Re-Imagining Cannabis
A real world perspective on regulation, sales & implementation.
June 11th 2015
Regulation - constantly evolving
• The medical cannabis industry is new and expanding rapidly
• Much of the science behind plant based medicine is still
evolving and open to differing interpretations by experts and
commentators
• The law does not and cannot know everything
• This disadvantages the regulators and their auditors
• valuation of plants, dosages,
Regulation - taking responsibility
• Today we have an entire industry where everyone (license
holders, the State, HCP’s & patients) need training to a
common standard
• Our response to this environment is to take responsibility for
evolving best practice
• Developing a partnership with the State means we can run a
successful and safe operation in bringing symptom relief to
our patients
Sales - lack of information
• Both patients and HCP’s suffer from a lack of information and
clear common sense based communications materials
• We test and label products, put them in tamper proof packs
and itemize nutritional, allergen and other key data
• THC:CBD ratios are important but there are other active
ingredients
• Scientific research is still in its early stages on Terpenes
The importance of Terpenes
“While cannabinoid ratios in most cannabis may be about the same,
it is the terpene content which typically creates the different qualities
that we have parsed as the difference between indicas and sativas
for some time.
It is highly likely that terpenes may very well alter the properties of
the cannabinoids. Standardized testing is essential to the
advancement of our understanding of this issue.”
-Dr. Jeffery Hergenrather, President of the Society of Cannabis
Clinicians
The importance of Terpenes
“Right now, people don’t know,” Raphael Mechoulam, an emeritus
professor at Hebrew University’s Hadassah Medical School, recently told
National Geographic.
Typically, pharmaceutical companies making cannabis-based medicines
have sought to isolate individual compounds from the plant. But
Mechoulam strongly suspects that in some cases those chemicals would
work much better in concert with other compounds found in marijuana.
“We have just scratched the surface,” he says, “and I greatly regret that I
don’t have another lifetime to devote to this field.”
Sales - clear communications
Sales - clear communications
Sales - clear communications
Sales - clear communications
We communicate to our patients and HCP’s:
• Testing: samples from the same plant can yield different results
• Individuals can respond very differently
• Dose determination is challenging
• Each individual needs to experiment to determine best method of
consumption and dose
• Go low and slow, 5mg to 10mg is industry recommended initial
dose
Implementation - HCP relationships
We need to manage patient and HCP expectations
• We are not Doctors; dispensary vs clinic
• This is symptom relief
• Patients are expecting traditional drug industry naming and
prescription classification
• Staff represent the product so clients make informed decisions,
they do not give medical advice
Implementation - HCP relationships
We need to manage patient and HCP expectations
• Need for increased involvement from physicians to help
individuals determine their best course of action
• We are developing a feedback loop whereby patients will
complete a short questionnaire on their treatment experience
which can be channelled back to the HCP
• Need standardized labeling and warnings
Contact Details
Champlain Valley Dispensary, Inc. & Southern Vermont Wellness, Inc.
Burlington & Brattleboro, Vermont
www.cvdvt.org
www.facebook.com/cvdvt
info@cvdvt.org
1-844-283-9333
Executive Director: Shayne Lynn
General Manager: Bridget Conry