Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by Georgia HomePLACE, a project of the Georgia Public Library Service.
About The Commerce news. (Commerce, Ga.) 1???-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2016)
PAGE 8A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2, 2016 Special Report Medical cannabis an exciting 'novel space’ Young Plants 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 These plants are young and several weeks away from being harvested for their medical com pounds. The growing of plants at LeafLine Labs 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 in Minnesota is all done indoors under tightly controlled conditions so that the plants’ output of compounds remains as consistent as possible. 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. I,] MU 3ns The buds This closeup view of some mature cannabis plants shows the tightly-packed then dried before being process for their oils, buds where the key resins are located. These buds are harvested by hand
