08/15/2019
It was a big week in the medical cannabis community. Governor JB Pritzker signed changes to the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program on August 12, 2019, making the once medical pilot program now permanent in Illinois. He also approved several new debilitating medical conditions, making cannabis an option for thousands of residents who did not previously qualify for their medical cannabis card. Following is a summary of the recent improvements and changes. 12 New Conditions Twelve […]
08/12/2019
Anyone familiar with cannabis has likely encountered, or used, one of many slang terms to refer to the plant. Weed, pot, reefer, trees, bud, flower, Mary Jane, the devil’s lettuce—governments have even compiled extensive lists to keep up with the colloquialisms. Hemp, however, is something different, not to be thrown into the above brief list, instead denoting a strict, legal definition, as recently iterated by the Hemp Farming Act of 2018: “(1) HEMP.—The term ‘hemp’ means the […]
08/08/2019
As the field of medicine continues to evolve in the modern era, increased emphasis is being placed on the use of mindfulness practice to help treat illness and disease. Simple yet incredibly powerful, mindfulness meditation encourages an individual to fully experience and attend to the present moment.1 Steeped in centuries of Buddhist tradition, mindfulness meditation found its way into the clinical literature of the 20th century, where its effects in the treatment of chronic pain and psychiatric illness were studied […]
08/07/2019
Chicago Parent recently published an article interviewing Dr. Rahul Khare on CBD and special needs asking the question: Should you or shouldn’t you look at cannabis and oils? We’ve included an excerpt from the interview: Dr. Rahul Khare is the founder of Innovative Wellness, a medical cannabis consulting practice and CBD retail store in Lincoln Park, and an emergency medicine physician at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. He works with parents whose children suffer from epilepsy, cerebral palsy, spasticity, traumatic […]
07/30/2019
With CBD rapidly gaining popularity and new, hemp-based CBD products exploding across retail shelves, learning how to choose the best CBD oil is more important than ever. The industry’s lack of federal oversight and regulation has fostered a “Wild West” sort of market for CBD, which leaves the consumer with no legal quality guarantees. A recent warning letter by the FDA, issued in April of 2019, warned consumers again of CBD products, stating, “many were found to not contain the […]
07/11/2019
Recently Innovative Wellness & Dr. Rahul Khare were featured in a news story from WGN. Dr. Rahul Khare, a former Northwestern Memorial Hospital emergency room physician, who recently opened Innovative Wellness, cautions users. “There are some horror stories where some CBD has THC in it. People get tested, and they fail their drug test, so you have to be very careful about where you purchase your CBD,” Khare said. Khare provides lab reports and so does McFeely for her products, […]
06/19/2019
by Dr. Rahul Khare, Founder of Innovative Care & Board Certified Emergency Room Physician Cannabidiol, commonly referred to as CBD, is a new and relatively understudied medical treatment for pain, including back pain. CBD seems to reduce back pain for some people and does not come with the high or psychogenic effects of marijuana. How Does CBD Treat Back Pain? Research indicates that CBD may reduce back pain by: Reducing inflammation[1] Combating anxiety, often associated with long-lasting or chronic […]
06/06/2019
A long awaited day for Illinoisan’s everywhere finally arrived last week as the House and Senate passed a bill legalizing adult use recreational cannabis in the state. While 29 states have cannabis laws in place, Illinois was the first to pass a bill legalizing marijuana through their legislature. Billionaire businessman and IL Governor, J.B. Pritzker, has said he plans to sign the bill. Progress is On the Horizon in IL Indeed, there is much to be excited about as this […]
05/29/2019
Chronic Pain is a Growing Problem Across the Globe Chronic pain continues to grow into a serious public health concern in industrialized countries.1 In the United States alone, Americans consume “80% of the world’s supply of prescription opioid analgesics (POAs), and opioid prescriptions have climbed by 300% since 1991.”2 Opioids are a class of drugs, which include morphine, hydrocodone, oxycodone, and heroin. They are effective in the short-term treatment of acute pain, but carry significant risks of dependence, abuse, and […]