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To Your Health With Dr. Jim Morrow: Episode 13, Medical Marijuana in Georgia, An Interview with Justin Hawkins and Dr. Scott Cooper, Acreage Compass, LLC

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Episode 13, Medical Marijuana in Georgia

How does the new Georgia law (HB 324) allowing prescribed use of medical marijuana work? Is medical marijuana a slippery slope to recreational marijuana use? In a conversation with host Dr. Jim Morrow, Justin Hawkins and Dr. Scott Cooper of Acreage Compass LLC answer these questions and more. “To Your Health” is brought to you by Morrow Family Medicine, which brings the CARE  back to healthcare.

Justin Hawkins and Dr. Scott Cooper, Acreage Compass, LLC

Justin Hawkins is the General Manager and Dr. Scott Cooper is the Medical Affairs Director of Acreage Compass LLC. Acreage Compass is jointly owned by Compass Neuroceutical, Inc., a Georgia-based team of physicians, advocates, and patients, and Acreage Holdings, the largest vertically integrated, multi-state owner of cannabis licenses and assets in the United States. Through Acreage Compass, Compass Neuroceutical and Acreage Holdings are partnering to bring safe and consistent medical cannabis oil to patients in the state of Georgia.

For more information go to their website or email Justin Hawkins at justin@compassneuro.com.

About Morrow Family Medicine and Dr. Jim Morrow

Morrow Family Medicine is an award-winning, state-of-the-art family practice with offices in Cumming and Milton, Georgia. The practice combines healthcare information technology with old-fashioned care to provide the type of care that many are in search of today. Two physicians, three physician assistants and two nurse practitioners are supported by a knowledgeable and friendly staff to make your visit to Morrow Family Medicine one that will remind you of the way healthcare should be.  At Morrow Family Medicine, we like to say we are “bringing the care back to healthcare!”  Morrow Family Medicine has been named the “Best of Forsyth” in Family Medicine in all five years of the award, is a three-time consecutive winner of the “Best of North Atlanta” by readers of Appen Media, and the 2019 winner of “Best of Life” in North Fulton County.

Dr. Jim Morrow, Morrow Family Medicine, and Host of “To Your Health With Dr. Jim Morrow”

Dr. Jim Morrow is the founder and CEO of Morrow Family Medicine. He has been a trailblazer and evangelist in the area of healthcare information technology, was named Physician IT Leader of the Year by HIMSS, a HIMSS Davies Award Winner, the Cumming-Forsyth Chamber of Commerce Steve Bloom Award Winner as Entrepreneur of the Year and he received a Phoenix Award as Community Leader of the Year from the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.  He is married to Peggie Morrow and together they founded the Forsyth BYOT Benefit, a charity in Forsyth County to support students in need of technology and devices. They have two Goldendoodles, a gaggle of grandchildren and enjoy life on and around Lake Lanier.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MorrowFamMed/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/7788088/admin/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/toyourhealthMD

Show Transcript

Intro: [00:00:06] Broadcasting live from the North Fulton Business RadioX Studio, it’s time for To Your Health with Dr. Jim Morrow. To Your Health is brought to you by Morrow Family Medicine, an award winning primary care practice, which brings the care back to health care.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:00:23] Hello! This is Dr. Jim Morrow. I’m with Morrow Family Medicine. We have offices in Cumming and Milton, Georgia. We’re a primary care practice, where we utilize state-of-the-art technology and old-fashioned ideas to bring you the best care we possibly can. We believe that in Morrow Family Medicine, you’ll feel both cared for and appreciated. And we do realize that you have many choices as to where you receive your care, and we hope you’ll find that Morrow Family Medicine is a good place for you.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:00:51] I’m here in the studio at Renasant Bank on Windward Parkway in Alpharetta, Georgia with John Ray, my cohort. John’s running the board. How are you doing, John?

John Ray: [00:00:59] I’m great. I hope you’re well today.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:01:01] I’m good. It’s not too hot outside today. So, those are pretty good.

John Ray: [00:01:04] Perfect in Alpharetta and Milton

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:01:07] Always sunny in Alpharetta, right?

