Mara present again. Mara was supplying medical cannabis oil to really sick people – people with cancer, people who were deemed incurable after exhausting traditional medical therapy. She had supplied medical cannabis to hundreds of patients over several years and had more experience in advising patients on the use of medical cannabis than anyone else that I had encountered. I asked Mara to teach me what she knew about the use of medical cannabis—to let me learn from her experience. This was not an easy thing for a physician to do, but I was willing to do whatever was needed to gain this knowledge. That was the spring of 2015. Most of the patients I have consulted on have had cancer. I have followed the tumor markers and radiologic scans. Some tumors have shrunk and even disappeared, some have stopped growing, and some have continued to grow unabated. Cannabis is not an oncologic panacea, but I’ve seen enough success to remain cautiously optimistic about the role of cannabis in the treatment of cancer.1 In a nutshell, here are some of the most important things I have learned about the use of cannabis in the treatment of cancer: Cannabis may work synergistically with chemotherapy18 and radiation.19 Cannabis may induce autophagy and subsequent apoptosis resulting in programmed cancer cell death.20 Tumor ID-1 gene expression facilitates cancer cell growth, survival, and metastases.21 Cannabidiol (CBD), a non- psychoactive cannabinoid, expresses antitumor acti-

vity22 in part through inhibition and down regulation of ID-1 expression.23 How can this information be used to formulate a therapeutic protocol to treat patients? Many people envision the medical cannabis patient as someone who sits around the house smoking a joint all day long. That’s not usually the case. Smoking might be an effective way to prevent a migraine headache or deal with a flare-up of chronic pain, but for most chronic diseases a concentrated form of cannabis is necessary and is best delivered by the transmucosal route. Accurate laboratory testing of the cannabis material is mandatory. This testing would include not only the percentage of the cannabinoids present in the material (i.e. THC, CBD) but also the absence of pesticides and toxic solvents and the presence of the full cannabinoid and terpene profile so as to take advantage of the entourage effect.24 Once the percentage of the cannabinoids are known, a prescription can be formulated in terms of milligrams of THC and/or CBD. Typical prescriptions for cancer patients will contain from 50 to 300 mg per day of THC and, depending on the status of the ID-1 gene for their particular tumor, from 50 to 300 mg per day of CBD. Specific strains, over and above their THC and CBD content, are chosen for their secondary effects (i.e. wakefulness, appetite stimulation, sleep). Most patients are seeking to avoid the psychoactivity associated with THC, and for that reason it is of paramount importance to start with extremely low doses (i.e. 1 to 5 mg) of THC and build up slowly, taking advantage of the known tolerance that develops with continued THC use. CBD, having little psychoactivity,1 can usually be advanced more quickly. That’s what I have learned so far. My experience convinces me that cannabis should be removed from its schedule 1 status so placebo controlled, double-blind studies can be carried out. Only then will we realize the full potential of this remarkable medicine.

