You know how you’re not supposed to eat grapefruit if you’re taking blood thinners? The same could be true with cannabis, which is known to reduce blood pressure.
Pharmacist Luba Andrus isn’t going to tell you not to hit it if you’re taking hypertension meds, but her best advice for doctors and patients is to increase blood pressure monitoring for those taking high dosages of cannabis.
Andrus, who specializes in the application of medical cannabis, advises her older patients to watch out for drowsiness, to stand up slowly, and to mind their dosage. Issues like these are on the agenda at the Reader’s Green Space Sessions event on Wednesday, when the subject is how cannabis interacts with other medications. Andrus says we know way more now than we did five years ago.
I have so many questions: Will charcoal supplements render CBD inactive? Does sugar inhibit the metabolism of THC? Why is it a bad idea to drink and get high?
“That’s for amateurs,” says Andrus. “It’s either-or. Never both.”
She’ll be joined by Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple, medical director of the Integrative Medicine Program at NorthShore University HealthSystem, and Dr. Jay Joshi, an anesthesiologist and interventional spine and pain management physician, for a discussion on drug interaction and cannabis, pain management, and basics of dosing on Wednesday evening at 2112 Chicago, 4245 North Knox Avenue. There will also be an expungement Q&A with Cabrini Green Legal Aid.
It’s free, but you still need to register.