The Need to Educate Healthcare Providers

Cannabis is now a Schedule III substance as of 2026. Does this mean prescribers can write a prescription for it as a controlled substance? Not yet — it is not on any formulary as an FDA-approved medicine. But the time is coming when cannabis and cannabinoid medicines will be more widely disseminated, and healthcare professionals need to know about their effects, risks, benefits, pharmacology, dosing, delivery, and clinical management. That time is now. There are many courses available to learn about cannabis in its growing industry applications — from agriculture to dispensing, marketing, and regulation; for consumers, technicians and administrators. PACE is not designed to address those needs. It is exclusively oriented toward educating the healthcare professional, for clinical application purposes. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, and other allied health professionals will benefit from a program that is geared toward a professional audience — evidence-based and presented with discernment, yet without the historical bias cannabis has erroneously carried as a Schedule I substance. We understand that cannabis can be abused. We understand that cannabis is widely used recreationally and without benefit of counsel as to how to properly use it as a medicine. We welcome the opportunity to provide education on the wise use of cannabis as a medicine — minimizing the harms and maximizing its therapeutic potential. The information we present here has been hard-won, generated from three decades of converging evidence. -Deborah Malka, MD, PhD