The latest version of Apple’s iPhone software (iOS 16) allows iPhone users to begin tracking their medications and further learn about possible drug interactions with other substances — including cannabis.
The cannabis legalization movement has begun to evolve along with technology giants. Tech giants have been gradually revising their policies to align with the current normalization of marijuana.
The latest example of tech giants joining the movement is Apple’s iOS 16 update to the Health app.
Apple’s iOS 16 release notes state, “The Health app adds ‘Medications,’ allowing our users to build and manage a medications list conveniently, to help create schedules and reminders, and to help users track their medications, vitamins, or supplements. In the United States, users can point their iPhone camera at a label to add a medicine. This also allows the users to read about their medications and receive alerts when any potential critical drug interactions may occur.
iPhone users will also be able to send their loved ones an invitation to share their Health data and create a PDF report of their available health records from their connected health institutions. All of these features are available within the Health app”.
iPhone users can now tell the Health app if they are using alcohol, cannabis, or tobacco and search for “potential interactions between medications on their list.”
A footnote on Apple’s press release about the Health app update last week states that the medication and interaction information “is evidence-based content licensed under a leading publisher of health and science information specialist, Elsevier.”
Apple cautioned users that the medications feature should not be used as a replacement for professional medical judgment and any additional information on the medication labels. Users should always consult their healthcare provider before making any decisions relating to their health.
Marijuana users should remember that cannabis remains federally illegal. However, many studies have been published annually suggesting that cannabis could negatively interact with pharmaceuticals like Warfarin.
Drugs.com stated that there are nearly 400 “known” interactions between marijuana and prescription medication, 26 of which are categorized as “major” interactions.
Many states within the US have legalized medical marijuana for medical and recreational purposes. In addition to the legalization, States have begun to label the requirements for cannabis products to caution users about possible health risks.
Most of these health warnings focus on impaired driving and the common side effects of THC and CBD. For example, strains with a high THC content can cause tiredness and drowsiness.
Florida’s medical cannabis law requires labels to list all possible contraindications. However, it is not yet clear what source Floridian health officials used to compile the list for warning labels.
Moving forward, the Apple update that lists cannabis alongside federally legal substances such as alcohol and tobacco serves as a perfect example of the mainstreaming of cannabis within Big Tech companies.
In 2021, Apple brought an end to its policy of restricting cannabis companies from being able to conduct business within its App store. When this was announced, Eaze, a marijuana delivery service, announced that its customers would be able to shop and pay for their products on its iPhone applications for the first time.
Global eCommerce giant Amazon recently announced that it would no longer require its employees to be drug tested for cannabis. The eradication of cannabis testing within Amazon’s workplace is another example of a major tech firm embracing cannabis’s political and social ascendance.
However, some major players within the Tech industry still have a strained relationship with the cannabis industry.
At the beginning of 2022, New York’s marijuana regulators requested social media giant TikTok to end its ban on advertising that involved the word “cannabis” as the regulators worked to promote public education on New York’s move to legalize cannabis.
State-legal cannabis businesses, government entities, and cannabis advocacy groups like the California Bureau of Cannabis Control have complained about being “shadow-banned” by another social media giant, Facebook (now known as Meta). “Shadow Banning” is used when a profile on a social media platform does not appear on a conventional search.
In 2018, there were reports that Facebook would begin to loosen its restrictions relating to cannabis policies. Still, it is currently unclear what steps Facebook has taken to follow its word.
Shadow Banning remains a problem on Meta’s other platform, Instagram, where users have consistently stated that their accounts have been deleted by the platform’s moderators over cannabis-related content even if they weren’t advertising the sale or promoting the use of marijuana.
Another social media giant, Twitter, started partnering with a federal drug agency in 2020. The partnership promoted substance misuse treatment resources when Twitter users search for any marijuana and cannabis-related content or keywords. However, no such health warnings appear with search results related to alcohol and alcohol use.
In 2019, Google’s Android application hub updated its policies explicitly prohibiting programs and applications which connect users with cannabis and marijuana, regardless of the herbs’ legality in jurisdictions where the users live.
Despite marijuana and cannabis firms being banned from Google’s application market, some of Google’s top officials seem bullish about loosening cannabis laws. In 2016, Sergy Brin, Google’s co-founder, joked about supplying employees with joints at a post-election meeting.
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