I recently was happy to see that Dr. John House has opened his Medical Canna Clinic in Eureka Springs next to Flora Roja on Passion Play Rd. I’ve lived with PTSD now for five years and driving over to Bentonville or Rogers to get my marijuana certification letter was just too stressful.
House is a physician genuinely interested and educated about medical marijuana, which he believes can be a helpful alternative for some patients. However, neither House nor any other doctor in the state is allowed to actually visit a dispensary with the goal of gathering information to guide patients.
Other local doctors applied to open a medical dispensary in Eureka Springs, but evidently having actual doctors run a clinic like this was not a factor that swayed the Medical Marijuana Commission (MMC). The doctors’ application was denied, leaving us here in Eureka Springs with no option but to drive at least an hour to visit a marijuana dispensary.
I have had bad adverse reactions to edible Cannabis sativa in the past. Instead of a relaxing high, I can experience extreme anxiety and paranoia. House recommended that I try small quantities of different varieties that were indica dominant. The strain Cannabis indica is more relaxing and Cannabis sativa more energizing. House said I should try a little of different indica varieties, see what works, then go back.
He said he’s opposed to smoking as that can damage the lungs, but vaping might be okay as it is a quick delivery method that preserves four of the five cannabinoids destroyed by smoking. He recommended an edible for long-lasting relief and a tincture using a few drops under the tongue for relief from panic attacks.
I could have used that tincture when I entered the dispensary, which had a sterile, unfriendly, jail-like environment completely different from the coffee shop atmosphere I had seen when visiting recreational marijuana stores in Colorado. I was given a two-page handout with very small print listing different varieties of medical marijuana and different delivery methods. I found this difficult to read and overwhelming.
There was nowhere to sit and go over it. There were four tiers of pricing for the raw bud, and even smaller print on the other side of the handout regarding vaping cartridges, concentrates, tinctures and edibles.
I had no idea what concentrates were. There were clever names and percentages of THC and CBD, and not enough info for me to make informed decisions. Everything was hugely expensive.
All the decisions had to be made while standing in front a male clerk under 30 who seemed impatient and bored with my questions. I felt pressured to make my decisions and get out of there.
I chose a lemon gummy recommended by him as I had heard from others that the gummies could be very helpful with sleep. An hour after taking one that night, I started experiencing anxiety and paranoia. The next night I tried a Tahoe OG cartridge as that was the only brand name that I had found at this store that I knew about from earlier research about varieties helpful with sleep. I can’t really say whether this worked or not, because it tasted horrible, hurt my throat, and I was afraid it had been contaminated.
I contacted the dispensary and spoke with an employee who said the kind of reaction I had with the gummy is not rare; some people get the opposite of the intended reaction. He recommended that I have some CBD bud on hand so if that ever happened again, I could smoke it and it would calm me down: “CBD reduces the high and should eliminate unwanted effects.”
He told me that vape cartridges, even of the same variety, are hit and miss as far as flavor. He assured me it was safe, and that he had bought the same cartridge the same day I came in. He said possibly what I was tasting was terpenes. I later read that about 140 compounds in cannabis are “aromatic organic hydrocarbons known as terpenes.” I’m new to vaping, but if something tastes like turpentine, is it safe to take into your body?
I contacted MMC spokesman Scott Hardin. He said out of the $40 million worth of medical marijuana that has been sold so far in Arkansas, there had not been a single complaint about the products.
The dispensary doesn’t stand behind its products. No returns are allowed. So, I was out $80 for products that harmed my health.
I asked other medical marijuana patients if vape cannabis products are meant to taste terrible, and they had never had that experience.
Hardin said each dispensary has its own pharmacist, and while doctors can’t visit the dispensary, they can visit with the pharmacist. The dispensary I went to offered free consultation with a pharmacist, but advance appointments are necessary.
Hardin also recommended patients study the dispensaries’ websites to get more information about the products. However, after trying on two different days recently, I was unable to access the product information from my computer. I just got one of the wheels that spins and spins.
As for the salesclerks being so young, I asked the dispensary employee if most of their patient were older, and the answer was “yes.” I asked why there weren’t some older salesclerks. They tried that initially, but the older people were unable to stand up all day long behind the counter.
How about this? Let older clerks sit down with patients at a table, answer their questions, and then help them fill out an order. Provide a computer for people to get more info to make decisions, possibly even having an order form on the computer. Explain the differences between the different methods of delivery.
For what other type of medicine do we rely on a salesclerk to make recommendations on the type of medicine, dosage and type of delivery? Patients should be able to consult with their doctors instead.
I do believe I will find a medical marijuana solution helpful to me. It just takes some trial and error, and figuring out the right variety and dosage.
[Editor’s note: This is a first-person report from a Eureka Springs woman whose name has been withheld to protect her medical privacy.]