Is Medical Marijuana Safer Than Tylenol & Other OTC Drugs?

When Congress passed the Marijuana Stamp Act in 1937, they did so without the knowledge of the American Medical Association and doctors who had relied upon marijuana as a treatment for common medical conditions. Much to their chagrin, prohibition set the stage for pharmaceutical companies to make a killing on prescription and over-the-counter drugs. With passage of the Controlled Substances Act, the holistic healing benefits medical marijuana became a distant memory. Over the next 40 years, you’d have been hard pressed to find any licensed M.D. who could advise patients about cannabis, much less answer questions like, “Is medical marijuana safer than Tylenol or other OTC drugs?”

Now that medical marijuana is legal in 29 states, demand for information about it is at an all-time high. Despite the groundbreaking revelations about the endo-cannabinoid system and countless clinical studies that have been published in recent years, few physicians have been willing to integrate medical marijuana into their practice. If not for the stigma or fear of risking their medical license, insufficient education is to blame. Only a handful of medical schools even mention the word cannabis in required courses.

Fortunately, the demand for knowledge is being met by a growing community of doctors who are well-versed in the subject. After 80-years of silence, the American Medical Association is permitting some academic institutions like The Answer Page and Compassionate Certification Centers to offer accredited courses that fulfill the A.M.A.’s mandatory annual requirements for continuing medical education credit. This is great news for educators and even better news for doctors and their patients. That’s the topic of this episode and of our Medical Marijuana Update by Dr. Bryan Doner.

And, just case you ever wondered about the title, “Is Medical Marijuana Safer Than Tylenol?” …Listen in to hear a startling revelation! We hope you enjoy the episode.

Our guests are two award-winning physicians who are leading the effort to educate medical practitioners about cannabis and frequently speak at events to answer questions about medical marijuana. Both have been named “Medical Professional of the Year” by the Americans for Safe Access in Washington DC. Both are principals in the continuing medical education platform known as “The Answer Page” and have co-authored the accredited courses that provide doctors in multiple states with a comprehensive overview of the endo-cannabinoid system.

Dr. Stephen B. Corn is the founder of TheAnswerPage.com, a medical education website that has become an internationally recognized leader in providing unbiased peer-reviewed continuing medical education (CME) content focused on the endocannabinoid system and the therapeutic use of medical cannabis, pain medicine and opioid prescribing. At the recommendation of Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, the content created by Dr. Corn and TheAnswerPage is featured in Israel’s National Healthcare Provider Cannabis Program.  Dr. Corn is the recipient of numerous awards and honors and was named, “Champion in Health Care” by the Boston Business Journal and has been featured on Sirius XM Radio and CBS News.

Dr. Meredith Fisher- Corn is a board certified physician specializing in anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine. Having completed her anesthesiology residency and fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School, she was an anesthesiologist at Women and Infants Hospital, Brown University Medical School. Since 2009, Dr. Fisher-Corn has co-authored more than 100 continuing education courses as Editor-in-Chief of TheAnswerPage.com.  She also co-created “The New York State Practitioner Education- Medical Use of Marijuana Course,” “The Florida Physicians Low-THC Cannabis Course,” The Florida Physicians Cannabis Course,” and a six-module opioid prescribing risk management course.

We have lots of people to thank for supporting us: Our sponsors HempMeds.com and Zephyr Labs; our producer Windy West at Star Worldwide Networks; the stations and listeners of XRQK Radio Network and Airtime America Satellite Network; Erik Godal, composer of “Evergreen” theme song; and Compassionate Certification Centers for helping us spread the word.  — We are grateful!