Had you asked me 1 year ago if I would carry CBD oil in my pharmacy, I would have said no.  I didn't want to get into the mix of Marijuana.  The day came when I a man came in whom I knew had difficulties getting off of Methadone after having had a Heroin addiction.  He came in and was excited that he was off and more pain free than he's been in many many years.  I asked what made the change.  It was CBD oil.  This peaked my interests.

1 year ago I was uneducated and part of the bandwagon stigma that has plagued this great Herb.  I've learned that CBD is much more effective with THC, you can get by with 1/5 the dose when THC is added.  Why is this important?  CBD is a potent inhibitor of CYP3A4 and CYP2D6 liver enzymes.  Nearly 25% of medications are metabolized by CYP3A4 which presents many drug interactions.  Being able to reduce the dose by a 5th to achieve similar results makes the addition of THC very appealing to reduce the severity of drug interactions.

The endocannabinoid system discovery has been a blessing.  The Hemp derived CBD oil and THC does not cause addiction and offers relief.  To get a high off the THC that the 2018 Farm bill has set is difficult and very cost prohibitive for a high that would be very short term.  This is a proper use of this blessing of an herb that many of my patients have come to me inquiring of its use.  One lady came last week saying, I'm tired of being on Oxycodone after having gone down anti-inflammatories, Methotrexate, Humira, and others and has found relief with CBD oil, but is scared to use it because of Idaho's current laws.  This conversation has prompted me to start this petition.

I believe it's the responsibility of our legislatures to educate themselves before voting on an issue.  Without speaking I can only guess, however, I believe Butch Otter's veto on bill S1146a was more of a move based on emotion to recreational marijuana and less on proper CBD/THC use.

Now with the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill the federal government has made this an option, yet Idaho stands behind the law; Idaho Code §§ 37-2705(a) and (d)(19) and (27), which makes THC a controlled substance.  As I stated earlier, the oil works best when the two are together and is safer.  As well all good suppliers of CBD will offer Certificate of Analysis to verify the contents of their products, to reduce previous concerns of lab testing, law enforcement, product purity, and product dosing and interactions as listed here ( https://odp.idaho.gov/cannibidiol/?fbclid=IwAR1iGHu8Ij1I3VvOSUQ2EUkTKMFxXAXTRyViZ584BzDQMyWF0w77Dgy66oM ).  Dosing with OTC versions are much lower than the current Epidiolex, roughly a tenth of Epidiolex.  If we continue to only allow Epidiolex, we find ourselves subjecting patient's to absurd drug costs, in this case nearly $1,400 per month!  That's 34% of the average Idaho salary, it's more than a house payment, please consider not subjecting our citizens to this and align our laws with federal law.

Thank you for your consideration,

Tim Brown