Medical Cannabis VS. Street Weed
The use of cannabis to help treat and relieve symptoms of various conditions, illnesses, and ailments are increasingly considered mainstream. Perhaps you have reviewed the list of conditions and are asking yourself, "Why not buy my own, consult with Dr. Google and give it a try?"
An online search might make you feel pretty empowered and optimistic. But let's take a moment and explore that thought. Civilized.com compares the two sources and finds:
If you're using marijuana for medical purposes, however, you'll want to know which strains are best for treating your specific symptoms. (precisely why it is important to work with someone like Sherry Verostko-Slazak, an experienced New York State Medical Marijuana Certification Provider and practitioner )
Medical marijuana is usually listed as grown organically and under strict care, and while you may get the same knowledge on how the recreational marijuana is grown in dispensaries, there's little chance you'll know how cannabis you buy off the streets is grown.
Then, there's the real scary stuff, including:
Lacing – This is a very big concern with street marijuana. MM and recreational marijuana do quality control and assurance on their products. This isn’t done on street marijuana. This means that what you’re purchasing may have contaminants or adulterants. To make the THC stronger in the oils and extracts, harmful butane may be used and there may be a residue of it in your purchase. Harmful heavy metals found in the soil where marijuana grows can leach into the plant. Pesticides and fertilizers can be used to make the potency stronger and plants grow more robustly and can end up in the marijuana, too. Glass shards may be found in the marijuana made into the street edibles. Fungus and bacteria can grow on the plant due to poor storage of the product.
Chemical Lacing – PCP is used to add more psychoactive properties to the marijuana. PCP can lead to hallucinations, delusions, confusion, aggression, neurological effects, etc. Heroin and maybe fentanyl lead to severe sleepiness, lethargy or relaxation. Opioids as we know can lead to breathing problems and overdose. Embalming fluid, cocaine, laundry detergent (improves the smell) and LSD – just about anything that increases the appeal of the product – might be used. Generally, if your marijuana does not provide any psychoactive, pain-relieving, anxiety or sleep benefits, then you may be smoking inert material only. If there is too much psychoactivity seemingly uncharacteristic of marijuana, your product may have dangerous drugs added.
As excerpted from Quora, you'll learn
The most common reason for this is that most MMJ strains are cultivated to treat a certain ailment rather than for recreational value. Therefore, they have greater concentrations of therapeutic cannabinoids (CBD, etc.) than recreational THC.
You have no idea what is in that other than someone else just grew that plant. There could be toxic pesticides on it or other adulterants, sometimes people soak it in water to make it heavier, or even soak it in formaldehyde to give it “more kick”… That’s what you get with street drugs, you don’t really know what you’re getting. You might even get some that has been rolled around in glass beads to make it look like it has more “crystals” well…. it doesn’t take an expert to know inhaling red hot fragments of glass into your lungs is bad for you. Inhaling the incomplete combustion products of anything is bad enough!
In Summary
Three cheers for expertise, consistency, and safety. If you are suffering from conditions such as chronic pain, cancer, or PTSD, please contact us about how a medical marijuana treatment plan can help you.
PS- While on the subject of PTSD, before you think, " I never served in the military, I don't qualify," it may surprise you know that there are a variety of experiences that are considered traumatic. Let's talk and see if we can help.