The Canadian Medical landscape is changing with professionals, athletes and companies coming to forefront to break the stigma and normalize the Cannabis conversation. Two individuals leading the charge, changing the game as well as helping athletes and patients gain access to Medical Cannabis in Canada, are Rahim Dhalla and Angelo Muscari of Hybrid Pharm.
The science around Cannabis is evolving slowly and Canada has had an opportunity to be a leader. In 2019 Ontario became the first province to require Pharmacists to complete a cannabis education course. Today, organizations, Medical Professionals and Athletes across Canada are creating unique platforms to help move research and clinical trials forward.
With an opportunity to change the way patients and athletes approach medical cannabis, Rahim Dhalla and Angelo Muscari founded Hybrid Pharm. They’re on a mission, helping individuals across Ontario navigate cannabis as a medical option as well as provide timely insight and education around the plant. Specializing in modern wellness, Hybrid Pharm is a Medical License Holder serving athletes and patients across Ontario focused on continuous care monitoring. Rahim Dhalla and Angelo Muscari have pushed unique educational initiatives to the forefront in an effort to educate athletes, patients on the endocannabinoid system and medical cannabis as an option.
Sports Cannabis :
We are joined by Rahim Dhalla and Angelo Muscari of Hybrid Pharm. We are seeing a shift in today’s landscape, athletes from all walks of life are coming to the forefront to share their experiences with Cannabis. For every individual, the story is unique, talk to us about your educational background and what ultimately led you to pivot into the cannabis industry?
Rahim Dhalla :
“I’m a pharmacist by trade, I graduated back in 2009 from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in Boston and have an MBA from Rhode Island. I’ve been knowledgeable about cannabis for a very long time and knew how medicinally effective it can be. I actually went through the process with my dad, he had colon cancer back in 2016. I started doing a lot more fundamental research when he was going through his chemotherapy and tried to help him with his symptoms of pain, appetite suppression, nausea and vomiting. Eventually I was able to convince my mom, who’s also a doctor, to see that it really helped to use CBD and THC oils to manage his symptoms. It did help my dad to some degree, however my only regret is that I wish it started sooner. I wish it did help treat his cancer to the point where he’s still here. Nevertheless, this is where the birth of Hybrid Pharm came from. I saw a need to explore the medical aspects, provide proper consultation and medical oversight when dealing with a new drug that’s on the market. I know cannabis is not new in any way, shape, or form, but to most patients, to most of our demographic at Hybrid Pharm, it is. They are interested in learning more about how they can treat their chronic conditions and looking for something that has fewer side effects. They want advice from somebody that they’re comfortable and familiar with.”
Angelo Muscari :
“For me, my past employment was in the field of medicine acting as a nurses aide and physician’s assistant for multiple clinics in Ottawa. I combined this with my lifelong passion and knowledge of cannabis.”
Sports Cannabis :
In recent Sports Cannabis News we are seeing policy changing throughout different sporting leagues, the NBA stopped testing for Cannabis use for the 20’21 season, the NFL loosened provisions for offseason consumption and recently Nevada ruled in favour of cannabis athletes. You’ve been a part of the industry since 2018, are you surprised by what we’re seeing?
Angelo :
“I’m not surprised by this but actually find myself asking “why did it take so long!” This is a positive step forward for all athletes looking to incorporate more natural options into their regimes.”
Rahim :
“No, it’s about time. I think the policies are really outdated. There are so many other medications that these athletes are taking. It’s about time because this is such an effective medication for them, which can also lead to better outcomes, especially in contact sports where they have a lot of post-concussion syndrome. I’m glad it’s here and I’m glad they’re starting to take a step in the right direction.”
Sports Cannabis :
When we connect with athletes, we learn about their journeys with pain, inflammation, anxiety, ptsd, and more. There are so many areas to take a deep dive into, and really get a better understanding of, which segments of Cannabis are you most interested in?
Rahim :
“I’m obviously interested in the medical side, as well as learning more about mental health implications and chronic pain. Even now, in my demographic, we’re seeing a lot of anxiety and insomnia. Given the nature of these drugs, the safety and the tolerability of it, I think it’s an important road to keep going down. I want to see people innovating. Canada has had this amazing opportunity to legalize cannabis, yet, we’re still doing the same old thing as making pre rolls and flowers. I believe we should start exploring different cannabinoids. When we think of things like medical applications we should be asking, Where are all the suppositories on the market? Where are the topicals, the transdermal pain patches? Where are the alternative forms for inhalation? Even go as far as a Ventolin inhaler? Where are the aerosol inhalers? These can be harm reduction tools that could potentially provide the same level of effect as smoking a joint.“
Angelo :
“My interests lie in the complete acceptance of cannabis as a medicine and to continue being a voice for incarcerated people due to cannabis offences. As a father of 4 I want my legacy to be for my children to see a new level of acceptance across all levels worldwide.”
