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Why THC is More Medicinal Than CBD
Getting the facts straight on medical cannabis
Ten years ago, seldom was it the case that you saw any cannabis-related product in ordinary stores. Today, the shelves are stocked with CBD.
The story that CBD enthusiasts tell is quite compelling. CBD (Cannabidiol) is touted to be the “medicinal” chemical produced by cannabis. The hype behind it is essentially that CBD can treat a myriad of conditions without the psychoactive effects of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol). Many patients who are seeking medical cannabis find these claims compelling, as getting high simply is not for everyone.
The question remains: can CBD really help with things like anxiety, pain, depression, seizures, and cancer? The way CBD is advertised and spoken about makes it sound like a miracle cure-all.
Yet, the short answer is mostly not.
At the moment, the existing research on CBD shows that it is quite effective for treating seizures. This is great, as — unlike many standard seizure medications — CBD has little to no negative side-effects for most people. For all of the other prepared benefits of CBD, however (including pain, anxiety, cancer, and drug addiction) the data does not show that CBD is effective. Any data that does show its efficacy is animal research that utilizes dosages that most people simply cannot afford (for example, 800mg per day of CBD might help with anxiety — for context, a bottle of CBD oil that contains a total of 600mg costs about $100 at most legal dispensaries).
Until there is more research showing that the common measly dosages of common CBD products can do anything, it is really best not to waste your money on such products. For natural remedies to things like anxiety, you are better off going with supplements that actually work, like lavender extract — lavender extract (specifically, Silexen, taken orally) has in some studies, proven more effective than benzodiazepines, but without the risk of dependence and side-effects.
What about THC? It is quite often assumed that THC is merely “what gets you high” and that’s all it is. Hence, stigma has been attached to THC — as, for whatever reason, there is often a strange moral opprobrium accompanied implicitly in comments like, “isn’t that what…
