The Bottom Line

Giving medical marijuana to patients suffering from HIV or AIDS, seizure disorders, and in case of chronic pain is trending. In addition to this, it is given to patients suffering from severe nausea. Also, it is proven beneficial for patients who lose their appetite for treatment such as chemotherapy. The chemical inside medical marijuana is active compared to the marijuana plant.
There had been several issues getting under the light once the news of cannabis legalization came into existence. This has for sure brought smiles to millions of faces. Proper laws and decrees have been passed for the possession, cultivation, and growing of marijuana but what is the major concern right now is that there are no laws for the child safe storage of medical marijuana products.

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The Complete Story

After the Democrats winning the position they have pushed a way forward to the matter of legalization of medical marijuana in the States. Although there are many states in America where it has been legalized but the debate is still in the air about other states.
Dated, 14th January many states have made it legal in the District of Columbia. There are specific medical conditions allowing patients to use medical marijuana legally. Examples of such conditions include patients with cancer, AIDS, and severe nausea. Also, patients suffering from seizure disorders and high-intensity pain can legally use medical marijuana. However, the Federal Government doesn’t take any legal action against people holding it but it still is illegal under federal law.

What’s Next

Now coming to the major concern legal or illegal, if you have marijuana in your household, it is accessible to small children. The recent study suggests that children swallowing marijuana are serious and need hospitals to save their lives. As medical marijuana has a high intensity of an active chemical termed tetrahydrocannabinol– abbreviated as THC compared to marijuana plant or dried marijuana.

Reports by researchers in Colorado

Kids are curious and they have a habit of imitating adults. There is a very high chance of bad news if you don’t take the proper precautions of keeping medical marijuana at your homes. Cookies, brownies, and candies contain medical marijuana. Such items usually don’t have any warning labels that would at least remind the adults to keep such things out of reach. Researchers in Colorado have recently reported an increase in the number of cases after swallowing its products. The children’s ages vary from 8 months to12 years old. After these cases, evaluations suggested that medical marijuana cakes, brownies, and candies belonged to the grandparents, parents, friends, or baby sitters coming to their places.

Symptoms in Children

The most common and noticeable symptoms that left the parents suspicious were excessive sleeping, lightheadedness, and having trouble maintaining balance. Yet, some children faced breathing issues-leaving them with low oxygen saturation. Fortunately, enough none of such cases expired and they recovered without the persistence of any health issues.
The most common symptoms were excessive sleepiness, lightheadedness, and trouble walking. However, a few became too sleepy and their breathing slowed down. That could mean the child doesn’t get enough oxygen. Fortunately, none of these children died. They all recovered without permanent health problems.

ALSO READ: Two Faces of Marijuana

The True Story

This happened which warned the parents in the state to take special care of their children. As at this particular time there are no regulations for child-resistant packaging of medical marijuana products.
Report says that a 3-year-old child ate a cookie made with his grandfather’s medical marijuana. The trouble for the family came into notice When the child became very sleepy rushing to an emergency room was the only option. Several blood tests and medical procedures as per the protocols took place but the urine sample declared the presence of marijuana. The child was admitted to ICU for further treatment and procedures.

Perhaps one of the most overlooked and avoided affairs in the Senate is the legalization of weed. In the past, some laws did become a reality. These include house bill 3703 that makes slight changes to Texas’ low-THC medical program.

We’ve seen about two dozen bills that address decriminalization of medical cannabis, allowing hemp cultivation, and outright legalization of carrying and using weed.

The responsible marijuana policy director Heather Fazio believes that this current push for legalization is something that was never seen.

The house bill 447 by El Paso Democratic Representative Joe Moody would permit adults in the state of Texas to purchase and subsequently possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis. Moreover, 15 grams of this could be in concentrate form. The bill also allows people to grow up to 12 plants at their private residence.

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The bill also argues that this will facilitate in curbing the illegal movement of cannabis as prices will go down significantly and everyone related to the trade will have their records sorted.  Bill 447 also allows for retail operations under a license and a 10% sales tax.

The current suggestion will allow most of the money to go to the Public-School Teachers Fund. Another such senator, Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, brings bill 140 to the table that essentially offers an alternate way to distribute the money.

Texans for Responsible Marijuana Policy Director Heather Fazio believes that economic factors may also weigh heavily. She thinks that over a billion dollars per budget cycle will be added to the national exchequer. All this can be put to practice by legalizing a product that people are already using. Right now it is largely unregulated and is outside the tax net.

