Page 1 - Cannabis News Florida October 2019

FLORIDA CANNABIS
HEMP SPOTLIGHT:
COUNCIL Michael J. Liss, Esq.
Integrity Counsel,

pages 40 - 41 P.A.
page 33

October 2019

MorseLife Receives Approval to Offer CBD

Therapies for Elder Care

BY DANIEL CASCIATO

Across the country, medical marijuana
has become accepted as a treatment alter-
native in several different nursing homes
for residents who have chronic condi-
tions. If a current pilot program goes
well, Florida could soon make cannabis
available to statewide nursing homes as
well.
Earlier this year, MorseLife Health
System became the only senior living Christopher Cowart
provider in Florida to offer cannabinoid-
based (CBD) therapies for its residents as
an alternative to pharmaceuticals under a Keith Myers Knowing
pilot program authorized by the state.
MorseLife manages a rehabilitation, independent living, assisted living, memory care, hospice, PACE (Program for all-inclusive the Facts:
care for the elderly) and home health care in West Palm Beach, serving more than 3,600 seniors per day.
As the only teaching nursing home in the state of Florida, the non-profit will conduct a medical marijuana research pilot pro- Key to Vaping
gram that will reduce and/or replace the use of certain pharmaceuticals with cannabinoid-based treatment and measure the
impact of medical marijuana on certain diagnoses. The pilot program is expected to last 18 to 24 months and the initial target is
to treat at least 50 patients. Safety
The types of health conditions that may be treated as part of the study include depression, anxiety, agitation, sleep interruption,
chronic pain and side-effects from treatments or conditions related to aging. BY VANESSA ORR
MorseLife President and CEO Keith Myers was excited that MorseLife was selected to participate in the pilot study.
“We can focus on ways to reduce opioid reliance, better manage the patient’s pain, increase appetite, reduce anxiety, and help
If you turn on the news today,
Continued on page 39 chances are you’ll catch a report about
illnesses or deaths caused by vaping.
Not only is there a lot of confusion
“Amazon” John Easterling: among users as to whether the prod-
ucts that they are using are safe, but the
government is also starting to take note
Helping Patients Overcome Cancer Related Challenges of this smoking method, in which users
inhale the vapors of e-cigarettes or vape
with Home-Grown Cannabis pens.
“It’s a real issue, especially with the
proliferation of black-market THC
BY DANIEL CASCIATO
products out there,” explained
“Amazon" John Easterling, founder of Happy Tree Microbes, spent over two decades in and out Christopher Cowart, founder of Blue
of the Amazon rainforest planting medicine. He researched and brought to market a variety of Moon Hemp. “The vast majority of vic-
Amazonian medicinal and therapeutic plants after formulating them in America using advanced tims were using cartridges containing
technological methods. As a result, he helped his former company, Amazon Herb Company, sell THC, and in most cases, these products
over $100 million of those products. were counterfeit or were purchased in
Easterling has always been a plant and medicine aficionado. an illegal fashion.
“I was introduced to cannabis in 1968 and had a pleasant experience with it,” he says. “I grew “Unfortunately, there is a concentrat-
my first cannabis in 1970. I always had this dream about traveling to South America, into the ed effort to spin the narrative to ban all
Highlands and the jungle, and exploring lost cities of gold and Inca treasure. After graduating flavored e-liquids,” he continued. “This
from the University of North Carolina, I sold my car and bought a ticket to Ecuador.” is despite the fact that these types of
During his first few years in South America, he sought out and traded pre-Columbian artifacts, cartridges are not associated with any-
and other tribal items with indigenous tribes on behalf of museums and collectors. At one point, thing that we as CBD providers do.”
he became gravely ill—fighting a long bout with hepatitis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. He John Easterling According to Cowart, one ingredient
soon found himself under the care of the Shipibo tribe, who shared their botanicals with him. common to these vaping incidents is
“They made me an herbal brew of Amazonian Botanicals, but I had no expectations of anything really good happening,” he Vitamin E, which while safe when used
recalls. topically or in a liquid capsule form,
Things changed pretty dramatically after three days, however. His fever broke and he began feeling more grounded and the can be harmful when vaped. Often
mental acuity was starting to come back. used as an inexpensive cutting agent
“After about a week, I realized not only was I feeling as good as I was before this challenge, I was beginning to feel better than for THC oils, it can cause irritation and
infection in the lungs, resulting in
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