Is it safe to consume cannabis with antibiotics? Surprisingly, this is becoming one of the most searched questions on google and many other search engines.
As the knowledge around cannabis and its benefits is increasing, a myriad of people are applying for a medical marijuana card in the country. And not only this, but a lot of current users are also going for cannabis card renewal. Watching the trend, one can easily assume that marijuana is becoming one of the most famous forms of therapy among people for numerous different conditions.
Now, the question here is can we use cannabis if we are on antibiotics.
Unfortunately, there’s not much reliable information available on the subject. A general notion, as of now, is that it’s not a very good idea to consume any other drugs (i.e. alcohol) if you are under antibiotics prescription. However, cannabis is a plant that occurs naturally, so shouldn’t it be ok to use it with antibiotics?
Probably not.
Just because it is a plant, it doesn’t mean we can assume that it won’t have effects like any other drug. There are a lot of other things to consider, too. And in this article, we’ll be discussing everything about the usage of cannabis with antibiotics.
So, without any further delay, let’s start.
Antibiotic is a general term defining anything that is used for either killing or stopping the growth of microbes in our body. Doctors, usually, prescribe us antibiotics if we have some type of bacterial infection.
Antibiotics come in various different forms. Some are designed to target only specific bacteria types, while others can tackle several multiple strains at the same time. This, sometimes, becomes a very major problem for the people. While there are many bad bacteria present in our body, some bacterial strains are good too. However, certain antibiotics, as we discussed, will just kill anything that comes in their path.
The usage of antibiotics has become very common nowadays. You must have heard of Penicillin, right? There’s no doubt why this particular antibiotic is considered one of the greatest medical discoveries of our time.
However, the usage of antibiotics is not without its problems. Frequent use of antibiotic medicines may lead to some types of bacteria developing a resistance toward them. And this has become a major matter of concern for researchers and doctors all over the world. This antibiotic-resistance formed by some bacteria is also the very reason why we still have issues like MRSA and many other bacterial infections.
But regardless of the above problems, almost everyone in the United States uses antibiotics. In fact, it is one of the most prescribed drugs in the country. And why not? Antibiotics help us defeat so many medical problems that were considered deadly, a few years ago.
The usage of marijuana, too, is quite prevalent in the United States. In fact, for numerous people, it has become a basic need to support their lives, and keep themselves happy and healthy. But what if a cannabis user takes antibiotics? Is it really ok to use cannabis with other medications? Let’s see.
As of now, cannabis is considered a very safe drug- at least, if we talk about its overdose potential and toxicity. However, we still don’t know much about how the plant reacts with other medications. Also, you should note that anything that we eat or ingest certainly has a reaction with our body. So, though we don’t have much idea of how cannabis reacts with other medications, we are somewhat aware of its effects on our own body.
For instance, we may associate weed smoking with bronchitis symptoms. Also, we know that there is some relationship between marijuana and acute psychosis. However, if we talk about the relationship between cannabis and antibiotics, little knowledge is available.
However, there are a few experts who suggest that there are no reports of any interaction between marijuana and antibiotics. So, is it safe to assume that marijuana doesn’t have any negative effects, even if we take it with antibiotics? Maybe. But there’s no guarantee. And you should not consider it medical advice.
As discussed above, there’s no scientific studies or clinical data available to help us understand the relationship between cannabis and antibiotics. Also, we don’t have any evidence of any adverse effects of using marijuana while on antibiotics. However, due to the lack of research, we do have an ongoing concern over the usage of cannabis as a medicine, in general.
Having said that, there is a possibility that smoking marijuana may cause irritation in the part of our respiratory system that has the chances of catching a bacterial infection. And in this situation, even if indirectly, cannabis may affect the effects of antibiotic medications. However, we do have some other methods of consuming marijuana, too, that don’t involve smoke.
To put it simply, edibles are the foods that have some amount of cannabis compounds infused in them. Edibles are generally very safe to consume. And the fun part is that you can make them yourself in your kitchen.
Edibles are directly ingested and are metabolised in our stomach. And therefore, they don’t cause any type of irritation that we generally face while smoking.
A lot of people, nowadays, are turning to CBD oil in order to help them get some relief from their pain. The oil is also very famous to help people with anxiety, insomnia, inflammation etc. In fact, the FDA recently gave green light to the usage of a CBD based oil, Epidiolex, that can be used to treat two very rare types of epilepsy.
CBD oil may also help people improve their immune system, and thus reduce the requirement of antibiotics in the first place. However, we still don’t have any solid evidence to support this theory.
According to the latest clinical data and research, cannabis doesn’t have any adverse effects on our body, even if we use them with antibiotics. However, it’s still a better idea to talk to a doctor before you actually do it. A doctor is a professional that can certainly help you with any of your concerns. He’s there to advise you in your best interest. And therefore, if you need to take antibiotics now due to any reason, talk to your doctor before you apply for your cannabis card renewal or a new card.
In the end, there’s nothing wrong in doing some of your own research, too, on the subject. You should note that the information given above is purely for informative purposes, and you should not take it as medical advice.
December 15, 2020
December 10, 2020
December 03, 2020
November 24, 2020
November 18, 2020