As a medical cannabis patient, you want the highest purity products possible. Low-quality medical cannabis products usually contain a lower potency and harmful contaminants that may worsen your symptoms or condition.
If you’re on the hunt for the best medical cannabis products, our guide provides tips to find the highest quality products and avoid a bad experience. We show you how to identify bad medical cannabis products, so you never waste money or time.
Why It’s Important to Look for High Quality Cannabis as a Patient
Medical cannabis patients use cannabis to treat numerous conditions and symptoms. If they regularly consume low-quality cannabis with a high level of contaminants, they are risking their health unintentionally instead of making it better.
For example, smoking moldy weed can worsen respiratory conditions, causing coughing, nausea, and vomiting. Some patients may be allergic to mold. Consuming it could cause inflammation in the lungs and sinuses.
Even recreational consumers are using cannabis for wellness purposes, whether it’s to reduce anxiety or ease minor aches and pains after a rigorous workout. Whether you’re a medical or recreational consumer, looking for the highest quality cannabis is crucial.
Don’t Trust the Price
Often, higher price correlates with higher quality, but this isn’t always the case. Do some research on the cannabis brand before buying the product to determine how they grow and process cannabis. This tells you a lot about the quality of the product. Bad medical cannabis products are often sold for cheap, especially at unlicensed retailers.
Avoid Unlicensed Shops
It can be tempting to shop from black market dealers, especially if they are considerably cheaper, don’t charge excise taxes, and don’t require a medical cannabis card. However, saving a few bucks isn’t worth it in the long run. Illicit suppliers are not regulated like licensed retailers. Buying from them can put your health at risk.
Unlicensed dispensaries don’t have to test their product for contaminants, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and residual solvents. If they did, you would immediately be turned off from the high levels of contaminants commonly found in these products.
Look for the Certificate of Analysis (COA)
Although delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is not federally legal, cannabidiol (CBD) is legal to buy online and ship anywhere in the U.S. However, not all CBD retailers are equal. Only trust retailers that have tested their products with a third-party analytical laboratory.
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A Certificate of Analysis (COA) is provided by the testing lab and indicates the product’s potency and purity. You want to know exactly how much THC, CBD, terpenes, and other compounds are in there to avoid failing a drug test or getting unintentionally high.
Shop U.S. Grown Hemp
Most CBD is derived from hemp, a type of cannabis plant that legally must contain less than 0.3% THC, a concentration low enough to not make a person intoxicated. Hemp is a powerful plant that can absorb contaminants from the soil, including heavy metals and pesticides.
Look for hemp products made in the U.S. in states like Colorado, Oregon, New York, and others that are known for their hemp production. Hemp grown overseas does not follow the same regulations as hemp grown in the U.S., which may expose you to contaminants.
Avoid Hemp Seed Oil
Some hemp-derived products use cold-pressed hemp seeds, which do not contain any CBD. Although these hemp seed oils may offer numerous benefits, they are not usually used as medicine, like hemp-derived CBD. CBD products are made from the hemp plant’s flowers.
Use Your Senses
Bad medical cannabis flower, edibles, or other infused products can go bad under the wrong storage conditions. Whenever possible, look for any aroma, flavor, or appearance that looks off. Is your flower too dry, moist, or moldy? Determine the quality of the flower before making a purchase.
Choosing the Right Product for You
In some cases, medical cannabis patients may not react well to certain cannabis products, especially at a high dose and serving. We recommend starting with the lowest dose possible when trying a new consumption method.
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Even if you are experienced with flowers, you may not know how edibles or tinctures affect you. For example, edibles take 60-90 minutes to take effect and can produce up to 8 hours of effects compared to the 10-minute onset of effects and 2-3 hours duration when smoking, vaping, or dabbing cannabis.
What is good for one patient may not be good for another. Try out different products in low doses to determine which one works best for your condition. For example, chronic pain may be relieved with the long-lasting effects of edibles or require the fast-acting effects of cannabis flower or vapes.
Become a Medical Cannabis Expert
Shopping for high-quality medical cannabis shouldn’t be difficult. Enroll at Cannabis Training University to learn how to identify good weed, grow weed at home, and make edibles, tinctures, and extracts. Become a better medical cannabis user today!
