Julia Gomez/Staff Writer
College students smoking weed isn’t new. Hanging out with friends, eating tons of Nacho Cheese Doritos and watching “Bill and Ted” could be an integral part of any college experience. But, if you haven’t heard, we’re in quarantine. I can’t go online without feeling the impending doom of an encroaching apocalypse. Times are…. stressful.
We’re fighting off a pandemic and trying to pass the semester at the same time. To make things worse, a pre-pandemic study found that 1 out 5 college students suffer from anxiety or depression. Cannabis might be able to soothe anxiety and college students should take advantage of its effects.
When you think about weed, you might think of a bunch of potheads sitting in a circle, giggling and listening to the random dude who brought his guitar play. But that’s just a stereotype. A survey from Eaze, a medical marijuana tech company, found that people using weed today were “highly educated, employed and well-off, with almost half of respondents reporting an income of $75,000 or more per year,” according to Refinery29 writer Britni de la Cretaz. Over half of those surveyed were women and 1 out of 5 were parents.
Pot is a complex plant. There are different strains that leave users with different results. THC, or Tetrahydrocannabinol, is the chemical in weed that gets you high, while CBD, or cannabidiol, is the chemical people claim has therapeutic, relaxing and medicinal effects.
So how can students take advantage of that? Well, CBD is legal in Florida. It isn’t approved by the FDA to treat anxiety or other mental disorders, but that doesn’t stop people from self-medicating.
According to the Mayo Clinic, in a study of 72 participants, 57 of them said CBD helped relieve their anxiety. And a 2017 study from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute surveyed 1,429 Medical Marijuana users, 58.1% said they used cannabis to help their anxiety. However, it didn’t specify what kind of strains participants used.
Like any other medication, there are side effects. People who use CBD can become extremely sleepy, experience dry mouth, diarrhea and other symptoms listed here. It could also interact with other medications you’re taking.
One of the biggest issues when it comes to CBD is sometimes companies mislabel their products. Oils, gummies or vape cartridges will be marketed as having more CBD than they do. In a study of 84 CBD products, a quarter of the products were found to contain less CBD than advertised and 18 of them contained THC, according to the Mayo Clinic.
If you’re worried about buying a random brand at a local smoke shop, here’s a list of other brands recommended by The High Times.
CBD affects everyone differently. My boyfriend says it gets him anxious, but the last time I had CBD gummies, I knocked out. So, before you use it to calm your test anxiety, make sure you’ve done your research, spoken to your doctor and tested it out in a safe location with a sober person you trust.
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The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.
Featured image by CBD Infos on Unsplash.
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