Six Assumptions That Patients Should Not Make About Medical Cannabis

If your doctor or therapist has recommended medical cannabis to you, it's important that you do your research. Some people are discouraged from experiencing the benefits of medical cannabis because they're poorly informed and make inaccurate assumptions.

The following are six assumptions that patients should not make about medical cannabis. 

You'll become addicted to cannabis if you start taking it medicinally.

You shouldn't avoid cannabis if it could be medically beneficial to you simply because you're worried that you'll have addiction issues.

If you follow your prescription carefully, medical cannabis should not be addictive and could even be significantly less addictive than other prescription pain medications such as oxycodone. 

You'll be at risk of having legal problems if you use medical cannabis.

It's true that the use of cannabis is still highly controlled or even outlawed in some states. Patients do need to pay attention to the legal aspects of using medical cannabis. However, you won't have any legal issues if you have a prescription and live in an area where medical cannabis is legal. 

Taking cannabis medicinally puts a patient at risk of developing psychiatric conditions.

Another common misconception that patients have is that they'll be at risk of psychiatric conditions such as bipolar disorder or psychosis if they use medical cannabis.

However, taking only the amount of medical cannabis mixtures that one is prescribed shouldn't increase one's risk of experiencing such conditions. 

Medical cannabis can't make that big a difference for patients.

While medical cannabis isn't a cure-all, it can be highly effective for patients suffering from certain conditions. For example, medical cannabis can be very effective for patients who are suffering from conditions like cancer, epilepsy, posttraumatic stress disorder, and various types of chronic pain. 

You'll get high if you take cannabis for medical reasons.

Cannabis medications must include THC to make patients high. Many prescription cannabis medications do not contain THC but rather contain primarily CBD, which is another component of cannabis.

Even cannabis medications that include THC often don't include a significant enough amount to make a patient high. 

You'll be tempted to try harder drugs if you start taking cannabis medicinally.

Recreational drugs are typically taken by drug users to achieve a "high". Because many medical cannabis mixtures cannot make a patient high, they are unlikely to make patients curious about trying harder drugs. Again, sticking to one's prescription should prevent any issues with addiction or drug use. 

For more information, contact a company like Texas Medical Marijuana Doctors.