Since medical cannabis is now being made available to more and more patients, it’s reasonable enough to expect that those people be made aware of how to properly use the drug. Medical cannabis is significantly different from the recreational kind, and many factors should be considered to ensure you’re safe and the risks are minimized or even eliminated.

The Difference between Medical and Recreational Cannabis

First of all, you should know the difference between medical cannabis and the marijuana variety that most people use to “get high.” It depends on how much of the two active ingredients are present. The marijuana plant is composed of hundreds of different cannabinoids, but the two main ingredients are cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

THC is the psychoactive ingredient that produces the effect of being “high,” while CBD counteracts that effect because of its powerful properties that also helps in alleviating symptoms and pains. Medical cannabis is specially formulated to contain much higher levels of CBD, while recreational marijuana has more THC than CBD. At our Infinite Wellness Center, we offer several varieties for both medical and recreational use.

How to Consume Medical Cannabis

There are different methods of administration when it comes to medical cannabis. The most common are smoking, vaping, edibles, and topicals, although there are a few more. If you would like to try one of the several methods, go to our Infinite Wellness Center, and we can help you out with your choice.

• Smoking – Works very much like a cigarette. You pack a small amount of dried cannabis into rolling paper or a pipe, light it up with a flame, and inhale the smoke as you would with a normal cigarette. This method delivers fast relief and is inexpensive, but can make you smell like you’ve been smoking marijuana.
• Vaping – You insert a small amount of dried cannabis or extract into a vaporizer, heat it, and inhale the vapor. The vaporizer will heat the cannabis to an ideal temperature just below the combustion point, so all you have to do is press the button. This method minimizes the risk of you smelling like marijuana, but modern vaping devices can be costly.
• Edibles – There was a time when marijuana edibles were just limited to homemade brownies that you baked at home. If you didn’t know what you were doing, the brownies weren’t very good, and the dosage of THC couldn’t be accurately measured, either. However, now you can have candies, lollipops, cookies, popcorn, ice cream, gummy bears, and candy bars.
• Topicals – There are medical cannabis topicals that you can use for medicating without having to smoke. A variety of lotions, ointments, salves, and sprays are now available at quality dispensaries. These topicals can help treat chapped skin, arthritis, minor burns, swellings, and joint pains, to name a few. However, it won’t be able to help alleviate symptoms from cancer, PTSD, or glaucoma.

Be Aware of Drug to Drug Interactions

It would help if you thought of medical cannabis as a drug because it is. Moreover, because it’s medication, you should first consult your health provider before consuming cannabis, medical or otherwise. Talk about your plans of taking medical cannabis, ask if it can help you, and discuss whether or not it will have any effects on other medication you might already be taking.

Medical cannabis can be of great help to those suffering from a variety of symptoms stemming from illnesses or injuries. However, because it’s a regulated drug, you should first be aware of how to properly use it. We hope that this guide can provide you with the basic information you need, and if you would like to know more, give us a call or visit us at our Infinite Wellness Center so we can help you out.