When used well, marijuana offers many health benefits to people who suffer from various medical conditions. However, before taking medical marijuana, you have to learn about its legal status, how medical marijuana works, what is medical marijuana used for, how medical marijuana helps, how to take medical marijuana, what are the side effects of medical marijuana, and how to take medical marijuana. It’s important to know all these things before taking medical marijuana.
Some people enjoy the high and use marijuana as a recreational drug while other people use medical marijuana to treat serious conditions such as seizures, chronic pain, and numerous others we will talk about in a bit but first, let’s discuss marijuana’s legal status.
Marijuana’s Legal Status And The Things You Need to Know about It
Cannabis is legal in certain countries, illegal in others, and legal for medical purposes in some countries of the world.
Countries where you are allowed to use medical marijuana – some states in the USA (Colorado, California, Oregon, Alaska, Washington and others), Canada, The Netherlands, Australia, Uruguay, Czech Republic, Chile, Jamaica, Romania, France, Puerto Rico, Macedonia, Israel, North Korea (some people say it is illegal while others say there are no laws against medical marijuana) and Colombia. Some of these countries such as the Netherlands allow recreational marijuana (sold in designated coffee shops) while others allow it only for medical purposes.
Countries where marijuana is illegal – Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Spain (even though there are private cannabis clubs from where you can purchase marijuana), India (at a federal level but certain states tolerate it), Cambodia (even though many people smoke cannabis in public)
If you want to take medical marijuana, please check your country’s and/or state laws.
What is medical marijuana?
The marijuana plant contains more than 100 cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are chemical substances that produce different effects in the body. Medical marijuana usually uses only two of these cannabinoids – THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol). While these chemicals are the main ones used in medicine, some people use the entire marijuana plant for medical reasons.
Now, when talking about the marijuana plant, there are three main types you should know about:
Sativa
Sativa, also known as “head high”, has more psychoactive properties than the rest of the marijuana plants. People who use marijuana for recreational purposes prefer sativa, however, this type have some medical benefits as well. Some people say there are less medical benefits in sativa than in the other types of marijuana while others find sativa helpful. It really depends on the person.
Indica
Indica, also known as “body high”, is better for those with medical issues. Indica works as a sedative and it makes people sleepy. If you don’t want to be sleepy, avoid indica.
Hybrid
A mix of sativa and indica, the hybrid marijuana is the most effective for medical purposes and it provides the best of both worlds.
How Does Medical Marijuana Work?
The most important thing you have to know is that you don’t have to get high to get the medical benefits of marijuana. Another important thing to remember is that the first time you take marijuana is different than the subsequent times. Some people get high easily if they never experienced marijuana before while others don’t get high at all. This depends from person to person.
If you don’t mind the high, THC can be good for you. THC can relieve stress, pain and can help you with insomnia, nausea, and glaucoma symptoms. It is also known that THC stimulates the appetite and calms asthma attacks and anxiety attacks.
People who don’t like the high but have to take THC will have to deal with some of the side effects of getting high. THC can make you feel relaxed or paranoid (depending on your reaction to being high), it can make you sleepy, giggly or very hungry.
In order to determine if marijuana products with THC are right for you, you have to take it multiple times to see how they are impacting your life and to determine if you can take them long term.
CBD is a great option for those who hate the high. CBD products are those who are usually prescribed for children. CBD can help reduce seizures in patients who suffer from epilepsy, but also patients who experience chronic pain, anxiety attacks, nausea, psychosis, inflammatory pain, and other similar issues.
If you have no experience with medical marijuana, we highly recommend starting with CBD products or CBD and THC products that have a high amount of CBD in them.
What is medical marijuana used for?
Medical marijuana is used to treat numerous health problems. In certain cases, medical marijuana only offers pain relief, not treatment while in others it can significantly reduce the symptoms caused by a medical problem.
- Appetite loss;
- Anorexia;
- Glaucoma;
- Schizophrenia, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health conditions such as anxiety;
- Alzheimer’s disease;
- Multiple sclerosis (MS);
- Muscle spasms;
- Pain and chronic pain;
- Crohn’s disease;
- Nausea;
- Cancer (especially for pain management and to fight the side effects of chemotherapy).
How Does Medical Marijuana Help?
Cannabinoids are chemicals similar to the chemicals in our bodies responsible for appetite, movement, and pain hence they can help the body fight against some of the problems connected to those chemicals.
According to medical research, cannabinoids can:
- Reduce anxiety;
- Reduce inflammation and relieve pain;
- Control nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy;
- Relax tight muscles in people with multiple sclerosis;
- Stimulate appetite and improve weight gain in people with anorexia, cancer or AIDS;
- Drop the number of seizures a person with epilepsy might experience.
What Are The Side Effects Of Medical Marijuana?
Medical marijuana can have side effects. But so does all the drugs prescribed by a physician. The most important thing to keep in mind is that medical marijuana can affect your judgment and coordination and it is best to avoid taking it before driving or similar activities that can cause accidents and injuries.
Medical marijuana side effects:
- Red eyes;
- Low blood pressure;
- Dizziness;
- Accelerated heartbeat;
- Depression
How do you get medical marijuana?
In most countries, a written recommendation from a physician is necessary in order to have access to medical marijuana. However, we highly recommend getting a medical prescription even though marijuana is totally legal in your country. Being monitored by a doctor when trying a treatment for a medical problem is better and it can lead to better results.
How Do You Take Medical Marijuana?
Aside from smoking it, there are other ways you can take medical marijuana. Inhale it through a vaporizer or eat it are two common ways. However, medical marijuana can also be found as an oil, lotion, cream or spray and applied to the skin. Some people prefer to put drops of tincture under their tongues.
Smoking cannabis has a quick effect and so does vaporizing cannabis. On the other hand, eating cannabis has a delayed effect.
In order to find the best way to take medical marijuana, you have to discover what works for you since not all methods work for everybody.