En Volá

Video interview by Simón Espinosa, CEO, En Volá

Article by Álvaro Riquelme, Sociologist and Master in Sociology, Data Analyst En Volá, Consumo y Prevención

Feb 8, 2019

“We take advantage of the interview with the Dr. Dustin Sulak to talk about the complicated path that medical marijuana has had in its positioning as an alternative medicine.”

In our hands we have a tool of great value , capable of helping in a number of diseases, and that hides the key to understanding the most abundant system of neuromodulatory receptors in the body, the endocannabinoid system. However, there is a lack of clinical studies to corroborate the effectiveness of cannabis as a medicinal resource , although there is a theoretical mechanism to use it in many diseases.

The first problem to treat medicinally with cannabis is in the surplus of information and epidemiological investigations , contrasted with the absence of clinical studies in humans that manage to provide basic guidelines for medicinal treatment. As Dr. Sulak explains, cannabis is a drug with a very interesting and complex pharmacology , which we are still understanding, and part of this complexity is its great potential to treat different diseases. That has been the search for Dustin Sulak.

However, since we do not know the complete dynamics or the way in which cannabinoids interact with other compounds to produce specific effects , medicating with cannabis requires a ” expertise ” that few doctors know about. Likewise, a patient is required to be willing to try and search within the universe of compounds that cannabis produces the composition that best fits his condition. So using cannabis as a drug is not easy and requires learning by the patient, knowing their tolerance level; as the doctor, in the way advised consumption .

Unfortunately, this seems to be the only way we can treat cannabis diseases today . And I say regrettable not because I think that Dr. Sulak’s method does not fulfill the purpose, but because the lack of studies has led to doctors being devoid of parameters , hindering the entry of cannabis as a drug into common practice and leaving patients without a standardized treatment methodology . It is this lack of information that a methodology like that of Sulak seeks to solve, allowing people to relate to their consumption in a conscious way and helping in the process of self-medication .

Failure to produce these studies leaves medical users in an uncomfortable position in which accepting their use of marijuana ends up generating a prejudice on the part of the rest of society . This for not having the technical means to show that what seems a recreational activity, is actually a way to find total or partial solution to a disease .

I feel very sorry to see how most people who use cannabis as medicine, came to him after trying other accepted drugs and had to overcome their own and others’ prejudices to find the answer to their ailments in an illegal drug , which forces them to experiment with your own body , only to finally be able to deal with your real problems, your ailments.

In this sense, the efforts of a methodology like that of Dr. Dustin Sulak helps patients and doctors find relief , delivering clear guidelines in a context where the exuberant baseless information can keep people from experiencing the benefits of cannabis.