RWL Newsletter #12 - the marijuana edition!
Greetings from Durham, center of the known universe! My friend S.R. shared the Wonkblog post below on Facebook, and it got me thinking about medical marijuana, so this week's theme is all about the medical use of weed. One of the things I find interesting about medicine is how much we don't know about what we don't know. There's a lot of cultural, business, and medical issues around marijuana. I've tried to cover those with these three links.
Read
What: from the Wonkblog at the Washington Post, One striking chart shows why pharma companies are fighting legal marijuana
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/13/one-striking-chart-shows-why-pharma-companies-are-fighting-legal-marijuana/
Why: "in the 17 states with a medical-marijuana law in place by 2013, prescriptions for painkillers and other classes of drugs fell sharply compared with states that did not have a medical-marijuana law. The drops were quite significant: In medical-marijuana states, the average doctor prescribed 265 fewer doses of antidepressants each year, 486 fewer doses of seizure medication, 541 fewer anti-nausea doses and 562 fewer doses of anti-anxiety medication."
I don't smoke marijuana and I never have, and I probably won't - unless I get cancer or some other awful thing, in which case all bets are off. Economists who study the interaction between government and business, a field called Public Choice, often point out the ways that incumbents (like big drug companies) try to lobby legislators and regulators to block innovation. This will be an interesting fight as it appears marijuana is well on its way to national legalization.
Watch
What: The surprising story of medical marijuana and pediatric epilepsy: Josh Stanley at TEDxBoulder 2013
http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/The-surprising-story-of-medical
Why: Marijuana that doesn't get you high? What good is that? Apparently, a lot.
Listen
What: GOOD MARIJUANA? interview with Dr. Kevin Hill, Director, Substance Abuse Consultation Service Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School
https://wtbunews.org/2015/04/22/good-marijuana/
Why: Dr. Hill is an expert on treating marijuana addiction (and the brother-in-law of an old friend). He talks about marijuana addiction in this 15 minute interview, in particular looking at some of the myths of marijuana. Most people I talk with who are pro-legalization tend to believe that marijuana is completely harmless. Hill offers some insights on the truth of that.
OK – those are my suggestions for this week. If you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here:https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
I' d love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line by e-mail, or you can tweet to me at @bonicatalent .
Thanks for reading and see you next week!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
Twitter: @bonicatalent
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau