Are oncologists finally coming around on cannabis?

Cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD), and all variations of medical marijuana have really taken center stage these days. And I couldn’t be happier about it.

I was fortunate to have been at the forefront of this movement, as I’m licensed in the state of California—where marijuana has been medically legal for years. So I’ve seen firsthand what this safe and natural plant can do for conditions ranging from chronic pain to anxiety management to insomnia relief.

As an integrative physician, marijuana checks every one of my boxes. So the sooner conventional doctors come around on this issue, the better.

And this is particularly true for oncologists treating patients with cancer.

Slowly seeing the light  

Consider the results of a recent survey, published last year in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Researchers found that 80 percent of oncologists reported talking about using cannabis with their patients. Among this group, half went on to recommended it, but only 30 percent actually felt comfortable with the conversation.

Sadly, I assume that’s a typical reaction for a conventional medical setting. In contrast, my colleagues and I are usually on the forefront of anything “new and noteworthy” that’s plant-based. So I’m happy—and comfortable—answering questions about cannabis, and prescribing it when necessary. But the good news is, for the first time that I can recall, we have a plant-based therapy that oncologists are considering at all!

This survey showed that roughly one-third of oncologists consider cannabis to be at least as effective as the standard therapies out there. And some two-thirds thought it was a useful adjunct therapy to the drugs their patients were already taking.

Oncologists were recommending cannabis for a long list of cancer-related symptoms: poor appetite, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, and depression, to name a few. In a lot of these cases, the doctors believed it to be more effective than any other option on the table. (This was especially true for appetite loss and wasting syndrome.)

And you know what? It’s about time they saw the light.

A plant-based cure for the opioid crisis

Another survey of nearly 3,000 Israeli cancer patients showed that 70 percent of patients found cannabis to be helpful for sleep problems. Plus, more than half used it to fight fatigue, nausea, and vomiting. And three-quarters used it to ease anxiety.

That’s a pretty high patient satisfaction profile. And in my view, that alone is enough to recommend medical marijuana from the rooftops.

But get this: About one-third of these patients also reported that cannabis helped them reduce their use of opioids. And I’m guessing I don’t need to point out the value of that.

Because what we have in marijuana is a true way out of the opioid crisis—through safe, natural, non-addictive plant-based medicine.

In fact, population-based studies that have looked at overall opiate prescription rates have reported a sharp drop in states where medical marijuana has been legalized.

And clinical research shows that it’s no fluke. One trial showed that patients who took cannabis at the start of the study reported lower pain scores than controls. And more importantly, they didn’t require increased dosages of opioids to stay that way.

Not only that, but by the end of the 6-month study period, nearly 50 percent of the controls had died… versus only 20 percent of the patients who took medical marijuana from the start.

So you can bet Big Pharma is either quaking in their boots… or buying up cannabis farms as fast as they can.

As for me, I can’t sing the praises of cannabis highly enough. Which is why I’ve devoted a number of articles to breaking down the incredible benefits of this plant just in the past year alone—both here and in my monthly newsletter Logical Health Alternatives.

So, especially if you’re still on the fence, I invite you to give them all a read. Subscribers have access to those articles and a whole lot more in my archives—so if you haven’t yet, as always, consider signing up today.

Source:

 “Cancer Patients Using Cannabis ‘Doing Better…Feeling Better’” Medscape Medical News, 11/06/19. (medscape.com/viewarticle/920879)