RI Top Doctor Chan Discusses the Health Risks and Benefits of Cannabis
RI Top Doctor Chan Discusses the Health Risks and Benefits of Cannabis
There has been a significant change in policy in the state, first with the legalization of medical marijuana in 2006 and then the legalization of personal use in 2022.
The State of Rhode Island generates millions in tax and fee revenues from the emerging industry.
And with the changes come questions about its safe use.
Dr. Philip Chan discusses the impact of the drug on GoLocal LIVE, and talks usage levels and the different impacts of different types of cannabis.
“Cannabis, which we often also call marijuana — slight differences as marijuana refers to the active ingredient in cannabis THC, but you know cannabis and marijuana are the most commonly used drug. One of the most commonly used drugs here in the United States and as a primary care physician over the last decade I've had a lot of my patients report use and ask me about prescribing medical marijuana as well so it's definitely something that's really common in Rhode Island and all over the country,” said Dr. Chan.
Smoking
Dr. Chan said, “I think about cannabis similar to tobacco in terms of smoking. From my perspective as a physician, if someone has a joint every once in a while — once a month, even once every couple weeks it's probably not a big deal. The problem with things like tobacco is the constant smoke, the constant chemicals and additives that your lungs are being exposed to.”
“If you're smoking a joint every once in a while, you're not exposing your body or your lungs to the same amount of chemicals and harmful effects as if you were smoking tobacco every day. Now, that being said I have had a few patients who smoke a lot of marijuana and that can be a problem over time,” he added.
Edibles
“I do think that edibles are a little bit better than inhaling smoke into your lungs. The problems with edibles are that sometimes the concentration of the drug can be all over the place, so you may not know how much you're consuming, and people can certainly consume too much THC," said Dr. Chan.
Too Much
"Too much marijuana and what really becomes a problem over time is if people are becoming really addicted to cannabis,’ said Dr. Chan. “So in the medical profession there's a term for this called cannabis use disorder, and about three out of every 10 people who use cannabis or marijuana fall into that category and what that means is that people really have trouble controlling their use of marijuana to the fact where it's affecting their life, they're craving it, they can't cut down, and it's really affecting different aspects of one's life.”
Dr. Chan said that for people who occasionally use things like marijuana, it is probably not harmful to their health, but he did cite a new study that raises concerns about smoking marijuana.
“Just last week, a big study was published indicating that folks that do smoke have a significantly higher risk of heart attacks and strokes,” said Dr. Chan.
The study was published by the American College of Cardiology.
Benefits
Dr. Chan does discuss the benefits of the use of marijuana as a substitute for pain medication and the positive impacts in certain cancer treatments.
"I prescribe it specifically to cancer patients to HIV patients for chronic pain patients, patients with severe nausea -- things like that marijuana can be very effective," said Dr. Chan.
He also cited that it can be a safer alternative than opioids as a pain treatment.
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ABOVE.