About: What is the future of cannabinopathic medicine? Will it continue to develop on its own as an alternative medicine joining other alternative schools of medicine such as naturopathic, homeopathic and osteopathic medicine, or will it fully integrate into allopathic (or modern Western) medicine? What are the factors which affect this future, like training for new generations of doctors? Are medical schools teaching anything about the endocannabinoid system and how it relates to medical science? In the face of ongoing prohibition and the standoffish attitude of allopathic medicine, in what direction will cannabinopathic medicine continue to grow?
Speaker: Dr Jeffrey Hergenrather
Bio: In the 1970’s, Dr. Jeffrey Hergenrather became perhaps the first licensed MD to practice cannabinopathic medicine, albeit secretly, and with far less knowledge of the plant’s true medical potential than we have today. As house doctor for legendary counterculture commune The Farm, Hergenrather tended to more than 1,000 people, who all felt perfectly comfortable confiding that smoking a joint helped relieve their chronic pain, insomnia, anxiety, menstrual cramps, migraine headaches, and a slew of other ailments.
Dr Hergenrather’s medical experience includes 26 years in emergency medicine and private general practice. He continues in a consultation practice in northern California with face-to-face, telephone, and on-line consultations for the use of cannabis as medicine. His practice, research, and teaching focus on the medicinal use of cannabis through a wide range of conditions and age groups – from infants to end-of-life care. He is an adjunct professor at Sonoma State University teaching a Biology course in the Medical Use of Cannabis.
He is a founding member and past-president of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians (SCC), a non – profit corporation dedicated to quality patient care, education, and clinical studies. The SCC is the oldest organization of physicians specializing in the use of cannabis as medicine. Hergenrather is a member of the International Alliance for Cannabinoid Medicines (IACM), and the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS). He serves as an expert witness and consultant to government and industry in supporting safe access to measured cannabis medicines.