Sports Cannabis :
One issue we’ve found for athletes of any level is that it can be challenging to navigate the cannabis waters, connect with an established outlet for reliable information and education. You’ve created a unique platform with an opportunity to help any individual through their medical cannabis journey. At a high level, talk to us about what you’ve created with Hybrid Pharm?
Angelo :
“We’ve changed the current model and flipped it. What we offer a Hybrid Pharm is not only full access to medical cannabis, but full guidance with medical cannabis. The biggest thing that I hear on a daily basis speaking to recreational worlds, ie; managers and bud tenders, is that their hands are tied. They can’t answer the questions that many people walking into a recreational place have, and really at the end of the day, nor should they. We have a joke around here, is that you don’t ask your mechanic how to bake the cake. For someone to ask a bud tender about their medical health, it shows one thing to me; they need a place where they can find answers and accessibility with the proper medical background behind it. That’s something that we do here at Hybrid Pharm. Not only do we give you access to your product, we have your product here in the pharmacy. This is quite unique in North America, the fact that we have medical cannabis behind the shelf. Beyond that, we can tell you how to use it as a medicine. Someone like Rahim, or one of our doctors or nurses can say you know, take X amount, this many times per day. On top of that, we can look at your current medication list and say oh, but let’s be leery or aware that you know, these two medications might have an effect because of the CBD regiment that you’re about to start. It’s really exciting to know that people can come in, sit down, relax, be open and honest about what they’re looking for when it comes to cannabinoid therapy.”
Rahim :
“When you can help someone use and target specific medications for their condition or use a topical versus an oral, it’s the next step to helping them reduce their current medications. We’ve seen that working alongside their family health teams and doctors to reduce their benzodiazepine use, reduce their opioids use, reduce these pharmaceutical medications that may not be appropriate, or working. We continuously have that consultation service with patients, we help patients manage their medications, manage their side effects, and really consult about cannabis as a medicine. We want to treat it the exact same. It’s no different, even our call to strategy in terms of pharmacy boards, we’ve been told, “You need to treat it the same way you treat any other medication, provide sound consultation and sound advice to your patients.” So that’s really what we’re trying to do here.“
Sports Cannabis :
With an ability to provide sound consultations and advice as well as Education and really prepare anyone for that next step of their journey. How can cannabis athletes start their Hybrid Journey today & connect with your team?
Angelo :
“We made it quite simple, we’d like to think it’s just a matter of logging onto our website Hybridpharm.com, we can currently see anyone in the province of Ontario via telemedicine. They can log on in the comfort of their home, talk to one of our professionals, get access to their prescription, and then from there, they can even order online. We can ship products out and we can have a full consultation with you anytime to tell you how to use this product as a medicine. One saying we use here is, what is the difference between recreational and medical cannabis? We truly believe the word for that is intention. What is your intention with this as a medicine? That’s where we’ve stepped in to help complete that puzzle piece.”
Sports Cannabis :
Although sports cannabis has continued to make waves across the globe. We recently witnessed an unfortunate event with Sha’Carri Richardson getting banned from the upcoming olympics. There are many hurdles athletes are facing with their cannabis journeys. If we look at the Medical/Pharmaceutical industry, what is the biggest obstacle preventing research from being accomplished?
Rahim:
“Some of my colleagues that I’ve spoken with that do clinical trials say they’re dealing with a lot of red tape behind research and acquiring a research license. I think the biggest hurdle here is the golden standard of randomized control trials. Why is that? Why are randomized control trials the gold standard? Why does every doctor, every prescriber and clinician need that randomized controlled trial to feel comfortable, safe or happy when prescribing it to the patient? I think that’s where the biggest hurdle is, redefining what we call a medicine, redefining how we define efficacy and safety. We need to take a step back and say we don’t need individualized products, we don’t need isolated products. The pharmaceutical industry has done that for many years and we’ve seen the pros and cons of taking a single molecule compound. It is time for multi-compound formulations to treat multiple chronic conditions. Essentially we have “entourage” conditions which require an “entourage” medication.
