Tadhg Stopford: Ponsonby has the best cannabis flower

Local company Medleaf Therapeutics has threaded the regulatory needle again.

Their THC cannabis flower is finding favour with a broad range of patients and has very 'high' uptake in the 'high' functioning tech sector.

Although irradiated for your safety, it still tastes as excellent as it is effective.

Arguably irrational government regulations mean that you are supposed to consume it as a tea. (Tea is a traditional way to consume cannabis, although not always the most effective for patients, depending on the circumstances). But patients also report vaping it, smoking it, cooking it, and extracting concentrates with it.

Less Cancer, less Alzheimers… and better orgasms with cannabis?

A recent study shows women who use ‘marijuana’ (THC) before sex have more than double the orgasms, increased sex drive, improvement in orgasm, and a decrease in pain. (Lynn BK, et al. 2019).

Anecdotally, it's also great for men. With at least three specialist cannabis clinics in the area, lucky locals are now spoiled for cannabis choice - might a baby boom result?

No longer do you need to call your dodgy mate. You can get primo weed from several Canna Care Clinics, or your local GP, and prices are now matching the black market for some products.

Although many GPs don't realise it yet, they can easily prescribe any verified cannabis product to any patient for any condition because they are so safe, and so useful.

Cannabinoids are the keys to your endo-cannabinoid system (ECS), and your ECS is your 'system of systems'. The more keys you can access the better, and the plant holds three times the ‘cannabinoid health keys’ we make in our body. THC and CBD are two of these keys.

Having some (or many) keys to your ECS means that you can potentially treat (or prevent) a vast range of conditions. If you google 'Ethan Russo, Introduction to the Endocannabinoid System' you'll get an idea why - for example a TINY amount of THC oil daily (1mg) caused "rapid" and "robust" improvements in a severely affected Alzheimer's patient. (Ruver-Martins, et al., 2022). Authors concluded that, "cannabinoid microdosing could be effective as an Alzheimer's disease treatment while preventing major side effects''.

In general, cannabinoids protect your brain. There is also some evidence they help your brain to regrow neurons, which bodes well for our ageing population - if they micro dose THC.

While ageing brains are multiplying, cancer is also growing like gangbusters. Half of us will get it, and one in three of us will die from it. So it's cool that animals dosed with THC oil "lived longer than controls" in a two year study by Chan et al in 1995.

Generally, cannabinoids have been shown to kill cancers in “dose dependent fashion” since 1975. (Munson et al., 1975, Hinz B, Ramer R, 2021). The preclinical evidence is pretty overwhelming, and the anecdotes are legion.

If you don't, or can't, grow your own though, you are in the best neighbourhood for cannabis doctors, but let your fingers do the walking.

Unlike most other medicines, cannabis is essentially as safe as grapefruit.

Side effects (apart from improving your sex life) include lowering your blood pressure, slightly increasing your heart rate, and improving your metabolism. If you have psychosis in your family, stick to CBD or CBG rich products.

'Toxic' effects are effectively impossible with CBD products. However, too large a dose of THC can make people feel sick or put them to sleep. So always start low, go slow, and find out what works best for you. As Dr Reynolds said in the Lancet, "to avoid toxic effects, do not take a toxic dose." Simple really!

WARNING: If you consume illegal cannabis you will need a prescription by March next year to protect yourself from what seem to be cartel friendly THC testing laws. These laws do not seem evidence based, and their main effect will be to penalise those without a prescription.

Join the Hemp Foundation, help us make a difference. Each one, teach one. Learn and share. (Tadhg Stopford)

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