The Natural Learning Academy

“There is so much confusion about what medical cannabis is and how to use it. That's why our mission is 'Education Before Medication.' The goal is to separate myth from fact and to bring professionals and patients up to speed quickly. Our materials are based on the latest research and data from the world’s leading scientists and clinicians..

I was introduced to medical cannabis while writing Brave New Weed (Harper Wave, 2016). The reporting led me into the laboratories and offices of the above mentioned scientists and clinicians. Learning about medical cannabis and the body’s endocannabinoid system caused me to rethink everything I had been taught about the plant in specific and plant medicines in general. It redirected the course of my working life.

Before diving into this new world, I founded one of New York City’s most highly regarded Presentation & Media Training companies. I was editor-in-chief of Details magazine and a contributing editor at Gourmet  in addition to writing for T: The New York Times Magazine, New York, Rolling Stone, Travel & Leisure, Departures, Leafly, and many others.

My understanding of the healing power of medical cannabis was borne from experience. I became a patient several years ago when I was hit with a chronic pain condition that no other medication, prescription or over the counter, could treat. Medical cannabis did the trick.

No one should suffer unnecessarily. This is why I decided to share what I have learned with as many people as possible.”

Medical Cannabis Mentor, Founder & CEO
Brave New Weed, author, Harper Wave
Joe Dolce Communications, President & Founder
Star Magazine, Editor-in-Chief
Details Magazine, Editor-in-Chief
Vogue, Senior Editor
Harper’s Bazaar, Senior Editor
New York University, MA Journalism
Northwestern University, BA Social Psychology/Communication Studies

When I was 15 I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, an auto-inflammatory disease of the spine that causes my back to ache from arthritic and shooting nerve pains.

I spent my teenage years cycling through conventional treatments—epidurals, narcotics, muscle relaxants, acupuncture, physical therapy–but the pain was unrelenting. By the time I got to med school in San Francisco I was having a hard time standing for long periods of time in the OR. One of the attending physicians noticed my discomfort and asked me about it. I told him I had AS but that I couldn’t take the heavier meds while I was doing rounds or in a four-hour hip replacement surgery because they made me drowsy and foggy.

He handed me a bottle of tincture. “This is marijuana,” he told me, “but it won’t make you high.” He didn’t call it CBD oil. He just said it’s a different type. It smelled like wet grass and dog.

I had never tried marijuana. I’m from the Bronx and marijuana conjured images of dropouts and gangsters. I was probably the only pre-med at Cornell who had not experimented with it.

“Put a few of the drops under your tongue before bed,” the doctor told me. “My HIV and AIDS patients say it helps them with all sorts of pains.”

I tried my first dose on a Friday night. It made me feel slightly altered, but it was not dissimilar to how I felt after my first glass of wine. By Monday I knew it was working.

Even though California had legalized medical marijuana in 1996, I didn’t dare tell anyone I was using it myself. I didn’t want to jeopardize my young career. But once my health was restored I decided to learn more. I knew how frustrating it was as patient to say the words “I’ve tried everything and it didn’t work,” but now I was hearing it from the other side of the desk. I wanted to offer my patients an alternative.

Eventually I blended medical cannabis into my integrative medicine practice. I never announced it; patients found me. Parents of kids with epilepsy, people in pain, migraine sufferers, cancer patients on chemotherapy. Word spread. “You can be honest with Dr. Chin,” patients would tell friends and colleagues. "She’ll help you use it in conjunction with your prescriptions. You won’t have to lie.” In ten years, I treated over 10,000 patients in the Bay Area and Los Angeles with medical cannabis.

In 2014 my husband, also an integrative physician, and I moved our family back to New York for personal reasons. This has allowed me to encourage doctors on the East Coast to explore medical cannabis as a treatment modality. The endocannabinoid system still isn't taught in medical school, but I believe everyone benefits when healthcare providers educate themselves. It's better to offer patients quality, science-based information as an alternative to what they might pick up on the street.

That’s why the idea of “Education Before Medication” is so important. A self-administered education program like our gives patients confidence to experiment on their own and providers the medical foundation to guide them.”

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Touro University, San Francisco, California
Nutrition, Biochemistry, Cornell University
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Women’s Research, Columbia University
Medical Acupuncture, Harvard University
Hollywood Heart, Board of Advisors to non-profit dedicated to serving at risk teens with HIV/AIDS
Osteopathic Cranial Academy, Executive Board Member
Director of Education, Association of Cannabis Specialists