BY RUTH HILL R.N.
The Desert Area Chapter of Oncology Nursing Society (DACONS) is inviting all doctors and nurses in the area to a lecture on Cannabis Therapeutics in Palliative Care in Oncology on November 20, 2018 at Venus de Fido. Yours truly will be giving the lecture and Dr. Delmar Aikens will also be speaking.
DACONS as an affiliate of the national Oncology Nursing Society, was formed twenty-five years ago to give nurses in the area access to education on the various trends, uses, side effects and patient teaching information for oncology pharmaceuticals. The Chapter is a 501-C which raises monies to donate to charitable organizations in the community that help cancer patients. Monthly programs are planned with lectures on new therapies for cancer treatment and autoimmune diseases. This year two $1000.00 scholarships will be given to some lucky nursing students.
I have over 50 years of nursing experience from a multitude of settings including hospice, palliative care and executive management in the home health industry. The last seventeen years were spent in hospice and palliative care more recently in Coachella Valley, CA. My experience as an entrepreneur owning a six-bed residential facility for the elderly, as a consultant for home health agencies, as an educator and writer on palliative care, provide an effective segue into teaching cannabis for symptom management. I am a member of the Hospice and Palliative Nursing Association, Oncology Nursing Society American Cannabis Nurses Association and Holistic Caring.
Dr. Delmar Aikens is familiar to anyone who walks into Greensight Medical in Palm Springs. He is a general surgery specialist in Palm Springs, CA and has been practicing for 35 years. He graduated from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 1973, did his internship at Kettering Memorial Hospital, his residency at Loma Linda University and his fellowship at Ohio State University. Dr. Aikens has spent the last seven years recommending and educating patients on medical cannabis for symptom management.
The lecture will focus on how the science cannabis whose chemistry was only recently discovered in the sixties and nineties. Cannabis is the genus of a flowering plant in the family Cannabaceae. Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, a scientist from Israel, created the scientific bridge between Cannabaceae and medicine. He is co-credited in 1964 with the discovery of the delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) molecule, the most famous, which gives the stigma to marijuana. In 1996 he made the revolutionary discovery that humans have cannabinoid receptors and an endocannabinoid system. While historical medical books documented medical cannabis in the 1880’s, prohibition in the last 70 years has kept medical professionals from learning about the 45,000 published scientific studies since Dr. Mechoulam’s discovery.
Current statistics show there are 917,000 legal cannabis users in California in 2018 (a 20% increase over 2015). The use and legalization are rapidly expanding. Hopefully medical professionals and patients will feel more comfortable talking to each other about the use of medical cannabis after listening to this lecture.
The decision by the FDA in 2018 to approve GW Pharmaceuticals Epidiolex (CBD) puts the FDA in a peculiar position of granting approval for a Schedule I drug. Epidiolex is the first US cannabinoid oral solution of pure plant-derived cannabidiol, or CBD. Medical professionals and patients should collaborate in devising care plans that integrate alternative and conventional therapies without fear of condemnation.
Come join us for an entertaining evening at Venus de Fido, Ruth’s Chris Steak House is catering a meat carving station, a thanksgiving meal will be presented, and exciting prizes will be given to lucky winners. Network with Dr. Aikens, myself, pharmaceutical vendors and other professionals learning about the miracle of medical cannabis. RSVP www.venusdefido.com/dacons/
Ruth A Hill RN, President DACONS is a cannabis navigator, can be contacted at hilruth@gmail.com
