People describe their experience with cannabis in different ways. The latest trend in the medical marijuana community is to describe it as a journey. People don’t just go to their doctors and get marijuana prescriptions they fill at the corner drugstore. There is more to it than that. Above and beyond the prescription itself, using medical marijuana involves a lot of trial and error. That is where the journey portion comes in.
Key to understanding the journey concept is knowing that doctors do not write standard prescriptions for marijuana or cannabis products. They provide recommendations that allow patients to obtain state medical cannabis cards. With those cards, patients can visit marijuana dispensaries to buy their medications.
All of this is important in the sense that doctors do not necessarily provide detailed instructions about which medical marijuana products to use and how to determine dosage. There are many options, thanks to the fact that medical cannabis products come in multiple forms with varying cannabinoid and terpene profiles.
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It’s Not Just Weed
Beehive Farmacy is a licensed medical marijuana dispensary in Utah. They have locations in Salt Lake City and Brigham City. If you were to visit either one, you would find that they sell more than just marijuana flower. That’s because medical cannabis is not just weed. It encompasses a full range of products containing THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids.
Hemp and marijuana are the two plants from which processors derive the cannabinoids they put in medical cannabis products. THC and CBD are the most widely used. THC comes from marijuana; CBD comes from hemp. Now, all of that is just the starting point.
Patient’s respond to CBD and THC in different ways. CBD-based medications are more appropriate for some conditions while THC-based medications are more appropriate for others. Some patients take both types of medications to treat multiple underlying conditions.
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Delivery Methods and Doses
Having access to both CBD and THC-based medications gives patients options. Above and beyond that, they can choose from among multiple delivery methods. Raw flower can be dry heated or used to create edibles at home. Patients can also buy edibles at medical marijuana dispensaries.
Those who prefer inhalation but do not want to dry heat or smoke can choose vaping instead. Medical cannabis vaping liquids are pretty popular. Other options include tinctures, capsules, and even topical lotions. Do you see where all of this is going?
In terms of dosage, patients have to experiment. Each retail product offers its own concentration of cannabinoids and terpenes. Patients using the same products may react differently. One may require a comparatively low dosage while another might need more.
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Figuring It Out Takes Time
All of the variables point to the obvious conclusion that figuring it all out takes time. Using medical marijuana is not like taking an antibiotic prescription. It’s not a matter of taking one pill every four hours until the bottle is empty. Medical marijuana is a maintenance drug. Most patients use it for years at a time.
As they go along, they are continually trying different products and different doses. They are experimenting with cannabinoid and terpene profiles to figure out what works best. Some never figure it out completely because their conditions are constantly evolving.
Medical cannabis is often described as a journey because there are so many variables that take time to explore. In addition, there is the emotional journey of coming to terms with marijuana as a medicine rather than a substance banned by the federal government. The journey is hard to describe to someone who has never personally experienced it.
