Displaying episodes by topic: patient care

Does irradiated cannabis still contain mold spores? In this deep-dive episode, Trevor and Kirk explore the science behind cannabis irradiation, fungal contamination, and the hidden risks of mycotoxins. Dr. Saji George and Mamta Rani from McGill University break down how gamma irradiation is used to sterilize cannabis—and why even this industry-standard sterilization may not eliminate all harmful fungal spores or toxins. They reveal that while irradiation significantly reduces fungal contamination, advanced testing still detected viable spores and residual mycotoxins in some cannabis legal products. For immunocompromised patients, even minimal exposure to spores or toxins can matter. We explore testing gaps, regulatory limits, workplace risks, and new biocontrol solutions to prevent contamination at the source. Listen now to understand how cannabis irradiation works — and where the cracks in the system may be.

What does medical cannabis look like when a King gets involved? Morocco, a country historically known for exporting outstanding Hashish, must import medicinal cannabis from aboard because its local crop doesn't meet the quality standards of Europe. The King of Morocco wants to bring Moroccan cannabis up to Good Agricultural and Collection Practices (GACP) so it can be used locally and be exported. Trevor and Kirk speak with Moroccan cannabis insider Dr. Redouane Rabii about Morocco’s push into medical cannabis. From GACP standards and farmer training to cancer pain management and international exports, we explore how medicine, policy, and culture collide in one of the world’s most famous cannabis regions. Dr. Rabii, a professor, an MD PhD, and a practicing Uro-Andrologist shares frontline clinical experience using cannabis for pain and cancer care and why Morocco’s medical system should follow Israel to succeed. Dr. Rabii has traveled the world and lends the King his expertise to help farmers, pharmaceutical companies, and laboratories fulfill the King's medical cannabis ambitions. Listen now to explore the future of medical cannabis in Morocco.

We first met Janna Champagne as a cannabis nurse. Since we last spoke, she has transitioned to being a Board-Certified Master Herbalist, a Professor of Integrative Medicine, a prolific academic author, and founder of an autism non-profit.  As the discussion develops, Kirk and Trevor learn the height of Janna's expertise and the depth of her passion for educating healthcare providers about the therapeutic potential of medical cannabis. Professor Champagne’s influence with the clinical application of Cannabis, within academic environments, is extremely rare as less than 2% of American universities are teaching the Endocannabinoid System.  In this episode our guest tells her cannabis story; a personal journey which is growing to be an international saga of a life being lived.

In Canada, older adults represent a fast-growing demographic of cannabis users. As part of her graduate program, PhD student Madison Maynard did a national enquiry within the USA, on how cannabis modulates the chronic pain, mental health symptoms, and sleep concerns of people between the ages of 55 and 74 years old. Although the evidence leaves questions of efficacy unanswered, the goals of the study were to examine the hypothesis that medical cannabis use will, at the daily level, predict lower pain, depression, anxiety, and improved sleep. In this episode, Kirk and Trevor discuss how her findings apply to Canada. 

Ontario entrepreneurs are solving a problem that Trevor confronts on a weekly basis. People going to recreational cannabis stores with health questions like, "Are these gummies okay with my seizure meds?" We know that a large percentage of customers at recreational cannabis stores are using their cannabis for health and wellness purposes. Yet, budtenders are limited in the health information that they can provide. In this episode, Kirk and Trevor learn how two businesses owners are filling in the gaps left by governments’ lack of attention within the Medical Cannabis program. Lisa Bigioni is the Co-Founder and CEO at Stok'd, a retail cannabis store. Anushya Vijayaraghevan is a pharmacist and Co-Founder of Apothecare. Their niche filling collaboration is that Stok'd, an experiential cannabis retail shop, gives customers access to Apothecare, a pharmacist-led virtual consultation service. Together, these businesses provide a pathway for those searching to learn how to use cannabis for their health and wellness. This is another example of how the Cannabis Industry is meeting the needs of those looking to learn the health benefits of using cannabis.

Here is yet another story of how individuals found cannabis to be beneficial for their own personal medical needs. The difference in this story? These people went on to grow a grassroots organization called EduCanNation, a non-profit association of Certified Cannabis Educators. While many traditional healthcare professions remain hesitant or outright dismissive of cannabis medicine, EduCanNation is stepping up to bridge the gap between scientific understanding, consumer needs, and the ever-changing legal landscape. The leaders within EduCanNation aim to set the national standards for all Cannabis Coaches and Educators. In this episode, Kirk and Trevor continue their discussion on the emergence of Cannabis Coaches and Educators—an unregulated, but increasingly necessary role—seems to be a natural response to the gaps in education and access that exist in the heavily regulated cannabis space.