John Ray: [00:01:09] Yeah, you got it.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:01:11] So, we’re here today for another podcast. We want you to know that you can reach out to us by e-mail at drjim@toyourhealth.md or or you can tweet us, @toyourhealthmd.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:01:24] So, we’re here today to talk about cannabis oil and low-THC oil, what some people refer to as medical marijuana in the State of Georgia. And I’m honored to have two guests with me today from Acreage nchorage Compass LLC. We have Justin Hawkins, the General Manager, and Dr. Scott Cooper, who’s the Medical Affairs Director. Hello, gentlemen. How are you today?

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:01:48] Doing well, thank you.

Justin Hawkins: [00:01:49] I’m good. How are you? I, actually, have both of my doctors here. So, I don’t know if this is an intervention or an interview, but it’s good to be here.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:01:55] We’re going to get into that later, Justin. You can count on it. You can count on it. So, this whole thing has started up in Georgia fairly suddenly. If you haven’t been following the news and haven’t followed the path of low-THC oil in Georgia, there is a bill, House Bill 324 that was passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor at the beginning of April of this year. So, Justin, tell us something about House Bill 324.

Justin Hawkins: [00:02:23] Yes. So, House Bill 324 is a piece of legislation that has been tried over the last six years. And we were successful this year in 2019 under the leadership of Brian Kemp. And what House Bill 324 does is it allows the cultivation, and processing, and distribution of low-THC oil, which is 5% THC in cannabis oil, also referred to as medical marijuana.

Justin Hawkins: [00:02:46] The reason that we wanted to push House Bill 324 is because over the last six to seven years, medical cannabis oil was legal for possessions for qualified patients under the Georgia Department of Health, but there was no real legal access for these patients under these 17 indication list to actually acquire the medicine.

Justin Hawkins: [00:03:06] And so, although medical cannabis is actually illegal under federal law, we’ve seen across the entire country that in over 33 — over 43 states across the country that in-state cultivation is a way that provides medicine to patients, also, by abiding by state law. And so, that’s what House Bill 324 does specifically.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:03:25] Well, why was it able to be passed this year when it wasn’t able to be passed the other year?

Justin Hawkins: [00:03:30] So, we were fortunate for a couple of different reasons. Georgia Hope is an organization founded by parents. A lot of the times, they’re parents of these kids who suffer from pediatric epilepsy, mitochondrial disease, autism, and they have really led the fight over the last six years. Fortunately, under the leadership, the new leadership, of Governor Brian Kemp and Jeff Duncan, along with public opinion and the way that we’ve seen the research of these in-state cultivation programs being analyzed, all of that came together in a positive way that said, you know, in-state cultivation is a way for kids, and veterans, and all other patients to get medicine. It’s not going to change the culture of Georgia. And I think between that and between organizations like the one Dr. Cooper and I founded, all of us coming together and moving in one step, really, it was everything coming together at once and we were thankful for it.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:04:21] Super. And the law allows for specifics about who can grow this, and cultivate it, and produce it, and so forth. Can you talk some about who, and what, and how many companies, and so forth are going to be involved in it?

Justin Hawkins: [00:04:37] Yeah, we anticipate there’s going to be a lot of interest. Georgia is the eighth most populous state in the nation. It has a huge market, and there’s a lot of patients that are on the registry – 10,000 when we passed the bill, 300 we’re adding per month with no change to the legislation. So, we do believe that in the market of Georgia, it’s a large market. So, from an industry standpoint, there’s going to be a lot of companies and employers interested. What the bill allows specifically, it allows two class 1 organizations with a higher financial stipulation to prove to the state that they have. And it also allows four class 2, which are for smaller entities, small business across the state of Georgia. Those are six private licenses. Now, aside from that, they did allow two university programs to research, and develop, and cultivate. And that’s what the University of Georgia and Fort Valley State University down the south of Atlanta. And so, when you combine, a total of eight enterprises, public and private, that’s who will be the structure of Georgia medical cannabis.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:05:38] Interesting. So Georgia’s law, being one of the newer ones, can you tell me how this law is different from the laws in these other states that you mentioned?