Most of us in the industry would love to see an all encompassing DIN, the drug identification number, however, I don’t think we’ll ever get it. There’s so many compounds found within this plant that you may not be able to individualize it. You may not be able to have direct data that correlates to which product is doing what for each patient and/or what is the direct outcome. We have to change that mentality. Most athletes don’t have just one problem. They have pain, anxiety, sleep disorder as well as a plethora of other conditions. This is why cannabis can be effective for so many people, because it treats a lot of different conditions.”
Sports Cannabis :
How do we ultimately change the narrative?
Rahim :
“I think it’s a change in legislation, a change of how research grants are given out as well as funding for research. Canada had an amazing opportunity to be a global exporter of cannabis, yet we’re still focused on the recreational markets. We should be analyzing cannabis, gathering data and scientific research in order to push us forward and actually make this a part of our pharmacopoeia and our treatment algorithms. The only way that cannabis is widely adopted is if we drop opioids from a third line prescribing to like a fourth line and put cannabinoids above that.”
Sports Cannabis :
Cannabis has been plagued with societal issues, which has led to the misconception of the use and practice of cannabis. For years there have been historical injustices, failed drug policies, and there is still a societal stigma that exists globally. With many industries still hesitant to adopt the plant – are you finding there’s a similar stigma within the pharmaceutical & medical world?
Rahim :
“Absolutely. Today we have people come in, knowing that we’re a pharmacy or they’re coming in for their COVID shot and there’s still that hesitation about talking about it. I think the only way to destigmatize the conversation and normalize this into everyday life is essentially what we’re doing. We’re making it normal, we’re making it part of everyday shelf life. We need to normalize it to the point of not making individual silos like we’ve done in Canada. The recreational stores are all barred up, closed off and you can’t see into them. Even with the licensed producers, on the medical side everything is spaced out to the point that they don’t want to have this interaction. In order to make this globally effective, we need to put it into where other medicines are sold, we need to have similar oversight to that.”
Sports Cannabis :
We talked about some of the areas you’re most interested in exploring earlier in this conversation – do you believe cannabis is seen as an opportunity for scientists/doctors/pharmacists to explore new areas and provide alternative treatment options?
Rahim :
“I think the various areas of opportunity are the ones that we have the most difficulty treating. With seizure disorder we know there’s a lot of data and studies around it. However, with ASD, autism spectrum disorder, there are poor treatment algorithms and what we’re seeing with our patients as well as their parents/caregivers is pretty dramatic. This is where the stigma comes back into play. We are also finding women’s health issues are very poorly treated with conventional medications. We are starting to see Gynecologists around the country become more open to different treatments, prescriptions and algorithms with using cannabis. It’s going to be very important to navigate these different opportunities around cannabis, medicine and different disease states. If you talk to treatment addiction specialists, they say benzodiazepine is one of the hardest things to come off of. It’s similar to alcohol, in which if you just stop, you can actually have seizures, go into withdrawal and endure severe side effects. We find cannabis and CBD specifically helping a lot of patients dose reduce benzodiazepines. This is where I go back to thinking; why are we stuck on giving these drugs that are causing a lot of side effects and potential death, when we know cannabis may be able to do the same thing without severe side effects. I think we’re still in the early stages of this and that’s where we see massive opportunity.”
Sports Cannabis :
With the landscape evolving at a rapid pace, and new technologies emerging. Where would you like to see cannabis and medicine in the next 2-3 years?
Angelo :
“I would like to have medical cannabis behind all pharmacy shelves along with a proper D.I.N. ( Drug Identification Number ) to accompany it.“
Rahim :
“I want to see it more widely adapted. I think the cannabis clinic specifically should be integrated now into normal family practice. Eventually I want to see more practitioners prescribe CBD before they start jumping into Lorazepam or add in Valium for treating a patient’s panic disorder. I think it needs to be widely incorporated and unfortunately it’s going to be a while before that happens. I think more studies and research needs to happen before that.”
Sports Cannabis :
Today, athletes and individuals from all professional backgrounds are moving into the cannabis industry – for someone that is looking to follow in your footsteps, what advice would you share with them?
Angelo :
“For anyone that asks, I always tell them to incorporate cannabis into what YOU do best. Have a green thumb, try your hand at growing. Enjoy being in the kitchens, experiment with some recipes! Cannabis can be incorporated into almost any aspect of everyday life.”
Rahim :
“Follow your passion, cannabis has helped so many people. Keep learning off of your patients, keep learning from your experiences, and keep sharing that with everybody. The more we share, the more we talk to each other about how you’re treating somebody and how someone is getting positive outcomes with it, the more we all learn together. From there we can really direct therapy and I think that’s super important for us to grow as a community.”
Sports Cannabis 