continue to work with members of Congress and the Administration to resolve the federal conflict.
By even considering cannabis as your choice of medicine, you are formulating the future of medical cannabis in your city, state, and nation. My hope is that as you discover the utility of cannabis as a therapeutic in your life, you will also join in to guarantee safe and legal access for everyone who needs it.
Unexpected and unplanned-for ailments arise in life, no matter how healthy a person’s lifestyle. Imagine waking in the night to shooting pain and uncontrollable spasms in your legs, only to discover it is the beginning stages of multiple sclerosis (MS). What if you begin to experience severe abdominal pain and your physician diagnoses you with Crohn’s disease? Alternatively, what if you survive a serious auto accident only to be left with a permanent pain in your legs?
Additionally, less serious but still troublesome health problems become issues for everyone at some point in their lives. Glaucoma, arthritis, migraine headaches, and depression are all examples of extremely common, usually non-life-threatening, health problems that often occur spontaneously and without explanation.
Unfortunately, you’re left to choose between feeling better and breaking the law.
Now suppose you realize that the most effective treatment for your disorder is marijuana? Unfortunately, you’re left to choose between feeling better and breaking the law. You may have been taught that only degenerates and delinquents use illegal drugs. Now you found an illegal drug that eases your pain and suffering. What will you do? You may be hesitant about trying it for your own condition. After all, it is not available in regular pharmacies and there is so much controversy surrounding it. In addition there may be legal implications.
Medical Marijuana 101 explores the science and history of the marijuana plant and provides a solid foundation to form an educated decision about whether you could benefit from this medicine.
Humans have used marijuana therapeutically for thousands of years.
Humans have used marijuana therapeutically for thousands of years because the herb controls or alleviates a wide variety of medical symptoms. We’ll explore the science of how marijuana works and its medical uses and effects. We’ll also examine its history, how it’s produced and the politics, economics, and legality of marijuana.
What is marijuana?
Marijuana is a flowering plant with many different varieties sharing many chemical characteristics. However the varieties have different effects that provide targeted benefits for a wide range of medical conditions. Marijuana is a hearty plant that adapted to many different climates and growing conditions. You may be familiar with the common image of the five-fingered marijuana leaf. These leaves grow along strong branches that extend laterally from the main stem. The flowers develop along the ends of the branches, forming thick clusters that are usually thin and long or bulky. They produce a sticky crystalline resin and have a strong, sweet-to-pungent aroma. Some varieties grow tall and lanky, while others grow short and bushy. Each variety has its own growth rate, appearance, and medical usefulness.
The term “buds” refers to the dried flowers of the female plant. Buds contain the medicinal compounds and are the part of the plant that is typically used. The leaves are used to make extracts because they contain small quantities of the active ingredients found in marijuana.
Marijuana is different from other annual plants because it is “dioecious,” meaning male and female flowers grow on separate plants. When the female plants are not pollinated the flowers remain seedless. These seedless buds are known as “sinsemilla,” Spanish for “without seed”. These sinsemilla buds are distributed in medical marijuana dispensaries. Marijuana growers select only female plants so the plants produce only seedless buds. Chapters 7 and 8 describe the different varieties of marijuana and the basics of marijuana horticulture
Why is marijuana an effective medicine?
Marijuana has beneficial uses for many medical conditions. You may have heard jokes about the “munchies,” slang term for the increase in appetite that often follows use of marijuana. For many sick people, appetite stimulation is an important step toward wellness. Proper nourishment is required for us to be healthy, so a substance that increases appetite and eating is essential to the recovery of patients who suffer from anorexia, for example.
Marijuana reduces nausea and vomiting, which often accompanies chemotherapy. Cannabis eliminates the nauseous, sick-to-the-stomach feeling and prevents vomiting, which is violent and physically taxing. Nausea and vomiting lead to dehydration and weight loss, extending recovery time because the body doesn’t retain enough nutrients to heal properly. Since marijuana can be inhaled or used as a tincture, it is more effective against nausea than ingesting a pill, which is often regurgitated.
Marijuana is an effective pain reliever, especially in cases of neuropathic or “burning and shooting” types of pain. The anti-inflammatory properties of the active ingredients of the marijuana plant have also proven useful in treating many medical conditions including arthritis and glaucoma.
One of the most important factors in choosing marijuana as a medicine is its safety. There are no fatalities from marijuana and an overdose usually leads to a desire to lay down and go to sleep. In comparison, many prescription and over-the-counter pain medicines are extremely toxic and addictive. Marijuana provides a natural alternative to some of these dangers with comparatively low addictive potential.
How does marijuana affect these symptoms? The simple explanation is your body responds to the active ingredients of marijuana, known as cannabinoids, much like it responds to your body’s own naturally produced endocannabinoids. Endocannabinoids are found in the brains and bodies of all animals except insects and have evolved over millions of years. The effects of the active ingredients of the marijuana plant, the cannabinoids, mirror the effects of our own internal endocannabinoids. We’ll explore specifically how marijuana creates beneficial and palliative effects on physically debilitating symptoms in Chapter 3.
When I’m asked, “Why is marijuana an effective medicine?” I usually answer, “Because it works.” It is a natural plant substance that can be as effective, or in some cases more effective, than many commonly prescribed, side effect loaded synthetic drugs. As with any medication, always consult your physician before using marijuana to replace any medicine or to confirm its safety when taken in conjunction with other medications.
How do you know marijuana is safe?
Because of the decades of misinformation about the perceived dangers of marijuana, people often question its safety as a medicine. The undeniable truth is marijuana is extremely safe. Consider this: Marijuana has never caused a single recorded fatal overdose.
Animal studies have shown that a lethal dose of cannabinoids would be in the neighborhood of 40,000 times the typical human dose. This would be like in taking 40 to 80 pounds of marijuana buds or their extracts all at once. This amount is impossible to consume, so death is not a risk when using marijuana. You don’t need to worry about dying from an overdose of marijuana unless you plan to smoke a telephone-pole-sized joint in 10 minutes or less.
There are certain dangers related to using marijuana. Patients report adverse effects such as feeling overwhelmed, panicked, paranoid, or experiencing an increased heart rate. Some strains, especially those with extremely high THC content, are more likely to affect new patients in these ways. Strains with high CBD content modulate the effects of THC, so they are less likely to have these adverse affects. Sometimes