If you have authorization to use medical marijuana, you may find yourself in a situation where you have the option of purchasing marijuana off the street or from a dispensary. In some cases, you may find yourself in a jurisdiction where you cannot get access to dispensary marijuana. There are differences between the marijuana you’re going to find on the street and the marijuana you will find from a dispensary. Understanding these differences can help you to understand why dispensaries are always the better choice.
Strains
As this answer given to a curious Internet surfer points out, one of the main differences between buying weed off of the street and buying local marijuana from the dispensary is that you know the strain you are buying when you buy from the dispensary. This can be important, because there are significant differences between the strains of marijuana available and their suitability for treating given conditions.
Indica is a strain of marijuana well known to cause profound relaxation and to be very good for relieving pain. This type of marijuana is preferred for treating conditions that are characterized by low appetite, physical pain, anxiety and so forth. This type of marijuana is very well known for inducing what some people call a “body buzz”. This type of a buzz is also associated with making people somewhat lazy. If you need to relieve pain and you need to relax, this is generally the type of strain you’re going to want to look for.
Sativa, on the other hand, is known for producing a buzz that is much more energetic. If you’ve ever seen the stereotype of people using marijuana going into fits of giggling, enjoying themselves playing video games, creating art and so forth, they were probably smoking a Sativa strain of marijuana. This is the type of marijuana that is very good for people who are using marijuana to treat depression and other conditions that tend to make them lethargic. It is, however, more likely to induce a bit of anxiety, so people who tend to react to marijuana by feeling a little bit anxious – which is colloquially called “paranoid”, though that is a misuse of the word – may do better with an Indica strain.
Crosses
Obviously, marijuana is a plant and that means that it can be crossbred with other plants. Indica and Sativa are quite commonly hybridized to produce marijuana that has something of a customized buzz to it. This allows medical marijuana dispensaries to give patients who need pain relief a strain of Indica, for example, that doesn’t have quite as strong properties where making people feel lethargic is concerned. These patients can kill their pain and relax without feeling like lying around eating cookies all day.
On the other hand, people who need something that will pick them up a little bit mentally and get their energy going can get strains of Sativa that aren’t so energy inducing that they make people feel anxious.
Simply put, you cannot get this specificity in terms of the effects of marijuana off of the street, which is why a medical marijuana dispensary is always the best choice for somebody who needs marijuana for specific medical purposes.