REFERENCES 1 Baron EP. Comprehensive review of medicinal marijuana, cannabinoids, and therapeutic implications in medicine and headache: what a long strange trip it’s been. Headache 2015; 55(6):885-916. 2 Schicho R, Storr M. Cannabis finds its way into treatment of Crohn’s disease. Pharmacology 2014; 93(1-2):1-3. 3 Eisenberg E, Ogintz M, Almog S. The pharmacokinetics, efficacy, safety, and ease of use of a novel portable metered-dose cannabis inhaler in patients with chronic neuropathic pain: a phase 1a study. J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother 2014; 28(3):216-25. 4 Sun X, Xu CS, Chadha N, Chen A, Liu J. Marijuana for glaucoma: a recipe for disaster or treatment? Yale J Biol Med 2015; 88(3):265-9. 5 Pryce G, Baker D. Endocannabinoids in multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Handb Exp Pharmacol 2015; 231:213-31. 6 Belendiuk KA, Babson KA, Vandrey R, Bonn-Miller MO. Cannabis species and cannabinoid concentration preference among sleep- disturbed medicinal cannabis users. Addict Behav 2015; 50:178-81. 7 Smith LA, Azariah F, Lavender VTC, Stoner NS, Bettiol S. Cannabinoids for nausea and vomiting in adults with cancer receiving chemotherapy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2015; 11:CD009464. 8 Thompson M. The mysterious history of “marijuana.” NPR.org. Available at: http://www.npr.org/ sections/codeswitch/2013/07/14/201981025/the-mysterioushistory-of-marijuana (accessed on January 2, 2016). 9 Hadland SE, Knight JR, Harris SK. Medical marijuana: review of the science and implications for developmental-behavioral pediatric practice. J Dev Behav Pediatr 2015; 36(2):115-23. 10 Tashkin DP, Shapiro BJ, Lee YE, Harper CE. Effects of smoked marijuana in experimentally induced asthma. Am Rev Respir Dis 1975; 112(3):377-86. 11 Korem N, Zer-Aviv TM, Ganon Elazar E, Abush H, Akirav I. Targeting the endocannabinoid system to treat anxiety-related disorders. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol 2015. 12 Devinsky O, Marsh E, Friedman D, et al. Cannabidiol in patients with treatment-resistant epilepsy: an open-label interventional trial. Lancet Neurol 2015; 4422(15):379-8. 13 Hillard CJ, Liu Q. Endocannabinoid signaling in the etiology and treatment of major depressive illness. Curr Pharm Des 2014; 20(23):3795-811. 14 Betthauser K, Pilz J, Vollmer LE. Use and effects of cannabinoids in military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2015; 72(15):1279-84. 15 Chauhan NS, Sharma V, Dixit VK, Thakur M. A review on plants used for improvement of sexual performance and virility. BioMed Res Int 2014; 2014:868062. 16 Giuliano M. Cannabinoid- associated cell death mechanisms in tumor models (Review). Int J Oncol, May 2012. 17 Society of Cannabis Clinicians. http://cannabisclinicians.org/ (accessed on January 2, 2016). 18 Torres S, Lorente M, Rodríguez- Fornés F, et al. A combined preclinical therapy of cannabinoids and temozolomide against glioma. Mol Cancer Ther 2011; 10(1):90-103. 19 Scott KA, Dalgleish AG, Liu WM. The combination of cannabidiol and ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol enhances the anticancer effects of radiation in an orthotopic murine glioma model. Mol Cancer Ther 2014; 13(12):2955-67. 20 Salazar M, Carracedo A, Salanueva IJ, et al. Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells. J Clin Invest 2009; 119(5):135972. 21 Ling M-T, Wang X, Zhang X, Wong Y-C. The multiple roles of Id-1 in cancer progression. Differ Res Biol Divers 2006; 74(910):481-7. 22 McAllister SD, Soroceanu L, Desprez P-Y. The antitumor activity of plant-derived non-psychoactive cannabinoids. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 2015; 10(2):255-67. 23 McAllister SD, Murase R, Christian RT, et al. Pathways mediating the effects of cannabidiol on the reduction of breast cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2011; 129(1):37-47. 24 Russo EB. Taming THC: potential cannabis synergy and phytocannabinoid-terpenoid entourage effects. Br J Pharmacol. 2011;163(7): 1344-64.

OunceMag.com FALL 2018

How to Safely Grow Your Canna-Business WHEN YOU CAN'T ADVERTISE ONLINE BY TONY DARRICK BAKER

You’ve probably heard by now that you can’t simply advertise your cannabis-related business on Facebook and Google. While marketing in the health industry is already tricky, marketing in the cannabis industry is even trickier. But if you have the right strategy it can be done, and quite frankly it can be done more effectively than simply buying traditional ads.

BUILD A WEBSITE Your website is the hub of your online marketing. Many people assume that they can just promote their business on Facebook without a website. The problem is that you’re putting your business in the hands of others. Social networks don’t know your values and ethics, and can shut your social media pages down at any time without appeal. By branding your custom domain name for your website, customers will be able to find your business regardless of the social network they prefer.

