The Cannabis Center of Excellence is bringing an urgent message to our community: medical professionals are overwhelmingly failing to receive the education necessary to counsel patients on cannabis.
A recent webinar, hosted by CReDO Science and featuring the world's preeminent cannabis scientist, Dr. Ethan Russo, clearly outlined the depth of this crisis: a massive majority of doctors and residents feel unprepared to discuss or prescribe medical cannabis, while formal medical curricula dedicate almost no time to this critical area of health.
The Problem is Systemic—The ECS is Being Ignored
Dr. Russo's presentation didn't just point to a lack of cannabis classes; it revealed a fundamental flaw in modern medicine: the near-total exclusion of the Endocannabinoid System (ECS). The ECS is the master regulator of health—governing pain, sleep, mood, and more—and ignoring it means practicing medicine without a foundational piece of human physiology.
Our Path Forward: Mandatory Core Competencies
This is why the work published in JAMA Network Open is so vital. We are proud to announce that the new Consensus-Based Core Competencies for Medical Cannabis Education—a major publication contributed to by experts including one of our own Dr. Marion McNabb and Dr. Ethan Russo—provides the essential blueprint to fix this.
This set of six mandatory core competencies outlines what every future clinician must know to provide safe, evidence-based, and patient-centered guidance on cannabis. The competencies cover:
- ECS Fundamentals
- Cannabis Plant Components
- Legal & Regulatory Landscape
- Evidence-Based Health Conditions
- Risk Assessment & Mitigation
- Basic Clinical Management (Dosing, Interactions)
This isn't a recommendation for an elective; it's an evidence-informed framework that must be integrated and mandated across all undergraduate medical training now.
The time to act is now. This information is too important for any clinician—or patient—to ignore.
To fully understand the crisis and see the detailed, six-point blueprint that will shape the future of medical training, we urge you to watch the full video of Dr. Russo's presentation on YouTube.
