New to Medical Cannabis?

All adults 21+ may possess up to an ounze of cannabis in Washington State for whatever purpose. Each adult may also possess XYZ limits (edibles, hash oil etc) Thus some medical conditions may be easily self treated with a small amount of cannabis that would easily fit within the state's recreational cannabis limit. In addition, perhaps you want to treat a condition which does not fall into the state's parameters for conditions one can be authorized. A prime example would be sleep issues. Sleep issues do not count as a qualifying condition for getting a medical cannabis authorization. Yet anyone can go to any recreational cannabis store and purchase an edible which should allow one to see if it worked for sleep. The key is learning more about your condition and medical cannabis. Learn about cannabis legalities. Be proactive.

Interestingly Green Buddha notes that doctors are not necessarily open and well educated on medical cannabis or even the endocannabinoid system, so educate yourself about your health condition, be proactive and think critically.

First keep in mind that the law has changed and as of the summer of 2015 we are in the middle of regulation. Stay current on legal issues. Regulation goes into effect July 1, 2016 and brings a lot of changes. You will see dispensaries close - some permanently and some temporarily as certain older collectives with their taxes in order will be allowed to apply for a I502 retail license. Until July 1, 2016 patients will be allowed to grow 15 plants, but on July 1, 2016 unregistered patients will only be allowed 4 plants.

Green Buddha believes the most cost-effective approach for the vast majority of patients is to produce their own medicine. Traditionally one of the "miracles" of medical cannabis was its price. One's pain could be relieved for a $1. That's changing. The US health care system - already notorious for bloated costs with little health benefits - is about to take up medical cannabis. It won't be getting cheaper. If you possess an authorization consider growing. It would amaze you how cost-effective it is. Most patients don't need but a few plants.

Additionally until medical regulations come into effect growing your own medicine is the only way to insure you have pesticides free product. If you have no interest or cannot grow, and your use of medical cannabis is small by next summer you might decline to get an actual authorization. The value of an authorization is that it allows one to grow one's own medicine. The tax benefit will be neglible.

There are indeed a plethora of cannabis products now available and more being developed every year. You should consider vaping cannabis if your medical condition calls for it. Almost half of all the medical cannabis patients Green Buddha met with over the last decade were individuals with very little experience with cannabis. Many of these individuals were hoping to eat cannabis or take a pill. Yet taking flowers in has very different effects on the human body. Cannabis comes in two "subspecies" cannabis sativa and cannabis indica and when each is medicinally breathed in they have very different effects. Sativas tend to give patients an energized feeling and indicas give patients a more sedative effect. These are generalizations and not relevant for every individual. Thus if you have arthitis and you are looking for something to help you move in the daytime vaping cannabis sativa is one of the best options. You could also explore the non-psychoactive CBD - but CBD is most effective when combined with THC (found in either sativa or indica strains). Learn more about the active ingredients in cannabis. When one eats cannabis - it stays active in one's system for almost twice as long as vaping the product. But it also takes up to two full hours to effect, making it a difficult system to manage in the day time. But if one has a sleep disorder eating a little cannabis product is the very best method of consumption for that condition.
Get familar with the variety of products and come to understand how they work and you will be successful in treating your condition.
Not all edibles/medibles are the same. Edibles can be sublingual - and they hit the system quite rapidly - twenty minutes versus two hours. Drinking cannabis products can also hit very rapidly. Using cannabis gel caps (aka mari pills) to more selectively direct cannabinoids to the body's CB2 receptors is another edible mode with excellent results for those with autoimmune conditions.
Get knowledgeable about your medical condition and be proactive.

A cannabis vaporizer is a device use to vaporize the active ingredients of cannabis. The extracted vapor can be collected in a bag or inhaled directly through a hose or pipe. With no combustion involved there's significantly better efficience in extracting the active ingredients. Smoking wastes approximately one third of the cannabis but vaporizers can get your wastage down to nil, which also saves money.
Vaporizing your cannabis saves money, improves your health and is cleaner.

Decarboxylate your cannabis for better results with your vaporizer.

The focus on strains in the canabis industry is misguided. We should be focused on how that particularly plant has been grown... how a plant is grown affects the cannabinoid and terpene ratio. Literally the active ingredients of the medicine is different. Adding to the confusion studies have in fact shown that what you were told was one strain may very well be another. When you find a "strain" that works for your condition what you have found is a hybrid plant (almost all strains are now mixes of indicas and sativas) that was grown in a fashion such it produced the certain cannabinoids and terpenes you found successful for your medical condition.
This is why when patients are proactive and grow for their own medicine for their medical condition they usually become very successful as they figure out over time with trial and error what works.

Read the complete Green Buddha Cannabis Therapeutics Guide