Marijuana has come a long way from its previously stigmatized status. In what feels like a short amount of time, marijuana went from being known as the “devil’s lettuce” to a popular prescription drug for medical treatments.
Its common knowledge among marijuana lovers that weed is prescribed for pain relief, appetite inhibition, and as an anti-anxiety drug, but medicinal cannabis is prescribed for some other more unconventional reasons, too.
5 Surprising Uses For Medicinal Cannabis
The list of uses for marijuana is longer than a New York City phonebook at this point these 5 are the most eyebrow-raising of the bunch.
1. Asthma
This one seems counter-intuitive. Wouldn’t putting smoke in your lungs make your asthma worse? Well, it turns out that cannabinoids in marijuana function as a muscle relaxer, which helps ease the spasming that occurs in the airways of the frequently asthmatic. Also, these days, you can find other ways to consume marijuana. You don’t have to smoke it!
2. Concussions
A person receives a concussion when their brain roughly bumps up against the inside of their skull, bruising and swelling the brain. Conveniently, marijuana has anti-inflammatory properties, which helps reduce the swelling of the brain following a concussion. Who knew!
3. Skin Conditions
It just so happens that our human skin, thanks to some kooky accident of nature, has a ton of cannabinoid receptors. Thusly, topical lotions made with cannabis can be used to treat acne, skin inflammation and itchiness.
4. Schizophrenia
This may be a surprise to anyone that’s had a bad trip smoking pot. Often times, weed can make a user feel hyper-anxious, paranoid and distressed. These just so happen to be symptoms of schizophrenia as well, so it seems to make little sense that weed would help a schizophrenic.
It turns out, however, that the non-psychoactive drug in marijuana, CBD, has tremendous anti-psychotic effects. This means, ideally, that a schizophrenic would be treated with marijuana or a marijuana by-product that has had the THC removed from it.
5. Seizures
Perhaps the benefits are felt the most among those that suffer from seizures, especially children. Many children are victim to seizure disorders that are resistant to traditional pharmaceuticals, so more and more parents have been turning to marijuana to treat them.
The results have been astounding. Many kids had the frequency of seizures cut in half, and a smaller percentage became completely seizure free. Doctors believe that the cannabinoid CBD is reducing their seizures but more studying has to be done. Luckily marijuana and CBD are both easy to buy with an Apollo Medical Center dispensary card.
Support For Marijuana Is Growing
Marijuana, once illegal everywhere in the U.S. is now completely legal in 9 states and is either licensed medically or is decriminalized in 29 more. Thanks to the medical benefits of marijuana, public support for the drug has reached a fever-pitch. We can only expect to see marijuana to be completely legalized by the federal government in the future.
If you live in a state that has legalized medicinal cannabis, and you’re thinking about trying it out to treat your ailments, check out our guide on what to ask your “budtender” first.