Author: Dr. Radhika Ratnabalasuriar, CannaTherapyMD

Though her full name is Radhika Ratnabalasuriar, most people just call her Dr. Rad for short. She is originally from Sri Lanka but was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. She completed her undergraduate education at The University of Iowa where she majored in Microbiology and Global Health Studies. While there she conducted research on Lupus and published several articles. She also volunteered as an EMT in Mt. Vernon, IA and this is when she became interested in Emergency Medicine. She went on to medical school at The University of Arizona in Tucson and also completed her Emergency Medicine residency at The University of Arizona. She is board certified through the American Board of Emergency Medicine. She has been practicing medicine for many years now and has seen first hand the dangers of opiates and lack of medications to treat chronic conditions. After listening to the frustrations of patients in the emergency department with terminal or chronic conditions, she researched medical marijuana and became a medical marijuana specialist. She believes in a holistic approach to medical care and advocates for patients that may benefit from medical marijuana. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, snowboarding, white water paddle boarding and spending time with her husband and their 13 year old dog, Lucky.