PRIME TIME: A CLINICIAN’S VIEW ON WOMEN & CANNABIS

Sarah M. Cohen reports on sessions from CannMed 2018:

As a clinician scientist, Dr. Rosemary Mazanet has worn many hats in her career. She currently works as the Chief Scientific Officer at Columbia Care, a nationwide vertically-integrated company that cultivates cannabis, owns dispensaries, and hopes to set “the standard-of-care for medical cannabis.”  Dr. Mazanet wrapped up CannMed’s Women’s Health and Cannabissession by sharing information gleaned from Columbia Care’s patient registry.

(Note: Columbia Care is licensed in thirteen jurisdictions and, up until recently, it was branded differently in each state.  That is changing.  So, if you live in a state with a medical cannabis program, you may soon see “Columbia Care” in your neighborhood!)

With over thirty facilities and 30,000 patient interactions per month, Columbia Care is well-positioned to learn what works and what doesn’t work for their patients.  Here’s some of what they’ve learned so far.

First off, female baby-boomers represent the largest segment of the medical cannabis market, with male baby-boomers coming in a close second.  The average age for both genders nationwide is fifty-one; this is a mature population – something that was not entirely expected. Dr. Mazanet suggested that the gender difference may be related to the underlying immune dysfunction that is common to so many qualifying conditions.  (Women suffer from immune disorders at far higher rates than men.)

For women, multiple sclerosis is the most common qualifying condition, followed by cancer pain, chronic pain, neuropathy and then opioid reduction.  In fact, more women than men are visiting Columbia Care to reduce their opioid use.

In general, women prefer CBD-predominant formulations and tend to stay away from high-THC medicines.  Their preferred route of administration is also different; women prefer sublingual tinctures while men prefer vaporization.

Columbia Care is developing a number of new products for their female patients including rectal and vaginal suppositories and topical lotions that are targeted toward treating eczema rosacea and other inflammatory skin conditions.  As with all of their products, Columbia Care will track customer purchasing habits with a goal of elucidating which cannabinoids are best for which conditions – regardless of gender!❖