BUILD YOUR EMAIL LIST Dollar for dollar, email marketing is still the most effective way to reach your customers. You also have control. If Facebook or Google decides to not let you advertise, you can go directly to your customers and ask them to share your business events and offers with friends and family. Always keep a current backup of your mailing list in a secure area. I prefer DropBox. It’s encrypted, never crashes and your

data will never be trapped on someone else's device.

CREATE SPECIFIC TARGETS When choosing demographics to target, focus on a niche, and even a sub-group of that niche. This will help you create content that your customers will want to share. I’ve heard a thousand times, “ But we want everyone to buy our stuff.” The problem is that you’re just a drop in the ocean, rather than a very big fish in the right pond. Become the big fish. You can always add more ponds.

BUILD AN ONLINE COMMUNITY Cultivating communities and ambassadors on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube is essential to marketing your business. If you can’t advertise, spend your ad dollars building up loyal communities. You may find that Pinterest, Instagram, or Snapchat work better for your business. Experiment.

CONSISTENTLY CREATE INTERACTIVE CONTENT Content is king, queen, and everything. One of the biggest problems with advertising is that as soon as someone clicks an ad, it’s gone right along with the money spent on it. If you focus your time and energy on creating amazing interactive content, then you not only build up loyalty and reputation, but your content lives on forever. Your website can contain an ever-

growing archive of all of your articles, videos, memes, and more. Use social media to get the content shared. If the content gets removed or simply buried, it will continue to live on forever on your website. When new people visit, they’ll share it and bring new life to it again. Stay out there. If you want people to talk about you, then you have to give them something to talk about. If you just don’t have time, pop out your cell phone and “go live." Give people something amazing to share. Impromptu videos are extremely powerful.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO FIGURE EVERYTHING OUT FOR YOURSELF Technology changes fast and if digital marketing isn’t your passion, then you’ll spend more time learning everything than you will spend doing it. Outsource everything that you can with a marketing and technology project manager that knows what needs to be done and why. Tony Darrick Baker is the co-founder of Illegally Healed, the largest online cannabis patient advocacy group. Baker is a digital marketing consultant specializing in medical cannabis marketing and publicity, as well as the latest technology required to efficiently train dispensary staff and patients.

OunceMag.com FALL 2018

The Green Wave CrasThe Green Wave Is hing Over Oklahoma Crashing Over Oklahoma BY UNCLE GRUMPY

hen you travel across the country, entering Oklahoma feels like time travel. You become very aware that you and everything you have is subject to search and seizure based solely on the attitude of a few holdouts from the days of “Reefer Madness”. Here, the laws have always been pretty behind the times. And as other states enacted reasonable cannabis laws, they have also have changed the culture of law enforcement. Most law enforcement have stopped arresting people for simple possession. They have stopped destroying lives because of a plant they don’t understand. They have stopped tearing apart families and sticking people with felony records that follow them the rest of their life. They have stopped limiting the opportunity of cannabis users and, subsequently, their children. In 2016, Oklahoma passed State Question (SQ) 780, which lowered the sentence of simple possession to a misdemeanor with no jail time. Now, with the 2018 passage of SQ 788 it will be fully legal for some Oklahomans to use cannabis, but others could still face $400 fines if their use is not recommended by a doctor. Yet, when we called around the state to County Sheriffs and city police, we found a great number stated without reservation that they will continue to bring the full weight of the legal system down on anyone they find with cannabis. The disconnect between the people of Oklahoma and their own elected offi-

OunceMag.com FALL 2018

cials when it comes to the cannabis plant is wide. For years, Oklahoma has held the title of the most incarcerated women in the United States as well as the highest incarceration rate in general. So why do we have elected officials that talk about building more prisons? This movement has to do more than just pass cannabis laws. It has to reshape our state congress, even if that means replacing every elected official. There is a green wave coming over Oklahoma. It’s going to bring a new group to power and with it we will see criminal justice reform close behind. See you on the road!

