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Introduction
This is Dr. Victor Chou with the Medical Marijuana Clinic of Louisiana. Today we’re discussing one of the biggest news items since the start of the Medical Marijuana program in Louisiana
Medical Marijuana is now available in Flower form.
As always, please discuss any specific medical decisions with your doctor or pharmacist.
Basics of Flower
Many of you may be wondering what we mean by Flower Medical Marijuana.
In general, we separate medical marijuana products into two types: flower or finished.
Flower medical marijuana retains the natural plant form of the marijuana. It is what we generally think of as marijuana. Bud or leaf are other terms for flower.
Think of it like a tomato or apple that you would find at a grocery store which is the natural form of the product.
Finished products consists of medical marijuana that under goes additional processing to create a final form that is distinct from the natural plant.
Types of finished products includes inhalable cartridges, edibles, gummies, pills, tinctures, or other forms that do not resemble the plant.
Again, think of tomato sauce or apple sauce versus tomatoes and apples.
Pros and Cons
One of the main pros of flower marijuana is cost.
Because the process involves simply growing and harvesting the marijuana, and there is no additional transformation into other products, flower is generally the least costly form of medical marijuana.
Flower marijuana also has a lot of versatility. Patients may inhale the flower or ingest it orally. Inhalation use often results in a quick, titratable effect helpful for many medical symptoms.
However, there are also cons with flower marijuana. Smoking flower can cause pulmonary issues, and can often cause a distinct odor that identifies the patient as a marijuana user.
Also, flower may not be a good choice for beginners, as it generally requires more effort to get the marijuana to a state that is ready to use.
Using Flower
Probably 90% of patients using flower medical marijuana will inhale it.
This could constitute rolling the marijuana in paper or placing in a pipe and igniting it and smoking it, or it could constitute heating it without incineration and inhaling through water or using a dry vaporizer.
In general, for patients who choose to inhale flower, we feel that the greatest medical benefit, with the least (although not completely devoid of) negative effects occur using a dry vaporizer.
Additionally, another 10% of patients will use the flower marijuana in an oral form.
This is generally accomplished by cooking the flower with a fat like oil or butter, straining out the plant material, and then subsequently using the fat to make cookies, brownies, or other foods, although other methods of cooking with flower exist.
Available Strains
Right now, there are three strains available.
Good Day Farms has produced Mandarin Zkittlez and Grease Monkey.
Ilera has produced Mandarin Cookies.
All three strains are classified as hybrids.
Cost Comparison
As discussed earlier, flower is generally the least costly form of medical marijuana.
At the dispensaries, we are seeing prices around $15 to $20 per gram which is about 50 to 70% cheaper than the current finished products.
However, you will need to add in the costs of other accessories to use the flower medical marijuana, such as rolling paper or a dry vaporizer.
Summary
We hope that our discussion of Flower Medical Marijuana helped you decide if this treatment form is for you or not.
As always, please discuss any specific medical decisions with your doctor or pharmacist.
Please visit our website if you want to learn more about our clinic or medical marijuana or to Request a Consultation with me.
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