Your brain on dank

What strains are best for fibromyalgia and “fibro fog?”

Cannabis has been used to treat fibromyalgia (a chronic disease that causes widespread muscle pain, tenderness and fatigue) for years. Folks aren’t really sure what causes fibromyalgia, although scientists say that it is similar to a sort of arthritis that affects the muscles instead of the bones.

Weed is great for managing arthritis symptoms, and cannabis is also effective for fibromyalgia. The culprit is Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency, according to a 2016 study in the Cannabis and Canniboid Research journal. The human body makes its own cannabinoids to help with things such as pain and inflammation. But sometimes the human body doesn’t produce enough, and that’s where the cannabis steps in.

But be careful. According to the study, your endocannibinoid system works as a body regulator, and doctors should only use cannabis to “nudge” the disorder: “Small doses of a weak partial agonist (e.g., THC) should be considered, which would not induce tolerance and may jump-start the ECS. Even [if] THC alone is poorly tolerated or appreciated by patients, standardized whole cannabis extracts that contain additional synergistic and buffering components, such as CBD and cannabis terpenoids, are certainly preferable.”

This is a fancy way of saying that THC is cool, but folks looking for relief should try the whole plant.

I am not a doctor, so I am not making recommendations, but the good folks at Leafly.com have been soliciting feedback from cannabis users about weed and fibromyalgia for years. According to their data, high-CBD strains such as Harlequin and Cannatonic are commonly used to relieve pain caused by fibromyalgia.

As for the “fibro fog” part: Good luck. Not trying to be flippant, but like I said, I am not a doctor. Cannabis can’t fix everything, and weed really isn’t the best drug if you need to be clear-headed and non-forgetful. Talk to your health care practitioner, and maybe see if you can find some forums online. I hope you feel better.

Do they still test for weed in California?

Yep. But, sometimes they will let you slide. Cali is an “at-will” employment state, meaning that employers can fire you whenever, for whatever. But weed is legal now, and many employers don’t want to fire a productive employee just because they failed a drug test. THC stays in the human body for a long time, even after the high has gone away, so it’s kinda hard to tell if someone is actually stoned at work, unless they are not doing their job well, or maybe eating all the snacks in the employee lounge.

My advice is to find a job where you won’t be tested, or become such a good and productive employee that you can’t be fired. Have a good day at work!