Ask Dr. Mitch: Pot, the Panacea

Dr. Mitch Earleywine, the author of Understanding Marijuana and The Parents’ Guide to Marijuana, dishes on whether marijuana can help you lose weight, sleep better and sneeze less?

What is microdosing? — Li’l Kim

Hi Kim,
The term initially applied to the practice of taking extremely small amounts of LSD or some other hallucinogen to inspire happy moods and improved creativity. Many cannabis fans have done likewise, finding the right small dose of weed to help them feel uplifted and unfatigued. Plus, since small doses rarely lead to increased tolerance, the delightful, creative days can go on and on.

Last month, you implied that you passed a drug test. You kidding me? — Hugh R. Enluck

Hi Hugh,
I take a month off every year to keep my tolerance down. It also helps me ridicule the idea of cannabis withdrawal whenever I get a chance.

Do people in medical marijuana states weigh less? — Wade Loss

Yo Wade,
There’s about a 4 percent decrease in the chance of obesity in medical marijuana states, which translates to a per-person savings of $58 to $115 in medical costs. I’m not saying that smoking sativa is a diet plan, but folks who love the plant do weigh less.

Are pinene-heavy strains good for hay fever? — Sneezy Dwarf

Hi Sneezy,
Giant doses of alpha-pinene have reduced the symptoms of hay fever in mice, but even the most piney pot strains only have a few milligrams. I think we’re starting to expect too much from cannabis—it’s a lot for any plant to help with pain, nausea, insomnia, loss of appetite, seizures, Crohn’s disease, irritable-bowel syndrome, autism, PTSD, migraines, glaucoma and hay fever!

So cannabinol (CBN) is what makes everybody sleepy after they’ve been high for a while, right? — Sleepy Dwarf

Hi Sleepy,
I know that’s the legend all over the Web, but THC and CBD in combination have been helping people sleep just fine. (And if Dopey asks, CBD diminishes THC’s stonier effects as well.) There doesn’t appear to be any research on the effects of CBN alone, so we’ll just have to wait and see.