Can You Be Allergic To Marijuana?

Marijuana allergies are basically like any other tree or pollen based allergy, and awareness of these cannabis induced symptoms have only become more prominent following legalization and expanded scientific research. Adverse reactions can either stem from direct bodily contact or through ingestion. Smoking versus consuming cannabis may produce different possible allergic issues as well. Individuals who inhale pollen from marijuana flowers will generally have a respiratory effect whereas reactions induced by consuming cannabis could lead to feelings of nausea in severe cases. Recent studies indicate that nearly 10% of cannabis users have some sort of allergy to the plant itself. There are various foods whose proteins closely resemble those found in the marijuana plant. Thus if one is allergic to almonds, apples, bananas, chestnuts, eggplant, grapefruit, peaches or tomatoes then there is a higher probability that they will have some sort of allergic reaction to particular varieties of cannabis. Allergies come in varying levels of severity from nearly unnoticeable to severe sneezing episodes accompanied by hives or itchy irritation. 

As the research base around marijuana continues to grow in the scientific community so do its positive impacts on our daily health. New studies even suggest that cannabis derivatives may be truly beneficial in combating allergic varieties of asthma. You won’t likely hear a doctor recommend smoking of the plant in this instance, but you may hear that same physician suggest a tincture or indigestible. These options are more bioavailable compared to smoking, and with an array of cannabinoids they have the potential to alleviate inflammatory symptoms of asthma. Cannabinoids extracted from weed are the main facilitators for positive effects in topicals and ingestibles. Looking into the future it truly inspires hope to see what the synergistic efforts of the scientific and cannabis communities have been able to achieve in such a short amount of time. With sweeping marijuana legalization looming we’ll continue to see more people have the option to use cannabis as medicinal treatment.