Justin Hawkins: [00:05:47] Yeah. So, for instance, I’d like to take the obvious, which is Colorado. So, when you look at Colorado, which passed medical cannabis back in 2000-2001, the way we were different and the largest way that I can contrast between is horizontal versus vertical. And what I mean by that is when you look at Colorado, they allowed a horizontal structure, which means they allowed growers, processors, and distributors, all being separate silos, so to speak. What we did in Georgia is not only do we put a THC cap of no more than 5%, which is very low THC, but what we also did is we allowed vertical integration, which means that the companies vying for these class 1 and class 2 licenses is that they grow, they process, and they distribute their own product.

Justin Hawkins: [00:06:30] And why we feel like that’s very valuable for the State of Georgia is it allows high-quality control. It allows players and companies that know what they’re doing. They have a track record across the country. It allows us to not have price increases with middlemen. So, we’re allowed to go directly to the patient. Obviously, you guys are doctors. You guys know how the pharmaceutical industry works. So, it’s almost like if Johnson & Johnson or Amgen had their own pharmacies, that’s what our company is vying to do.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:06:58] Okay. And you called it low-THC oil. And a lot of listeners hearing THC, they’re going to think that this is something that’s going to act and function like marijuana. So, Dr. Cooper, what exactly is low-THC oil?

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:07:13] It restricts how much THC is in the compound. And let me read you something from the AMA since you bring that up.

Justin Hawkins: [00:07:22] While he’s doing that, I can give you kind of an overview. So, when it comes to low-THC oil, what we have is we have hemp-derived oil, and we have cannabis-derived oil. Hemp-derived oil is what’s often referred to as CBD. And so, you see CBD on the market because hemp CBD oil is now federally legal with the Farm Bill that was passed a couple months ago. With cannabis, you have cannabis oil. And so, when you have natural cannabis, it can be as high as 90%. And so what Dr. Cooper will talk about specifically is that when we form cannabis oil from the actual cannabis plant, then we’re restricting that THC down to 5% per milliliter. And so, that’s what allows us to have different indications. And he’ll speak more to that.

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:08:05] Sorry for that delay. I didn’t have it prepared for you. So, this is a quote from the FDA stating that it is THC and not CBD that’s the primary psychoactive compound of marijuana. And they approved a medication with low THC for specific seizure disorders, primarily in children. And they approved, and I quote, “They’re committed to this kind of careful scientific research and drug development, continuing to support rigorous scientific research on potential uses of medical marijuana-derived products.” So, we’re not talking about something that is psychoactive. This compounds specifically for specific and, in the case of Georgia, 17 discrete different disease states.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:08:51] And these are disease states that have had faulty, not effective medications and treatment methodologies previously pretty much.

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:09:00] Absolutely. They have done studies with veterans, as well as studies with geriatric patients and chronic pain syndrome. And they found that even in senior citizens, it reduced the opiate use by over one-third. So, we’re looking for a safe medication without the side effects and addictive properties of current therapies that we have for different disease states right now.

Justin Hawkins: [00:09:25] And we say this all the time, it’s not a miracle drug. Dr. Cooper, you’re great at saying this. It’s more of an adjunct. And so, we see a lot of combined with pharmaceutical drugs, it really does make a difference.

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:09:35] Yeah, this is not going to be replacing every medication that somebody is out there taking right now. This is to help them get over the hump to really control whatever disease state we’re talking about.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:09:45] So, in Georgia, the process for acquiring a card, which as I understand is what you have to have to get this, tell me a little bit about the process for going through that.

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:09:57] Well, the physician, (1), who’s prescribing it has to be registered with the state. So, that’s the first hurdle. Not every physician wants to participate in the program. Then, (2), they have specific paperwork that needs to be filled out and sent in to the Georgia Department of Health. The patient has to be registered, and the patient gets a registration card. And it’s presumed right now it’s not definitely set, but we suppose that this is going to be similar to other states where there will little bit discreet dispensaries specifically for CBD products, and the patient has to present that card to be able to achieve and get the medication.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:10:38] And there’s a limit, I’m sure, on how much any particular person can have in their possession at any one time.

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:10:44] Absolutely. Not just how much they can have at one time in their possession, but how much they can purchase over a 30-day period. And you would have to drink gallons of this stuff to try to get high. So, if you’re going to spend over $100 per bottle, you’re better off doing something illegally if you’re in search of something that’s psychoactive. If high is your goal, you’re not going to get it here.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:11:08] So, you take the THC oil, in the case of seizures, let’s say it helps to control the seizures. Do we know how that works in the brain?