Increased Acceptance in People Regarding Weed Use and Distribution

The suggestions are to be a part of the constitution through amendments. Fazio sees more bipartisan common ground in their efforts related to decriminalization and penalty reduction. Even extremely conservative members like Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, wish to reduce the penalty for small-scale possession to a class C misdemeanor. This would make small-scale (under two-ounce) possession ineligible for jail time.

All these movements will allow Texas’ medical cannabis program to grow further. Senator José Menéndez, D-San Anton­io, has been a long-standing fan of the medical use of weed. Each time the house was in session since 2015; his SB 90 would allow physicians to prescribe cannabis products to their patients. This is a suggestion for any level of THC concentration, and for whatever diseases that the doctor sees fit. Menéndez believes that his bill will allow a medical doctor the right to decide about what’s the best medical treatment for them.

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Medicinal Usage of Weed

Menéndez is vouching for medicinal use of weed. He thinks whoever does abuse the use of weed will continue to do so with or without this legalization. Menéndez further says he wants to open weed usage up for senior citizens and law-abiding citizens who need pain relief. He wants weed legalized for people who wouldn’t dare touch weed except for medicinal purposes.

According to Menéndez,  SB 90 could easily pass in both chambers but is unsure about the take of the governor or lieutenant governor on the matter. He expects both to be on the same side as most other Texans, who have vouched for open trade and legalization of weed.

Cannabis has been the go to drug for ‘locked-down’ people during the pandemic. According to a 2020 survey, a whopping 88% of the participants reported weed use at least once a week. Around 50% of the participants use it on a daily basis.

Other stats from the survey show that around 31% participants feel dependency on it. While 31% participants have some sort of dependency, 27% want to give it up. The problem arises in cases where the drug is in use to induce sleep.

A 2009 study showed that the main cause of cannabis relapse was poor sleeping patterns.

Cannabis As An Energy Booster?

 People tend to depend on cannabis for a good night’s sleep. Those who develop a dependency, then have a hard time getting good sleep without its use. People have reported sleepless nights whenever they try to cut their use of cannabis.

For people going through such problems, cannabis actually helps them focus. This is because a lack of it will keep the brain racing at night and it will not be rested for the next day. Deirdre Conroy, the Clinical Director of Behavioral Sleep Medicine at the University of Michigan, thinks that this behavior is typically caused by the withdrawal symptoms from quitting cannabis.

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However, if you are looking forward to giving up cannabis, there are some ways you can achieve that.

Confronting Your Problems, The Right Way

Many a times there is some underlying problem that bothers people. They tend to take weed just to distract their minds off of that problem. According to Dr. Conroy, a person must address such an issue straight away. There are better ways of managing mental issues like anxiety and stress than taking weed. These include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and medication.

It should be kept in mind that seeking professional help is not always going to get you the answers you seek. One should be mindful and must manage themselves in the best possible manner. It is better to step out of one’s damaging cocoon and set targets that will help in managing stress.

There should a clear cut-off point that separates you from your work. To achieve this, avoid working from your bed or even your bedroom. Jot down all of your worries before bed and leave them on a paper instead of taking them to bed with you.

Instant Results Are a Hoax

Don’t expect to just climb into bed and fall asleep instantly after fine-tuning your routine. According to Conroy, it is very much normal to lay awake in bed staring at the ceiling for some time. There should be wind-down time window where phones and other such distractions are stowed away from sight. So basically the redemption starts by avoiding the more obvious addiction, the phone.

Dr Neil Stanley, a sleep expert, also suggests that the room should have minimal distractions and one must avoid anything too stimulating. Dr. Stanley believes one must sacrifice that one hour of Netflix before sleep, which keeps your brain working even after you fall asleep.

Weed Inhibits Nightmares

Cannabis suppresses REM sleep. Discontinuing the use of cannabis can cause REM sleep to rebound and this might lead to some nightmares or really tangled up dreams.

People tend to relapse when they face such episodes of dreams. Long-standing users of cannabis experience even stronger traumatic nightmares when they cut-back on the use of cannabis.

While this is not readily solvable, it can be managed to a certain extent by limiting your exposure to traumatic things.

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There is No One Ring Fits All Approach

The fact remains that addiction and control of it are different for every individual. The best method to deal with insomnia after quitting weed is to analyze what makes you feel content. It might be reading a book, yoga, taking a shower, or even playing with your pet. You have to analyze what helps you get the best sleep and stick to that regimen.