Member Blog: How CBD Helps Patients With Debilitating Conditions

by MarijuanaDoctors.com

As a dispensary budtender or owner, you always want to do everything you can to better serve your patients. Oftentimes, that means suggesting different strains and types of medical cannabis based on specific conditions and symptoms. To do that, you and the rest of the staff must understand the chemical makeup of marijuana, including the intricacies of cannabidiol and other cannabinoids.

Cannabidiol and Patients With Chronic Illness

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the two primary chemical compounds, or cannabinoids, found in the cannabis plant. The other is tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC. However, unlike THC, CBD does not have the psychoactive properties that cause the user to feel high.

Instead, CBD alone can provide patients with many of the pain-relieving benefits of traditional marijuana products without creating that euphoric, but often debilitating, “stoned” feeling. This allows patients who prefer to avoid that effect — like children, the elderly, and recovering addicts — to still benefit from healing powers of medical cannabis.

So, CBD can be used to treat the pain that results from many conditions and symptoms, including cancer, epilepsy, lupus, Parkinson’s disease and related diseases. You can also use CBD to treat mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, insomnia, and schizophrenia.

How Can Budtenders and Dispensary Owners Talk to Patients About CBD?

As budtenders, part of your job is helping patients understand how using CBD to treat chronic conditions can help them. Remember, most people probably have not heard of CBD, and patients may be hesitant to learn about it. Start by explaining the benefits of using only this cannabinoid, such as being able to avoid the high while still finding pain relief. If they seem interested, encourage them to ask questions and tell them more about the specific products that would best treat their symptoms.  

A general rule of thumb when discussing marijuana strains is that indica strains — as well as indica-dominant hybrids — have higher CBD content, while sativa strains and sativa-dominant hybrids have a higher THC content. Of course, every strain has a different ratio of CBD-to-THC, but there are many that have little to no THC at all.

While the CBD strains a budtender should recommend will depend heavily on the patient’s specific symptoms, here are a few examples you can choose from:

  • Swiss Gold
  • Sour Tsunami
  • ACDC
  • Valentine X
  • Harlequin

Frequently Asked Questions About Cannabidiol

The best way to prepare for patients’ questions is to think about what they may be. Here are three common concerns patients will likely have about CBD:

Is It Safe for Children?

Yes — in fact, it’s incredibly beneficial for children suffering from epilepsy, specifically. One study found that epileptic children experienced an 80 percent reduction in seizures when they used cannabis with a high CBD content.

Will It Still Work?

While everyone reacts to marijuana differently, countless studies have shown CBD is effective in treating all sorts of health conditions and symptoms, like the ones discussed above.

How Can I Ingest CBD?

You can ingest or administer CBD the same ways you would take any other form of marijuana, including by smoking or vaping the herb or oil, eating or drinking an edible product, applying it as a topical lotion or taking a tincture or capsule. However, be sure to check your state’s laws on how you can take your medicine, as each has different guidelines.


Learn More About CBD and Patients With Chronic Illness From MarijuanaDoctors.com

Interested in learning more about how your dispensary can better serve its patients? MarijuanaDoctors.com provides patients with the resources needed to find a trusted doctor in their area and to find reputable dispensaries so that obtaining medication is simple. Check out our other resources at MarijuanaDoctors.com for more information. For even more benefits, register your dispensary with our site today.

Member Blog: The Health Benefits of Raw Cannabis

by Jason Draizin, MarijuanaDoctors.com

Juicing is an increasingly popular health trend. Many people, from nutritionists to athletes, are consuming pressed vegetable juices to get the nutrients contained in leafy greens like spinach and kale. But what about cannabis?

Health Benefits of the Cannabis Plant

The leaves of the cannabis plant are rich in antioxidants, polyphenols and antibiotics, along with cancer-reducing and anti-inflammatory compounds. In fact, the U.S. federal government found in pre-patent research that CBD, which is a cannabinoid found in raw cannabis, is a stronger antioxidant than vitamins C or E.

Along with its nutritional value, raw cannabis can provide therapeutic effects and promotes basic cell function – activating receptors in your brain, releasing antioxidants, and removing damaged cells from the body.

Studies have also shown that consuming raw cannabis has the potential to treat lupus, arthritis and neurodegenerative diseases, help stimulate appetite and decrease nausea, prevent the spread of malignant prostate cancer cells, and prevent cell damage that can lead to serious illness and poor health.

Consuming Raw Cannabis

Consuming raw cannabis does not cause the “high” feeling that one gets when smoking cannabis or consuming it via edibles. This is beneficial for those who do not enjoy the psychoactive feeling often associated with marijuana.

By consuming the plant raw, one can receive all the nutritional and health benefits of the plant without feeling stoned. In fact, it’s been reported that you lose 99% of the health benefits of the cannabis plant when you smoke or cook it.

Juicing marijuana is the easiest and most convenient and way to consume the nutrients found in raw cannabis. Juicing the leaves of raw marijuana extracts essential minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, including:

Iron
Zinc
Calcium
Potassium
Selenium
Carotenoids

In terms of dosage, one suggestion is to consume 30g of fresh cannabis leaves per day.

Tips for Juicing Raw Cannabis

Add in 2- to 4-inch buds and 15 large fan leaves into a juicer. You can use the juice in smoothies with other vegetable and fruit juices, or freeze the juice to make ice cubes. Freeze leftover leaves to preserve their nutrients for future juicing.

Additional Tips for Juicing Cannabis:

Don’t use dry cannabis or nuggets that have already been cured for smoking.
Look for small, sticky crystals on the flowers and make sure that buds are amber colored.
Combine 1-part cannabis juice to 10-parts carrot juice to help reduce cannabis bitterness.

Additional Raw Cannabis Information

When incorporating raw cannabis into your diet, there are side effects to consider, including allergic reactions, possible ingestion of insecticides and pesticides, and compromised immune system from possible pathogenic exposure.

Consuming raw cannabis isn’t the best solution for fast symptom relief. Typically, it takes about three days to notice benefits. For some, the benefits may not be noticed for four to eight weeks as the nutrients build in your system.

To learn more about the benefits of cannabis, or to find a medical marijuana-recommending physician near you, visit MarijuanaDoctors.com.


Jason Draizin is the Founder and CEO of the Medical Cannabis Network and MarijuanaDoctors.com. Founded in 2010, MarijuanaDoctors.com is a secure portal for qualifying patients looking to connect and schedule an appointment with medical marijuana-certified physicians. The site has assisted in the certification of more than 300,000 patients in the U.S., and has established a network of more than 700 physicians nationwide.

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