Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
I have experimented with pot a lot, but I don't do it often. It just isn't for me, but I am 100% for the legalization.
But one thing that bothers me is when people without any expertise "prescribe" it for people with anxiety. It's true that it can help some people with occasional anxiety, but for people with actual anxiety disorders, it often does the opposite. It's a sad irony and people with diagnosed anxiety disorders (like myself) should talk to a doctor and not rely on anecdotal opinions. It can make the parts of the brain that release chemicals that cause anxiety or balance (or cause an imbalance in) serotonin even more active in some people. Reading some of the posts in this thread that recommend certain strains to people who are truly desperate for anxiety relief makes me a little upset.
Here is a good write up on it:
https://tonic.vice.com/en_us/article...or-some-people |
OK so a couple things.
You don't want anecdotal evidence, yet you linked to an article filled with it. Guy had a panic attack after buying street weed rice krispies, which could have been made from ANYTHING. Now I'm not saying it may have been laced with something, but what I am saying is that the strain used is completely unknown. No kidding he had a panic attack, he had no clue what dosage was in it, or what type of marijuana they used. The probability of me buying street cookies is exactly zero.
It also goes into scientific detail regarding what CAN happen (and I agree with it), but again what are they using? "Weed" is a very general term. Terpenes are what makes up strains, and is what controls their effects on people. Are there strains that cause anxiety? YES. Are there strains that help it? Also 1000% YES.
Reading your post it seems like you want people to leave it in the hands of the professionals. If you know of a medical professional that prescribes marijuana based on its terpene profiles I would like to know about them. I would also like to see research done in this area. I can probably save you a lot of time though, because it doesn't exist (I've been looking). Doctors I have dealt with really have no clue......in fact they take the same approach that they take when prescribing pills, which is more or less trial and error until you get the brand and dosage right, then carry on from there. I watch my wife go through this almost every month with our family doctor. Ativan, pristiq, etc etc she has about 5 different prescriptions going at any given time depending on symptoms. It's no different that what I was advocating in my earlier posts, except it's a lot cheaper and you aren't swallowing pills all day. I don't have all the answers, but we have gone through HUNDREDS of strains looking for them so I would hope maybe I learned something in my (our) drug induced haze.
It's not perfect, but thanks to the US and their war on drugs, little to no research has been done in this area so really it's all we have. Hopefully that changes, because we are really just scratching the surface of it's capabilities. Until there is scientific research done on terpene profiles, what they do and how they do it, there is no "medical professional" that can prescribe marijuana effectively to cure anxiety (or any other disorder really). In fact, almost every doctor I have encountered (which is quite a few) really has no clue, other than anecdotal evidence from guys like me, and simply writes a prescription expecting you (or me) to figure it out.
I can understand your frustration. I have family members with CRIPPLING anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts and tendencies. It's with these people though that we are trying to find strains that help with their conditions, and so far we have been pretty successful with it. Are we scientists? Hell no. We are just a group of guys who like the weed for various reasons, and if I can help someone get a good nights rest or get through their day a little easier then I'm going to do it. I really do believe that there is a strain for everyone, if for no other reason than simple math. There are endless combinations of profiles you can engineer with terpene extracts, and it's only a matter of time before someone with a heck of a lot more time and money than me figures it out.
Anyway, TL,DR don't dismiss it until you drill into it a bit more. It's waaaayyyy more complicated than what is in the article you posted.