A Personal Perspective on Cannabis’ Role in Chemotherapy

As most of us are aware, CBD oils have been linked to several medical benefits including anxiety relief, pain management, anti-inflammatory and cancer treatment depending on the condition. Although CBD oil is a healthy alternative when compared to smoking cannabis because you’re not damaging your lungs. Both types of cannabis have very similar effects in terms of managing and coping with the various side effects of chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy Treatment

One of the main and most popular cancer treatments in the western world is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is a drug treatment that interferes with the cancerous cell’s ability to divide and reproduce, mainly by targeting the cancers cells food sources (the enzymes and hormones they need to grow) or causing apoptosis (‘suicide of cancer cells’).

Depending on the type of cancer and its stage, several different chemotherapy drugs can be administered, there are over 100 types of chemotherapy! It can either attack the entire body or a specific concentrated site. The side effects are largely similar across the different types of chemotherapy and smoking cannabis can thoroughly help manage these side effects. 

Getting Personal

Now as we know, CBD oils work wonders for certain chemotherapy patients, helping to manage the pain and side effects that occur as a result of the treatment. However, people don’t give enough credit to how helpful smoking cannabis during chemotherapy treatment is.

Chemotherapy has many side effects that vary depending on the individual. From personal experience, the main side effects include fatigue, loss of appetite, body aches & pains, insomnia and mental health problems (excluding hair loss, immune system deficiencies and hearing impairments which were still prominent but that is something cannabis could not help with). 

If you smoke cannabis recreationally, I’m sure you’ve already noticed some of the benefits of smoking cannabis during treatment. Cannabis already helps countless people with insomnia and during chemo treatment, it’s no different. Even though the treatment causes fatigue, it can still be difficult to sleep because of the body aches and an active mind, therefore nights are a lot more peaceful and sleep is more solid after smoking. 

Us stoners know that smoking also greatly increases a person’s appetite. Yes, it’s true, munchies still exist no matter how bad the treatment makes you feel. It helps to consume your meals but it’s still advised to eat smaller portions and smoothies are still essential.

Similar to CBD oils, smoking also helps with pain management, because no matter how terrible the treatment makes you feel – the high you get from cannabis always takes preference and therefore alleviates the pain/side effects to a certain extent. At the peak of your high, you’ll feel like you usually do when smoking and as your high slowly starts to come down, the body aches and pain gradually comes back too. This is what smoking cannabis can do instead of relying solely on pharmaceutical painkillers that Doctors will strongly recommend. Personally, I never used painkillers and mainly smoked cannabis to manage the pain and it worked wonders. 

Lastly, on a personal note, smoking cannabis for me, helped keep my mental health in a positive space throughout my treatment which I wasn’t fully aware of until I look back at that period of my life now, a year later. It might have similar effects for you but this depends on the type of person you are. Smoking is always a social affair, so having people around you helps keep your mind sane and keeps the loneliness at bay.

It also allows the body/mind to be calm and relaxed, this allows you to enjoy mundane tasks such as watching TV or reading. Due to fatigue, an individual, in reality, can’t do a lot of the activities that they normally would be able to do such as taking a brisk walk or making food. These activities can take a lot from an individual so it’s advised to conserve your energy and not to push your body. 

A Quick Wrap-Up

Overall, smoking cannabis doesn’t entirely eliminate the side effects of chemotherapy. However, it helps the individual cope with and manage some of the side effects. Specifically, the ones discussed in this article. This was also from personal experience, as someone who was a regular cannabis smoker before I got diagnosed and as a result, the effects might vary from individual to individual.

CBD oils work similarly to smoking cannabis, the only difference is that oils are a little more expensive than buying normal bud but it is the healthier alternative. Smoking cannabis or vaporising CBD also provides instant relief, allowing you to cope with the symptoms and side effects immediately. Whereas CBD oil consumption takes a little bit longer to take effect and needs to be taken consistently. 

Remember, he who laughs last is probably the most stoned!

Thank you for reading fellow cannabis enthusiasts.
– Toking T1