Apple Sidesteps Feds On Weed As Health App Doesn't Discriminate On Legality

With cannabis use becoming widespread, new challenges such as understanding and avoiding possible negative interactions with pharmaceutical drugs are important issues. Apparently, the latest software update from Apple Inc AAPL seeks to clear up those doubts.

The iOS 16 update to Apple's Health app provides users with "potential interactions between medications on your list," reported Marijuana Moment. Users need to input into the new app whether they have used alcohol, cannabis or tobacco.

According to a footnote in last week's press release from the tech giant, the information on medication and possible interactions "is evidence-based content licensed from Elsevier." However, "the Medications feature should not be used as a substitute for professional medical judgment."

Apple updated its policies to allow cannabis-centric apps onto its store in 2021, and companies such as Eaze, Emjay, Stem Holdings, Inc. STMH STEM, which is doing business as Driven by Stem, and TerrAscend Corp TERTRSSF, jumped at the opportunity.

Similar Alternatives

Meanwhile, Apple's latest innovation joins similar apps, such as a free web-based application developed by Penn State College of Medicine researchers earlier this year, which offers a solution to pharmacists and other health care providers to help patients and reduce unintended interactions.

The first version of the app was launched on March 22, as a result of collaboration between Kent Vrana, chair of the Dept of Pharmacology and project leader Paul Kocis, clinical pharmacist at Penn State and Penn Harrisburg computer science students Samuel Wadrose, Aqib Ahmed and Rohan Gajjar, under the mentorship of Hyuntae Na, at the School of Science, Engineering and Technology.

Mixing Marijuana & Prescription Drugs: Scientific Evidence

Another team of researchers from Washington State University (WSU) recently found that combining three of the most abundant cannabinoids - tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and cannabinol (CBN) -with other prescription drugs could result in harmful drug-drug interactions.

They discovered that cannabinoids and their major metabolites found in cannabis users' blood might interfere with two families of enzymes that help metabolize a wide range of drugs prescribed for various conditions. The consequences could either decrease the drugs' positive effects or increase their negative effects leading to toxicity or accidental overdose.

"Physicians need to be aware of the possibility of toxicity or lack of response when patients are using cannabinoids," said Philip Lazarus, senior author on the paper and Boeing distinguished professor of pharmaceutical sciences. "It's one thing if you're young and healthy and smoke cannabis once in a while, but for older people who are using medications, taking CBD or medicinal marijuana may negatively impact their treatment."

Photo: Courtesy of Bagus Hernawan on Unsplash