The Chemistry of Marijuana in Medicine

I have so much more that I want to talk about on this subject. I didn't know I was so scared of public speaking until I sat back down after my presentation and realized I forgot to mention almost half my findings and points.

Finding clear studies without an agenda is always hard, but I think it is especially difficult in the case of marijuana as a medicine. Along with marijuana being a part of medicine since at least 3000 BC, like we see in the Chinese Ideogram, I wanted to discuss how easily it can be looked at as something criminalized purely because of historical and current racism and classism. The Westerner's (Colonialist) were not the first one's to discover marijuana, nor did they catch on to its medicinal qualities until at least 1,000 years after the rest of the world had. Not to be frank, but Westerners, and especially those in power ie Colonialist thinkers, tend to be some jealous haters. It's pretty much as easy as that.
I think this is still currently our issue in not being able to talk about marijuana's medicinal qualities in a factual matter. It is still criminalized, except for now it's the pharmaceutical industry that can't figure out a proper way to make it into patent form, so they continue to keep the general public in the dark about its facts. Keeping many people in ignorance and then criminalizing many more. Capitalism at its finest.
I also wanted to touch on the point of lung health and smoking. I've heard a lot of people say different things about smoking marijuana. I think it's very important that we discuss with our patients the effects of smoking weed on the lungs, especially if they are having troubles with the particular area. Claiming that weed is "medicine" and then not facing the direct negative effects can be dangerous. Marijuana can cause many people problems with the lungs including chronic bronchitis, aveolar problems, less oxygen exchange, air flow obstruction, emphasema and even cancer.
This is where juicing can come into play, and if they are looking for a high a long with the healing direct them more towards tinctures. The heat and chemical reaction of marijuana on the lungs can be as detrimental as a cigarette in some ways. 
As I discussed in class, cannabis can help people with an overactive immune system but it hinders those with a low amount of white blood cells by supressing T cell function and cell mediated immunity. It's been known to not only ease but also heal such things as Epilepsy, Huntington's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Tourette's Syndrome, Sleep Apnea, GI Disorders, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Glaucoma.
Cannabis also helps with nausea, appetite, anxiety, and body pains because the THC and CBD's activate the CB1 and CB2 receptors inside the Central Nervous System. 

Components of Cannabis

Tetrahydrocannabinol




Cannabidiol-type
CBD


Cannabigerol-type
CBG