Medical Marijuana & Cannabis

Common Questions & Answers
Depending on the state where you live, healthcare providers can recommend medical cannabis to help treat chronic pain, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, mental health conditions like anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, and glaucoma.
No, the legality of medical cannabis varies by state (as well as by country). Speak with your healthcare provider to learn whether this treatment is legally available where you live and appropriate for the medical symptoms you’re experiencing.
The “high” associated with medical cannabis, specifically the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) component, may make you feel happy, relaxed, restless, irritated, forgetful, impaired, or any combination thereof. High doses can also lead to paranoia, anxiety, hallucinations, and increased appetite.
The process for securing a medical cannabis prescription varies by state and isn’t an option everywhere. Visit your state health department’s website to learn about the regulations where you live.
Medical cannabis does carry a risk of dependence in some circumstances. This risk is affected by a number of societal and psychological factors. Consult with your healthcare provider to determine whether medical cannabis is an appropriate treatment for you.

Stephanie Young Moss, PharmD
Medical Reviewer
Stephanie Young Moss, PharmD, has worked in pharmacy, community outreach, regulatory compliance, managed care, and health economics and outcomes research. Dr. Young Moss is the owner of Integrative Pharmacy Outcomes and Consulting, which focuses on educating underserved communities on ways to reduce and prevent health disparities. She uses her platform to educate families on ways to decrease and eliminate health disparities by incorporating wellness and mental health techniques.
Young Moss is the creator of the websites DrStephanieYoMo.com and MenopauseInColor.com, providing practical health and wellness tips and resources for women experiencing perimenopause and menopause. She has over 100,000 people in her social media communities. She has also contributed to Pharmacy Times and shared her views on international and national podcasts and local television news.
She has served on various boards for organizations that focus on health equity, decreasing implicit bias, addressing social determinants of health, and empowering communities to advocate for their health. She has also been on the boards for the Minority Health Coalition of Marion County and Eskenazi Health Center, for which she was the clinical quality committee chair and board secretary and is currently the board treasurer. She is a board member for Community Action of Greater Indianapolis.

Justin Laube, MD
Medical Reviewer
Justin Laube, MD, is a board-certified integrative and internal medicine physician, a teacher, and a consultant with extensive expertise in integrative health, medical education, and trauma healing.
He graduated with a bachelor's in biology from the University of Wisconsin and a medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School. During medical school, he completed a graduate certificate in integrative therapies and healing practices through the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. He completed his three-year residency training in internal medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles on the primary care track and a two-year fellowship in integrative East-West primary care at the UCLA Health Center for East-West Medicine.
He is currently taking a multiyear personal and professional sabbatical to explore the relationship between childhood trauma, disease, and the processes of healing. He is developing a clinical practice for patients with complex trauma, as well as for others going through significant life transitions. He is working on a book distilling the insights from his sabbatical, teaching, and leading retreats on trauma, integrative health, mindfulness, and well-being for health professionals, students, and the community.
Previously, Dr. Laube was an assistant clinical professor at the UCLA Health Center for East-West Medicine and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he provided primary care and integrative East-West medical consultations. As part of the faculty, he completed a medical education fellowship and received a certificate in innovation in curriculum design and evaluation. He was the fellowship director at the Center for East-West Medicine and led courses for physician fellows, residents, and medical students.

Adam Lake, MD
Medical Reviewer
Adam Lake, MD, is a family physician with expertise in LGBTQIA+ health, as well as an HIV specialist and addiction medicine specialist. He is medical director of a clinic specializing in primary care, HIV, and gender-affirming care. He received a bachelor's in biochemistry with an interdisciplinary concentration in linguistics from Grinnell College in Iowa in 2006. He then completed his MD at Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He completed his family medicine residency, HIV area of concentration, and population health fellowship at Lancaster General Health in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 2015.
Dr. Lake is an actively practicing physician with primary areas of interest in the intersectionality of marginalized populations and empowering people's health journey with compassion and collaboration. His work focuses on meeting people where they are and bringing care to them. His clinic has expanded access to STD testing and access to preexposure prophylaxis against HIV, and he serves as the tuberculosis physician for his local office of the department of health.
In addition to his work as a physician and for Everyday Health, Lake frequently teaches students and residents, lectures regionally and nationally on related topics, and has published in national journals.

Susan Bard, MD
Medical Reviewer
Susan Bard, MD, is a clinical instructor in the department of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine and an adjunct clinical instructor in the department of dermatology at Mount Sinai in New York City. Her professional interests include Mohs micrographic surgery, cosmetic and laser procedures, and immunodermatology.
She is a procedural dermatologist with the American Board of Dermatology and a fellow of the American College of Mohs Surgery.
Dr. Bard has written numerous book chapters and articles for many prominent peer-reviewed journals, and authored the textbook The Laser Treatment of Vascular Lesions.

Grant Chu, MD
Medical Reviewer
Grant Chu, MD, is an assistant clinical professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Chu is also the associate director of education at the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine, using technology to further medical education.
He is board-certified in internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a diplomate of the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
He received a bachelor's degree in neuroscience from Brown University, where he also earned his medical degree. He has a master's in acupuncture and oriental medicine from South Baylo University and a master's in business administration from the University of Illinois. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles and a fellowship at the Center for East-West Medicine at UCLA.
He has held academic appointments at the University of California in Irvine and the University of Queensland in Australia.
- Medical Marijuana. Mayo Clinic. May 30, 2024.
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