A Marijuana Education
Today is 4/20 and in most of the world that means that it is simply April 20th, but in a few groups of people that are getting larger and larger every day, it means that it is time to light a joint, pop an edible, and get nice and high. Yep, you read the correctly. Get high, baked, ripped, stoned and a bunch of other very random words that mean the same thing. While using weed used to be a sign that someone was not motivated and was involved in a very specific lifestyle, it is something now that people from all walks of life use to help with various aspects of their health. There is also way more ways to do it, and so many different strains and hybrids that can be used for so many different things. I will be doing a comprehensive overview of weed in general and the various benefits it can have, but my expertise is in CBD for pain management and sleep. Keep scrolling to get some more info on the benefits of marijuana!
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or expert, this is just what has worked for me and what I know from going to dispensaries.
First of all, there are two strains of weed: Sativa and Indica. Sativa is more of an “upper” in the sense that it is less likely to make you tired and gives you an overall energized feeling. This also tends to be the strain people ingest if they talk about having any anxiety or paranoia when high. Indica usually gives you a more relaxed and mellow feeling and often makes the person who ingests it pretty sleepy. A hybrid is a mixture of the two and the effects of the hybrid depend on which strain is more prominent. Within each strain, there are different things you can get from them depending on how high the THC content is (the portion that gets you high) and a lot of other things that don’t matter for the purpose of this post. The main thing to know is native is an energizer, and Indica is going to relax you. The last thing to know before launching into all the health benefits is CBD is. CBD is a product of weed but has no THC in it so that you can’t get high from it. CBD is mainly used for pain management, sleep aid, and used to create a body high so that you can maintain a clear mind. CBD is also legal even if you live in a state that has not yet legalized weed, accept for 4 states: Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. In all other states where weed is illegal, CBD is allowed. I know that was a lot of vocab but now that we are all on the same page, let’s go into health benefits.
CBD Benefits- This is the reason that I can go out and be active most of the time. I have lots of chronic pain issues due to endometriosis and complex regional pain syndrome and it can make it nearly impossible to do anything that involves my joints. Some days just getting out of bed is the hardest thing I can do, so doing other activities that involve movement are out of the question. CBD is the thing that saves me 6 out of 7 days of the week. It got me through my restaurant job that required a lot of standing, walking, and heavy lifting. It let me get through this job without being high at work and has saved me on countless drives that send my hips into cramps that make me cry and don’t come out for hours. I have also used CBD based products for pain medication after surgery. I had to have a cyst removed in September 2019 and the narcotics I was given gave me extreme nausea. So I did a little weed and not only did my nausea go away, so did my pain and I was able to sleep. CBD’s main use is pain management, but it can also be used for relaxation and anxiety. It is a great alternative to Advil and can help with inflammation. You don’t have to only smoke or eat CBD; people make it a million ways and you can find it in muscle salves, patches, oils, and bath products. There are very few things as relaxing as taking a bath with a CBD bath bomb, let me tell ya. It can help you sleep much better, has proven to have positive effects with PTSD and anxiety/depression, and it can be bought in small doses for animals who have anxiety or pain. As always, make sure you do your research and check with your doctor if you are on any medications before replacing them with CBD or with adding into your routine.
Marijuana Benefits- This is a little longer of a list, but it’s equally as important. This probably goes without saying but THC causes a high and if you are going to be driving or doing anything even kind of dangerous, do not ingest it. But here are the basics: it can help with nausea, migraines, glaucoma, ADD/ADHD, can help treat symptoms associated with IBS, Crohn's, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's and the side effects of chemotherapy. For most of these things, it will most likely be an Indica or hybrid strain so you can relax while you heal, but each one has different things to bring to the table so ask your local dispensary all of the questions you have before you purchase anything. They aren’t doctors but they know everything to know about weed and will help you. And if you do have a medical condition that you want to use weed for, always talk to your doctor. I am no scientist so I cannot officially say why weed works to help with certain alignments and not others or why certain things see more benefits from 1 strain or another, but your dispensary person will be able to tell you all of that. Marijuana is great for anxiety and pain, and several studies have been able to show that.
Now that I have been able to give you a little overview of what marijuana can do for your health, I wanted to give a quick PSA about the legalization of it. White people are making a ton of money off of pot legalization, but black people are still disproportionally in prison for weed-related crimes. In 2010, 7 million black men were in jail for marijuana possession crimes. In states where it is not legal, a black person is 4 times more likely to get stopped by the cops if suspected of smoking or having weed on them. And maybe worst of all, a black person is more likely to get the maximum sentence in jail for a marijuana-related crime, whereas a white person will get off with a warning for a first offense and then maybe something light like community service for any additional offenses. White people have always been able to get away with more things when it comes to anything dealing with the judicial system (which is a whole other post entirely) but since we have legalized pot in most states, it is time to let those with tiny marijuana-related offenses out of prison. There is no need to continue to harm black communities (we shouldn’t be harming them AT ALL) over something that white America is profiting off from so heavily. I have left some links down below if you would like to read up more on this topic or want to take action.
Thank you for tuning into this unconventional post! Please let me know what you think below and come back Wednesday for a more traditional MMM fashion post!
Madey
Important links: