Although COVID-19, otherwise known as Coronavirus, isn’t like most of the other types of flu circulating the world during the winter months, it does share similar respiratory symptoms. As with any respiratory illness, smoking cannabis while you’re experiencing symptoms and recovering is never a good idea. While smoking cannabis is safer than tobacco products, it still introduces hot smoke into the lungs, which isn’t a good idea when the lungs are already struggling to maintain their normal function and heal from the illness. The good news is you don’t have to smoke marijuana in order to take advantage of its medicinal effects. The following methods can help you through your illness.
Add It to Butter
While you can’t just mix your marijuana with butter and call it a day, you can add it to the butter so you can bake with it and otherwise use it in your cooking. To do so, place butter in a pan and melt it down. Add the cannabis leaves and simmer them for several hours. This will change the color of the butter and transfer the THC and other components into the butter itself. Remove the leaves themselves and then use the butter in your cooking. This method is perfect if you are looking to resolve sleep issues, need pain relief or are experiencing nausea, vomiting or loss of appetite.
Oils
Although difficult to make your own at home, you can purchase marijuana oils that can be used as an alternative to smoking it. These oils can be used in vaporizers or can be used in cooking to help provide the medicinal effects of the THC and other components. In some situations, it may also be applied directly to the skin. Using cannabis oils can be beneficial for dealing with many of the symptoms for which cannabis is already recommended. While relief comes faster when inhaled, while suffering from Coronavirus, it’s best to consume it orally.
Tinctures and Tonics
To create these products, the marijuana leaves are soaked in an alcohol solution to absorb the THC and other components. This alcohol solution is then used in a number of ways. It can be drunk directly, applied to the skin, used in cooking or even be absorbed via a few small drops under the tongue. Tonics are more commonly drunk and can be mixed with another drink to improve the bitter taste. This method resolves most symptoms for which patients often take medical cannabis.
Vaporizer Use
While it’s not advised to smoke marijuana to get its effects because of the increased damage the hot smoke can cause, using it in a vaporizer can be the perfect alternative. You can easily inhale the fine mist without worrying about whether it will cause more damage to your lungs as they try to heal from the effects of the Coronavirus. Keep in mind the proper temperature for vaporization is 320 degrees Fahrenheit (160 °C). Be sure to use a vaporizer approved for use with cannabis oils to ensure the best results. A vaporizer will only release about five components within the marijuana versus the 111 compounds released when smoking the substance.
Choosing the most appropriate way to get the medicinal benefits of cannabis use is essential at all times, but even more so when you’re dealing with a sickness like Coronavirus. For those who are suffering from this often serious respiratory infection, smoking should be out of the question for the time being. Instead, using the cannabis in cooking and finding other ways to take in the substance is a much better alternative.
