It was a sight to behold, as Dr. Franjo Grotenhermen, director of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (IACM<\/span>), rolled in on a gurney, his large frame laying sideways with a microphone placed near his mouth. Unable to sit up or stand because of a rare, chronic disease, this German force of nature had arrived to give out the awards at the 12th IACM<\/span> conference in Basel, Switzerland, in October 2022.<\/p>\n Several hundred people were in attendance when Grotenhermen presented the first award for the best clinical poster, an observational study on the use of a standardized cannabis oil extract with a THC<\/span>:CBD<\/span> ratio of 1:2 for severely demented patients. Of the 19 patients who participated in this 13-month study, none saw serious adverse events or discontinued use because of side effects. But there were noteworthy clinical improvements for rigidity, agitation, behavioral problems, decreased prescription drug use, and easier caregiving. Family members interviewed for the study expressed appreciation for the increased connection with a loved one who had been slipping away.<\/p>\n (A complete list of the 43 posters that presented new findings at this year\u2019s IACM<\/span> can be seen here.)<\/p>\n Dr. Franjo Grotenhermen and Dr. Rudolf Brenneisen<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A major figure behind medical cannabis in Europe, Dr. Grotenhermen founded the IACM<\/span> with his American colleague Dr. Ethan Russo 22 years ago. A recent documentary film, \u2018The Doctor\u2019, describes how a friend from his political days at the university introduced Grotenhermen to the cannabis issue because he needed a report for the government on whether or not hemp can get you high. This research initially drew Grotenhermen into the history of cannabis as a medicine, and then he started learning more from his patients.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s one who says and really, really thinks that the patient comes first,\u201d says Carola P\u00e9rez, the Spanish leader of the IACM<\/span> Patient Council.<\/p>\n In 2017, Grotenhermen went on a hunger strike to protest restrictions in Germany\u2019s first medical cannabis laws. Lately, he\u2019s been pressuring the Bundestag, Germany\u2019s Parliament, to force insurance companies to follow the law and only refuse to cover medical cannabis in extraordinary situations. \u201cA civilized society should not deny access to a medicine to a patient when a doctor says he needs it,\u201d he asserts.<\/p>\n Next up in Basel, Dr. Grotenhermen announces a thank-you award to his friend Dr. Rudolf Brenneisen, the long-term fighter for cannabinoid medicine in the mountainous redoubt of Switzerland. As the founder and chief of the Swiss Task Force for Cannabinoids in Medicine for over ten years, Dr. Brenneisen has advanced the cause of cannabis medicine with his prodigious research and advocacy. More recently, he has criticized the bureaucratic requirements that force a Swiss doctor to apply (and wait for weeks) for a special cannabis permit from the Federal Office of Public Health. Brenneisen prefers the German system that allows patients to buy cannabis from a pharmacy with a prescription.<\/p>\n \u201cA civilized society should not deny access to a medicine to a patient when a doctor says he needs it.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Grotenhermen also thanked his friend for working tirelessly behind the scenes to make this conference happen. \u201cI\u2019m addicted to studying the plant,\u201d says Brenneisen. \u201cNot smoking it. I only smoked a joint once and I couldn\u2019t inhale, and it wasn\u2019t a good experience.\u201d (It\u2019s a common refrain among some researchers at IACM<\/span> \u2013 they love the plant intellectually, but not to use it themselves). Dr. Brenneisen takes a special interest in the interplay of the two-thousand-plus constituents of the plant: \u201cWas die beitragen, wissen die G\u00f6tter.\u201d What they contribute, [only] the gods know.<\/p>\n It\u2019s here that the emotions start to crest. The old German fighter praising the old Swiss fighter for years in the trenches, butting against head-burying politicians, chiseling insurance companies, and prohibitionist die-hards. They\u2019ve watched medical cannabis go from a punchline about glaucoma to its return as one of the most important plants for human health. Their work has helped to inspire many of the presentations at this year\u2019s IACM<\/span> meeting, which featured 26 lectures with reviews of clinical studies for different conditions: PTSD<\/span> and sleep, gastrointestinal disorders and their relation to mental health, autism and ADHD<\/span>, Tourette syndrome, and CBD<\/span> for the burnout of healthcare workers during COVID<\/span>, and more.<\/p>\n There were also dramatic case studies that attest to the dermatological uses of cannabis from Grotenhermen himself. And Dr. Eva Bergstr\u00e4sser compellingly discussed how cannabis can help with extreme pain and other problems of severe pediatric conditions like cancer, malformations, and neuromuscular disorders. Cannabis medicine for very sick children should be a banner we can all get behind.