Cannabis Research Review Board Meeting – October
by DAVID M. JOLLEY, J.D.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Cannabis Research and Review Board (CRRB) held their monthly meeting last Tuesday (Oct. 11). The meeting was held virtually only, but was open to the public.
The Board consists of the following members:
Katherine Carlson, M.D., M.S. (Board Chair)
Perry G. Fine, M.D. (Previous Board Chair)
Matthew S. McIff, M.D. (Vice Chair)
Michael Moss, M.D.
Jennifer L. Norris, M.D.
Misty D. Smith, Ph.D.
Brian Keith Zehnder, M.D.
The Cannabinoid Research Act directs the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) to form and facilitate the CRRB. The CRRB evaluates the safety and efficacy of cannabinoid products and expanded cannabinoid products in terms of:
medical conditions that respond to cannabinoid products;
dosage amounts and their medical forms; and
interactions between cannabinoid products, expanded cannabinoid products, and other treatments.
From this research, the CRRB is directed to develop prescribing guidelines that may potentially be used by qualified medical providers (QMPs) to recommend cannabis products to their patients.
Highway Safety Committee Update - Dr. Moss
Dr. Michael Moss provided an update for the Highway Safety Committee. Dr. Moss presented information about how cannabis combined with alcohol is more dangerous than either cannabis or alcohol alone. However, unlike alcohol, determining how impaired a driver is on cannabis is much more difficult. How impaired someone is from cannabis depends on several factors that vary from person to person, such as their metabolism rate and tolerance, in addition to the form the cannabis was taken (i.e., inhalation vs edibles). Another interesting finding—traffic fatality accident rates went down in states that have legalized medical cannabis. However, this may be because people using cannabis tend to stay home more.
Slides from Dr. Moss’s presentation can be viewed here.
General Instructions for the Use of Medical Cannabis – Rich Oborn
Rich Oborn (Medical Cannabis Program Manager) presented to the board the “Guidance on the Suggested Use of Medical Cannabis,” which lays out dosing guidelines for medical cannabis patients. It was suggested by the board that these guidelines, which are buried on Page 9 of a 56-page document be more visible to readers, which should include QMPs and medical providers alike. It was also suggested that cannabis providers make smaller doses of products and that we need more consistent dosing for patients if we want more quality research.
Center for Medical Cannabis Updates – Rich Oborn
Mr. Oborn also announced the CMC will be holding a medical cannabis market analysis meeting on Oct 25 (4-5pm) with card holders and other stakeholders in the industry about the synthetic and derivative cannabinoids that have been found recently in some of Utah’s medical cannabis supply, specifically cannabinoids Delta 6, Delta 8 and Delta 10, which do not exist naturally in the amounts showing up
In addition, it was announced Utah’s 15th medical cannabis dispensary will be opening in Price later this month.
Public Comments
The remainder of the meeting was devoted to public comments.
Christine Stenquist (President and founder of TRUCE) pointed out we’re a long way from standardizing cannabis product ingredients and dosing, but emphasized how products that contain synthetic ingredients and cannabinoids need to be recognized and regulated more to protect patients’ health and safety.
Likewise, Zac Newel King, a medical cannabis patient, would like Utah’s program to provide more organic natural medicine, rather than the synthetic ingredients that keep popping up. In addition, Mr. King would like to see the cost of medical cannabis be reduced so he can afford his daily medication and needed dosage.
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Valerie Ahanonu, who is vice-chair of TRUCE, in addition to working for Terra Health, noted that everyone’s endocannabinoid system is different in addition to a person’s tolerance, which is why dosing guidelines aren’t very helpful. So, when it comes to dosing cannabis, there should be more “specialized” care, according to her.
Jake Garnlate, a cannabis patient, pointed out how cannabis is different from man-made medicines and therefore shouldn’t be standardized when it comes to such issues as dosing.
Dr. Mike Viner also expressed concern about the derivatives and synthetic ingredient found in Utah’s medical cannabis and suggested a better classification system be implemented for these derivative-based products. “1st Generation” would include products such as K2 and other “spice” brands; whereas “2nd Generation” would include all hemp-derived products.
Amy King, an advisor to TRUCE and member of ASTM (formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials) encouraged government bodies, like the DHHS (Dept. of Health and Human Services) and the UDAF (Utah Dept. of Agriculture and Food) to attend the meetings of this organization that is developing standards for cannabis products. Additionally, King inquired as to whether the law will require testing of these products to ensure they are safe for human consumption and would like to see more accurate labeling of these same products.
Finally, Kristen Larsen, a medical cannabis patient in Utah, stated her biggest frustration with Utah’s cannabis products are their purity and safety. Ms. Larsen stated she bought cannabis flower in October, but that was harvested in May, which she argued diminished its quality, which is why she would like to see growing cannabis at home legalized in Utah.
An audio recording and slides presented during the meeting can be found here.
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