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THE BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016
Medical cannabis an exciting 'novel space’
Special Report
YOUNG PLANTS
These plants are young and several weeks away from being harvested for their medical compounds.
The growing of plants at LeafLine Labs in Minnesota is all done indoors under tightly controlled condi
tions so that the plants’ output of compounds remains as consistent as possible.
But there are problems as infant
industry searches for the future
BY MIKE BUFFINGTON
CO-PUBLISHER
EAGAN, MN — Dr. Bachman’s enthusiasm about the
future of medical cannabis is obvious.
“If only people could see what I see in my head about
this,” he mused about the potential for cannabis to revolu
tionize the medical and pharmaceutical industries.
Although it’s been around for thousands of years and
used medically in many societies, the real science of can
nabis is just starting.
It wasn’t until 1965 than an Israeli scientist figured out
that it was the compound known as THC that cause mari
juana to give users a high. And it was only in 1990 that the
same scientist and his colleagues discovered that humans
(and all animals) have cannabis receptors in their bodies.
There are over 80 cannabinoids in marijuana plants and
dozens of other less-studied compounds as well.
“This (cannabis products) is a ’novel space’ in medicine
and it’s easy to stay excited about it,” Bachman said over
and over during my visit to his firm’s plant in Minnesota.
Cannabis is not the typical herbal or vitamin supple
ment product that often gets over-hyped as a cure for
all ailments. But neither is it traditional medicine made
synthetically, as has become common in our Western
pharmaceutical industry over the last 75 years.
Cannabis fits somewhere in between all of that. And
with dozens of unexplored compounds, the unique plant
could have even more medical uses in the future.
As an ER doctor, Bachman said he had written thou
sands of prescriptions for powerful pain killers and other
drugs, but often wondered about the impact of that on
patients.
“It’s ‘first do no harm,”’ he said of the physician’s oath.
Cannabis, he believes, is less dangerous than many
existing pharmaceutical products. For example, in states
where cannabis products are used for pain control, there
has been a 25 percent drop in overdosing of more danger
ous and powerful opium-derived pain killers, he said. And
it’s impossible to overdose on cannabis.
HURDLES TO JUMP
Despite the promise and excitement, there are some
problems.
For one thing, the federal government continues to clas
sify cannabis as a Schedule I drug, limiting the amount
of real scientific research being done on the plant’s com
pounds in this country. Much of what we know has come
from research in other nations, especially Israel.
And then there is the stigma of marijuana as a recre
ational product used to just “get high.” That stigma has
not been helped by Colorado and a handful of other states
that have legalized recreational use of marijuana, blurring
the line between medicine and recreation.
Aside from that, the development of a medical cannabis
industry faces some other, internal barriers. Many doctors
are reluctant to prescribe medical cannabis even in states
where it’s legal. Much of what we know about the use of
cannabis as a medical product comes from anecdotal evi
dence and not rigorous clinical trials. It’s not something
today’s doctors studied in medical school, so it’s not
something many are quickly embracing in their practices.
That leaves the consumer base thin.
I found a small sense of that medical community push-
back when I went to the Walmart Pharmacy in Eagan
just a couple of miles away from the LeafLine cannabis
dispensary. I asked the pharmacist what she thought about
the use of medical cannabis in the state.
“No comment.” she said with a scowl.
FINANCIAL DILEMMA
A thin consumer base creates a dilemma for medical
cannabis firms like LeafLine Labs. The startup cost of
cannabis extraction runs into millions of dollars and the
return on that investment will be slow until the consumer
base grows.
But that base can’t grow until there is more research and
acceptance by the traditional medical community — and
that is being hampered by a combination of antiquated
federal laws; pushback from traditional pharmaceutical
companies anxious to protect their existing product lines;
law enforcement hyped stigma; and state political wran
gling over exactly what diseases should be allowed to
experiment with cannabis treatments.
The consumer base is also kept thin by the lack of med
ical insurance coverage for cannabis products. Consumers
have to pay out of pocket for the cannabis-based drugs
and that can run into hundreds of dollars per month.
Many of those most in need of trying cannabis products
simply can’t afford to purchase them. (The high cost is
why some patients are growing their own marijuana and
experimenting with cannabis for pain relief and other
ailments, or buying bootleg and black market products
produced under less than ideal conditions.)
Because of federal banking rules, much of the cannabis
dispensary business is cash-only since most credit card
firms won’t process payments for firms like LeafLine
Labs.
Dr. Bachman said some of that is starting to change,
however. LeafLine can now accept debit cards and is
close to having a deal with a credit card processor. Banks
are starting to work more and more with cannabis com
panies he said.
THE TAKE AWAY
By whatever measure, the medical cannabis industry
is just at its beginning stages, but is growing fast and
attracting attention from both the medical community and
eager investors.
If cannabis turns out to have important medical com
pounds that prove, through more clinical testing, to help
a large number of patients, the medical cannabis industry
could become “The Next Big Thing.”
During my visit to Minnesota, I had the sense that I was
watching the infant steps of what may become a major
disruptive force in the medical industry. Penicillin, the
grandfather of antibiotics, was discovered in 1928, but it
was only used widely starting in 1942.
Today, we take antibiotics for granted, but in reality it
was a drug that revolutionized medical care and has saved
millions of lives.
In the space of human history, our current Western
medicine model is less than 100 years old. We still don’t
know what we don’t know.
And because of restrictive federal and state anti-mari
juana laws, we know very little about the unique cannabis
plant and its potential for medicine.
Perhaps of all the states experimenting with medical
cannabis, Minnesota could be poised to take the leading
role in medical research.
While it’s current medical cannabis program is small
and restricted, Minnesota has some top universities at
which to do further research and it has the famed Mayo
Clinic headquarters, a leading institution of medical
innovation.
If the federal government should reclassify cannabis, as
is likely in the coming years, the states that have begun
this research will be on the ground floor of what may
become a major new biotech industry in the nation.
Minnesota seems ready to move forward in that arena.
But it begs the question, where will Georgia be?
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of Minstreet
Newspapers, Inc. He can be reached at mike@main-
streetnews.com.
THE BUDS
This closeup view of some mature cannabis plants shows the tightly-packed buds where the key resins are located. These buds are harvested by hand then
dried before being process for their oils.
