Business View Magazine | November 2019

20 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2019 The promises that the plant holds are fascinating for anyone – for a variety of industries.” BVM: Are you involved in educating medical professionals about the benefits of cannabis? CNBX: “There continues to be a growing demand for cannabis in the medical landscape, especially on the palliative side of care. Those battling cancer – both patients and their physicians – are turning to cannabis in an effort to ease symptoms associated with the disease, as well as side effects from treatment, such as chemotherapy- nausea. However, because of the severe lack of medical research in cannabis treatments, doctors are forced to prescribe blind, as they have little- to-no data on appropriate dosages for specific conditions or what the contraindications are with other medications or health conditions. “A recent study found that 89.5 percent of residents and fellows feel ill-equipped to make a recommendation around cannabis and 84.9% reported receiving no education in medical school or residency on medical marijuana. Cannabics is working to increase available data and enable doctors in the more targeted prescribing of medical cannabis.” BVM: Your work has life-changing potential… five years down the road, how do you see the cannabis industry evolving, and what are your company’s priorities and objectives for the future? CNBX: “We believe that the cannabis industry will become much less restrictive in terms of the research that is allowed to occur in the next five years. As more studies are conducted to understand the medical benefits and effects of cannabis, more countries will hopefully be open to changing their laws surrounding cannabis prohibition. This will allow companies to research all aspects of the plant, and also enable us to complete one of our main objectives, which is providing doctors with more guidance when prescribing cannabis. Our database will allow doctors to have access to a comprehensive collection of all known cannabinoids and interactions within the human body and with other drugs, so that doctors can make better decisions for their patients. “It is extremely important that patients are paired with the correct types of cannabis as it relates to their condition, their current medications, and any other interactions that may occur between a patient and the cannabis treatment. Currently, Cannabics is working to develop a database that will provide important prescribing information about different strains of cannabis to provide insight into which combinations and strains of cannabis should be used in certain situations. This is part of a larger initiative to personalize cancer treatments for patients.” BEST PRACT I CES