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The Legality Retired DEA Agent
of MMTCs – Warns that
To Be Determined Despite COVID,
Opioid Crisis Isn’t Over
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August 2020

2019 Cannabis Business Award’s Publication of the Year

Cannabis Spotlight

Growers Who Help ONE PLANT Grow

Why Cannabis?

Chris Keller: Money, right? I mean, I was young and in
Boulder Colorado at the time. But, more than simply
money was that I truly enjoyed the culture that surround-
ed cannabis. I believed in the plant and loved the effect
personally. Still do. And I turned out to be a plant person
when it came to growing too.
Bryan Roberts: This plant has been a part of my life for
Dr. Mitchell Davis a long time. I have always been an avid fan. Dr. Ryan Vandrey

Why One Plant?
Cannabis and Chris Keller Study Finds That
Chris Keller: Brady Cobb, One Plant CEO, recruited me
COVID-19 out of Colorado. It was the idea of not only a different Medical Cannabis
market in Florida but it was the new frontier in cannabis.
It was made very clear to me that we would be given all of
BY DR. MITCHELL DAVIS the tools we would need - the quality of the flower would Consumers Use
be the focus. We would put it before anything else. No
Many of our patients at ComCan cutting corners to just get the job done. I had similar con- Less Healthcare
Healthcare have asked about the risks of versations with others and when I met with Brady I felt
continued cannabis use during the they were the most truthful answers and honesty I had
COVID-19 pandemic. heard from someone who wanted to do what he wanted to BY DANIEL CASCIATO
• Does cannabis use increase the risk of do. We would grow high quality and the best flower that
contracting COVID-19? There is no evi- we can produce. We won’t settle for anything less than the People have been using cannabis prod-
dence to suggest that cannabis users in best. That's why I made the move from Colorado to ucts to treat many types of ailments. But
general have greater risk of contracting the Florida and joined One Plant. Bryan Roberts are there any medical benefits of cannabis?
infection, and there is some preliminary Bryan Roberts: We focus on what matters first - The Plant. We care about lineages, Do medical cannabis users have any per-
evidence that it may help prevent infec- where strains come from, and the stories that each one tells. We believe that quality mat- ceived or actual health benefits?
tion. COVID-19 spreads through respirato- ters when it comes to cannabis. The proof is in the jar. That’s what Johns Hopkins Medicine
ry droplets and can be picked up by being researchers and colleagues at Realm of
in proximity to infected individuals or by Caring Foundation wanted to discover.
putting contaminated items in your Update on Cannabis Care at They recently surveyed medical cannabis
mouth. users and found that they reported less
Medical marijuana dispensaries have MorseLife Health System pain, better sleep and reduced anxiety,
implemented enhanced sanitary practices, along with taking fewer prescription med-
and there are no reported cases of infected ications. They also were less likely to have
medical marijuana products. There is no BY DR. MELANIE BONE visited an emergency room or have been
reason why cannabis products should admitted to a hospital than people who
increase the risk of infection provided they In April 2019, I was asked to direct a cannabinoid didn’t use cannabis for medical purposes.
are used with the same precautions as any initiative at MorseLife Health System in West Palm In their study, published online on June
other medical product. Beach, Florida. MorseLife is an over-65 residential 8, 2020, in Cannabis and Cannabinoid
• Are there additional precautions I community with a teaching nursing home, memory Research, the researchers report that
should take in using cannabis during the care unit, hospice, and rehabilitation facility on site. because this early work shows medical
pandemic? Cannabis users can reduce CEO Keith Myers, partnered with Howard and Michele benefits for cannabis, more funding and
their risk of contracting COVID-19 by Kessler of Palm Beach, to fund this project as part of an clinical trials are urgently needed to deter-
practicing the same sanitizing/safety meas- overarching dedication to introducing cannabis medi- mine what conditions the drug may treat.
ures used for food or other household cine in the senior community. “This is an area where there is intense
products. We recommend users wash The program began with surveying the residents, need for science,” Ryan Vandrey, Ph.D.,
their hands for at least 20 seconds using staff, and employees about attitudes toward cannabis Dr. Melanie Bone professor of psychiatry and behavioral
soap and water or an alcohol-based hand and current use on campus, as well as interest in a physician-run cannabis program at sciences at the Johns Hopkins University
sanitizer. Medical marijuana products are MorseLife. The goal was adoption of cannabis for both management of ailments com- School of Medicine. “Millions of people
dispensed for the use of approved indi- mon to the residents and for improvement in quality of life. We found many people had are using cannabis for therapeutic pur-
viduals and should never be shared with no experience with cannabis but were curious about it. Anti-cannabis sentiment was also poses despite a lack of data regarding
others. In the case of COVID-19, sharing present, mainly due to the perception that cannabis is a dangerous and federally-illegal safety or efficacy. We are interested in
a joint, pipe or other device risks spread- drug. Interest was robust among residents who had experience with cannabis years ago, putting some data behind the myriad
ing infection. or whose adult children (and grandchildren) encouraged them to participate. claims made by both proponents and
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