Habu Health HabuHealth.com
By SIMONE FISCHER | PHOTO by DANIEL BERMAN
We are honored this month to interview Adie Wilson-Poe, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and the creator of Habu Health. In 2004, she wrote her first grant and has been studying Cannabis through the lens of addiction and harm reduction ever since. Dr. Wilson-Poe holds a doctorate in Neuroscience and currently serves in the junior faculty at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
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hile she was an undergrad, Dr. Adie Wilson-Poe began volunteering in a lab that focused on opioid tolerance. Her curiosity revolved around knowing what was happening with poly-drug users and how Cannabis influences heroin use. This is what led her to write a small grant to research what was happening. “We knew at the time when that you used opioids and Cannabis together, it provided synergistic pain relief; that is, the drugs work better together than they do on their own,” Dr. Wilson-Poe said. “If we can harness the synergistic power of this drug combination, we might reduce opioid use through Cannabis. I wrote a small grant in my undergrad program, which rolled into my Ph.D. thesis and subsequent academic positions, where I received grants from National Institutes of Health (NIH).”
FROM CANNABIS ACADEMIC TO ADVOCATE
The evidence was irrefutable and she wanted policy makers to understand. But the problem was, so few elected officials were swayed by the scientific data in favor of Cannabis. “I was an academic studying Cannabis. I wanted to know the science behind it all, and I noticed that almost no one was paying attention to the incredibly exciting data that was coming out. That’s what flipped me from being an academic to an academic advocate,” she said. “I never thought I would find myself in the position of advocating the use of Cannabis – I was a hardcore straight edge kid growing up. But living in Oregon for a long time, and being in the snowboarding community, at 26 I started smoking weed.” She believes that the scientific evidence is there, and it can’t be ignored. She felt compelled to say something because no one was paying attention to the facts. So, she acted. She got involved with the Missouri legislature by helping get medical Cannabis bill into the system. “I’m on the advisory board for New Approach, Missouri. And it’s tough because a lot of the policymakers are not swayed by the evidence in favor of Cannabis. So often it takes emotional, first-person appeal before they listen.”
than methadone? Might it be Cannabis? We have a lot of preliminary and preclinical [animal] research that supports this approach, but there is a lot more work that needs to be done.” Her recent research has been published in highly respected medical journals and makes the case for the massive health and economic impact of Cannabis. “Just in 2018, the federal government could have saved $468 million in Medicare prescription drug costs alone, if Cannabis had been legal in all 50 states. And that’s not even counting the trickle-down effects, such as increased worker productivity and fewer sick days that we Dr. Wilson-Poe understands the potential repersee in states with legal Cannabis.” cussions of her important research on a federal By harnessing patient feedback, Habu Health level, but she doesn’t let that fear stop her from aims to empower patients to achieve reliable studying Cannabis. and predictable results with Cannabis. “Every time my words are published, or face ap“More and more, patients now have acpears on the internet, or the in news or NPR; I’m at cess to Cannabis. And they need to risk of losing my federal grant fundknow what to take. We can’t wait ing. Thus far, fear has kept people “fear has kept people ten years for clinical trials to come from speaking out, fear has kept peofrom practicing out; we have to do the best that we ple from practicing Cannabis mediCannabis medicine, and I don’t want to can now. In our naturalistic observacine, and I don’t want to be inhibited be inhibited by fear, I tional studies, we are systematicalby fear, I want to be compelled and want to be compelled ly tracking peoples’ outcomes and propelled by the evidence. I have a and propelled by correlating their experiences with the moral responsibility to transmit this the evidence.” products they are using. We want to knowledge to the public and our poltry and make sense what is already icymakers.” happening in the medical Cannabis market.” All of her work has been funded by the NationHabu Health is the first organization to take al Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Her goals are on this massive and costly undertaking. To Dr. similar to NIDA, they both want to limit the side Wilson-Poe, this is just the beginning – a true effects of powerful and addictive opioids. pioneer in her own right. “My angle on limiting opioid addiction is Through Habu Health, their intention is to through Cannabis. I’m somewhat in the back door publish their findings in scientific literature and of federal research because we are looking at the share it with the world. As a neuroscientist, she addictive properties of opioids, using Cannabis as wants the data to reinforce or debunk informaa harm reduction tool.” tion that is circulating. “We are developing the new taxonomy of MAKING A DIFFERENCE Cannabis...a classification system that makes it Pending research and evidence, Dr. Wilson-Poe easy to identify which kinds of plants you resobelieves Cannabis could be a viable tool in adnate with, as an individual,” she said. diction recovery and management, as well as in “When you say, “ ‘I like Imperial Pale Ales,’” the treatment of chronic pain. that statement has a lot of meaning to a barThe opioid epidemic is costing our country tender. But what is the Cannabis equivalent $500 billion per year, yet Cannabis is safer and of an IPA? What are the other categories and could save copious amounts of taxpayer dollars. branches of the Cannabis family tree? We don’t “It is extremely easy for a pain patient to follow have any intent of having the answers to this the instructions on a bottle of prescription opioids taxonomy any time soon, this is merely the beand still die from an overdose, that’s how dangerginning of a very exciting conversation.” ous opioids are. Cannabis can’t do that,” she said. She is motivated to allow patients access to From her research, she has found that the apCannabis as a medical alternative because she proach with Cannabis is already safer. knows it to be safer. “If you can accurately tell Safer, less addictive alternatives are called a patient what they need, rather than over or “harm reduction” by the medical community. under medicating them, they are going to have “Methadone is a harm reduction drug, but methbetter experiences and stay in the Cannabis adone can still make people overdose, and it’s economy. We want to guide and improve the really hard for patients to get access to. This begs users’ experience in the safest way.” the question: do we have something less harmful
THE EVIDENCE IS THERE AND IT CAN’T BE IGNORED. june 2018 FACEBOOK.COM/NWLEAF
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