Many readers would hesitate to read this article about Cannabis because the natural reaction to the word is that it's an illegal drug. Two words, 'illegal' and 'drug' used together, are enough to scare the reader into clicking the back icon. But don't worry, there is nothing illegal in reading about Cannabis. By the end of this article, you will probably be wondering why it's illegal anyway.
Cannabis is a plant that was commonly
planted in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, now also grown in many
parts of the USA. It has a stiff upright stem, divided serrated leaves, and
glandular hairs. Hemp also belongs to the same family of plants, but hemp has
hundreds of uses other than being consumed as a drug. Similarly, marijuana is
also extracted from the Cannabis plant as dried leaves, stems, flowers and
seeds.
Here are some surprising facts about
Cannabis that will ‘blow your mind’:
1.
Cannabis
Is A Plant With Real Health Benefits
Cannabis is a plant with medicinal benefits that do not get as much media attention as its abuse does. Cannabis has been used as a medicine for at least 3000 years. Both the industrial and medicinal benefits of Cannabis incentivized farmers to grow the plant over a vast agricultural area.
Cannabis has incredible medicinal benefits for several physical inflictions, including cancer, chronic pain, migraine, diabetes, etc. It also works wonders for mental diseases like depression, PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and even autism.
One of the significant uses of Cannabis as a medicine has been to cure or alleviate the disease of epilepsy. There have been many controlled experiments on patients with epilepsy with conventional treatment and Cannabis, where Cannabis was found to decrease the number of seizures of a patient by 30%-50%. The effectiveness of Cannabis for epilepsy is authenticated by the fact that the FDA approved the use of Cannabis for the treatment of epilepsy in 2018.
2.
Safe
Quantity Of Cannabis
Believe it or
not, there is a quantity and strength of Cannabis that is safe to use in helping
to heal a specific disease. In her book ‘Everything
You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Cannabis but Were Afraid to Ask’, D.
Marie Dumas mentions that medical studies have shown the therapeutic index of
40:000:1. It means that you have to take 40,000 doses equivalent to the
medicinal dose of Cannabis to be overdosed. Therefore, medicinal Cannabis is
perfectly safe for consumption.
Prescribed
medicine dosage varies from person to person depending on their weight,
individual body chemistry, their body condition and the concentration of
Cannabis in each dose. A small dose of 20 to 30 mg per day is a safe amount to
start with if you are planning to treat any illness with Cannabis. You can
gradually increase the amount to 50 mg per day. But if you go over this amount,
you are likely to call in a few of the side effects.
D. Marie Dumas also
mentions that Cannabis with less than 1% CBD (Cannabidiol) and low levels of
THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive component, does not have a
significant side-effect. The CBD can help you feel relaxed or less anxious, don't
worry, you won't get ‘high’ if you consume a CBD-infused oil, edible, tincture,
or other product.
3.
Cannabis
Comes In a Variety of Types
Cannabis comes
in three main varieties – sativa, indica and hybrid. The sativa plants have
longer, narrower leaves, while the indica plants have wider, broader leaves.
The Cannabis hybrid is a crossbreed between sativa and indica plants.
Cannabis indica
is relaxing and calming and thus can be used for chronic pain. It helps you
sleep well and has good benefits for users with anxiety or paranoia; therefore,
it is best used in the evening.
Cannabis sativa
is, in contrast, uplifting and energizing. While it can be used for its
hallucinating effects, it is also intellectually stimulating. Therefore, its
recommended use is in the daytime.
4.
Cannabis
Can Be Taken In Many Ways
Cannabis can be consumed by using the conventional smoking method. It can be done by grinding dried female flower buds into fine granules, burning the content, and inhaling the vaporized smoke.
Cannabis can also be smoked with a bong or ‘dabbed’ using a high heat device - a rig. Normally, the contents are further processed into a sticky oil substance called wax. The wax is typically high in THC and should not be used by first-time users or even beginners.
Another method commonly used to consume Cannabis is vaping. Just like nicotine vaporizers, cannabinoids are extracted from dried flowers and mixed into concentrated oil. The oil is heated by the vaporizer producing smoke for inhalation.
Cannabinoids can also be extracted from flower buds using alcohol or food-grade glycerine to produce a concentrated, thick liquid solution. It turns Cannabis into an edible tincture. Similar to the process of making a tincture, a fatty solvent can be used to make infusions of Cannabis.
Cannabis can be made to prepare food using food-grade oil. Many food products are made with Cannabis extracts like ice cream, syrups, pasta sauce, desserts, and candies.
What Are Side-Effects Of Cannabis?
Short term side-effects include anxiety, paranoia, cognitive difficulty, learning difficulty, reduced attention span, and lack of focus. Some of the expected long term side-effects are excessive abdominal fat, insulin resistance, liver damage, respiratory problems, and heightened risk of infections, especially in the lungs.
The use of Cannabis should be done with precaution, just like any other medicine. Rather than undermining the benefits of Cannabis and labelling it as a killer, we should try to use it wisely to treat millions of patients deprived of a natural remedy like Cannabis.
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