For some people, it still remains difficult to distinguish between the plant’s medicinal and recreational uses. This stems largely — let’s face it — from the fact that inhaling the plant’s vapors gets you high, even when that isn’t the primary reason why its being consumed.
It’s not just anti-cannabis critics who have a problem with this issue. Many of the people who consume raw cannabis with a doctor’s recommendation have no interest whatsoever in getting high. For them, the plant is a safe and natural method of relieving constant pain and constant discomfort, and it’s euphoric and thought befuddling qualities are seen as nothing more than unwanted side effects. Fortunately, research is now showing benefits from eating or juicing raw cannabis.
Cannabis enthusiasts have historically focused on developing strains with the largest possible concentrations of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the active ingredient in
marijuana that produces the “high”. Medical cannabis growers, more recently, have been much more focused on increasing concentrations of a lesser known, but therapeutically more beneficial chemical compound called Cannabidiol (CBD) which has been proven medically to help relieve inflammation, convulsions, nausea, as well as inhibit cancer cell growth.
By volume, there is significantly more CBD than THC, in marijuana. However, because of the way in which the two compounds interact when heated, the effects of the latter generally becomes the more noticeable of the two.