Everyone feels down now and again, but for some of us, the negative feelings associated with depression are an everyday occurrence. Naturally, physicians, psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies have tried to cash in by assisting patients with the disorders that lead to long–term depression, but traditional healthcare methods leave much to be desired. Alternative treatments, including various uses of medical marijuana, remain popular even in the face of hundreds of easily-obtainable prescription drugs.

What makes our patients buy medical cannabis to treat their depression? There are a number of valid reasons that influence intelligent adults who simply want to live better lives. For some, the promise of being able to perform normal functions like eating, sleeping or simply concentrating without feeling like they have to force themselves to find motivation is enough. To other patients, using medical marijuana for depression represents their only chance of living life at an emotionally functional level.

Using medical marijuana for depression has distinct advantages over other treatments. Make no mistake; marijuana is definitely a medicine that alters bodily function. The critical difference is that when it is used by consenting, understanding adults, these alterations are decidedly positive. This is especially true when medical marijuana use is compared with the long lists of major or even fatal side effects one might find listed in the warnings accompanying any modern depression drug.

Michigan medicinal marijuana laws were approved by a majority of voters in 2008. This proposition eliminated statewide penalties for possession and use by patients with doctor’s notes. At Ann Arbor Health Collective, we understand that you don’t want your life ruined by depression or the drugs that are supposed to treat it. Our non-profit organization was therefore founded on providing the best services to patients so that they can live happily.