Medical professionals are taking advantage of the benefits of cannabis

With over a decade of experience, Dr. June Chin focuses on interactive osteopathic medicine for people with epilepsy, cancer and autism. As a physician practicing in California, Dr. Chin has taken advantage of legalized access to medical cannabis by teaching her patients about the benefits of CBD and marijuana.

Dr. Chin recently did an exclusive interview with The Fresh Toast about where cannabis is headed and what doctors should know. When asked why she is such a proponent of cannabis, Dr. Chin shared that her personal pain journey has led her to advocate not only for patients, but also for physicians to receive first-hand information. Here is her story.

“As a teenager, I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a progressive type of arthritis that affects the spine, pelvis, hips and back, causing extreme stiffness and nerve pain.

“I spent my younger years trying conventional treatments – epidurals, anesthesia, muscle relaxants, acupuncture, physiotherapy – but the pain was unrelenting. When I began medical school in San Francisco, I had difficulty standing in the operating room for long periods of time. One of the attending doctors saw this and asked me about it. I told him that I had AS, but that I couldn’t take the medications I needed for relief during rounds or a four-hour hip replacement surgery because they made me sleepy and lightheaded.

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“Here I was in a hospital, surrounded by great medical minds, but I was disheartened to realize that nothing could help my condition. The attending physician and my mentor Dr. Levine took me aside and handed me a bottle of tincture. “It’s marijuana,” he told me, “but it doesn’t get you high.”

RELATED: A pain management doctor shares how marijuana affects his patients

“He didn’t call it CBD oil. He just said it was a different type of cannabis plant. I was ashamed but desperate. As a medical student training to be a doctor, my first thought was, “Are you offering me weed? You want to get me addicted to drugs?” I grew up in the Bronx, where marijuana was heavily stigmatized in society. Kids who smoked weed were either dropouts or involved in gangs. I also grew up in a very traditional Chinese household. My parents believed in reefer madness – weed led to psychosis and schizophrenia!

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“The little brown dropper bottle that Dr. Levine handed me smelled like a combination of alcohol, wet dog, and weed, and I didn’t know what to think. To my surprise, the tincture worked very well. The pain and inflammation of my arthritis decreased dramatically, my AS stopped progressing, and my health improved.

“Even though California legalized medical cannabis in 1996, I didn’t dare tell anyone I was using it. I was a young doctor and didn’t want to jeopardize my career. But once I recovered, I decided to learn more about cannabis and how it helps relieve pain and improve people’s overall health and well-being.

RELATED: How a pediatrician is using marijuana and CBD in palliative care

“After suffering from pain for so long, I know what it feels like to say to your doctor, ‘I’ve tried everything and nothing has worked.’

“I have been helping patients integrate medical cannabis into their health and wellness for over a decade. Cannabis changed the course of my life. Without cannabis treatment, I would not have been able to complete my medical studies and become a doctor. I had an educational advantage by pursuing medical school in California. California legalized medical cannabis in 1996. I was in the middle of a bind and was able to manipulate my circumstances so that I could learn holistic, integrative cannabis medicine.”

Dr. Chin has seen firsthand the benefits medical cannabis can have for patients. Dr. Chin is from the Bronx and moved back to New York several years ago. He is now registered with the New York State Medical Cannabis Program. She is currently treating and attending both children and adults in New York AskCMD.coma personalized cannabis service.