I’m going to deviate off the track I’m on once in a while, because often, things come up with the people I meet that show me a need to elaborate sooner than later. Here I go…I’m a deviant.
For many people, their past experience with smoking pot is a real deterrent to trying medical marijuana. When I tell them that they don’t have to get so high as to be uncomfortable in order to receive marijuana’s benefit, nor do they even have to get high at all, they don’t usually believe me. I rarely have enough time to fully explain, so I’m going to address it now, along with the other fear people seem to have; do I really have to smoke it?
Don’t want to get high right now? No problem. There’s a pot for that.
My experience has shown me that very small doses of quality, tested, dried marijuana flowers, (commonly called “buds”), several times a day will keep my chronic pain away. It’s that simple. I prefer to smoke a very small amount of bud in a small glass, (pyrex-like borosilicate glass), quality pipe, and I choose this method purely for convenience. It’s fast and easy. I have learned what dose works best for me as well as what type of marijuana works best for my ailments. Once you know you can time your use so it fits perfectly to your scheduled day. It isn’t rocket science. It’s science, just not rocket science and there is no passing or failing. It is far less complicated than most any other drug. You don’t have to follow a regime, don’t have to work on a time schedule. You just smoke it when you need it and don’t if you don’t need it. You may smoke more if you need or want to, and less if that’s what you like. You may even like to smoke more at night to have a long and peaceful sleep. The point is it’s totally up to you as to how “high you want to get, or not.
Some people prefer to function at a higher level, so to speak, and meaning they can function better while under the influence of marijuana. They have more focus, better concentration and this can come in time for just about everyone. It’s often like that for me, and there are ways to deal with everything. If all you seek is pain relief without any high whatsoever, there’s a pot for that too, and more strains with no high are being developed genetically as I write. Besides pain relief, the many other ailments that medical marijuana relieves also don’t require large doses that leave you zonked out if you use too much.
Presently, the most famous non-phychoactive medical cannabis strain is from Colorado is called Charlotte’s Web, but that wasn’t always its name. The marijuana growers that came up with this “highless strain” knew there was a purpose for it because science has proven that the effects that come from cannabinoids in marijuana other than THC, which is the psychoactive cannabinoid that has many important medical uses AND is responsible for the high). They just hadn’t found much of a market for it. That would change, and in a way no one could imagine.
Their marijuana strain, Charlotte’s Web, was brought to light by Dr. Sanjay Gupta during his CNN broadcast about Medical Marijuana in August this year. The story told is of a couple in Colorado who have a daughter afflicted with frequent, terrible seizures, and at two years old was suffering from these seizures in a debilitating, life threatening way. Her condition, which started at just a few months old, was also interfering with her development. Everything known to modern science had been tried with no success, and with many side affects which were also becoming life threatening. Everything was tried except for marijuana. which has now become her lifeline. Who would have thought? Well, someone did, and Charlotte’s parents and the marijuana growers who grow this strain are now united in their efforts to help Charlotte to grow up and live normal life. You can read the full story here on CNN’s website. It’s quite incredible.
The point of my bringing up Charlotte’s story is to illustrate that not wanting to smoke it, (Charlotte doesn’t), or to get “high” and still benefit from medical marijuana, like Charlotte does, is possible. Very small doses are effective for a wide variety of ailments. However, and this is huge in my opinion; the euphoric high is something that even the people who are afraid of at first will probably become accustomed to, and it will eventually be welcomed. My next few post will be devoted to this subject, and will be very useful to anyone venturing into the world of medical marijuana for the first time.