How does cannabis help our veterans?
For veterans, dealing with injuries sustained during deployments is never easy. Physical pain is bad enough, but add in PTSD or anxiety, and life becomes overwhelming quickly. Many veterans have turned to some form of medical cannabis for help, but with marijuana still being a federally controlled substance, it has left many with few options. The Department of Veteran Affairs is making steps towards removing certain roadblocks for alternative treatments through research, but this has proven too slow for some suffering daily with these issues.
However, due to hemp being federally regulated starting in 2018, many veterans have found their legal alternative to marijuana. Since this market has opened up, more and more companies are developing products that work just as well as, and in some cases work better than traditional medical marijuana. Some patients using high-grade medical marijuana for mental health conditions sometimes report spikes of anxiety or paranoia shortly after dosing. Needless to say, this can be counterproductive for a condition like PTSD. In these cases, the answer could be something in the same family, but that is either much less pyscho-active or not pyscho-active at all.
There are more than 100+ naturally occurring cannabinoids in the plant. The most popular of these are THC and CBD. New research is coming out all the time on their effectiveness alone and working together. Delta-9 THC is what most people would consider “regular THC”, and it’s the substance that causes the plant federally scheduled as a narcotic. If a product contains less than .3% of Delta-9 THC on a dry weight basis, it’s considered hemp. So, within that guideline there are many products state and federally legal to buy over the counter in Louisiana.
If you lived in Ruston in years past, getting cannabis for a medical use was a criminal act. But now with hemp’s legal status, it’s as easy as walking in a store to get what you need. However, it’s hard to know what you’re getting without doing some research. For many people, CBD can work in the background to treat pain, anxiety, sleep, and a list of other conditions. But for some, that’s just not enough. A more direct attack would be THC, but with that being much more highly regulated, a new cannabinoid has emerged as a life saver for many people. That cannabinoid is Delta-8 THC. It has a lot of the similar properties as “regular” Delta-9 THC, but can be much less intense on it’s pysho-active effects. This can make it more forgiving when trying to figure out what individual dose helps a particular issue. Delta-8 THC is known by it’s users to have direct pain control properties, sleep inducing effects, used for mood enhancement, or appetite stimulant. But keep in mind, this is a pyscho-active substance and can be intoxicating in higher doses.
It’s hard to know what the future holds for the scientific research and legality of cannabis, but we can all agree the outlook now isn’t as bleak as it was only 5 years ago. With all the information out there, researching medical cannabis can be a confusing task. Luckily that’s why we, at 1620 Essentials, are here for you. While we’re not doctors and the research is limited, we can help steer you in the right direction by walking through your options to see what you think will work best.
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