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:11:17] No, we don’t. Yeah, I wish we did. There are a lot of different cannabidiol receptors. We know that what’s available now commercially for these two seizure types, the Epidiolex, does not work for pain disorders or tic disorders. There are two compounds right now in Europe and in Canada that are used for multiple sclerosis-associated pain, as well as cancer-associated pain. And it’s within that realm of cannabis, but it’s a different level of THC. So, there have to be different products specifically developed for different disease states. But yet, we’re at the stage where we know it works, but we don’t know how at this point.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:12:01] Well, the results that you see and the stories that you hear about the most heart-wrenching ones are children with disease processes and seizures is a great example are just absolutely mind blowing when you see what this medicine can do for them and what their traditional medicines have not done for them. So, I think it’s a very exciting time.

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:12:24] That’s absolutely right. I’ll be honest, I was a skeptic when this first came out and was not willing to endorse it, and had patients that were acquiring from other states illegally. And they came in, and their seizures were dramatically reduced. Not controlled, but reduced, such that I could reduce some of the medications that were both expensive, as well as having side effects. And then, saw other patients with autism. Their behavior improved. Parkinson’s disease, tremor improved. Alzheimer’s disease, behavior improved. And that’s when I started looking into it more, and then became an advocate.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:13:01] So, the law gets passed. The science says this will work for a variety of different instances. You mentioned 17 different diagnoses that it can be used for. So, along comes Justin and Scott Cooper. And how does this happen that you ended up being in this push to, now, produce and to distribute THC?

Justin Hawkins: [00:13:25] As we were talking earlier, when you look at anybody in this industry, they have a touchpoint. Either they have a family member, or they have a neighbor, or they have a patient that comes to them, and you see them suffering. So, for me, my brother served overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I saw him come back from overseas, and work with the VA. And instead of being on a medication, like a tool like low-THC oil, he was on opiates. And that led to a whole different battle of its own.

Justin Hawkins: [00:13:51] And so, I was very interested from that point. And so, in 2018, Dr. Scott Cooper, and myself, and six other partners around the State of Georgia formed Compass Neuroceutical, which was an advocacy group, all Georgia-based, with a single focus, which was to pass House Bill 324. In doing so, because we were successful with one other company in supporting Georgia Hope, which was the organization with parents, patients, and advocates that have been fighting for this for six years, we all came together. We were successful in passing it.

Justin Hawkins: [00:14:19] Simultaneously, we were talking to national leaders about partnering and having a specific partnership within the State of Georgia to to be a licensed holder and to lead the way in Georgia, so that we could be the standard bearer for the country. And in doing so, we talked to many of the national leaders, and we were fortunate to choose a company known as Acreage Holdings, which is the largest multi-state owner and operator in the United States. They have a great executive leadership team with the board of directors, folks like the former Speaker of the House, John Boeher, former Prime Minister of Canada, Brian Mulroney, governors and former CEOs of international companies.

Justin Hawkins: [00:14:57] And why that matters is you see in this industry, and I tell people all the time, they think I’m joking, but I’m really serious, this industry is either Warren Buffett all the way to-

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:15:06] Thomas Leary.

Justin Hawkins: [00:15:10] Thomas Leary. All the way to Willie Nelson and in between. And so, the industry is very wide. So, we do a lot of different things. We have good governance and integrity, and we keep stupid away. But on top of that, we have a proven track record of owning more licenses. 20 states, we have 88 licenses across the country. And because we’re the largest, we know how to get safe, reliable product in a quick and efficient manner to patients. And so, with that partnership, we have created what’s now called Acreage Compass LLC, which will be vying for a Class 1 license in the State of Georgia.

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:15:41] Yeah, if I could add that Georgia Hope was the main thrust behind this. As Justin said, we were able to work with them to finally get it over the finish line. And all of these companies are just drooling over starting business in Georgia. And we were approached by numerous corporations that are in the industry. And we selected the one that we thought had the same vision we do because there are others that are out there that are just interested as this is a bridge to recreational marijuana, and that they really saw medical marijuana as a stepping stone, but they weren’t very interested in the cultivation and in studying which drug combination was going to be best for which disease state. And Acreage has integrity, which is something you don’t see in every partner that was searching out their.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:16:31] So, with the passage of the bill, the State is creating this commission, the Cannabis Commission, basically, that will choose these companies. What’s that process like for being chosen? I know you’re doing an awful lot of work, both of you, with Acreage Compass right now in hopes of being selected, but nothing’s written in stone. So, tell me about the process, the timeline, and how you expect all that to happen.

