What if medical marijuana is not legal in my state?

Lisa DOctober 22, 2020

Author: Dedee Cully, RN , Cannabis Nurse

It is hard enough coming to terms with GBM and the devastating prognosis for patients and families, but when this news is coupled with the discovery that something (in this case medical marijuana) that might be helpful is not legal in your state, it is an even greater blow to the hope we try to grasp.

With elections right around the corner, it would be great to see more states approve medical marijuana and even better if they would speed up getting it into the hands of patients. As patients and loved ones, it is important to recognize the potential risk and benefits of this plant and vote as you see fit. I was raised to vote and now is no time to stop…but enough about politics, what is one to do if they live in a state where marijuana is not legal or on the ballot? Is there another option?

I wish I had great news, but the truth is the cannabinoid content from a hemp plant is not equivalent to that of a marijuana plant. It is good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s kind of like the little brother to medical marijuana. Now, without getting too much into the science, chemovar profiling and extraction process that I use as an Interpener, let me break down some basics.

In the GBM fight, THC is king and CBG is the mother of all cannabinoids. There is mounding research/evidence that THC not only breaks through the blood-brain barrier, but apparently cancer likes to consume it. Fortunately for one with GBM, this consumption by the cancer cells seems to lead to apoptosis (cell-death) and who doesn’t love that!

Many know about CBD since there seems to be CBD stores/ads all around. While CBD is good for many things, it’s not shown to really help fight GBM. However, within the hemp plant there are other cannabinoids we need to pay attention to. If you happen to live in a handful of states that do not allow CBD oil – I’m so very sorry. For those that do but cannot get medical marijuana, here are some tips.

Look for ‘full spectrum’ organic products. This means the product has multiple cannabinoids from the plant, not just CBD. We need all of these because when they work together, accumulating evidence suggest they have potent anti-invasive effects on glioma cells [2].
Insist on a Certificate of Analysis or C of A because it tells exactly what you are getting. Look for things like hemp plant extract (not hemp seed) ; CO2 or food-grade ethanol extraction (you don’t want butane, propane or anything nasty); and don’t buy products with essential oils (I love these oils too) but you are looking for cannabis-not other oils.
Look for products with CBC, CBG and CBN since they are showing evidence of helping with inflammation and pain and CBN can slow cell replication and endure cell death (apoptosis) [1]. CBG is showing anti-cancer promise when combined with CBD [3]. Now these cannabinoids don’t generally come in great quantities, but a little goes a long way.
Don’t forget the terpenes! The WHAT??? Its what give the plant its smells. Terpenes are also contributors to helping inflammation and mood and who couldn’t use some help with that in our situations, right? There is caryophyllene, humulene, myrcene, and linalool just to name a few. You may find these listed on the ingredients but I always recommend the C of A.

I realize this is not the type of news some of you want because if it’s not legal in your state, you probably feel like you have hit yet another wall. There are other options besides cannabis and I am happy to help in that exploration.

For those of you in those ‘CBD oil only’ states, I beg you to do your research before consuming a product. There are great ones out there, but there are many that should not be used. I cannot stress enough the value of that C of A.

If you want or need more help, you can always reach me at https://www.2leafnurses.com/

Until next time, take care and stay safe!

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References:

[1] https://www.imedpub.com/proceedings/cbn-the-cancer-fighting-cannabinoid-5528.html

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5964193/

[3] https://thewest.com.au/business/public-companies/mgc-cannabinoid-blend-doubles-down-on-fight-against-brain-cancer-c-993359#:~:text=The%20current%20research%20introduced%20Cannabigerol,cytotoxic%20effect%20on%20glioblastoma%20cells.