Welcome to this weeks’ edition of i2P (Information to Pharmacists ) E-Magazine, dated Monday 26 October 2015.
In this edition we open up the potential of pharmacists developing and managing the economic benefits that could accrue with an association with marijuana.
For the past 70 years this substance has had scientific research suppressed into its potential benefits, and has been treated much like heroin and banned for human use.
As Aristotle once said:“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it”.
i2P is contributing material to promote its acceptance through “educated minds” by first “entertaining a thought” so there is debate and understanding first, and the article Medical Marijuana Creates Clinical and Financial Opportunity for Pharmacists delivers on that proposition.
At the foot of this article is a range of links relating to other articles that i2P has already published, and it is worth reviewing these articles for a greater understanding of how this substance relates to a community pharmacy setting and its patients.
On the 14 November 2015 a book launch is taking place at Newcastle.
Actually, it is a conference day organised by the author, with the book “A Prescription for Pharmacy” providing the impetus for celebrating a full educational event.
The book has been written by Mouhamad Zoghbi and is a significant publication in that it is one of the very few books ever written about pharmacy that attempts to explain the essence of pharmacy to its practitioners.
i2P believes that this book launch is important and deserves the support of all pharmacists.
Read: Book Launch – “A Prescription for Pharmacy” and decide for yourself, then make the effort to attend.
All conference details and contact details are in this article and a second to be published next week confirming the agenda for speakers presenting over the day.
Mark Neuenschwander is back with an article titled I’ve been thinking about ….. ants, Amazon, IVs, and weed.
Mark is the international guru for the use of bar codes in patient settings, particularly hospitals and pharmacies.
Even Mark has embraced the idea of medical marijuana and promotes the idea that suitable controls establishing management and provenance for each marijuana plant could be maintained through the use of bar codes.
And it does have merit.
How to Make a Good First Impression is the title of Harvey Mackay’s article for this week.
First impressions dictate the success or otherwise of a customer/patient transaction and being conscious about this quality can help you to improve the culture of your own pharmacy.
This is one of those conscious upgrades that is a “must” review at regular intervals.
Judy Wilyman and Elizabeth Hart both make separate contributions to our Safe Vaccination page.
Read: Coercive Vaccination and Senate Submission and if ever a debate needed a viewpoint from the perspective of Aristotle (noted above), this is the one.
And for the record once more, i2P is neither anti-vax or pro-vax – but we are definitely for safe-vax which the extremists on both sides of the debate deliberately ignore.
And following further the “safe-vax” concept we publish some interesting information provided by the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. Orthomolecular medicine is simply medicine issues surrounding clinical nutrition – an accepted evidence-based science discipline within medicine, but a subject that gets little attention in medical and pharmacy schools.
i2P concern has often centred on the fact that pharmacies that operate vaccination clinics need to give informed consent.
If that was rigorously applied, then informed consent could lead to low vaccination rates by parents, and with the current coercive vaccination legislation that is proposed, parents could lose government financial benefits through exercising their rights to protect and nurture their children.
So the issue comes down to safety, and the article Don’t Vaccinate without Vitamin C may assist pharmacists with the separate issue of informed consent.
And we finish our offering for this week from various pharmacy leadership organisatioms:
PSA – PSA Media Releases – Tasmanian Pharmacist Honoured
NPS – NPS Media Releases – Resource for Drug Misuse
We hope you enjoy reading this weeks’ publication.
Neil Johnston
Editor, i2P E-Magazine
Monday 26 October 2015