When you first get your California medical marijuana license, your first few visits to the dispensary can be quite daunting. The variety of strains available with a California medical card can be overwhelming, and it can be hard to know which one will best help with your particular condition. Ultimately, everybody is unique and different strains affect different people in different ways. Some patients respond best to one strain, some to others. Luckily, when you have a California medical marijuana card, you can experiment to your heart’s content!
The two main strains of cannabis are sativa and indica. Both are available to you when you get a medical marijuana card online. Sativa is typically less potent, but tends to have a higher level of the psychoactive compound THC. Most people who use sativa find that it increases energy, focus, creativity, and elevates mood. Sativa is more cerebral and gives a more heady, mind-based high.
Indica strains are more relaxing and sleep-inducing. They tend to relieve nausea, stress and anxiety and give patients a sense of calm. Indica is used to treat a larger number of conditions and is especially good for patients with AIDS, cancer and glaucoma. Indica tends to be more ‘of the body’, while sativa tends to be more ‘of the mind’. There are also many hybrid strains, usually sativa-dominant, or indica-dominant mixtures of the two main strains. The goal of a hybrid is to emphasize certain effects and minimize certain other effects. They are tailormade for various ailments and conditions. Indica-dominant hybrids are good for pain relief, while at the same time maintaining energy levels. Sativa-dominant hybrids are good for stimulating appetite and energy, while at the same time soothing the body, reducing pain, and increasing relaxation.
So, to get you started, here are some recommendations for various strains you can pick up with a California medical pot card, and that work especially well with certain medical conditions.
Best California medical marijuana for energy
Girl Scout Cookies is a very popular strain with a high THC content, often over 25%. It is excellent for pain reduction, and for people who enjoy the hard stuff. Girl Scout Cookies is a sativa-dominant hybrid and so it is nice and energizing.
Strawberry Cough is a high-THC strain that is perfect for people who enjoy the energy and psychoactive effects that a strong sativa brings. It’s a super-effective and popular strain, with a delicious strawberry flavor and uniquely uplifting high. With a THC content of 18%, it’s uplifting and ideal for daytime use.
Best MMJ for promoting sleep
Afghan Kush is a potent Indica. This will certainly relax you and is great for alleviating pain and insomnia, as well as calming you down. It’s a pungent and pure indica strain and it will bring on deep, relaxing sleep, so it’s not good if you are operating heavy machinery, or intending to get any work done!
Best MMJ for pain management
The Avidekel strain was bred specifically for the medical cannabis market. It comes from Israel, which is rapidly expanding its medical marijuana program, although recreational cannabis is still illegal in the country. This is a high-CBD strain of indica. It has 1% THC and 15-20% CBD so is very relaxing and nice in the evening.
Best MMJ for alleviating anxiety
Blue Dream is a big favorite with marijuana users who get a medical card in California. It’s a high THC hybrid that is mostly sativa and its effects are energizing. It also contains a little dose of indica and so it gives a pleasant feeling of physical relaxation. You will be nice and clear headed on this stuff so it is is good for during the day when you are out and about.
Bred by Royal Queen Seeds, Stress Killer this is a high-CBD strain with fairly low levels of THC around 11%, ideal for people who like a slight and manageable psychoactive high. It will produce a mild, sedative high and is ideal for alleviating anxiety.
Best California medical marijuana for reducing seizures
Charlotte’s Web is a well-known strain of medical marijuana that’s named after Charlotte Figi, a young girl who had a rare type of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome which results in hundreds of seizures every month. Having tried many pharmaceutical treatment to no avail, she finally found the Stanley Brothers and the high-CBD strain of cannabis that they had cultivated. This worked where no other treatment had. In her first week of treatment her seizures dropped from the hundreds down to single digits. Charlotte’s Web has a CBD level of 20% and a THC content below 0.5%.
Best medical cannabis for making healthy juices
ACDC, or Alternative Cannabinoid Dietary Cannabis, is a high CBD strain specifically bred as a form of dietary cannabis. You can smoke or vape this strain but it is especially good consumed raw, and it’s excellent for juicing. Heat converts CBDA and THCA into their active forms, so for people who want the nutritional benefits without the psychoactive side-effects, this strain is ideal.
Best MMJ for inflammation and arthritis
Harlequin is a hybrid 5:2 ratio of CBD to THC, so it’s relaxing and good for pain relief without a strong psychoactive high. This strain is also good for anxiety and mental health issues as it’s very calming, without much confusing psychoactive effects. It’s also good for muscle spasms, cramps, and other similar physical conditions.
Best for California medical marijuana for headaches and migraines
Blueberry Headband is a hybrid strain with a cerebral feel and heady high. This sweet berry-flavored cannabis is excellent for relieving headache.
Best MMJ for multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms and stiffness
One to One has a CBD to THC content of 1:1, so it is a very practical and usable strain for many conditions. It has a similar 1:1 ratio as the pharmaceutical mouth-spray drug Sativex that is used in 24 countries (although not yet in the United States) to alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis. So this the perfect strain for people with multiple sclerosis who meet the qualifying conditions for medical cannabis in California, but can’t yet access Sativex.
Everybody responds differently to each strain and the best way to go about finding what works for you is to get a cannabis card online and experiment with a few different strains to find out which one is your favorite.