Online Symposium: Cannabis 2.0 And The Separation Of Medical From Recreational Companies

By Aras Azadian, CEO of Avicanna Inc.

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become increasingly evident that the cannabis industry, which was in its mere infancy only a few short years ago, has evolved into an essential service.  If the current trend continues with companies concentrating their focus on medical applications, it is likely that more governments and doctors will begin to accept the medical benefits of cannabis or cannabinoids for their patients.

What is often a misconception is that not all cannabis products are the same and that not all benefits attributed to cannabis come in the form of inhalation products. Over the past few months, we have quietly witnessed the well-needed separation between medical cannabis and recreational products. Mixed in with the ideation of “Sativa, Indica and 420 consumers” in the recreational cannabis space, there has been an increase of interest from doctors and naïve patients to better understand the medical potential of cannabinoids whom previously lacked the training, product offerings and data to feel comfortable to do so.

As larger companies such as Canopy step away from the medical and pharmaceutical avenues of cannabis, others like Avicanna Inc AVCNF are stepping in with a strict focus on these areas.  Specifically, companies like Avicanna have spent the last years developing a strong research platform in collaboration with top academic institutions in order to provide advanced medical products designed for patients with consistent dosing.

By doing so, they are able to establish comfort to the patients as well as the prescribers, and accumulate usable data that can be interpreted into observational results, something the medical community has been yearning for. These products do not strive toward getting the consumer high but alternatively provide consistent dosing, higher absorption, and sustained effects to help alleviate anxiety, sleep disturbances, depression, and other symptoms and comorbidities often experienced during this global crisis.

Given the relatively safe profile of cannabinoids and their potential efficacy in so many therapeutic indications, we are just starting to learn about their benefits especially now with more advanced product offerings in oral (i.e. sublingual), topical (i.e. transdermal), and rectal (i.e. suppository) routes of administration. This will allow us to better understand and validate their potential efficacy with more suitable cannabinoid delivery forms designed for specific indications.

Finally, education is the most important factor at this time for the medical community and potential patients who are not comfortable with trying medical cannabis.

Enter Avicanna’s free and virtual symposium co-hosted with Canada’s largest pharmacy chain, Shoppers Drug Mart, titled “MEDICAL CANNABIS 2.0: Advancements in Cannabinoid Research, Product Offerings, and Patient Access.” On July 21^st, the event will provide information on the pharmacology of cannabinoids, potential symptoms and indications that may benefit from medical cannabis, and the availability of the advanced products described above.

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• Includes some of the most important world renown scientists and clinicians in the cannabinoid space including Dr. Ruth Ross (University of Toronto) with over 20 years of experience analyzing the pharmacology of cannabinoids, and Dr. Hance Clarke (University Health Network) who has been studying the efficacy of cannabinoids with respect to pain and opioids reduction and is leading a first-of-its-kind cannabinoid real world evidence clinical trial.
• Dr. Amza Ali will also cover Anxiety, Depression and Other Comorbidities in Patients to be Treated with Cannabinoids: Implications for Optimal Care
• The symposium will also feature a panel titled the future of medical cannabis with Al Harrington (Viola Inc), Aras Azadian (CEO, Avicanna), Pat McCutcheon (CEO, MediPharm Labs) and Kaveh Kahen (President and CEO, Sigma Analytics)
• The symposium will also cover discussions around further separation of medical and recreational markets

The preceding article is from one of our external contributors. It does not represent the opinion of Benzinga and has not been edited.