Local doctors have differing opinions on medical marijuana effectiveness скачать в хорошем качестве

Local doctors have differing opinions on medical marijuana effectiveness

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Four medical marijuana dispensaries opened Wednesday for the first time in Ohio. Some doctors applauded the new alternative medicine option while others said they aren't sold on the benefits of the drug. Dr. Will Sawyer runs Sharonville Family Medicine and considers himself an old-fashioned family doctor. He has recommended medical marijuana to more than five patients. He believes it is effective and that research verifies it. "It's a tool in the toolbox, first of all. It's not for everybody," Dr. Sawyer said. "The components that are most effective are CBD, which is cannabidiol, and then there are terpenes and limonenes and other chemistry that is collaborative, if you will. They call it the 'entourage effect.'" Dr. Sawyer said he hopes the people working in the dispensaries know which formulas of medical cannabis to sell to patients. In Winterville, Ohio, near Steubenville, people with medical marijuana recommendations lined up Wednesday outside of the CY Plus dispensary to buy the products. Alex Griffith, a Marine veteran from Cincinnati, bought medical marijuana to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder. "It's an overwhelming feeling because we voted for this in 2016 and been such a long road, and now we're here and I'm gonna get help," Griffith said. Ohio has approved 21 conditions for which medical marijuana may be recommended. Those include AIDS, ALS, Parkinson's, chronic pain, cancer and PTSD. But some doctors aren't totally sold on the benefits of medical marijuana. Oncologist Dr. Randy Drosick of OHS in Linwood is one of them. "I have mixed feelings. There's not a lot of double-blind, randomized trials to prove it's efficacy," Dr. Drosick said. Dr. Drosick will get his certification to recommend medical marijuana this weekend. He believes it could be appropriate for some of his patients who are terminally ill and have pain. However, he said a drug called Marinol, which has marijuana in it, has been available for years to treat patients with nausea. "I think that we have really rushed this through without a lot of forethought. I worry that some of it was because we wanted to decriminalize marijuana more than we really wanted to help patients," Dr. Drosick said. Several doctors Local 12 contacted Wednesday declined to comment for this story. Medical marijuana is viewed as somewhat controversial. Currently in Ohio, plant material is the only form available. However, the state statute permits marijuana to be sold as an oil, lotion, cream or patch. It's also available in capsules. There are seven marijuana dispensaries in the Greater Cincinnati area that have yet to open. A total of 56 dispensaries will eventually operate in Ohio.