Doctor, Doctor, Give Me the News...

I've Got a Bad Case of White Coat Syndrome.

White coat syndrome- an informal term for the phenomenon of some people experiencing higher blood pressure in a medical setting. *

Hello Higher-Minded Humans,

As a neurodivergent person with multiple autoimmune diseases, few things warm my black heart as much as “traditional” doctors or nurse practitioners who get it. And by get it, I mean they understand how broken the healthcare system is, they treat the whole patient, not just the symptom, and they understand how the endocannabinoid system works. Dr. Ben Caplan is one of those doctors, as illustrated by the following quote from his appearance on Your Highness podcast:

“I have thousands of people who tell me this has changed my life. Can't believe I didn't know about this. I'm angry that my doctor didn't teach me about this. I'm angry that the culture misled me to think that this was somehow an evil thing. You know, I'm not addicted. I can take it or leave it, whatever I want. It's just a benefit for me that I have full control over. And those are amazing things in our medical culture where we're so disempowered by listening to whatever the doctor happens to say. We follow their instructions, we hope the pills they prescribe work and if they don't, we go back and get new pills or new doses. It's totally sapped the agency that people feel over their own healthcare, and not only is cannabis more effective, but it gives that onus of control back to the patients.”

Photo by Owen Beard on Unsplash

Another provider who gets it is Olga Hall, an RN who works tirelessly to have cannabis included in the harm reduction plans of her patients. In our most recent episode of Your Highness, Olga talks about how advocating for patient safety and access led to a bizarre and dehumanizing experience with law enforcement. She also talks about the desperate need for patient education:

“The amount of patients that I get as medical certification patients medical cannabis certification patients that are chronic pain patients is probably like 80% of them are some type of chronic pain. Almost none of them have heard of RSO, so I don't understand what is happening. “

We have more insights and informative content coming from these amazing providers in the near future, but in the meantime, check out the invaluable free resources they both offer.

Until next time, stay high and beautiful. :)

*Definition from Healthline