“The doctor of cannabis”, an engrossing book for all audiences

Despite the fact that we have known the existence and possibilities of cannabis for 5,000 years, it is as if we have had a book in our hands with missing pages. This is the simile used by Dr. Albert Estrada in his book “The doctor of cannabis“, from the publisher El Angel, which will grip both medics and medical users.

Why do we need to decarboxylate cannabis before we take it? How many ways are there to consume it? What are the problems and advantages of smoking it? How far does CBD act as a neuroprotector? When should we start using cannabis as a medical treatment?, what exactly does a joint contain?, what heavy metals can we find in marijuana?..and pesticides?

There are many questions and not many people know the answers, even though they are cannabis users, despite this being a plant that has been in our society for thousands of years. The main reason for this ignorance of its properties is due to the prohibitionist policy applied to marijuana since the beginning of the last century. Cannabis has been demonized, compared to and put on the same “dangerous” list as chemical substances that have nothing to do with it, neither in composition nor effects.

A prejudice-free look

Dr. Albert Estrada begins his book in a way that will surprise the reader.

“I confess, I am a doctor, I have specialized for years in the application of cannabis in health, but I have never used cannabis.” And with this first statement of the book, begin nearly two hundred enlightening pages dedicated to dismantling the stigma that exists in society about this plant, that fill the reader with a curiosity to approach it and its benefits, with a prejudice-free look.

And why should a doctor be a cannabis user? Estrada tells us that he has never consumed Sintrom, opiates or Lyrica, nobody has questioned him about it but nevertheless, he prescribes them.

According to Albert Estrada, “Doctors have and must evolve from the old, highly paternalistic, role in society, in which the doctor told you what you had to do and the patient blindly trusted their wisdom, to the current situation , in which the patient is much better informed and the role of the doctor resembles more and more that of a medical consultant “.

 

The endocannabinoid system

The cannabis doctor dedicates a chapter to the functioning of the endocannabinoid system, whose receptors enable cannabinoids to work on our body.

And he also tells us what happens when this endocannabinoid system fails. But the book goes much further and among its pages we also discover the effects of THC and CBD together and, based on this premise, what the criteria should be when medicating, taking into account that, due to prohibition, the composition of products found on the market is not clear.

In the end, it’s about saving lives, as Albert Estrada points out in one of the last chapters of “The cannabis doctor“. “Because we have to talk about saving lives. Cannabis, at best, does not cure, but, perhaps, chemotherapy does. Maybe a lady who without cannabis has nausea, vomiting, pain, etc. and would not do the second cycle of chemotherapy, with cannabis she does. “

Testimonials from patients

Albert Estrada has been treating patients with multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, fibromyalgia, glioblastoma multiforme, breast cancer, memory problems, bone issues, autism, insomnia … In this book he compiles some of his testimonies and tells us about medical cases related to these diseases and the results of the plant in people who are treated with it.

Such as the case of the Barcelonan Josep López Riber, a patient with multiple sclerosis whom cannabis serves as a palliative for the pain caused by this disease. Or the case of Teresa Latorre, sick with fibromyalgia, who decided to stop the antidepressants she was taking and go for alternative medicine. Now she takes cannabis oil and combines the doses with lower or higher THC or CBD, depending on the pain she feels that day.

In short, “The doctor of cannabis” is a book written for the layman, to make it understandable to the largest possible number of readers. And, to this ends, it deals with all the issues around the plant, finishing its pages with a few lines about the choice of seeds, germination, harvest, flowering and drying. This is undoubtedly a leading publication for all cannabis user profiles.