In the United States, marijuana is classified as a schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, this means it is not allowed to be grown, imported, or possessed by anyone. Although illegal in most states, the recreational use of marijuana has been recently legalized in the states of Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and Alaska. Marijuana’s recreational use has been mainly due to its euphoric effects, but in recent years, medicinal usage has been brought to the attention of the public, and today, 23 states and the District of Columbia allow the use of medical marijuana.
Medicinal marijuana is currently available in many forms, including the traditional smokable herb. In this form, chemicals from the marijuana are absorbed through the lungs and the effects can be felt almost immediately. The following are some more examples of ways medical marijuana is sold and how they are used.
One way marijuana can be sold is in balms and ointments, to be applied on the skin. A study from the Journal of Allergy shows that ointments that contain marijuana extracts can be beneficial in reducing inflammation. Topical ointments serve as a kind of pain reliever. Marijuana ointment is used by people to treat anything from muscle soreness or arthritis pain to eczema and sunburns, along with other kinds of chronic pain.
Marijuana has many medicinal uses.
Image Source: Victoria Bee Photography
Tinctures can be made from cannabis plants that have been soaked in alcohol for an extended period of time so that the oils and chemicals are extracted into the alcohol. Tinctures can be added into food, drinks, or taken directly by mouth. According to Cases Journal, tinctures are often used for their therapeutic properties or aromatic scents. Two of the therapeutic properties of marijuana tinctures are increasing appetite in cancer patients, and relieving nausea.
A popular recreational, and now medicinal, form of marijuana is the brownie. Places like this online medical marijuana supplier advertise that the beneficial effects of Marijuana can be attained without having to taste the marijuana or having to smoke. Websites like these offer people interested in this kind of consumption with a wide assortment of brownies, gummy bears, hard candy, cookies, and more.
Marijuana can be made into brownies.
Image Source: Jack Andersen
Not all medicinal forms of marijuana are made from only extracts of the marijuana plant, there are also many medications made from compounds that were modeled after the main active therapeutic chemical in marijuana, THC. Some of the most popular THC analogs in the pharmaceutical world are Dronabinol, Nabilone, and Sativex.
According to the Food and Drug Administration’s website, Dronabinal is made from an appetite stimulant that is often prescribed for patients with cancer or AIDS. Also according to the FDA, Nabilone is given for the treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy, especially to those who do not respond well to other medications. The GW Pharmaceutical company indicates Sativex is an oral spray that is made up of a formulated extract from the marijuana plant and is used to treat uncontrollable spasms from Multiple Sclerosis.
In the past, marijuana has been seen as a dangerous and illicit drug, but does the recent legalization for its medicinal use in several states mean that marijuana will become widely accepted as a medicine? Or will its recreational legalization make it harder for the public to see its medicinal use as legitimate? Only time will tell.