The Canadian Medical Cannabis Program has been available for more than two decades, yet the process of obtaining cannabis as medicine remains very cumbersome. In comparison, Recreational Cannabis, seen as a substance of misuse, is easy to acquire. When people express an interest in trying cannabis as a medicine to their health care team, many health practitioners simply direct their patients toward the Rec market knowing (or maybe not) the restrictions the Cannabis Act places on budtenders. Budtenders cannot discuss health conditions with customers. While many health professionals continue to ignore the highly regulated medicinal cannabis system, a group of entrepreneurs calling themselves Cannabis Coaches, are filling the need. In this episode we learn how certified Cannabis Coach Terese Bowors started a small business educating people about medicinal cannabis. We come to understand how a group of non-regulated health educators are developing their own Standards of Practice.

Kirk catches up with Ted Smith from the Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club and his organization’s ill-defined existence within a country of legalized cannabis. We hear how Ted’s dreams, for this timeworn cannabis compassion club, are close to fruition yet there lingers potential for a new set of fines and a visit from the Public Health Authority impeding the full potential of this caring organization. In this episode we learn how the clouds preventing Ted from flying high are not simply from his new smoking lounge but rather the various levels of bureaucracy he must manage when putting compassion into action

The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. That is what we learned in high school biology. But what if it is more? What if the mitochondria has receptors on it for cannabinoids? What if mitochondria move around the cell? What if mitochondria help produce chemical signals for the cell? What if mitochondria are involved in such diverse processes as epilepsy, mental health and aging itself? Hunter Land, PhD walks us through mitochondria and cannabinoids and so much more. Our preconceived notions about the powerhouse of the cell were blown out of the water. Let's see if yours are too!

So many fantastic Canna-people to meet and talk to at CannMed 24! Here are the first batch of clips we got!

Ariane Williams & Megan Mbengue – Trusted Canna Nurse - There were so many nurses at CannMed 24! Our slightly biased co-host Kirk was ecstatic. He thinks more nurses makes every conference and everything else better! Ariane is the Director of Patient Services and “The Kind Nurse”. She’ll listen to your needs as a patient and guide you to personalized care. Megan is the Founder and CEO. She is a Social Media Content Queen with all things cannabis and runs the back end of Trusted Canna Nurse.

Jeff Smith -Professor, Strategic Partnership and Outreach Specialist at the Institute of Cannabis Research - Colorado State University Pueblo. The ICR is like the NIH (National Institutes of Health) of cannabis research in Colorado. The ICR funds research related to cannabis such as clinical research, biotechnologies, and economic development associated with cannabis in Colorado. Once the research is done, they publicly disseminate the results.

Clay W. Moore - Drug Discovery Scientist at Rare Earth Genomics. We first met Clay at CannMed 23. He is now a PhD student at Texas A&M. Clay needs bigger goals in life, because he is only trying to cure cancer with hemp extracts. He is also a part of Rare Earth Genomics (REG). REG wants to be your Swiss Army knife of hemp research projects. We talk to Clay about how REG could help Kirk with his potential Hemp-Crete dreams

More than 200,000 Canadians are registered Medical Cannabis patients.  Due to a cumbersome national system, many of these individuals discover the benefits of Cannabis alone, with little therapeutic expertise to guide them.  Learning about your medicine or just trying to access your medicine, these tasks are made easier when engaged with a business like Tantus Health; a Medical Cannabis Dispensary. Their consultants design natural wellness plans to educate individuals and provide personal guides to alleviates those frustrating unknowns that come when using Cannabis as medicine.  In this episode, Kirk and Trevor discover a Canadian licensed medical cannabis company who: provides quality medicine consistently, forms strong relationships with their patients, and helps west coast first responders suffering from PTSD.  With Tantus Health, you are not alone with your prescribed cannabis.

