Cannabis For Dummies

Kim Ronkin Casey, Joe Kraynak

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781119550648
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Alternative & Complementary Medicine

Make informed decisions about the benefits of using cannabis

Pot is hot—for good reason. To date, 30 states have legalized medical marijuana to the tune of nearly $11B in consumer spending. Whether it's to help alleviate symptoms of an illness or for adults to use recreationally, more people every day are turning to marijuana.

Cannabis For Dummies presents the science behind the use of this amazingly therapeutic plant. Inside, you'll find the hands-on knowledge and education you need to make an informeddecisionabout your cannabis purchase, as a patient and a consumer.

• Decide for yourself if marijuana is right for you
• Manage aches and pains
• Gain insight on the effects and possible symptom relief Enjoy both sweet and savory edibles
• Navigate the legal requirements

If you're curious about cannabis, everything you need to discover its many benefits is a page away!

Part 1

Getting Started with Cannabis

IN THIS PART …

Wrap your brain around the multifaceted topic of cannabis — from consumption and cultivation to law and culture.

Explore the cannabis plant, its chemical composition, and the many extracts and concentrates derived from it.

Find out where cannabis is legal for medical and adult recreational use and figure out where to go to find out more about specific rules and regulations.

Get up to speed on cannabis politics and culture to increase your awareness of the ever-evolving landscape regarding accessibility and acceptance.

Chapter 1

Taking the Nickel Tour

IN THIS CHAPTER

Weighing cannabis consumption pros and cons

Checking out the unique chemical properties of cannabis

Differentiating among a variety of cannabis strains

Starting on the road to becoming a savvy shopper and consumer

Understanding the path from farm to final product

Cannabis is a multifaceted topic, which is one of the reasons it’s so fascinating. You can approach it from many different angles, discussing consumption (both medical and adult use), law (as it applies to individuals and businesses), the science behind it (in terms of both biology and chemistry), how to buy it without getting ripped off, the various ways to consume it, how it’s made, and even different ways to make money in and from the industry.

In this chapter, we touch on each of these topics and more to provide you with a broad introduction to the fascinating world of cannabis and refer you to other parts and chapters in the book where you can find more in-depth discussions. Think of this chapter as cannabis orientation day and your roadmap to discovering more about cannabis all rolled into one.

Exploring the Basics of Marijuana Consumption

People have been ingesting marijuana in various forms (mostly by smoking it) for more than 5,000 years. The plant has unique chemical properties that make it attractive for use in certain religious and cultural ceremonies, adult recreational activities, and medicinal regimens (to potentially alleviate symptoms of a wide range of medical conditions).

In this section, we explore some of the potential benefits of cannabis for medical and adult recreational use along with some of the potential drawbacks, so you can begin to develop well-informed opinions and decisions regarding its use.

Considering medical use

Some of the chemical components of cannabis have unique properties that mimic certain chemical messengers found naturally in the body that help to regulate certain bodily functions, such as appetite, digestion, and immune function. (See the later section “Knowing What Makes Cannabis So Special” for details.) As a result, two countries and the majority of states in the U.S. have legalized medical marijuana use for certain medical conditions. Qualifying medical conditions vary from one jurisdiction to another but may include the following:

• Acute or chronic pain
• Anxiety and/or stress
• Arthritis
• Asthma
• Epilepsy
• Gastrointestinal disorders
• Glaucoma
• Inflammation
• Loss of appetite or wasting syndrome
• Movement disorders (dystonia, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, and spinocerebellar ataxias)
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Nausea and vomiting (particularly when associated with chemotherapy)
• Opioid withdrawal
• Palliative care
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Sleep disorders

Unfortunately, by classifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug, the U.S. federal government has declared that it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” As a result, and because of the lack of research supporting cannabis’ potential health benefits, we need to be careful about how we approach this topic. We can’t say it cures any disease or illness, that it helps to cure a disease or illness, or even that it provides symptomatic relief. All we can say is that it has the potential to alleviate symptoms of certain medical conditions, which means maybe it works and maybe it doesn’t.

