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If you have been on medical marijuana for any decent amount of time, you may have heard that there are certain prescriptions that you should not be taking while using cannabis. Medical marijuana is being used as a treatment option alternative more frequently nowadays, and sometimes it can be paired with other medications or treatment options. More than 30 of the United States have now legalized some form of medical marijauana. This means that cannabis is now more accessible in the United States than it ever has been before, which is super good news for people who may rely on it for chronic pain and other conditions. Medical marijuana is used to treat a whole host of issues, and not all of them are physical. Some people love to use medical marijuana to treat mental health disorders and overwhelming amounts of stress. However, it is important to keep in mind that marijuana is a drug; and like all drugs, it is imperative to check with your doctor before using cannabis for any sort of treatment option. One of the reasons that this is crucial is because some medical prescriptions do not pair well with using marijuana, similar to how some prescription medications should not be paired with alcohol and other substances. When applying for your medical marijuana card, it is so important to be very open with your doctor or primary care physician to ensure that you are not already using other medications that could potentially have negative effects when paired with using cannabis. It’s not like your doctor is going to tell anyone that you are using cannabis anyways, because medical grade marijuana is protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

So when it comes to different medications that cannabis does not mix well with, one of the big ones are benzodiazepines. These medications are commonly used to treat insomnia, anxiety, and depression, which also happen to be conditions that medical marijuana patients often look to cannabis to treat. So if you happen to be on any antidepressant or anxiety medication, you may want to double check that it is not a benzodiazepine before you go and start smoking weed. The reason for this is that these medications are typically linked with memory problems and even severe blackout memory events. Cannabis can actually make these events worse and create more short-term memory loss for patients. That is why it is extremely important that you are careful with what medications you are mixing. Some common names for prescriptions with benzodiazepine are fluoxetine, sertraline, vortioxetine, citalopram, and escitalopram. These medications are quite common for people who struggle with depression and anxiety.

Another medication that does not mix well with cannabis is called Seroquel. Seroquel is often used to treat symptoms associated with bipolar disorder. Some of the side effects with this drug are confusion, concentration problems, dizziness, and drowsiness. Similar to what I talked about in the paragraph above, cannabis can make these problems worse for people that are taking Seroquel.