In this episode, Kirk and Trevor review “The Cannabis Cancer Connection” by Dr. Joe D. Goldstrich. Dr. Joe is a cardiologist who, in his retirement, became a self-descripted “cannabis oncologist”. He now applies pre-clinical cannabis research and his years of expertise and patient experience to his clinical cannabis practice. In his book, Dr. Joe discusses the “Art” of practicing medicine within an evidence-based system. He discusses the limitations of the available science behind medicinal cannabis, while at the same time challenging the medical system to recognize the plant’s potential. He has had successes and failures using cannabis as a therapeutic in cancer care and offers a balanced view of both. This book offers a good introduction to both cannabis and cancer, and will help individuals and families to better understand how cannabis can help those suffering from the disease. Dr. Joe also takes the reader deeper by applying the available knowledge and connecting it to his clinical practice making this a valuable resource to those practicing in the field of oncology.

We've got another amazing group of attendees from CannMed 23!

One evening they said dinner was on Lanai Beach. In Manitoba, if you are at a conference and someone says dinner is on Lanai Beach, then Lanai Beach is the name of a room. But in Florida, they actually meant dinner was on a beach. That sounds like a lovely idea, unless it is over 30 C and there is no shade. Thankfully, I brought a ball cap for my bald head and I met Dr. Joe Thompson also looking for some shade beside a pole. Dr. Thompson trained as a pediatrician, but now is the President & CEO of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. They have a program where they are going to analyze the data of people who got medical cannabis in Arkansas and see what happened to Health Outcomes. You want to hear about how that study will be done.

Dr. Leah Johnson Pharm D is a pharmacist and we met her in the Poster Hallway. Her Poster was about palliative care patients in California. Her group believes that if patients have access to cannabinoid medicine during palliative care, that will promote a better quality of life for the patients. Dr. Leah helps patients with their cannabis therapy and is a Cannabis Speaker and Educator across the US. She is on the Executive of the Pharmacist Cannabis Coalition of California (PCCC).

I met Akeem during the opening reception of CannMed 23. I didn't know anyone at the conference yet, so thankfully, he came up to me, read my name tag and introduced himself. Soon we discovered we were both from Canada, and we laughed over the fact the sliders were taken away too quickly. He told me he was nervous about a main stage talk he was giving. Now I understand why. He was giving a very technical, science heavy talk to a room full of cannabis doctors and researchers. But he killed it during his talk. He even handled challenges from the audience. I got to collect some audio from Akeem right after his talk. He’s from Mississauga. He’s a huge basketball fan. He has a nephew who Uncle Akeem really wants to become the next Lebron James. But for our story, Akeem is a Canadian lawyer turned hemp farmer turned CEO of the BioTech company Canurta Inc. His talk was about cannaflavins and their potential to treat glioblastoma, a common and aggressive form of brain cancer.

Bruce Mackler was involved with Prairie Plant Systems in Flin Flon when all “legal” Canadian Government Cannabis was grown in a mine in 2000. That became Cannimed in Saskatoon. And that got bought out by Aurora. Former lawyer that fought cases against the FDA. Former immunologist. His company, Ethicann, is developing a sublingual tablet for Multiple Sclerosis as a competitor to Stativex.

Dr. Rob Sealey returns to the podcast. Back in S3E7 he talked about Cannabis For Kids. Today we drive down the road to the other end of the age spectrum, Cannabis and Seniors. Dr. Sealey is super knowledgeable, but also pithy comment machine! Within this episode he says  "you wouldn't go into your local liquor store and say, which bottle of Marlow should I use for my arthritis." He also figures "if we're at all related to mice and some people are more related to rats, then you know, you got a pretty good shot as this could actually potentially help."  When filling your medicine cabinet there is "the great substitution effect of using cannabis because of its multi-modal aspects." Applying his knowledge he shares "I always am a booster of the endocannabinoid system." We can’t entice you any better that these quotes. Go Listen!

Why not pick up your medicine on the way home from work? Buying your cannabis from a recreational store is certainly more convenient, especially when there is a store in pretty much every neighbourhood. In this episode, we learn the advantages of following the Health Canada Medical Cannabis pathway. Justyna Johnson is a Medical Cannabis Educator employed by The Clinic Network. The enthusiasm for her job comes from spending her workday helping people navigate the medical cannabis system. Unlike the recreational store budtenders, Justyna’s job is to address your medical questions and guide her patients through the paperwork, discussing the programs offered by License Producers. This is where there is a difference between medical and recreational cannabis systems. Justyna shares her knowledge and understanding, demonstrating how those who use cannabis as medicine will benefit by not using the recreational system to buy their medicine.