The one big exception is at least three clinical studies have shown that low-dose cannabidiol (CBD) is useful in reducing seizures in people who suffer from two rare forms of epilepsy — Lennox-Gastaut syndrome and Dravet syndrome. Proof for alleviating symptoms related to a host of other medical conditions is restricted to either anecdotal evidence or evidence from limited clinical trials.

A LACK OF RESEARCH

One of the big factors preventing doctors and veterinarians in many states from recommending medical marijuana to patients is the lack of research proving or disproving its effectiveness and risks. The lack of research can be traced to several causes, including

• Regulatory hassles: Researchers must navigate through complex regulatory barriers put in place by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and state regulatory agencies.
• Restricted supply of cannabis for research: NIDA is the only source of cannabis available for research scientists, and until recently, the University of Mississippi had the sole contract to grow it, and the strains it grows have a potency that’s too low for high-quality studies and much lower than current products available in the legal market.
• Funding limitations: Federal funding for cannabis research is primarily allocated to study its possible adverse effects and much less so to study its potential therapeutic effects.
• Challenges with dosing and placebos: Study participants may not accept any consumption method other than smoking or vaping, which makes dose control in studies especially difficult. Also difficult is finding a suitable placebo for the control group.
• Research controls: Tremendous variations in cannabinoid content and potency in different strains as well as consumption methods are difficult to control for researchers using current cannabis consumers as subjects.

Although some challenges are outside the scope of government control, the big reasons for lack of research in this area can be traced back to the fact that cannabis is federally illegal in the U.S. This results in a Catch-22, in which the government denies the potential health benefits of cannabis while preventing the studies necessary to provide any evidence.

See the chapters in Part 3 for details about using medical marijuana for yourself and possibly even your pets.

Looking into adult recreational use

THC (short for tetrahydrocannabinol) has strong psychoactive properties, meaning it can alter brain function to create changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition (thinking and memory), and behavior. Other substances that are psychoactive include caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, ephedrine, cocaine, and a number of pharmaceutical drugs used for treating psychiatric conditions. At low doses, THC tends to create a sense of well-being or euphoria and relaxation, which is largely responsible for making cannabis such an attractive adult recreational drug. At higher doses, it can create anxiety, impaired thinking, and loss of coordination.

When looking at cannabis as an adult recreational drug, it’s best compared to alcohol, which also produces intoxicating effects and tends to lower anxiety in the short term. Some argue that cannabis is actually safer than alcohol because cannabis isn’t associated with physical addiction and because it may not be as harmful to the body as alcohol. However, cannabis is associated with psychological addiction, and long term use or overconsumption may be associated with long-term adverse side effects, so it is not totally safe. In addition, because it’s intoxicating, a consumer should never drive or operate machinery when using cannabis.

Use cannabis only legally and responsibly. Follow the same precautions as you would (should) when consuming alcohol recreationally — use it in moderation, and don’t drive under the influence.

Acknowledging the potential drawbacks

Cannabis isn’t a totally safe miracle drug as some present it to be. Nor is it a highly addictive and dangerous drug as others think. It’s not nearly as addictive or potentially dangerous as opioids, for example. Cannabis offers many potential benefits when consumed responsibly. However, it also has some potential drawbacks, including the following:

• Heavy underage use is associated with impaired thinking, memory, and learning functions. One study from New Zealand conducted in part by Duke University researchers showed an average loss of 8 IQ points among those who smoked marijuana heavily in their teenage years. (Those who started consuming cannabis as adults didn’t show notable declines.)
• Increased heart rate, which may increase the chances of heart attack in susceptible populations.
• Lung irritation, coughing, and potential breathing pr...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Part 1: Getting Started with Cannabis
• Part 2: Buying, Storing, and Using Cannabis
• Part 3: Reaping the Potential Benefits of Medical Marijuana
• Part 4: Grasping the Basics of Cannabis Cultivation, Post-Harvest, and Production
• Part 5: Getting Down to Business
• Part 6: The Part of Tens
• Appendix: Cannabis Recipes
• Index
• About the Author
• Advertisement Page
• Connect with Dummies
• End User License Agreement