Check cannabis buds for evidence of spider mites by breaking one open and looking for husks or cobwebs. Make sure fertilizer residue wasn't left on marijuana by seeing if it burns to gray ash (good) or black ash (not so good).
Check the Web site of the state Department of Public Health and Environment regularly to learn about new regulations and public hearings. Make sure you give your new patients time to tell their story of dealing with a chronic condition that has led them to seek out medical marijuana.
Those are just some of the topics covered in Cannabis Therapy 101, the first in a series of four classes offered by the Cannabis Therapy Institute, a Boulder-based advocacy and education group.
Students who complete all four courses can call themselves certified cannabis therapists, trained in various treatment methodologies, the attributes of some of the 10,000 cannabis strains and the effects of cannabinoids on the body and the mind.
Robert Melamed, a professor of biology at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs who has published more than a dozen papers on marijunana's effects on the body, teaches one of the classes.
The Cannabis Therapy Institute has pushed back strongly against proposed legislation that would regulate the industry (members say they aren't anti-regulation, but most of what was proposed would restrict patients' rights). At the same time, its members advocate for increased professionalism among caregivers and dispensary owners. It's good for patients, and it's good for the industry, they say.
The class and the certification are part of that effort.
The institute also offers classes taught by lawyers on how to stay on the right side of the law. That's no small feat in an environment where regulations vary from town to town, court decisions lead to changing interpretations of the constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana and the whole business remains illegal at the federal level.
Timothy Tipton, a patient and caregiver with the Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative, and Deanna Gabriel, a certified clinical herbalist and clinical nutritionist, teach the 101 class. In a neat, spare conference room at the Best Western Boulder Inn, more than a dozen students listen closely as they cover topics ranging from which state forms require black ink and which require blue to how to chart patients' symptoms and find a strain that works best for them.
Women with neatly trimmed white hair and practical fleece jackets take notes beside long-haired, passionate activists. There was a student of Chinese herbalism, another of integrative medicine, a registered nurse, a massage therapist. They came from across the Denver metro area, including Englewood and Highlands Ranch.
Their questions indicate the legal uncertainty that hangs over the industry. Would adding a cannabis therapy certificate to other medical credentials decrease a practitioner's legitimacy? Is there a risk of federal prosecution? Would my patient records be protected, like other medical records, if there were a raid on my business?
In all cases, the answer boils down to "maybe."
Tipton, who has testified in court as an expert on medical marijuana and has experience dealing with a wide variety of strains and methods through the caregivers collective, focused on understanding the properties of different types of marijuana.
Indica strains work on the body, but can make some people sleepy. Sativa strains act more on the head and can help patients who need to feel alert and functional in the morning.
Hybrid strains need to be used with caution in patients with bipolar disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder.
"If a patient is having body issues, you want to make sure they're not having cerebral effects that are uncomfortable or unpleasant," Tipton said.
Edibles can provide long-lasting symptom relief. Honey oil extractions, sometimes in the form of hard candies, can help stimulate appetite in patients with wasting conditions. Patients in assisted living facilities probably shouldn't smoke their marijuana because of the oxygen tanks.
"That's where you as a caregiver come in with really knowing you arsenal of therapies, what preparations and what treatments are most effective," Tipton said.
Gabriel drew on her experience as an herbalist to talk about developing a patient in-take process, researching diseases common among users of medical marijuana and walking the line walked by all alternative practitioners.
Don't overstep your area of expertise, maintain a good list of referrals to other specialists and don't be afraid to say "I don't know," she told the students. That protects the patients -- and the caregivers.
"There is a real danger of being slapped with a charge of practicing medicine without a license," she said.
"It's a loaded word to say you're healing someone," she added. "You're there to help them understand their bodies and the understand the medicine that you understand."
Source: Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)
Check the Web site of the state Department of Public Health and Environment regularly to learn about new regulations and public hearings. Make sure you give your new patients time to tell their story of dealing with a chronic condition that has led them to seek out medical marijuana.
Those are just some of the topics covered in Cannabis Therapy 101, the first in a series of four classes offered by the Cannabis Therapy Institute, a Boulder-based advocacy and education group.
Students who complete all four courses can call themselves certified cannabis therapists, trained in various treatment methodologies, the attributes of some of the 10,000 cannabis strains and the effects of cannabinoids on the body and the mind.
Robert Melamed, a professor of biology at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs who has published more than a dozen papers on marijunana's effects on the body, teaches one of the classes.
The Cannabis Therapy Institute has pushed back strongly against proposed legislation that would regulate the industry (members say they aren't anti-regulation, but most of what was proposed would restrict patients' rights). At the same time, its members advocate for increased professionalism among caregivers and dispensary owners. It's good for patients, and it's good for the industry, they say.
The class and the certification are part of that effort.
The institute also offers classes taught by lawyers on how to stay on the right side of the law. That's no small feat in an environment where regulations vary from town to town, court decisions lead to changing interpretations of the constitutional amendment that legalized medical marijuana and the whole business remains illegal at the federal level.
Timothy Tipton, a patient and caregiver with the Rocky Mountain Caregivers Cooperative, and Deanna Gabriel, a certified clinical herbalist and clinical nutritionist, teach the 101 class. In a neat, spare conference room at the Best Western Boulder Inn, more than a dozen students listen closely as they cover topics ranging from which state forms require black ink and which require blue to how to chart patients' symptoms and find a strain that works best for them.
Women with neatly trimmed white hair and practical fleece jackets take notes beside long-haired, passionate activists. There was a student of Chinese herbalism, another of integrative medicine, a registered nurse, a massage therapist. They came from across the Denver metro area, including Englewood and Highlands Ranch.
Their questions indicate the legal uncertainty that hangs over the industry. Would adding a cannabis therapy certificate to other medical credentials decrease a practitioner's legitimacy? Is there a risk of federal prosecution? Would my patient records be protected, like other medical records, if there were a raid on my business?
In all cases, the answer boils down to "maybe."
Tipton, who has testified in court as an expert on medical marijuana and has experience dealing with a wide variety of strains and methods through the caregivers collective, focused on understanding the properties of different types of marijuana.
Indica strains work on the body, but can make some people sleepy. Sativa strains act more on the head and can help patients who need to feel alert and functional in the morning.
Hybrid strains need to be used with caution in patients with bipolar disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder.
"If a patient is having body issues, you want to make sure they're not having cerebral effects that are uncomfortable or unpleasant," Tipton said.
Edibles can provide long-lasting symptom relief. Honey oil extractions, sometimes in the form of hard candies, can help stimulate appetite in patients with wasting conditions. Patients in assisted living facilities probably shouldn't smoke their marijuana because of the oxygen tanks.
"That's where you as a caregiver come in with really knowing you arsenal of therapies, what preparations and what treatments are most effective," Tipton said.
Gabriel drew on her experience as an herbalist to talk about developing a patient in-take process, researching diseases common among users of medical marijuana and walking the line walked by all alternative practitioners.
Don't overstep your area of expertise, maintain a good list of referrals to other specialists and don't be afraid to say "I don't know," she told the students. That protects the patients -- and the caregivers.
"There is a real danger of being slapped with a charge of practicing medicine without a license," she said.
"It's a loaded word to say you're healing someone," she added. "You're there to help them understand their bodies and the understand the medicine that you understand."
Source: Daily Camera (Boulder, CO)
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