Cannabis Nurse Truths

Our Veteran population is over 17 million strong, and 72% of Veterans live in a state where medical marijuana is legal. Yet there are numerous hurdles and barriers a Veteran must overcome in order to access cannabis. Additionally, Veterans use cannabis for a variety of reasons, both psychosocial and physical. Yet the Veteran's Administration currently does not allow their healthcare practitioners to recommend cannabis to their Veteran population, which sets up a myriad of health and safety concerns for this vulnerable population. As Veterans begin their journey toward wellness, they are looking for evidence-based answers to health concerns that extend way beyond the VA. 
So if their VA doctor cannot recommend cannabis, and the evidence that they use does not consider dosages, treatments, and potential risks versus benefits, who can the Veteran turn to for cannabis recommendations? Our Veterans are looking to Cannabis Nurses to support their safe use of cannabis to treat their health conditions, and on this episode of Cannabis Nurse Truths, we will share the truth about cannabis as both helpful, and potentially harmful in our Veteran population. We also have a Call to Action to our legislators and healthcare providers who work within the VA system. Welcome to Cannabis Nurse Truths, where we are not afraid to share the truth about cannabis as medicine. 

As the United States legalizes adult-use cannabis, we are very concerned about how it is impacting safety - safety in access, safety in products and dosages, safety while driving and at work. But one of the most vulnerable populations related to safety and cannabis is the adolescent and child population. These populations must be considered from the safety approach of harm reduction and prevention. We definitely want to keep the kids safe in Cannabis Land.
These are among the concerns about cannabis legalization that need to be addressed immediately. But if the proper education, public awareness, and regulations are implemented regarding cannabis access and education, it seems that the kids will be alright in Cannabis Land. Welcome to Cannabis Nurse Truths, where we're not afraid to share the truth about cannabis as medicine. 

The continuing War on Drugs, and in this case, cannabis, has unduly biased substance use research for as long as we can remember. Substance use researchers and clinicians are among the first to recognize that this War on Drugs has failed but yet research has seemed to not fully noticed how the propaganda has influenced how we conduct our jobs and the research we produce. Not only does the War on Drugs bias research, it also biases our approach to healthcare, hospitals, doctors, nurses, patients, insurance companies - everything that touches healthcare is also biased, and so are industries that we rely on regarding trucking, workplace safety, and even marketing and advertising.
So how is the War on Drugs treating you? In this episode of Cannabis Nurse Truths, we're gonna tease out some of these other unintended consequences of the prohibition War on Drugs and why this can no longer be sustained. 

It was in September 6, 1988, that DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Francis Young ruled that cannabis should be reclassified under federal law. He stated that, "Marijuana, in it's natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis, marijuana can be used safely in supervised medical care. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious for the DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record." This was 1988. 
Fast forward to 20224, and we are still fighting prohibition. But that's why you're listening to Cannabis Nurse Truths, isn't it? 

The problem with nature is that it's smart. Take, for instance, bacteria and viruses. They enter our body, they set up shop, they have a great time, and then they cause multiple levels of problems including the newest virus known as COVID-19. And your body only has so many resources to fight that off. And what do we usually turn to when we want to enhance those resources? We turn to drugs - the pHARMaceutical drugs which may or may not work. And we have multiple drugs to treat multiple infections, but still we have patients dying of sepsis in the hospital. And with COVID-19, we also know as a virus, that it's very tricky to treat a viral infection versus a bacterial infection.
So what's the answer? The answer is more drugs. However, because these 'little guys,' the viruses and bacteria are so smart, they adapt. And they adapt in ways that become more dangerous to now we have drug-resistant bacteria and mutants of the viruses, including COVID-19. So what is the answer? Is the answer more drugs? Why yes - the answer is more drugs, and those drugs would be coming from cannabis. In this episode of Cannabis Nurse Truths, we're going to be talking about cannabis and COVID-19. Is this the remedy that we've been looking for? 

Nurses have one purpose in society - to keep our patients, our families, and our communities safe. We also educate and advocate, we make sure that you are taking your prescriptions and receiving your treatments, and getting your diagnostic tests appropriately. We lived in the world of cognitive dissonance where we were told that cannabis is a drug of abuse while at the same time, administering it synthetically as a drug of healing.
Research is now overwhelmingly supporting evidence that indicates that cannabis is beneficial and, in fact, can prevent or treat any condition known to man at this time, and now nurses are poised to provide  the same care that we strove to provide since the days of Florence Nightingale to our patients, families, and communities.  Welcome to Cannabis Nurse Truths, where we are not afraid to tell the truth about cannabis as medicine.

The nursing shortage in the United States is at a crisis point. We have nurses leaving the profession, nurses who are not allowed to work in the profession, and this is all affecting our patient population; their health is at risk, as more nurses are now less available to take care of them. And those that are being cared for are typically sicker.
So what's the answer? Simple. Cannabis Nursing. 

Let's talk about cannabis as medicine. We've all been led to believe that cannabis is bad for you - substance abuse, wild and crazy times, Reefer Madness - but the cannabis sativa plant has been used as a therapeutic agent for more than five millennia, and going back to Emperor Shen Yun in 4000BC, cannabis was used for many ailments. 
And now, let's talk about cannabis nursing, because yes, Virginia (and the rest of the United States), there really are things known as cannabis nurses, and we are growing in numbers. 

With the federal government owning the patent on cannabis as medicine, it's no wonder cannabis can be seen as a scary thing, especially if you are in the business of big pHARMa. Pharmaceutical corporations, alcohol, and tobacco are all scared of cannabis - and there's good reasons for that - and that's why we are not afraid to share the truth about cannabis on this next episode of Cannabis Nurse Truths.

Did you know that the United States government has been growing cannabis for research purposes since 1968 at the University of Mississippi? Did you also know that the government has a very large interest in understanding how cannabis can be useful in a variety of health conditions? Why is that?
Well, that's because they own the patent on cannabis as medicine, and they have since 2003. Welcome to Cannabis Nurse Truths, where once again, we are not afraid to share the truth about cannabis.