Using Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes: How Does Marijuana Help to Relieve Pain?

If you haven’t heard much about the use of cannabis as medicine, then you might be in for a surprise when you find out that doctors recommend it as a remarkably effective type of pain relief drug. Although it’s technically termed as a “drug,” medical marijuana actually has very little resemblance to pain medicine. Moreover, as we will see, it also doesn’t have the same addictive qualities as regular pain medication.

Instead of affecting the brain the way a basic painkiller would, cannabis acts to mimic certain, naturally occurring substances in the body that are feature receptors present in the nervous system, various glands, as well as gonads and organs. These cannabinoids play an important role in regulating the body’s Endocannabinoid system.

Researchers have identified two major types of cannabinoids found in the human body: CB1 and CB2, the latter mainly operating in the immune system. What happens when marijuana enters the system is that it uses the Endocannabinoid system to perform certain changes throughout the entire body, and only performs smaller changes on the brain.

What’s curious is that, instead of eliminating the experience of pain itself, cannabis acts mostly on the emotional response to pain, diminishing the actual pain instead of getting rid of it entirely. Because its effect on the brain is limited, cannabis doesn’t have the same negative, addictive effects as normal painkillers would.

Find pain management CB1 at La Junta dispensary facilities.

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