Is Cannabis Finally Emerging from the Smoke of Misunderstanding?

January 13, 2020 – Please welcome Bojana Petkovic with her first contribution to 21st Century Tech Blog. Bojana has chosen to write about the fast-paced cannabis industry and provides the Internet community with valuable information through the website LoudCloudHealth.  

A cautionary note. Some readers may find the content of this posting disturbing particularly in its promotion of smoking cannabis. Others will just find any discussion about cannabis, or marijuana, to be inappropriate for a blog focused on science, technology and the 21st century. But the science of cannabis is only now finally beginning to be explored. The lack of understanding of the plant’s chemical constituents and the potential benefits already being derived from some of them, is just the beginning of cannabis science and discovery. Up until now the public has been ill-served when it comes to cannabis. Instead of learning about its potential in treating medical conditions, we have been warned about its addictive nature, about becoming “potheads,” and about it being the first step down a road to harder drugs.

As a cannabis oil user, CBD oil to be exact, I can vouch for the efficacy and medical benefits that the plant’s chemistry provides. I take a twice-daily small oral dose sublingually to treat my advanced arthritis and what it has done for me is to keep me from using stronger pain killers, and maybe saved me from opioids and their high potential for addiction. So I welcome Bojana’s candid description of cannabis, warts and all, and invite readers to comment.

Thanks to scientific research and through the dissemination of information to the public. the stigma about cannabis may disappear in time. Hardly has any plant been more beneficial for people’s health, and yet so much persecuted, prosecuted, and demonized worldwide.

The war on hard drugs because of the involvement of undesirable and violent cartels and gangs has wrongfully encompassed cannabis making it a handy target for governments. But cannabis is far safer than the prescribed opioids that have created a medical crisis in many countries, and has none of the addictive properties associated with cocaine and heroin.

In fact, this is a plant with so many positives going for it, it remains a wonder that it is still seen and treated as a pariah by the federal government in the United States, and in other countries.

In Canada, where recreational cannabis was made recently made legal, has been licensing medical cannabis and widely prescribing its products, while a retail market of smokables, food, and drink, oils, and topicals, is rapidly growing. 

So how are we consuming cannabis today?

Smoking the Number One Delivery Method

Combustion of cannabis, followed by inhalation, is the oldest, simplest, and most wide-spread method for consuming cannabis. It doesn’t require a lot of equipment, the effects are almost immediate, and the method of consumption is simple. Cannabis can be smoked using the pure-dried plant milled to fine granules (joints), can be combined with tobacco (spliffs or blunts), or can be inhaled using a vaping device (pipes and bongs). 

Pros of Smoking

• Plant-based products are everywhere. The dried plant is the most known product for cannabis consumers. Statistically, 48.7% of all cannabis is sold in dried-flower product, and 11.5% are pre-rolled items. This is why a dispensary might not always have specific tinctures or topicals, but there is always plenty of flower strains. 
• It acts extremely fast. According to Dr. Robert Mann of the University of Toronto, cannabis reaches the bloodstream within five minutes once smoked.
• The final dosage is easy to determine. Using digital scales, smokers can accurately measure the dose. 

Cons of Smoking

• The smell of combusted cannabis is strong. Smoking is most certainly not the most discreet way of consuming cannabis, especially inside, as it has a distinct, long-lasting smell. Still, there are ways around this. 
• It has several negative effects on your health. Some of these negative effects include decreased focus and memory performance, red eyes, significant blood vessel dilation, and deterioration of the throat and lungs.

[Editor’s note: The American Lung Association states on its website that “smoke is harmful to lung health. Whether from burning wood, tobacco or marijuana, toxins and carcinogens are released from the combustion of materials. Smoke from marijuana combustion has been shown to contain many of the same toxins, irritants and carcinogens as tobacco smoke. Beyond just what’s in the smoke alone, marijuana is typically smoked differently than tobacco. Marijuana smokers tend to inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than cigarette smokers, which leads to a greater exposure per breath to tar. Secondhand marijuana smoke contains many of the same toxins and carcinogens found in directly-inhaled marijuana smoke, in similar amounts if not more. While there is no data on the health consequences of breathing secondhand marijuana smoke, there is concern that it could cause harmful health effects, especially among vulnerable children in the home. Additional research on the health effects of secondhand marijuana smoke is needed.”]

Food and Drinks — a Tasty Solution

About 13.1% of consumed marijuana products are cannabis-infused foods, while 3.7% are beverages. Edibles take the cake (excuse the pun) as the most enjoyable way of consumption because food and drink can be given enhanced flavor.

Pros of Edibles

• Higher bioavailability. As these products are typically made with coconut oil, it serves as a good carrier of cannabinoids through the body.
• None of the negative side effects of smoke. Without combustion, the potential for toxins and carcinogens associated with inhaling smoke go away.

Cons of Edibles

• Dosages are indeterminate. Off-the-shelf edibles are not necessarily homogeneous in terms of the amount of cannabinoids present. In other words, the industry is still in its infancy and lacks quality control standards for dosage per unit of edibles.
• Edibles deliver cannabinoid effects slower than smoking. Edibles can take anywhere from half-an-hour to a full hour to kick in. If using cannabis edibles for pain management, this is not the most effective way for delivery.

CBD Oil

Thousands upon thousands of people today receive the benefits of cannabis through sublingual delivery (a few drops under the tongue). Organic CBD oils are being prescribed as analgesics and sedative-relaxants to mitigate the symptoms of many health conditions from anxiety, to irritable-bowel-syndrome, epilepsy, and arthritis.

Pros of Oils

• They will not get you high. The original proof of disassociation of CBD (cannabidiol) from the euphoric effects of cannabis has been known as far back as 1964 in work done by Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, nicknamed ‘The Godfather of Cannabis-Related Research.’
• Proven to help in the treatment of diseases and their symptoms. Numerous studies have shown excellent results in treating patients suffering from nausea from chemotherapy, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, and other medical conditions.

Cons of CBD Oils

• The effects aren’t consistent for everyone. Every human body reacts uniquely to cannabinoids with the result that using CBD oil in treatment produces different levels of success.

Topicals

Cannabis-infused ointments are being used today for cosmetic purposes. Still, at the early stage of this market, slightly more than 1% of cannabis products today are sold as topicals.

Pros of Topicals

• Work locally but contribute to the whole body. Even topicals are applied to one or more areas of the body, certainly not the entire body, they do contribute to overall well-being.
• Have no psychoactive effects. Most topicals are made from pure CBD extract, avoiding the THC component of cannabis. This means no psychotropic impact on the body’s chemistry.

Cons of Topicals

• The effects do not last long. This means multiple applications are needed to produce the desired outcome.

Bottom Line

There are plenty of other ways to make use of cannabis and its chemistry. These include capsules, tinctures, and vaping. You are encouraged to do further research about this evergrowing industry and what the future of consumption will bring. The road to legalization continues with more countries recognizing that there should be no stigma associated with such a beneficial plant. No cannabis user should have to abandon their product which could be used for pain management or dealing with seizures and other medical conditions when crossing a border as currently occurs between the United States and Canada because of different legal statuses in these jurisdictions.