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not. Several of the reviews of clinical data ended with researchers lamenting the limitations of what they presented. Many of the existing studies are observational in nature \u2013 doctors watching the medicine work. But the world demands gold-standard, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trials \u2013 and these are very expensive. Few funding bodies have been willing to step forward to push cannabinoid science to the next level of clinical use, and pharmaceutical companies have zero incentive to study an unpatentable crude plant.<\/p>\n This leaves patients in an untenable position. They know cannabis works for them \u2013 or they\u2019ve seen it work for their friends. But access to the medicine is expensive or illegal. In many cases, regulations require that they must run through all the other treatments in the usual \u2018standard of care\u2019 \u2013 pharmaceuticals that often cause unpleasant side effects \u2013 before they can use cannabis. The IACM<\/span> Patient Council gives voice to these patients. (Sign up for their newsletter, follow them on social media, and amplify their message.) During the 40 minutes allotted to the Patient Council on stage, they shared some of the most powerful and memorable statements at the conference.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you listen to the patients, you can learn so much.\u201d<\/p>\n From her wheelchair, Franziska Quadri of Switzerland rails against the fact that patients can\u2019t afford the medicine, they\u2019re forbidden to grow it themselves, and on top of that there\u2019s the governmental idiocy of a socialist state that increases its own healthcare costs. Before cannabis, she went to the doctor twice a month. Now she goes twice a year.<\/p>\n Jacqueline Poitras of Greece noted that the patients on stage had a combined total of more than 60 years of experience with using medical cannabis. Over 1700 families participate in her Facebook group for families with autism. Maximilian Plenert of Germany shares his thoughts about the complete lack of guidance from the government, and he urges the audience filled with MD<\/span>s to write up their case reports. \u201cIf you listen to the patients, you can learn so much,\u201d he pleads.<\/p>\n One doctor stood up to ask, how can we help? The moderator Carola P\u00e9rez responded, \u201cFirst, sit and listen to us. We have so many ideas. We know how to talk to politicians. We can make a difference.\u201d And in one of the most poignant statements from the stage, she adds, \u201cWe see how the room empties when the patients come on stage. You should stay and listen to us and our stories.\u201d<\/p>\n Tom Curran, a patient advocate from Ireland, tells about it being one of the worst places in the world for medical cannabis. He knows of one caregiver who went to prison in Ireland for three months because of his wife\u2019s cannabis. So his wife lost both her caretaker and her medicine.<\/p>\n In describing his wife\u2019s challenges, Tom can barely speak through the tears. His wife had multiple sclerosis. \u201cShe knew the MS<\/span> would take her life \u2013 but she wanted to choose her death.\u201d He knew \u201cthat without cannabis, she would have made that decision ten years earlier. So the medicine gave me ten more years with her.\u201d<\/p>\n A last story. The father of one of the patients in the audience is a bricklayer from France. A quiet white-haired chap, the kind of fellow you trust right off the bat. While waiting for the long line of people who wished to speak with his disabled daughter, he quietly shared about how he started growing cannabis for her because it was the only thing that helped. She found some seeds through her network of patient friends, and her father decided to educate himself about cultivating cannabis. \u201cIt\u2019s all on YouTube videos. I just watched a lot of them,\u201d he said. \u201cI never grew a plant before. But I work with my hands and I learn well. And it grows so well. You don\u2019t have to do a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe spend five months a year in Spain, so I\u2019m okay there,\u201d he explains. \u201cThe other seven months in France, I could go to prison [for growing cannabis]. But I\u2019m a pensioner. I have the time. And it\u2019s what works for her.\u201d<\/p>\n He shares the cannabis he grows with his daughter\u2019s friends who have MS<\/span> and other conditions that benefit from it. He used to put it in alcohol, but that started to upset her stomach. So he learned how to make cannabutter. \u201cButter, the bud, a little water and boil it gently for thirty minutes.\u201d He laughs softly with a smile, \u201cand there you go. One day, and it\u2019s all ready.\u201d<\/p>\n Cannabinoid science can be jaw-dropping. But sometimes at a conference like this, we learn the most from the stories of the people who live them.<\/p>\n EDITOR\u2019S<\/span> NOTE<\/span>: Project CBD<\/span> is a designated US<\/span> ambassador for the IACM<\/span>.<\/p>\n Lex Pelger writes articles about psychoactives and graphic novels about the endocannabinoid system. He publishes a weekly cannabinoid science newsletter Cannabinoids &<\/span> the People and conducts\u00a01-on-1 education sessions on using CBD<\/span>, PEA<\/span>, THC<\/span> &<\/span> CBDA<\/span> for serious health conditions. Copyright, Project CBD<\/span>. May not be reprinted without permission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe Doctor<\/h2>\n
Accolades for a Swiss Scientist<\/h2>\n
Patients Quandary<\/h2>\n
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<\/div>\nStories That Can Change the World<\/h2>\n
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