An Ontario doctor and medical cannabis expert says caution should be taken when prescribing marijuana to cardiovascular patients.

Danial Schecter, co-founder of the Cannabinoid Medical Clinic, said a challenge for physicians is that cannabinoids are not included in the current health-care curriculum.

A consultant for various medical marijuana companies, Schecter was a presenter at the 21st annual Clinical Day in Cardiology, which took place Friday at Cape Breton University.

“It’s important for all health-care professionals to understand what cannabinoids are because we’re going to see them being more and more incorporated into clinical practice guidelines,” said Schecter.

In dried and oil forms, certain cannabinoids have therapeutic benefits related to chronic pain, nausea, agitated dementia, motor disorders and anxiety. They have also been shown to help stop convulsions in children.

The two major cannabinoids are tetrahydrocannabinolic acid or what’s known as THC and cannabidiol otherwise known as CBD. The latter of the two produces no psychoactive effect.

A challenge to prescribing medical marijuana, said Schecter, is helping patients find proper cannabis strains that will ease or assist them with their symptoms.

“You have to find your specific strain, or combination of strains, in order to use it most effectively,” said Schecter.

“People who are using cannabis for pain don’t get high. If I (ask someone) what are you using it for, nine times out of 10 they’re going to tell me that cannabis does two things for them.

“The first thing that it does is it reduces their pain by about 30 per cent … but the other thing that it does is they say I don’t mind my pain as much.”

Schecter said no matter how many cannabinoids flood the brainstem, evidence suggests it wouldn’t be enough to cause death.

“They say that it would it take about 1,500 pounds of cannabis consumed in a 15-minute period to cause sufficient respiratory depression leading to an overdose,” said Schecter.

“Now that’s not to say that cannabis is safe. It can have other side effects and adverse effects.”

For example, Schecter said there is evidence suggesting that dried cannabis is not appropriate for patients who have heart problems.

He said inhalation has been linked to a higher event rate for acute myocardial infarction and an increase in mortality after myocardial infarction in the hour immediately after use.

There is also limited evidence of a statistical association between cannabis smoking and the triggering of acute myocardial infarction.

Schecter’s presentation followed a senate decision this week to pass landmark legislation to lift Canada's 95-year-old prohibition on recreational cannabis by a vote of 56 to 30 with one abstention.

Bill C-45 now moves back to the House of Commons where MPs will decide how to proceed on four dozen amendments that were made.

Marijuana is now considered the most widely-used recreational drug across Canada.