Recreational cannabis use takes two forms: inhaled or ingested. For therapeutic patients, there are many more options that adapt to their specific needs: inhaling, eating, patches, creams, oils... From the same plant, we can obtain different products that act differently on our bodies.
More and more patients are using cannabis to alleviate symptoms or needs that other medications don't cover: either because they are highly addictive, like benzodiazepines and opiates, or because they are complex to manage and their side effects are poor companions: antidepressants, anticonvulsants...
Living without quality of life and with a chronic illness is very complex to explain for those who don't suffer from it. It's difficult to empathize with the suffering of others that has no solution. But what is clear is that pain cannot wait.
Consequently, some of the medical solutions available to patients are not sufficient to cover all their needs for well-being. This is when people break the rules and disobey in order to achieve something as sacred as their quality of life.
These are people who need help with analgesia, their mood, their appetite, or to achieve a peaceful and restful sleep. It must be acknowledged that, unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases, current legislation makes this very difficult.
Inhalation: Vaporizing or Smoking
There are many ways to consume cannabis. Inhalation is through the use of vaporizers, electronic devices that heat to ideal temperatures to obtain the benefits of the plant's cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids. This is one of the fastest and most effective methods when a patient needs rapid relief. The effect of vaporizing is much cleaner and more effective than smoking and allows users to better regulate their psychoactivity.
Another of the fastest and most commonly used methods, as well as an obvious one, is smoking, but from a strictly medical perspective, this is the most inadvisable, as it is the most harmful to the body, even more so when it comes to people with certain health conditions.
With regard to vaporizers, it is important to note that it is vitally important that these devices be fully certified by the EU, since, reaching temperatures of 220 degrees, they must guarantee that their electrical components are reliable and that patients will not inhale harmful components from their fused circuitry.
Oral Use: Oils, Infusions, and Edibles
When a therapeutic patient is looking for a longer-lasting effect, they can opt for the oral route, using oils, infusions, or edibles, but oils are clearly the ones that best serve the most appropriate dosage. There are many ways to make oils: through extractions or maceration in olive oil for weeks.
It is true that making extractions can be dangerous and cumbersome to do at home, because they involve toxic and flammable substances. However, until the National Health Service offers it, many patients have to make their own way.
Fortunately, with regard to medicinal CBD oils, legislation in our country has advanced somewhat, and many patients can now seek guidance from specialized information centers and purchase them in certain physical or virtual stores with certain guarantees.