What is the evidence? Where are the studies? There is no proof that cannabis can treat anything! Well…What if I told you there are lots of studies showing that cannabis has medical benefits? What if there was a study going on right now in Sarnia looking at Cannabis and Dementia in Long Term Care (LTC) homes? Dr. Blake Pearson and his partners in Lambton County are the epitome of “Think Global, Act Local”. They are tackling the pervasive problem of dementia in all LTC homes by seeing if cannabis can improve it in their local LTC system. Their study also measures if cannabis use in Dementia patients can help reduce Care Giver Burnout. This exciting research on the shores of Lake Huron is adding to the growing mountain of cannabis as medicine. We also take a left turn into “Green Washing”, but it is not what you think. Come have a listen.

Brent Alarie is informed he has COPD, then it was multiple sclerosis. No wait, he receives another diagnosis of blood cancer. These were just a few of the catastrophic verdicts given to describe how his body was betraying him. He needed to create change and prepare for his enviable death. With a new bucket list he started living his best life under the circumstances. A six-year painful journey, of the most insane symptoms and being bounced from one diagnosis to another, finally comes to an end. Brent is told he has chronic Lyme Disease. A new journey begins with learning to live with the on-going symptoms of Lyme and regular pharmaceuticals do not help with the chronic nerve-pain. He was never a drug-guy, but after a friend gave him Cannabis, he finds therapeutic relief. Brent shares how he now balances his life with nutrition and Cannabis. Kirk and Trevor bring their second story on how Cannabis brings relief to people suffering from this Monster sickness in which we call Lyme Disease.

Dr. Jen Anderson wasn’t very interested in cannabis. As a newly minted family physician, it just wasn’t on her radar. She wasn’t against it. But cannabis just wasn’t going to be a tool in her tool box, professionally. She became a mom, and one of her children started having seizures. Lots of seizures. After exhausting all the regular anti-seizure medications, she tried cannabis on her child. It helped. The cannabis helped a lot. But some of her colleagues in neurology were not happy she was giving her child cannabis. Without the cannabis, Dr. Anderson believed her son could die. Then the neurologist said words no parent wants to hear, “Well, yes he could…” You’ll just have to listen to hear how the twists and turns play out. 

The Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club (VCBC) is no stranger to defending the services that a compassion club can deliver. For decades, the VCBC has supported individuals with chronic and or life-threatening diseases by providing aid not available from government health systems. Kirk once again visits this west coast healing community. He examines how this celebrated organization is now fighting a $6.4 million fine levied against them as an unlicensed dispensary. Founder Ted Smith, a tenacious defender of human rights, explains this current challenge, the club’s relationships with growers, and the help his staff provides the medical cannabis community.

When you take a prescription medication, it goes into your body, does what it is supposed to and then leaves. Part of leaving the body often involves the medication getting broken down or metabolized by enzymes in the liver. One of the biggest medication metabolizing enzyme systems in the liver is called the Cytochrome P450 enzymes. Why should you care? Because cannabis can effect the Cytochrome P450 enzymes. That could cause there to be too much or too little of a prescription medication in your body to do its job properly. Dr. Lyndsey Anderson and her colleagues at the Lambert Initiative in Sydney, Australia have looked at how cannabis and the Cytochrome P450 enzymes interact. Let's have a listen!

Dr. Suzy Pinnick, a family physician specializing in palliative medicine and remote northern medicine, shares her cannabis story with Kirk. In this episode, the two health professionals sit in a casual masked conversation within the warmth of the NIC’s office of a northern nursing station during a deep Covid19 Canadian winter evening. She is quick to say she has very little knowledge of cannabis, yet believes it is important to learn. When she was asked by parents to prescribe cannabis for one of her pediatric palliative care patients, Dr. Pinnick quickly recognized how little she knew. Kirk brings the story to Trevor, how this experienced doctor is willing to learn as she practices; how she learns the art of medicine while applying the formal duties of a doctor.

Philippe Lucas from Tilray comes on the discuss the TOPS (Tilray Observational Patient Study).  It looked at around 2000 medical cannabis patients across Canada prospectively and gather tons of data.  Some of the most interesting findings include medicating with cannabis seems to reduce opioid use and the use of prescription medications in general.  Plus, there was no signal that the study participants wanted more and more cannabis which implies limited drug seeking and addition behaviors from medical cannabis.  Numbers, data, cannabis, a great chat with Philippe, are you as excited as Trevor about this one?  Have a listen.

