There are a few things you need to know before heading to your favorite Tahoe cannabis dispensary. The term medical marijuana refers to treating symptoms of illness and other conditions with the entire, unprocessed marijuana plant, or its basic extracts. Because the marijuana plant contains chemicals that will help treat a variety of illnesses and symptoms, many argue that it should be legal for medical purposes.
More than half U.S. states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana in some form, and more are considering bills to try to do the same. Yet while many people are using marijuana, the FDA has only approved it for treatment of two rare and severe sorts of epilepsy, Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
Scientific study of the chemicals in marijuana, called cannabinoids, has led to 2 FDA-approved medications that contain cannabinoid chemicals in pill form. Continued research may lead to more medications.
For instance, recent animal studies have shown that marijuana extracts may help kill certain cancer cells and reduce the size of others. Evidence from one cell culture study with rodents suggests that purified extracts from whole-plant marijuana can slow the expansion of cancer cells from one among the foremost serious sorts of brain tumors. Research in mice showed that treatment with purified extracts of THC and CBD, when used with radiation, increased the cancer-killing effects of the radiation.
Marijuana itself has quite 100 active components. HC (which stands for tetrahydrocannabinol) is the chemical that causes the “high” that goes alongside marijuana consumption. Least controversial is the extract from the hemp plant referred to as CBD (which stands for cannabidiol) because this component of marijuana has little, if any, intoxicating properties. CBD-dominant strains have little or no THC, so patients report little or no if any alteration in consciousness.
Patients do, however, report many benefits of CBD, from relieving insomnia, anxiety, spasticity, and pain to treating potentially life-threatening conditions like epilepsy. One particular sort of childhood epilepsy called Dravet syndrome is nearly impossible to regulate but responds dramatically to a CBD-dominant strain of marijuana called Charlotte’s Web. Some videos of this are quite dramatic.
The greatest amount of evidence for the therapeutic effects of cannabis relates to its ability to scale back chronic pain, nausea, and vomiting due to chemotherapy, and spasticity [tight or stiff muscles] from multiple sclerosis.
Studies report that medical cannabis has possible benefits for several conditions. State laws vary during which conditions qualify people for treatment with medical marijuana. If you’re considering marijuana for medical use, check your state’s regulations.
To take medical marijuana, you can:
- Smoke it
- Inhale it through a tool called a vaporizer that turns it into a mist
- Eat it — for instance, during a brownie or lollipop
- Apply it to your skin during a lotion, spray, oil, or cream
- Place a couple of drops of a liquid under your tongue
How you’re taking it’s up to you. Each method works differently in your body. If you smoke or vaporize cannabis, you are feeling the consequences very quickly. If you eat it, it takes significantly longer. It can take 1 to 2 hours to experience the consequences from edible products.
To get medical marijuana, you will need a written recommendation from a licensed doctor in states where that’s legal. Your state can also require you to urge a medical marijuana ID card. Once you’ve got that card, you’ll buy medical marijuana at a Tahoe cannabis dispensary.