Justin Hawkins: [00:16:56] Yeah. We’re kind of on hold now. I know, Governor Brian Kemp, Lieutenant Governor Jeff Duncan, Speaker David Ralston are doing a whole lot behind the scenes to make sure that a commission is set up in an appropriate way that really has the spear in the integrity of the bill. And so, as of now, the commission is set up – three appointed by the governor, two appointed by the lieutenant governor, and two appointed by the speaker. So, a total of seven appointees to the commission.

Justin Hawkins: [00:17:20] Within the three that the governor has, one of those will be the chair of the commission. In doing so, the commission creates one position under them immediately as the executive director of the commission, which handles the daily functions. This whole commission will be under the Secretary of State’s office as the regulator moving forward in the future.

Justin Hawkins: [00:17:39] So, we’re on hold right now. None of the commission members have been selected. We anticipate from our talks. Of course, this can change between August and September of the appointees being selected. From that process. when they’re selected, they really start from ground up, which means they create the rules and regulations, the application, the criteria. And then, from that point, then private companies are able to do the application, which is a very stringent process. Some are even over 3000 pages from that timeline. Then, three to six months after the applications are submitted, we anticipate the state will then choose which licence holders they feel are competent based on a variety of factors.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:18:20] So, you mentioned 10,000 people on the registry now, adding about 300 a month. So, I think, earlier, when we were talking, you said the expectation is a quarter million people on the registry.

Justin Hawkins: [00:18:33] I was talking, when Representative Micah Gravley spoke at our Rotary Club not too long ago, I went out to dinner with him the night before to talk about the different things we could do to work together and other stakeholders. And he had relayed, and we feel very strongly that by the end of next year, we’re almost going to see 50,000 patients in the registry. And it just shows — you saw a lot before House Bill 324 passed that many patients in the 17 indication list were not even registering because there was no real access to acquire this medication. With that, we had 645 doctors as soon as we passed House Bill 324 that were on the registry.

Justin Hawkins: [00:19:11] So, we anticipate both those numbers will dramatically increase. I would argue that about a quarter of a million patients will be registered in Georgia over the next four to five years. And I would even say that’s a conservative estimate. And that’s not to say that this program gets out of control. That’s to say that these, from mitochondrial disease, to autism, to pediatric epilepsy, to PTSD, these are disease states that are large, so to speak. And I know Dr. Cooper can speak to that, but we believe that Georgia is a large market, and it’s been underserved over the last 10 years.

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:19:47] Yeah, I would have to agree with that. I’d say that, at least, one or two times a day, I have patients that are telling me either they’re already on it, and how do they get a card, or how do they acquire it? People are asking about it. And there were some opponents to the bill who said, “Well, you only have so many people on the registry, so it’s not going to be used.” And I likened that to saying, “Well, the bill hadn’t been passed yet.” So, that’s like saying, “Okay, I see a sign saying Kroger is opening up. When are they opening? And you’re assuming only the people who asked about the sign are going to be future customers.” And the store opens, and, suddenly, you have 100,000 customers. Right. So, I think that once we have the distribution set up and the physicians signed up, that we’re going to see easily well over 100,000 patients within the first year.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:20:35] And the patients, those patients will be for these disease processes that are already approved. What does the future of cannabis oil and cannabis, in general, look like medically?

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:20:46] There are more and more studies that are going on all the time. A lot of them under federal funds. And then, you’ve got the two colleges, universities that will be pursuing some research. Right now, the Georgia Department of Health is the one that regulates which disease states are approved and how many. And they went from seven in one year to 17 the next year. I’m sure, as we gain more experience, we’re going to see future applications beyond what we have right now.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:21:15] Okay. So, we’re talking with Justin Hawkins and Dr. Scott Cooper from Acreage Compass, LLC. And Justin, I want to ask you before we go, is  there a way that people can do their own research? Is there a way they can learn something about your company and the business in general?

