Terry Maguire recalls how a ‘snake oil’ salesman insisted on the benefits of cannabis oil
The sales pitch
He needed passport photos for his son and, as I limped off to get the camera, he inquired what had happened. Gout, I told him, had struck my big toe, right foot, and this was the second day of intolerable, persistent pain off – all caused by a change in blood pressure medication. He had the cure, he beamed, and seamlessly moved into a sales pitch for cannabis oil. He must have noticed my surprise at his impertinence. Here he was in my pharmacy – a place the community comes for advice and treatment – and he was trying to sell me a medicine which, he claimed with unshakable confidence, was superior to anything in my meager toolkit.
I could have summarily dismissed him with my usual indifferent politeness, a trait inherited from my mother, but decided that, since he was so presumptuously rude, I would have some sport — a trait inherited from my father. So, I let him run. He had for over a year now, he told me, studied the medical miracle that is cannabis oil, and he had been so impressed by what he has learned that he decided to become a product ambassador.
It’s not the CBD oil we are familiar with, he confided, rather this is ‘RSO oil’, a more potent and more effective version; a cold extraction from the flowers of the indicus variety of the plant. Mainly used in the treatment of cancer, for which its efficacy is proven beyond doubt, he continued, it is also highly effective for many other conditions including, lucky for me, gout.
The process
After our encounter I googled ‘RSO oil’ and was amazed at the availability of helpful and instructive videos supporting the manufacture and use of this ‘powerful variety’ of cannabis. Rick Simpson, a Canadian who seems to have been the first to describe the process, does not supply RSO oil — rather, he encourages us all to make our own, part of a ‘democratic medicine’ that will eventually, no doubt, take over from orthodox medicine.
One very helpful video takes us through the process in the way Neven Maguire produces a mouth-watering Sunday lunch. First, the utensils needed: Mason jars, a blender, a crock-pot (slow-cooker for making rice, etc?), and a high-powered fan. Ingredients include a bag of cannabis florets sufficiently impressive to feature on the News at Six, and a three-litre bottle of 100 per cent, 200 proof grain alcohol (pure ethanol).
He had the cure, he beamed, and seamlessly moved into a sales pitch for cannabis oil
Then the process was detailed: Grind florets, add in ethanol from the freezer, mix, and let stand for some hours. Strain though muslin cloth into a clean Mason jar and put back into the freezer with the lid on. Then take the lid off and place the Mason jar in the crock-pot with sufficient water to cover the cannabis liquid. Choose the setting for ‘rice’, place by an open window, and position a strong fan to blow fumes out the window. We are told how flammable and toxic ethanol is. After a few hours, all ethanol is heated off, and voila! We have RSO oil, a thick black-tar. This we titrate by experimentation of dose to suit our own body and our condition.
The proof
Back to my pharmacy encounter. My salesman produced his iPhone and thumbed-up a photo of a patient he claimed he was treating. The photograph of an opened mouth with tongue raised showed a white ulcer-like lesion he claimed to be cancer. In the second photo, taken six weeks later, this lesion was much reduced, proving his point. He also advocated for patients visiting cancer specialists and is currently receiving referrals from local GPs.
I politely asked about the published clinical trials that underpinned RSO oil’s efficacy in treating cancer and other diseases. There was a number of studies, he told me, and he would bring them later. I had, I confessed, at the request of a patient seeking my help, looked into this, so he needn’t bother. I knew that, to date, no studies had confirmed any efficacy for CBD oil, including RSO oil, in cancer. Indeed, many respectable commentators are raising concerns that patients persuaded to use CBD oil might then stop other treatment.
He chided government, who he suggested had a ban on cannabis oil studies. But that did not diminish his assertion of RSO oil’s efficacy.
I was keen to know about GPs apparently referring patients to him. This seemed a great endorsement but when I drilled down to what he actually meant by ‘referral’, it turned out that two GPs had patients who insisted they be prescribed CBD oil on the NHS and the GP refused. When the patients persisted, the GPs suggested if they wanted CBD oil that they go online, in which case they got the local dealer. To suggest that this was in any way a ‘GP referral’ is certainly stretching things.
As to his advocacy for patients with their cancer consultants, he was invited by a friend to attend a meeting. In that meeting he got into a messy argument with the consultant about the merits of immunotherapy versus chemotherapy or radiotherapy. When I pointed out that this was nothing to do with RSO oil, he agreed but felt the consultant did not seem to understand the merits and dangers of the various cancer treatment options. When I challenged him on this, he reminded me he had studied cancer treatment for over a year now.
The outcome
As I printed off his son’s passport photographs, I told him that what he was doing was dangerous and was undermining potentially life-saving treatment. He was defiant and told me that this was a typical response from an apologist for the corrupt medical establishment. Would I not just try RSO oil for three days and see what happened? What was I scared of?
As I took his money for the photos, I told him the reason I would not accept or try his cannabis oil was that, firstly, it likely contained illegal amounts of THC and, secondly, by accepting and using it, he would then claim that the local pharmacist was now coming to him for help, and it was he who had cured the pharmacist’s gout. I was not going to add marketing fuel to his enterprise.
Three days later, my gout was thankfully resolved — and my temperament less aggressively combative — all thanks to using only ibuprofen and stopping the thiazides. I think it will be some time before I become an advocate of ‘democratic medicine’.
Terry Maguire owns two pharmacies in Belfast. He is an honorary senior lecturer at the School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast. His research interests include the contribution of community pharmacy to improving public health.
