Should we all be getting high?
High gang
⬆️⬆️ Sorry 🤦♀️ couldn’t resist.
Does anyone else here the Afroman song every time you hear the phrase “got high”? Or is it imprinted in my head because I went to, possibly, the only school in the world that thought it was appropriate to play it at the Christmas disco, full of 12 year old kids 🤷🏼♀️. I’m not sure I like that a song, about how you’re life turns to shit because you take drugs, makes me nostalgic, but there we are.
This week I’ve been thinking about cannabis. Longer than just this week actually. It’s hard not to, when there are reports in the press about the debate on medicinal marijuana, and people on social media trying to flog you CBD oils all the time. I saw a fascinating video on Facebook, where else, regarding a young boy, no older than six, in the middle of an epileptic fit and his mother massaging some kind of cannabis solution or paste into his gums. Within seconds the boy was relaxing, the seizures were slowing, his muscles were less tense and constricted and he generally appeared calmer. My university education is asking me to question the integrity of the video, given it was shared by a CBD supplier, but YouTube is FULL of people documenting their similarly positive stories.
We all know BuzzFeed, right? Popular internet magazine that’s responsible for about 90% of the best Facebook articles. Well one of their employees has documented her pain journey, from applying for a “prescription card” to buying, testing and reviewing CBD products. I’m not going to lie, it’s a pretty convincing watch, in fact I’m currently looking into becoming a hipster ... with my blog, vape and espresso (I’m dairy free now, so Lattes are off 😔). I’ll add the link below because she details everything. Who knew the cannabis plant has such a meaningful history in medicine? Like, actual ANCIENT history!! I honestly only really associate its history with the 90s “stoners”- with their tie-dye clothing and skateboards. Yep, everyone who smokes weed is essentially Travis from Clueless 😂. (Can you totally tell I was born in 1990?)
It does seem odd that the world is so divided on a naturally sourced plant, that is clinically proven to ease a wide range of symptoms. Especially considering the huge amount of opiate-based medications that are prescribed every single day. In “real world” terms, heroin is far more dangerous than weed, so why is it that there medical counterparts are reversed?
Here in the UK, it’s not widely known that there is one cannabis-based treatment available on prescription. Sativex (trade name) has been available since 2010, and according to the all-knowing world of Wikipedia, is prescribed for some of the severe symptoms associated with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Across the pond in America, medicinal marijuana has been made legal in most states (31 of the 50 states, to be exact) for years. California was the first, of course it was, to do so way back in 1996. I totally remember the 90s movie Stepmom, where Susan Sarandon tells Julia Roberts “life’s a tradeoff. It’s finally legal to smoke dope, but you’ve got to have cancer” but never realising it would have been quite controversial at the time. Flash forward to 2018, when weed is legal in some states (medical or recreational) is seems bizarre that there remains four states that don’t allow any form of cannabis-related products.
To clarify, 31 states allow medical marijuana, this includes the states that have legalised cannabis completely. An additional 15 states allow certain products, providing the THC content is below a legal standard.
THC and CBD are terms banded about a lot, and honestly it can get confusing. So here’s the gist.
THC stands for Tetrahydrocannabinol (literally no one can pronounce it, I’m sure). THC is a chemical component, that is naturally found in some plants, and is the primary psychoactive component in cannabis. Basically, the mind altering, hallucinating, paranoid “high” that people report is caused by THC.
CBD stands for Cannabidiol and, again, is a natural component in cannabis and other plants including hemp. CBD products made from the hemp plant, such as the famed Charlotte’s Web products, are technically, 100% legal and can be found in most health food shops. Most products made from the cannabis plant are only legal if the THC content does not exceed a specified concentration. EU regulations for the UK state that THC levels of 0.2% or less is permitted.
On that note, I guess now is the time to tell you that I bought a bottle of hemp-based CBD oil from Holland and Barretts at the start of the year. Not only did it taste disgusting, it had no effect whatsoever. Unless you count the sight allergic reaction I had. Safe to say my first experience wasn’t the positively life changing moment I was promised.
My little bit of research has told me that, maybe buying the cheapest available product from the high street store, possibly won’t give me the best results and I’m still planning on experimenting with different products. I have to state that I definitely won’t be heading to the dodgiest area of town (of which there are a few in Sheffield) to score myself anything illegal. Honestly having never tried marijuana, I can’t say that I’m tempted. The smell reminds me of disgusting old and dried sweat, and the term “bong-water” makes we nauseous (although I’m still not quite sure what it actually is 😂).
What do you think gang? Do you think is should be legalised? It is argued that cannabis is actually less harmful to the body then alcohol and tobacco are.
Like I said, I’m experimenting, so I’d love to hear some of your experiences with CBD. Have you had any success with any particular product? Have you learnt anything from my quick google search? 😂. Get involved and comment below ❤️
(For fun)
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