Episode 498: The Man Who Replaced 1100mg of Oxycontin with Cannabis - Cannabis Health Radio Podcast | Lyssna här

John Prinz shares his story of replacing 1,100 mg/day OxyContin with medical cannabis, positioning him as an early "patient zero" in opioid-to-cannabis transition.
A 1992 workplace injury at Simpson Paper in Anderson, CA led to five spinal surgeries, hardware implantation, and a spinal cord injury diagnosis, setting the foundation for extreme opioid dependency.
At peak dosage around 2004–2005, John was prescribed over 1,100 mg of OxyContin daily alongside 13 other medications — far exceeding the typical 20–40 mg average — before the opioid epidemic was officially recognized.
Dr. Lester Grinspoon's book "Marijuana, the Forbidden Medicine" was the turning point, leading John to recognize opioids as legal heroin and motivating his decision to pursue cannabis as a replacement.
Transition off opioids took approximately 18 months of withdrawal, during which John developed his cannabis olive oil formula "Fusatima" — progressing from smoking to edibles to concentrated olive oil infusions.
Fusatima is made with 3 liters of Costco olive oil and 1 lb of high-quality cannabis, slow-cooked at 180°F; one tablespoon yields ~300 mg combined THCA/THC, with a full dose of 4 tablespoons twice daily reaching ~2,400 mg.
Lower heat during preparation preserves more THCA (non-psychoactive), while higher heat converts it to THC — allowing dosage customization depending on whether patients want psychoactive effects.
THCA capsules made from raw, unheated cannabis are recommended for patients who want pain relief without the high, broadening the formula's accessibility.
Post-surgery use at UCSF in June 2025 demonstrated Fusatima's clinical viability — John used no opioids after his sixth back surgery, self-administering the formula four days post-op with his surgeon's awareness.
John's pain doctor Dr. Michael H. Moskowitz documented cannabis use in monthly medical records from 2005 to 2021, and those papers have since been used to educate other patients and gain acceptance from Medicare and Social Security.
Advocacy efforts included writing Senator Dianne Feinstein starting in 2009, which John credits as contributing to OxyContin's removal from the market by 2011–2015, and writing Senator Obama in 2007 requesting rescheduling.
Fentanyl's rise on the streets is directly linked to forced opioid withdrawal — patients lost prescriptions without a sanctioned alternative, and cannabis remains underutilized due to stigma even among marijuana advocates.
Trump's executive order rescheduling cannabis to Schedule III is seen as a pivotal moment, though pharmaceutical companies including Jazz Pharmaceutical (105 patents), Pfizer (25), and Bristol-Myers Squibb (36) are positioned to commercialize it.
Getting Fusatima into pharmacies — regardless of who manufactures it, including potentially a Sackler-backed company — is the stated goal, as insurance reimbursement only becomes possible once it reaches the pharmacy system.
Core takeaway: growing your own cannabis is the most reliable path to access and affordability — patients who don't grow will struggle to maintain supply, and self-sufficiency is framed as the foundation of medical freedom.

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