Medical Marijuana has now been legalized in 25 states including Washington DC and there are a lot of incredible reasons why. On top of relieving stress and inflammation, cannabis has been known to help people with many illnesses from seizures all the way to treating cancer.
Active Ingredients
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the two main active ingredients that we look at int he marijuana or cannabis plant. Both of these compounds are known as cannabinoids.
Most strains of marijuana are focused on having a large amount of THC making the high CBD strains a lot more rare. Recently, because of the medical marijuana movement, CBD has started to gain the spotlight because of its incredible healing abilities.
Essentially the biggest difference between the two is that while THC will treat many medical issues it also can get you high. CBD treats many other medical issues while remaining non-psychoactive. In other words you will not get high from CBD.
This feature makes it much more appealing to the medical world because it reduces the side effects while also making it much safer for people to use when they need to function outside of the home or when children are needing treatment. Find out more of the differences between the two compounds here.
Health Benefits of Medical Marijuana
Tech Insider has put together a short video to go over many of the awesome benefits that people are finding from using medical marijuana, check it out below.
While there are so many different benefits that come from medical marijuana we wanted to show you 10 examples where it has already shown a lot of potential!
Marijuana is helping veterans who suffer from PTSD.
The US Department if Health and Human services recently approved a proposal to allow the study of medical marijuana in the treatment of PTSD in veterans.
Some states already allow its use as a treatment but this new proposal may possibly open the doors to more stats and veterans in need.
In places like New Mexico a diagnosis of PTSD is the main reason why medical marijuana is prescribed. THC can help calm the system and relieve anxiety and fear in the body.
Medical Marijuana can help control Epileptic Seizures.
A 2003 study showed that medical Marijuana can help prevent epileptic seizures.
It decreases the symptoms of Dravet‘s Syndrome which is a severe seizure disorder.
In the documentary “Weed” the Figi family was interviewed about their 5-year-old daughter who was having 300 seizures a week. They started treating her with a high CBD strain that was low in THC.
The severity of this syndrome causes many seizures and a lot of delays developmentally. Fortunately, now with the medical marijuana they have been able to get her seizures down to around 7 per week!
Decreased Anxiety.
In a 2010 study, researchers from Harvard Medical School found that medical marijuana can help reduce anxiety. This can help people who are struggling with issues such as smoking tobacco and need a mild sedative in order to calm their nerves. Since medical marijuana can reduce pain it makes a lot of sense as an effective anti-anxiety medicine.
Warning- higher doses may actually increase your anxiety and even make you paranoid.
Marijuana stops Cancer from spreading.
The CBD in marijuana has even been known to help prevent the spread of cancer according to researchers from the California Pacific Medical Center in a study they conducted in 2007.
What happens is the gene known as Id-1 is shut off and since cancer will makes more copies of this gene then other health cells it helps to slow the growth and spread of cancer.
THC slows the progress of Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease can even be slowed with medical Marijuana according to a study from Scripps Research Institute lead by Kim Janda.
Another study in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics back in 2006 found that THC actually blocks the enzyme in your brain that makes amyloid plaques.
This plaque kills brain cells and essentially causes Alzheimer’s.
Eases the pain from Multiple Sclerosis.
People suffering from Multiple sclerosis can even benefit from medical marijuana. It will ease the painful symptoms according to a recent study from the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
30 multiple sclerosis patients who struggled with pain from the multiple sclerosis but couldn’t find relief from other pain relievers in one study found that after a few days of smoking marijuana they were in less pain.
It Relieves Arthritis inflammation.
Medical Marijuana naturally reduces inflammation, while also promoting sleep. This can make a big different when to some to dealing with rheumatoid arthritis according to a study done in 2011.
Improves Symptoms of Autoimmune Disorder Lupus.
Systemic Lupus Ertyhematosus is a brutal disease where the body will start to attack itself from the inside. The compounds in medical marijuana can calm the immune system and help with many of the symptoms of Lupus.
Marijuana can also help with the pain and nausea that come with this disease.
Marijuana protects the brain after having a stroke.
According to Research conducted by the University of Nottingham, marijuana can help protect the brain from damage that comes from having a stroke.
The study was conducted on mice, rats and monkeys.
There are also other studies that have suggested that cannabis has neuro-protective properties that can help the brain stay safe from trauma such as in the case of a concussion as well.
After seeing the data do you feel that medical marijuana should be legalized across the US and worldwide? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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It’s good to know that studies have indicated that medical marijuana can act as a mild sedative and help those who struggle with anxiety. One of my really good friends has been struggling to cope with her anxiety lately and is looking for solutions. I’ll let her know that she might want to look into medical marijuana to see if it would benefit her.
There is actually a guy in germany who has Tourette syndrome and he can talk 100% fine but only after he consumed marijuana.
That is just one example and there are way more. So I am definitely pro legalization!
If governments the world over would allow easier access to health and science professionals, we’d see a lot more uses for the herb. Just saying.