Is My Recreational Marijuana Use Turning Medicinal?

 As marijuana starts to become recreationally and medically legal across the U.S., people should become aware of whether your marijuana use is recreational or medicinal. Although recreational use sparked interest in the plant, medicinal use has become more prevalent each day.

 

Before we get into the major differences between recreational use and medicinal use, we have to understand that there are two types of marijuana. There are “regular” marijuana and medicinal marijuana.

 

 What is the difference between “regular” marijuana and medicinal marijuana?

 

According to an article posted on CannaMD, marijuana is deemed “medical” if it’s dispensed to a state qualified patient from a medical marijuana treatment center (What’s the Difference Between Medical & Regular Marijuana?, 2019). These strains of marijuana tend to be on the lower end of the spectrum when it comes to THC concentration, and it contains more CBD (What’s the Difference Between Medical & Regular Marijuana?, 2019).

 

However, “regular”/”recreational” marijuana is any form of marijuana used without medical reasons(What’s the Difference Between Medical & Regular Marijuana?, 2019). As a result, these strains tend to be on the higher end of the spectrum when it comes to THC concentration.

 

The last major difference between the two types is that you would have to get an official recommendation to obtain medical cannabis(What’s the Difference Between Medical & Regular Marijuana?, 2019). Meanwhile, if the state has it legal for those over a certain age to recreationally use marijuana, you just have to come into the dispensary with a photo ID (What’s the Difference Between Medical & Regular Marijuana?, 2019).

 

Since we figured out the difference between the two types, we can start to figure out if your marijuana use is more medicinal or recreational by looking at how you use your marijuana.

 

What are the differences between a recreational user and a medicinal user?

 

As previously noted, medicinal marijuana has a lower THC concentration than recreational marijuana. However, this isn’t just happening because of regulation. This happens because medicinal users don’t use marijuana for psychoactive purposes. They only use it to alleviate symptoms in which lower THC concentrations can accomplish without those intense psychoactive effects (What’s the Difference Between Medical & Regular Marijuana?, 2019).

 

Also, medicinal users use marijuana more frequently because of these symptoms while recreational users are more infrequent since this is an occasional thing to pastime (Hartney et al., n.d.). This is why recreational users use marijuana in social settings more than medicinal users (Hartney et al., n.d.). For recreational users, marijuana isn’t needed to relax or alleviate, but more like a social activity like drinking wine (Hartney et al., n.d.).

 

If you find yourself using marijuana to alleviate stress or medical conditions rather than a social act, you should go see a doctor about getting a recommendation for medicinal marijuana.

 

Also for those that use marijuana recreationally, please be careful and mindful of how much use it. Although recreational marijuana use seems harmless, it can lead to excessive use and addiction.

 

It may be only a 1 in 10 chance of getting addicted to marijuana if the user is over the age of 18 (Hartney et al., n.d.). There is still a chance that has to be noted. To be clear, recreational users display low investments in marijuana (Hartney et al., n.d.). Recreational users don’t use excessive amounts of money on marijuana, and they don’t sacrifice essential things like food or household bills for marijuana (Hartney et al., n.d.).

 

If there is anyone you know that could be addicted to marijuana, get them help as quickly as possible.

 

 


References

Elizabeth Hartney, B. (2020, November 23). The Impact of Recreational Marijuana Use. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/recreational-marijuana-use-22302

H., M. (2019, September 19). What's the Difference Between Medical & Regular Marijuana? Retrieved from https://www.cannamd.com/whats-the-difference-between-medical-recreational-marijuana/

Hartney, E., BSc, MSc, & MA. (n.d.). Characteristics of Recreational Marijuana Use. Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.verywellmind.com/recreational-marijuana-use-22302

What’s the Difference Between Medical & Regular Marijuana? (2019, July 31). https://www.cannamd.com/whats-the-difference-between-medical-recreational-marijuana/

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