The Doctor-Approved Cannabis Handbook
Cannabis medicine, explained by the physician who practices it.
Dr. Benjamin Caplan is a board-certified family physician whose clinic has cared for more than 25,000 patients using cannabis as medicine. His book brings that experience home: how cannabis works, how to choose and dose it, and how it is used for sleep, pain, mood and more.
- 25,000+patients in longitudinal care at CED Clinic
- 20+ yearsof evidence-based clinical practice
- NEJMresearch featured in The New England Journal of Medicine
- Harvardlecturer on medical cannabis at Harvard Business School
The book
A practical guide to cannabis as medicine
Written for patients, caregivers and the clinicians who care for them, the Handbook turns a confusing subject into clear decisions, drawn from years of seeing patients every day.
- How cannabis worksThe plant, the endocannabinoid system, and why the same product can affect two people very differently.
- Choosing and dosingEdibles, tinctures, topicals, inhaled and prescription options, how to avoid ineffective products, and where to start.
- Eleven clinical chaptersSleep, pain, mental health, headaches, seizures, digestion, skin, sexual health, neurodegenerative disease, cancer care and end-of-life planning.
Free tools for readers
Put the Handbook to work
The book explains how cannabis medicine works. These free tools, built by Dr. Caplan at CED Clinic, help you apply it to your own goals, your own questions and the products actually on the shelf.
Patient Care Navigator
Choose your health goals and your experience with cannabis to get a personalized starting schedule, titration rules and a printable care plan.
Build your plan Evidence Q&AResearch Assistant
Ask a question in plain English and get an answer drawn from more than 128,000 published studies, including research on drug interactions.
Ask a question Shelf match · MassachusettsFind What Fits
Say what you want help with and what you will not use. Dr. Caplan’s framework narrows today’s dispensary menus to a first choice and a backup, each explained.
Find your match Live stock · MassachusettsDispensary Menus
Search one inventory across more than 150 Massachusetts dispensaries, updated daily, with the time each product was last checked.
Search menusFind What Fits and Dispensary Menus cover Massachusetts for now; the Navigator and Research Assistant work wherever you live. These tools are educational and do not replace a clinician who knows your history. Talk with a clinician
Praise
What readers and experts are saying
Dr. Caplan’s new book offers a wealth of information and a huge dose of compassion and clarity.
There are only a few individuals like Dr. Caplan who are at the leading edge of the field.
Dr. Caplan’s extensive experience as one of the country’s leading medical cannabis practitioners and researchers makes a compelling case that cannabis treatments combined with clinical guidance can help patients realize the full benefits of a medical marijuana regimen.
Companion diagrams
See how it works
More than a hundred diagrams extend the book: how edibles are absorbed, how terpenes shape an effect, how tolerance builds, and how cannabis compares with familiar medicines. Each one links to the current evidence at CED Clinic.
New to cannabis medicine?
Start here, then go deeper at CED Clinic
The book gives you the foundation. CED Clinic is where Dr. Caplan and his team keep that guidance current and care for patients.
Learn the basics
How cannabis works in the body, and why two products with the same label can feel so different.
Getting started with cannabisCheck the rules where you live
Medical cannabis programs differ from state to state. See what registration involves.
Registration informationUnderstand your options
Edibles, tinctures, topicals and inhaled products each behave differently in the body.
Dosage and application guideTalk with a clinician
A cannabis-trained clinician can review your medicines, your conditions and your goals with you.
Request a visitSee the evidence
Plain-language reviews of the studies behind common questions, kept current.
Reviewed researchAsk anything
The CED Research Assistant answers questions from the published medical literature.
Ask the Research Assistant
About the author
Dr. Benjamin Caplan, MD
A board-certified family physician who has practiced cannabis medicine since 2016, Dr. Caplan brings more than twenty years of clinical practice to his research, teaching and policy work.
- Trained at Tufts University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center
- Founder and Chief Medical Officer of CED Clinic, CED Foundation, EO Care and The Commonwealth Project
- The only practicing cannabis physician on The Commonwealth Project team invited to speak at the U.S. DEA rescheduling hearings
Collaborate
Researchers and clinicians: let’s work together
Real-world outcomes research, care models for older adults, and better evidence tools for clinicians.
The newsletter
Doctor-Approved Cannabis, in your inbox
New research, explained by a physician, with Dr. Caplan’s clinical perspective on what it means for patients.