Consuming cannabis as a medicine should not be a problem in states where it is legal. It is like any other medicine, right? Not so fast. Patients need to deal with a lot of things that would never come into play if they were taking any other prescription medication. Consider discretion. It is something medical cannabis users try to practice. Yet it’s not so easy.

Medical cannabis discretion is something that doesn’t get talked about a lot. Maybe it’s because we are so elated by the fact that medical cannabis is now legal in 39 states that we fail to remember that nothing is perfect. Or perhaps it’s something else. Maybe it’s the fact that most of the people who talk about medical cannabis, including writers like me, don’t actually have the experience of using it.

Not Always Popping a Pill

The majority of prescription medications come in pill or capsule form. You take one or two with a beverage and that’s the end of it. You can take medical cannabis the same way. But oral ingestion is not always the best method. For some users, it is better to inhale or use a tincture under the tongue.

In terms of inhalation, patients have one of three options: smoking, vaping, and dry heating. None of the options are discreet. Not only can other people see what’s going on, but they can also smell it. But again, that should be okay where medical cannabis is legal, right? It should be, but that’s not always the way things are.

There are still people who are not on board with medical cannabis. And even among the rest of us, there are still people who don’t want to be exposed to secondhand cannabis smoke or vapor. If they can smell it, they feel like they are being exposed to it.

Choosing the Best Delivery Methods

At Pure Utah, one of the 15 Utah dispensaries serving medical cannabis patients in the Beehive State, they offer all the typical delivery methods a patient might need. Patients can buy cannabis flower to use in a dry herb vaporizer. They can also buy cannabis vapes alongside gummies, tinctures, topical products, and more.

Pure Utahpharmacy agents say that their patients often choose a variety of products and delivery methods based on their circumstances. For example, they might recommend vaping to a particular patient. Since vaping is impossible while at work, he uses a tincture during the day. The tincture allows him to place a drop or two under his tongue and still realize the same relief he would get from vaping.

Another patient might need to medicate at the end of the workday but doesn’t want to vape or use a tincture before getting in the car to drive home. So instead, she consumes a couple of gummies. It will take an hour or so before they kick in, giving her plenty of time to get home safely.

Doing the Best They Can

Discretion often boils down to the concept of doing the best you can. That is really how so many medical cannabis patients get by. Will it ever change? Anything is possible. If Washington eventually legalizes medical cannabis nationwide, there is a chance that social norms will eventually catch up and discretion will no longer be an issue. Until then, though, patients need to make the best of their situations.

It is strange that discretion isn’t an issue with other prescription medications but it is with cannabis. That’s just the nature of the beast and something patients must live with for the time being.