In this episode we explore a series of unfortunate events started when a Registered Nurse decided to illegally grow cannabis as medicine. Society may consider nurses one of our most trustworthy groups however, employers and professional colleges have policies and procedures suggesting otherwise because the profession is plagued with addiction issues. This episode explores what happens when a nurse self-medicates using cannabis and is seen as having an addiction issue. There is a mismatch in understanding needs and medicine. Kirk and Trevor wonder if this is one of those stories where Cannabis is misunderstood and due to this lack of understanding, we are left with one less nurse.

Although universal health care is considered a Canadian right, ensuring your unique needs are fully met can be a challenge. Kirk and Trevor meet Susan Hagar, from Nurse on Board, your healthcare navigation partner. Working for you and your family, a Nurse “will take the stress out of dealing with medical challenges and will design a plan tailored to your specific needs.” Acting as your personal health care manager, they work collaboratively with the health professionals involved with your care. Are you interested in Cannabis and your doctor is not? Nurse on Board offers Cannabis Competent Nurses, who will accompany you to your doctor appointments and guide you and your doctor, with better understanding how Cannabis can be used in your care plan. In this episode, we learn how self-employed nurses help our current health care system meet needs of individuals. We also learn how health professionals can learn to be Cannabis competent through online education.

Rather than measure the wing span of mosquitoes, Dr. Lynda Balneaves RN became a nurse. Her story begins with recognizing a love for people and for travel. Her academic journey, of supporting people and health care providers with engaging in shared decision-making related to complementary and integrative health care, includes some of Canada’s earliest cannabis research. The scholastic chronicles, of this Doctor Nurse, speaks to how we can never truly plan our life path, but we do have the power to be properly prepared for opportunity. This episode will guide care givers in their practice responsibilities with cannabis, while increasing the expectations of those who receive care through it.

If you suffer from headaches, Dr. Carrie Cuttler, Assistant Professor at Washington State University, may offer some insights. This episode explores how migraine sufferers may benefit from cannabis. In her study, this cannabis researcher, uses Strainprint data to track people who use inhale cannabis to treat their migraines. Kirk and Trevor explore her research and also discuss how diminished anandamide levels, an important endocannabinoid, may also contribute to the headache pain.  A deficiency in the `bliss` molecular causes a pain in the ...head? 

Kirk and Trevor discuss PTSD with Dr. Mike Hart founder of ReadyToGo Clinic.  Dr. Hart talks about how PTSD, migraines, IBS and some other conditions are due at least in part to an endocannabinoid deficiency.  That means cannabis is an obvious treatment for PTSD.  Also hear how cannabis can also be used in sports medicine and about Kirk's Runners' High on the Columbia Ice Fields.

Kirk and Trevor talk to Janna Champagne.  Janna was a critical care cardiac nurse thriving in a high pressure, high stakes, life and death work place.  Suddenly her life was derailed by an illness.  Janna discovered how cannabis could help her life and has become a Cannabis-Specialty Nurse to help others.  Along the way, Janna found another benefit of cannabis to her family.  Come listen to how cannabis helped Janna's daughter through an Autism puberty crisis and probably spared her from out of home placement.

"Marijuana Study Finds CBD Can Cause Liver Damage".  This article in Forbes by Mike Adams blew up on Cannabis Twitter.  What is the truth?  Does the ubiquitous CBD beat up on the poor defenceless liver?  Is this just junk science and hyperbole?  Well...we called up the study authors and asked them.  Get ready to be schooled by Dr. Igor Koturbash , Dr. Bill J. Gurly and Dr. Mitchell R. McGill.  This conversation goes through the basic science involved in toxicology studies for any new medication.  Get ready to nerd out on why mice are really livers with legs, acute vs chronic dosing studies and much more.  Spoiler alert... these highly educated gentlemen don't hate CBD.  They just want there to be more study on what CBD does to the liver and how it might effect other medications a person is taking.  Be mindful in your cannabinoid use and have a listen. 

Kirk and Trevor are live on stage at HempFest Saskatoon for a second time!  This time Trevor talks with Sue Letwin(@LetwinSue).  Sue has Lyme Disease.  She explains how this misunderstood condition effects her life and how cannabis is helping her.  In fact she finds the THC helps her more than CBD.  And she make her own edibles.  Come learn from Sue with us!