Facts About Medical Marijuana

Marijuana has at least 100 active components, many of which do not cause the “high” associated with marijuana ingestion. One of the best known and least controversial is CBD (cannabidiol). CBD dominant strains of marijuana do not cause the “high” associated with THC (tetrahydrocannabidinol), therefore there is little to no alteration in consciousness associated with its use. Some of the reported benefits of CBD is relief from anxiety, insomnia, spasticity (of muscles) and pain as well as treating epilepsy in cases that respond poorly to other medications. A particular form of CBD, Charlotte’s Web, has been found to dramatically improve a severe form of childhood epilepsy.

In addition to having many active compounds, there are different strains of marijuana with varying amounts of the compounds, which allows for some degree of customization to treat the individual patient’s problem. The best medical marijuana treatment can be worked out through the knowledgeable practitioner and the appropriate dispensing company to achieve the desired results with the fewest undesirable side effects.

Because marijuana currently remains on Schedule 1 in the Food and Drug Administration’s classification scheme, some individuals remain fearful of the potential consequences of using it for their chronic conditions. However, both our current and immediate past US Presidents have stated that they would not pursue criminal prosecution of individuals using medical marijuana. More than half of the States in the US now have compassionate use laws of some sort allowing for medical marijuana use.