Project Destigmatize HealTHCare (PDH) is a nurse-led public-health research initiative founded by Drudys “Dru” Ledbetter, BSN, RN, a registered nurse, medical cannabis patient, healthcare strategist, educator, and author. Its work focuses on a clinical visibility problem: patients may disclose therapeutic cannabis use, yet that information is often not consistently documented or connected to medications, diagnoses, treatment goals, and care plans.
When cannabis use remains outside the structured health record, clinicians may lack context needed to evaluate outcomes, identify interactions, understand co-exposures, or recognize an emerging safety concern. PDH has moved that problem from observation into research through a pilot study collecting real-world information about therapeutic use, disclosure, healthcare experiences, and unmet needs.
The project's early findings underscore why documentation matters. A large share of respondents recruited in adult-use settings report using cannabis therapeutically; many report daily use, and substantial numbers report using cannabis near the time they take another medication or substance. Those patterns make cannabis clinically relevant.
PDH uses research, professional education, public dialogue, and policy work to make cannabis use more visible inside healthcare systems. Its premise is practical: clinicians cannot safely manage information they do not receive, document, or know how to interpret.
Project Destigmatize HealTHCare embodies the Professional Standard Award by making cannabis use and disclosure part of routine clinical information and building the evidence healthcare systems need to respond more safely and consistently.
Website: Project Destigmatize HealTHCare
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“Project Destigmatize HealTHCare is honored to be recognized by Americans for Safe Access for our work advancing cannabis safety through professional education and healthcare integration. We believe patients are safer when healthcare professionals are prepared to recognize cannabis use as clinically relevant information, ask informed questions without stigma, and translate that information into better care. Our work is about helping build the knowledge, language, and systems healthcare needs to see what is affecting the patients we serve.” |
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