I recently evaluated a 52 year old male patient who suffered from Nocturnal Seizures and had been placed on Dilantin (Phenytoin). He said that although the medication was working to reduce the amount of seizures he suffered from severe fatigue and “zero appetite”. He was coming for a recommendation to use medical cannabis as he has been using it with “amazing results” and wanted to “be legal”.

People often wonder what “types” of patients come in for cannabis (marijuana) recommendations. Today I was honored to be able to meet Heather. She is a 24 year old female who suffers from psoriases. Psoriasis is a skin disorder characterized by large scaly red rashes (plaques) that is a result of excess inflammation. It can affect every area of the body to include the scalp. Interestingly Heather does not medicate with cannabis to treat her psoriasis but to treat the anxiety that comes from having visible skin lesions.

As medical director of Medical Cannabis of Southern California I often evaluate patients who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and SLE (lupus). Both are characterized by extreme chronic joint pain. Today I evaluated a 54 year female who had been taking plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) to limit the joint inflammation. Unfortunately she is experiencing some unwanted side effects and has been using cannabis to help relieve them.

Many patients often ask me how cannabis will affect their blood pressure. Hypertension is one of the indications to recommend cannabis and I have many patients that use it for that purpose.

As medical director for Medical Cannabis of Southern California I am often asked to explain what the medical marijuana “card” is. There is a lot of misinformation concerning patients rights under Proposition 215 and who can actually recommend cannabis to patients.