Marijuana Business Magazine October 2019

Marijuana Business Magazine | October 2019 62 A NewKind of Medical medically induced patient-certification bottlenecks. (See chart.) Moreover, states such as Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts and New York have expanded the pool of health professionals who can recommend MMJ by approving nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Cannabis is also increasingly showing up as a serious topic at mainstream medical conferences: • In June, several cannabis-focused presentations were given at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in San Antonio, Texas, including: “Cannabis and Sleep,” by Arizona physician Dr. Param Dedhia; and “Cannabinoids, Sleep and Circadian Rhythms,” led by Nicole Bowles of the Oregon Institute of Occupation- al Health Sciences. • Also in June, cannabis-focused presentations were delivered at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, including, “Cannabinoids in Oncology: A Growing Role,” by Dr. Mellar Davis of the Pennsylvania- based Geisinger Health System; and “Legal Landscape for Medical Marijuana in the United States: Implications for Clinical Care,” by Dr. Ilana Braun of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. • In March, Grinspoon and two physician colleagues were on a panel, “Cannabis and Pain: Closing the Gap Between Experience and Evidence,” at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pain Medicine in Denver. Even the AMA, in its 2018 resolution, called for more research into cannabis, and the organization has thrown its support behind the “Cannabidiol and Marijuana Research Expansion Act” introduced in June by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat; Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican; and Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat. Once “dismissive,” doctors are now “getting there,” said Grinspoon, who teaches at Harvard Medical School and is the author of “Stoned: A Doctor’s Case for Medical Marijuana.” Grinspoon credits MMJ’s receding stigma as well as a new generation of doctors who are more open to medical cannabis as a treatment possibility. “As education gets better, as doctors start listening to their patients, as there are more young doctors, I think it’s going to get better and better,” Grinspoon predicted.