Justin Hawkins: [00:21:32] Yeah, absolutely. We have our own website, compassneuro.com. That will have information coming out in the next weeks. And then, also acreageholdings,com, which kind of gives you a layout of who Acreage is. We’re in over 20 states across the entire country. We have a public potential merger with a company called Canopy Growth, which is the largest cannabis company in the entire world. And so, the proprietary information that we have, the assets, and the intellectual property, and knowledge is second to none. And so, those two websites are great resources. Dr. Scott Cooper and I live in the Atlanta area. So, we’re always around to answer questions. We’d like to meet patients. We see all the time these children and parents who have been suffering, don’t know what to do. And so, if there’s any of that case, we’re here to to help any way we can.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:22:21] Super. John, you’ve been awfully quiet over there. And we have anybody that sent us any questions or comments during our time here?

John Ray: [00:22:32] You’ve got them all stirred up again.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:22:34] I like that.

John Ray: [00:22:36] Yeah,.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:22:36] If it’s not disease, this or vaccine.

John Ray: [00:22:37] Vaccines. I thought vaccines hit the high watermark, but I think you got it going again today. So, several questions about the — is this a slippery slope to recreational use?

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:22:52] That’s a great question. Scott, I’ll send that to you. What do you think? If people start using THC, it will going out behind the Wal-Mart and looking for marijuana to buy?

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:23:03] Well, not only is this my opinion, but actually a study was just published with over 1.4 million people that were surveyed throughout the entire United States. And in the 33 states, plus the District of Columbia, there was not a single area geographically that there seemed to be a breakthrough for low THC, and then they convert over to recreational. This has been disproven conclusively that this is not a gateway drug to tempt people to, then, go to recreational drugs such as marijuana or other types of substance abuse.

Justin Hawkins: [00:23:40] And if I could add one thing, we did one thing different than a lot of states. And Micah Gravley, who’s the author of House Bill 324, with Senator Matt Brass, really pushed this with Governor Brian Kemp. And it was a great way to contrast ourselves to other states who have gone to recreation. If you look at every state that started as a medical program that goes to recreation, they had one thing in their program that Georgia does not. And that’s the ability to have smokable flower. So, with states like Colorado, or California, or Oregon, or Washington, they had smokable flower in their medical program. Not only does Georgia not allow smoking smokable flower, but we don’t allow vaping as well. So, that’s a main difference that we saw, a common denominator.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:24:24] Super. That’s a great question, John.

John Ray: [00:24:27] I only ask great questions.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:24:31] We’ll talk about that off the air!

John Ray: [00:24:31] Yeah, okay. I’ve got one more if I can try again.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:24:35] Sure.

John Ray: [00:24:35] Let’s see if this is a great one too.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:24:37] Yeah.

John Ray: [00:24:37] So, the question relates to side effects. So, all medications have some sort of side effects. Are there any other side effects noted in the use of this THC oil?

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:24:51] If you read the print out for Tylenol, you’ll see a yard-full of potential side effects. You do not need to monitor any blood tests routinely with this low-THC oil. It can have a little bit of a calming side effect and, sometimes, a little bit of sedation, but that’s about it. So, it’s not the high THC that you see with recreational, so you’re not going to get the munchies.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:25:18] That’s good.

Dr. Scott Cooper: [00:25:21] As opposed to other drugs, either a lot of marijuana or methamphetamines that lower the seizure threshold, this actually treat seizures.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:25:31] Well, that’s wonderful. If you have a medicine that can treat the things we’re talking about that are difficult to treat, and it doesn’t affect your liver, your kidneys, it’s not mood altering or habit-forming, they don’t drug test for in a workplace, that kind of thing, then I think that’s great. And, of course, there’s a new drug test for it, but with the prescription card, is a negative drug screen.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:25:48] So, I think that’s a fantastic thing. And I’m very excited as a practicing physician about seeing where this will go. And I’m very excited as a businessman by seeing where you guys go. So, I really appreciate you all being here very much. I think, John, we’re going to wrap it up for today.

John Ray: [00:26:04] Sounds good.

Dr. Jim Morrow: [00:26:05] All right. This is To Your Health.