I - P 67
AJoy Irvin
31,4.1-. 4
i.ip, m
Jt 1..1
ti
t:i4t:1
yj'.--J"."''',
1,,, ;_,,- -, :
i---
f-ter
ztien.. n.„,
0\,
Cannabis
Pharmacy
The Practical Guide to Medical Marijuana
1`_\')( 1(' ll(' l'- I)„..( I ) I1(() I' 111id1() ll ( Ill liriOI1,. plus a (' OI11I) I'(' ll(' 11K\ 1' <U
Michael Back
FOREWORD BY ANDREW WEIL, M. D .
Cannabis Pharmacy
Foreword by Andrew Weil, M. D
From the perspective of someone who has studied from the patients utilizing cannabis dispensaries traditional therapies as a career, it is surprising in California to present compelling evidence hot cannabis ever left our medicine cabinets, about the medical conditions for which the plant since the plant has been used for millennia in
can often provide effective treatment. Intended
cultures throughout the world as a curative for as a guide for patients and their physicians, the ailments of both mind and body. In ] 942, the book explains what has been recently learned American Medical Association ( AMA) fought and what has been rediscovered about the uses to keep it as part of the U. S. Pharmacopeia. In of the cannabis plant as a medicine. I have spite of the long history of cannabis as a safe often said that Western medicine could benefit and effective treatment for many conditions, the from using traditional plant remedies instead of, AMA lost that battle, and cannabis was banned. or in combination with, the synthetic drugs that Now, more than seventy years later, the American dominate the modern pharmacopeia. I would Herbal Pharmacopeia has begun publishing a
also say that cannabis is one of the best examples
two-part monograph on cannabis, returning the of a safe and effective botanical remedy that is plant and its derivatives to their proper places underutilized and still largely misunderstood by as useful medicines. many conventional practitioners.
During its long exile, cannabis was falsely Owing to variations in their chemistry, different characterized as a dangerous narcotic, though cultivated varieties of cannabis produce different the reality of its medicinal value was known by physiologic effects, and sometimes widely many. Patients undergoing treatment for HIV different experiences, yet there is little evidenceshared that cannabis increased appetite. Multiple based guidance about using particular cannabis sclerosis patients reported that cannabis relieved varieties to address specific conditions or stiffness and pain. And a few cancer patients symptoms. This book helps fill that gap. for whom allopathic treatments failed, found
that cannabis could occasionally help the body Clinical investigation is confirming that many overcome drug-resistant tumors. The medical and common Western diseases such as diabetes research communities are only just beginning to and cancer may be closely linked to metabolic discover and investigate what their patients hove dysfunction caused by poor diet and inactivity. known for decades. We are also beginning to see evidence that cannabis contains potent homeostatic regulators
Michael Backes' excellent overview combines that can help balance and maintain metabolism. current research with real world observations Its chemical constituents interoct with the body's own endocannabinoid system, affecting every
physiological process, including appetite,
regulation of mood, and perception of pain.
My journey in developing integrative approaches
to health and wellness began with a strong
emphasis on mind-body interactions, and when I
began studying cannabis in 1968, in my senior
year at Harvard Medical School, I learned that
it is capable of producing an extraordinary
range of effects. This work was conducted two
decades before the endocannabinoid system
was discovered. Since that time, science has
continued to confirm what experience has told us
for centuries. With the evidence presented in this
informative guide, the value and utility of cannabis
as medicine becomes even clearer.
It is my strong hope that the work of Michael
Backes and other like-minded professionals will
inspire further rational and scientific approaches
to cannabis, steer us away from the political
agenda that has made it difficult for patients to
access the benefits of this useful plant, and guide the medical community to use it intelligently.