What is Strain Management?
Strain management is an important and integral part of any medical cannabis therapy program, yet many patients and practitioners do not know what it means.
Below is a simple definition of Strain Management:
Strain management is how we combat our ailments by using cannabis strains that “work” best for us, at the proper times and in the right context.
Finding the specific cannabis strains that work best for “you” is not an easy task and the process can take a considerable amount of time, due to the amount of primary research (trying different strains, consumption methods and products) and secondary research (using resources like our Strain Directory and talking to healthcare practitioners) that is needed to be conducted.
Please keep in mind that each individual has their own unique “Endocannabinoid System” and all cannabis strains have different chemical profiles; cannabis affects each person differently. The method of consumption used will also create varying medical effects.
There are many components that must come together in order for you to realize the benefits that medical cannabis may have for you.
In essence, one strain does not fit all.
What are the Cornerstones of Strain Management?
There are four cornerstones of strain management that will help guide you when making decisions for your medical cannabis program:
- Experience Level
- Time of Day & Activity Level
- Medical Condition(s) & the Medical Cannabis Community
- Desired effects
These four cornerstones of strain management have parity and each one should be taken into consideration when choosing specific strains for your individual cannabis therapy.
Below are descriptions of each component.
Experience Level
Kanteeva breaks down the levels of experience into four categories:
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Advanced
- Expert
- Beginner and intermediate experience levels should be very careful when consuming cannabis, especially strains and products they have not tried before
- Beginners and Intermediates should dose slow and steady, we suggest first using consumption methods like smoking or vaporizing, then moving to oral administration once you are more experienced
- Beginners and Intermediates should also consider strains/products that have a medium to very high CBD content which can help ease the physiological and psychoactive effects that THC produces
- “Newbies, smoke doobies” is a phrase that is used in the cannabis community to describe how beginners should experiment with cannabis. Beginners should typically only take a single “toke” to start with and then an hour or so later decide if they want another. This strategy works quite well.
- Advanced and Experts, are people who have tried many strains, products and consumption methods. They are able to confidently handle most of the adverse effects that THC can produce. They typically know their minimal effective dose and they understand when they have over consumed cannabis.
Knowing what level of experience you are will help you choose strains, products, dosages and applications with more ease.
Time of Day & Activity Level
Ask yourself: “What time of day do you want to use medical cannabis?”
We breakdown the time of day into 4 segments:
- Morning
- Afternoon
- Evening
- Bedtime
This question will help direct you to specific strain varieties.
Ask yourself: “What are the different activities you want to use medical cannabis with?”
Activity levels are broken down into four areas:
- Physically Active
- Mentally Active
- Relaxed
- Sleeping
Knowing the activity level you desire during your cannabis experience will also help direct you to specific strain varieties and products.
Medical Condition(s) & the Medical Cannabis Community
What symptoms and health ailments are you dealing with?
- Are there any strains that are recommended by the medical cannabis community?
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- If yes, perhaps start by trying these strains first and remember that it is ideal to have support from your healthcare practitioner(s) so you can discuss what cannabis strains and methods of consumption are working best and also what is not working. This will create a baseline to work from.
Desired Effects
Below is a list of the potential positive effects that cannabis can produce. Picking 2 - 3 of these desired effects will allow you to further breakdown which cannabis strains maybe the most effective for you.
- Euphoric
- Sedated
- Energetic
- Relaxed
- Hungry
- Focused
- Creative
There are four cornerstones of Strain Management and they all have parity when deciding what specific strains you should be using in your individual medical cannabis program.
Answering the questions above is important so you can decide what characteristics you are looking for in a strain and then you can make an informed decision when purchasing cannabis.
The Kanteeva Strain Directory has been created for the purpose of helping you better understand specific strains and their unique characteristics, so you can build a stronger medical cannabis program through optimal Strain Management.
Many patients use 3 to 5 strains in their medical cannabis therapy programs, which may become best practice for patients in the future. It may also be in your best interest to try other strains during your medical cannabis journey, since you may find a specific strain that works better than the one you are currently using now.
It is also a smart idea to have some “back up” strains just in case the particular cannabis strain that you use is not available.
Uncontrollable Factors & The Work Around
Factors that are out of your control when it comes to strain management include:
- Availability
- Quality
- Cost
- Accessibility
For example, if you believe that Durban Poison is the best strain that you have used for treating the symptoms of your ADD/ADHD and a reasonably priced product is easily available that meets your quality standards, you will most likely use this strain regularly in your individual cannabis therapy program.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you have tried Grandaddy Purps before and it helped treat the symptoms associated with your neurological pain more than any other strain but you can only find it in another geographical area 3 hours away and it is really expensive, it would be fair to say you would not use this strain regularly in your medical cannabis program.
As you can see, these uncontrollable factors will affect your options when it comes to creating a strain management program. The best possible way to ensure that you will always be able to use the specific cannabis strains that successfully help treat the symptoms of your individual ailments is to grow them yourself! That being said, this is only recommended if you are able to do this legally in your area.
If you grow your own medicine then you can be in complete control of your medical cannabis therapy!
Other Questions to Ask when Developing a Medical Cannabis Program
When creating or improving your individualized medical cannabis program think about these four questions:
- Have you found the “right” healthcare or medical practitioner(s)?
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- Read our article, ”Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider(s)?”
- Have you contacted anyone that is using medical cannabis in a similar situation, or with a similar ailment, to hear what they have to say about specific strains or methods of consumption?
- Have you experimented with different consumption methods?
- Have you found the “right” strains for treating the symptoms of your individual ailment?
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- Explore our Strain Directory, Ailment Articles and Medical Cannabis 101 for more information that may be able to help guide you.
We have designed our community so Strain Management can be easily accessible for you and your loved ones. We have some wonderful resources that can help you along the way.
Please share what strains are working best for you by commenting below!
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