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Mr. Lawman! Please! Hear my plea! STOP! Don’t unjustly incarcerate me. My body is broken, my spirit is bent, my soul incapable of paying the rent. Of this cold concrete box, that’s really a cage. Much too small to contain my rage that grows from injustice of the very worst kind. If we could take a moment, I beg you, rewind. You would see a person full of love for all the things from low to above. My body is broken but my spirit is kind, Please halt this moment, please press rewind! This arrest, you think to be true Isn’t a good representation of you! For I am your granny, your son, and your dad the daughter you always wished you had. Without cannabis healing my dreams won’t come true And today, it all comes down to you. BRIDGET KENYON WOOD • SEPTEMBER 2018

OunceMag.com FALL 2018

Blurring the Lines

Can Food be Medicine? BY GARYN ANGEL The line between food and medicine has always been a blurry one. Herbs and spices commonly used today as flavoring in American kitchens were once hailed as the cornerstones of medicine around the world. The general practice in regions embracing “western” medicine is to separate the two (hence the directive “Take this medicine with food.") The exception is when doctors throw their hands in the air and give that resigned prescription, “diet and exercise.”

BEYOND DIET & EXERCISE That’s not to say diet and exercise aren’t critical—they’re arguably the most important health factors that we can directly control. But the watered-down phrase has too often become the point at which the conversation ends. Nowadays the recommendation of a particular type of diet or herbal regimen is simply noted as an “alternative” treatment, secondary to the barrage of pills and potions pushed on us by physicians and by the pharmaceutical corporations that pull the strings. Dietary medicine, however, is far from alternative. Regionally common foods like ginger, apple cider vinegar, and turmeric have a long history of success worldwide for both prevention and treatment of some of the most serious illnesses known to man. And as technology advances, so does our ability to harness the medicinal properties of everyday plants like these.

CONSIDER NATURAL BOTANICALS Consider cannabis, for example, one of the most controversial plants on the

planet. This natural botanical has been consumed medicinally via smoking and ingestion for thousands of years. Though it is commonly considered a “recreational drug” these days, a good time is not all it has to offer. When ingested in any of a number of forms, the cannabis plant can often benefit the body to an extent that puts prescription drugs to shame. Patients with legal access to cannabis reduce their consumption of conventional pharmaceuticals, according to a demographic review of patient characteristics published online in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. In its raw, unheated form, juiced cannabis confers powerful neuroprotective, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects. The phytocannabinoids from carefully chosen strains can even be extracted into potent, concentrated oils. These can alleviate symptoms of conditions ranging from eczema and diabetes to epilepsy, cancer, and beyond.

TAKE IT EASY

your own batch of medicine from the plant. It’s easy, too: You toss in your herb and some butter or oil, and press a couple of buttons. With a MagicalButter machine, you can blend the best benefits of your favorite herb into your daily diet—without spending a tedious day hunched over a burner, stirring endlessly in the chemistry lab that was your kitchen, dodging boiling grease rockets from the stovetop. Suddenly, everything from cannabis-infused tomato soup to oil is at the touch of a button. Long gone are the days of sticks and lumps in your cannabutter. Thousands of years ago, Hippocrates himself—the father of modern medicine—said, “Let medicine be thy food and let food be thy medicine.” In our time, thanks to advances in technology and science, the distinction between the two will become even more blurry. Diet and exercise are the answer for robust health. Hopefully, western medicine will soon catch up with the rest of the world and accept them as not the end of the conversation, but the beginning.

