“Rescheduling will not answer every question overnight, but it will make it easier. It may also help pave the way for more rational healthcare policies.”
By Joanna Zeiger, Canna Research Foundation
As an Olympian and Ironman 70.3 World Champion, cannabis was something we were warned about. It was a banned substance, a potential career-ending mistake and certainly not medicine. I avoided it wholesale and conversations around it were taboo. That was in the early 2000s—yet much of today’s debate around rescheduling mirrors the same misconceptions that were dominant then.
I have spent much of my professional life studying it to fight that false narrative.
For eight years, I worked at the Institute for Behavioral Genetics (IBG) at the University of Colorado Boulder conducting marijuana research in adolescents and young adults, focusing on risk, misuse and negative outcomes.
Then a cycling accident changed everything. In 2009, I suffered a devastating crash that left me with chronic pain, nausea, loss of appetite and severe sleep disruption from a clavicle and multiple rib fractures. Years were spent pursuing conventional treatments. Some provided temporary relief. None restored my quality of life.
Medical cannabis was suggested. I resisted in part because of the athletic stigma but also fear, not to mention the irony of being a cannabis researcher who was reluctant to use it. Eventually, desperation outweighed embarrassment.
When Colorado’s adult-use dispensaries opened in 2014, I walked into one and explained my symptoms. I left with cannabis-infused gummies and transdermal patches. Nobody explained dosing. Nobody told me to cut the patch into smaller pieces so I put on an entire patch. The result was memorable. I got far higher than intended but for the first time in a long time, I slept.
That experience taught me an important lesson that still applies today: cannabis is not as simple as taking a pill. Patients need education and guidance. They need evidence-based recommendations. Most importantly, they need healthcare providers who are comfortable having these conversations.
More than a decade later, I am still learning. Cannabis has helped restore my appetite. I sleep consistently. My chronic illnesses are more manageable. Has it eliminated my pain? No. But it has reduced my suffering.
As both a patient and an epidemiologist, that distinction matters.
Today, through the Canna Research Foundation that I founded, I study cannabis use and focus on understanding how people use cannabis, their experience and how healthcare providers communicate with patients about this medicine. When we conducted one of the first large studies of cannabis use among athletes, we found something that challenged common assumptions.
Athletes were using cannabis but not to gain a competitive advantage. They were using it to manage pain, improve sleep, stimulate appetite, reduce anxiety and recover from the physical and emotional demands of training and competition. The question became whether we were willing to conduct the research necessary to help them make informed decisions. The same is true for patients.
We recently completed a study among patients with rheumatologic conditions. Many reported that cannabis reduced their suffering. That’s a powerful concept that traditional clinical endpoints often miss. We measure pain scores, disease activity and medication use—but patients care about something broader: Can they sleep and eat? Can they spend time with their families? Can they participate in life despite chronic illness?
For many patients, cannabis appears to help answer those questions. That does not mean cannabis is a cure-all nor is it risk free. Some people experience anxiety, dizziness or problematic use. Some individuals should not use cannabis at all. Responsible use matters. Education matters. Regulation matters. But choice matters too.
Patients deserve access to evidence-based information and the freedom to work with their healthcare providers to determine whether cannabis is appropriate for their situation. Unfortunately, much of the public conversation has been driven by misconceptions. Rescheduling cannabis is not legalization. It is not an endorsement of recreational cannabis use. You still can’t go to your local pharmacy and purchase it.
What rescheduling and a new pilot program to allow cannabis access to Medicare patients acknowledges is a reality that millions of patients and healthcare providers already understand: cannabis has medical uses and deserves to be studied accordingly.
For researchers, the current federal framework creates enormous barriers. Conducting cannabis research requires navigating layers of regulatory complexity that do not exist for many other substances. These barriers slow scientific progress and limit our ability to answer basic questions about dosing, effectiveness, safety, drug interactions and long-term outcomes.
Both advocates and skeptics should want more research. Patients deserve better answers than trial and error. Physicians deserve evidence they can trust. Policymakers deserve data instead of assumptions.
Rescheduling will not answer every question overnight, but it will make it easier. It may also help pave the way for more rational healthcare policies. Today, patients frequently pay out of pocket for cannabis products while insurance programs, including Medicaid, often cover medications with greater side-effect burdens. Better research creates the foundation for better policy, better clinical guidance, and ultimately better patient care.
The novel program recently created under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) establishes an opening for that research and encourages education and engagement with the medical and research community. That will be key to better serving patients and developing the real world evidence necessary to bring this field of medicine forward.
When I first entered this field, I saw cannabis primarily as a subject of concern. Today, I see something more nuanced.
I see a substance that carries both risks and benefits. I see patients who deserve better information and physicians who need more education. And I see a scientific field that has been constrained for decades by stigma and regulatory barriers.
Most of all, I see people whose lives may improve when they are given access to accurate information and the freedom to make informed decisions. That’s not a political position. It’s a public health one.
Dr. Joanna Zeiger, a U.S. Olympian and former Ironman 70.3 World Champion, is the founder and CEO of the Canna Research Foundation and serves on the board of directors of the National Compassionate Care Council.
