Should Medical Schools Start Teaching About Cannabis?
Author: Pavel Čermák
More and more laws are being passed on medical marijuana. It has already been legalized in 29 US states. Despite all this legislative progress in medical and recreational marijuana, doctors are often poorly equipped to discuss the facts of medical marijuana or to discuss its effects and benefits.
The Need for Cannabis Education in Medical Schools
Therefore, doctors and patients ask: Should medical schools start teaching about cannabis? Taking into account the many new drugs from hemp, the growing popularity and progress in their research internationally, the time has come for the American medical community to train doctors on cannabis.
A Brief History of the Medical Community and Cannabis
There is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to doctors, marijuana, and big pharma. As Alan Hirsch of the Cannabis Scientific Society, Diagnostic Lab Corporation, explains, “Big pharma is lobbying against legalization on supposed security grounds, but in fact, they are just buying time to create their own synthetic cannabis medications.”
Big Pharma has a rather conflicting relationship with cannabis. In addition, due to its campaign to stop the legalization of marijuana, large pharmaceuticals do not allow doctors to access the herb. This makes it difficult to prescribe it and learn about its benefits.
Lack of Formal Education About Cannabis
Almost none of the doctors receive formal education about cannabis. According to a study published in the Journal of Drugs and Alcohol Dependence, 90 percent of doctors do not learn anything about medical marijuana in medical school. This is supported by data from the Association of Medical Colleges, which reports that only nine percent of medical schools have a curriculum that relates to medical marijuana.
They collected the results of 100 medical schools that interviewed their students about marijuana education. The vast majority of medical students claim to be poorly prepared to write marijuana prescriptions. The study also showed that 25 percent would not feel comfortable even discussing marijuana with their patients.
Consequences of the Lack of Education
The consequences of not knowing about cannabis are widespread. To prescribe a medicine, doctors must officially examine the substance in advance. This means that, by law, most doctors cannot prescribe medical marijuana to their patients. Additionally, all forms of cannabis, including moonrocks, are illegal at the federal level, meaning doctors can lose their license to prescribe marijuana, or even go on trial for administration, which is still categorized as a Schedule I substance.
Should medical schools start teaching about marijuana? Since schooling will allow more prescriptions for medical marijuana to be written, the answer is definitely YES.
The Current State of Cannabis Education
The vast majority of medical students do not have access to these programs. However, several universities are starting to offer medical marijuana courses. Topics of these courses range from the validity of marijuana to the use of medical marijuana. Schools that teach this curriculum include UCA Davis, the University of Vermont, Ohio State University, and the University of Washington.
And now, with national legalization, Canadian marijuana education goes even further with the course of marijuana cultivation offered at Dieppe College in New Brunswick. The Canadian government even supports this course. With demand for marijuana after legalization this summer, the Canadian government hopes to produce a competent marijuana workforce. The government even gave the first 25 students to register free enrollment for this course.
Conclusion: The Need for Cannabis Education in Medical Schools
Information about medical marijuana is far from universally available. While some progressive universities offer educational marijuana courses, higher education should still catch up with legalization efforts. Before taking courses, US medical professionals cannot, by law or by good conscience, prescribe medical marijuana. Until then, only a few of the 25 million Americans who suffer from daily pain and those who seek alternative treatments for diseases such as cancer have access to a natural medicine with scientifically proven benefits.
Resource: High Times Article