In the past, extracting the active compounds from cannabis and other plants was tedious and inconsistent. That was before a new kitchen device infused with digital technology came along a few years ago to streamline the process. The botanical extractor, or “MagicalButter machine”, is a unique countertop appliance that takes all the labor, mess, guesswork, and unwanted aromas out of producing

SAVE $30 TODAY ON YOUR OWN MAGICAL BUTTER MACHINE. USE COUPON CODE OUNCEMAG AT MAGICALBUTTER.COM

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ARK-LA-TEX Coming Soon!

n December 12th & 13th Imperious Expo will host the 2nd annual ARK-LA-TEX expo at the Arkansas Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. This public event is the prime opportunity to meet with experienced ancillary businesses in the cannabis space. ARK-LA-TEX is perfect for both patients and businesspeople as it gives a behind the scenes look into this burgeoning new (old) industry. Patients may enjoy seeing booths with vaporizers, cannabidiol, nutrients, and lighting displays. While busy entrepreneurs who have not had time to explore the industry in a legal state can make connections with businesses involved in analytical testing, transportation, security, packaging, labeling and banking, just to name a few. In addition to the exhibits, attendees may also sit in on three separate

speaker tracks: education, investors, employment. The 2017 show included talks on extraction, launching a successful cultivation facility, the future of industrial hemp, federal policy updates, and panels on topics like regulations, terpenes, compliance and more. Weedmaps will again be hosting the after party where attendees can rub elbows with the speakers and other entrepreneurs. Last year Live Sosa performed to a packed house at the Revolution Music Room. The two day event is the perfect opportunity to meet successful cannabis industry professionals and learn from their victories, as well as mistakes. Admission is $50 for either or both days. If you would like to reserve a booth for your business, please contact Courtney at (918) 303-2552.

OunceMag.com FALL 2018

TERPENE OF THE MONTH

Myrcene

Myrcene Effects: Anti-Inflammatory, Analgesic (Pain-relief), Antibiotic, Sedative

BY COURTNEY BOZE Cannabis is a beneficial treatment for a wide array of medical conditions because of the high variety of compounds found inside each plant. These compounds are found at different levels in each chemovar (strain) and vary by genetics and unique grow conditions. Patients just getting started are encouraged to always start low and go slow when consuming cannabis and keep a journal or log as they begin their treatment . One of the biggest reasons so many patients want the cannabis industry to be regulated is because of product integrity — they want to know what’s inside their medicine. Lab results should list compounds found inside the sample such as cannabinoids, pesticides, metals, mold, and terpenes. Terpenes are the essential oils found in cannabis and other plants and, in collaboration with cannabinoids, are responsible for the more nuanced effects of cannabis. Samples containing 0.5% or more myrcene, the most abundant terpene in cannabis, are considered more sedating. Myrcene has an earthy, musky scent and is found in ylang-ylang, parsley, hops and bay leaves. Myrcene is also found in very

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high amounts in mangoes and is produced by the decomposition or pyrolysis of β-pinene from turpentine. A 1990 study showed myrcene to have a pain-relieving effect on mice . Another study from 2002 found myrcene combined with limonene increased sleeping duration by up to 2.6 times . If you’re interested in the science of terpenes, a great place to start is Dr. Ethan Russo’s pivotal paper: Taming THC: potential cannabis synergy and phytocannabinoid-terpenoid entourage effects. In “Taming THC”, Dr. Russo goes in depth into how terpenes and cannabinoids work together synergistically to produce the plant’s effects. This phenomenon, called the “entourage effect” explains why patients respond better (and humans prefer) whole-plant cannabis to isolated CBD or THC. Myrcene is only one of over 200 terpenes found in cannabis varieties. As medical cannabis gains momentum we will learn more about each of them. For now it’s important to continue learning everything we can and sharing the findings with others.

REFERENCES Winningham J., PharmaD. Low & Slow, Limiting Side Effects & Interactions. Ounce Magazine. 2017, November 7. Learn About Terpenes. 2017, August 24. https://www.sclabs.com/terpenes Myrcene Biosynthesis and Production. https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/Myrcene.html RAO, VS. Effect of Myrcene on Nocieption in Mice. PubMed. 1990, December 24. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1983154 do Vale TG. Central effects of citral, myrcene and limonene, constituents of essential oil chemotypes from Lippia alba (Mill.) n.e. Brown. PubMed. 2002, December 9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12587690

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