The three most common ways to consume cannabis are smoking it, vaping it or eating it. But for patients with serious medical conditions, these methods may be insufficient, or even harmful. Plus, smoking and vaporizing are actually the least effective delivery methods, medically-speaking. When you smoke cannabis, only 15 percent of the bioavailable plant medicine gets delivered to your body. When you eat it, that number only rises to 35 percent. So if you’re looking to treat a serious health condition with cannabis, you’re forced to eat, smoke or vaporize an incredible amount of THC. This can be expensive. It can also be overwhelming for people unaccustomed to such large doses. This can be problematic for many patients, including the young and the elderly. But many experts agree that it’s possible to increase the delivery rate by which THC enters one’s system. The most effective way, they’re finding, has been through the use of cannabis suppositories. These products can deliver 80% of the cannabis plant’s medicinal value to the patient. It turns out ingesting cannabis orally is less effective than approaching the situation from a different angle. A suppository is a small, round or cone-shaped pill-like object filled with medicine. It is inserted into a patient’s rectum, where it rapidly dissolves and enters the bloodstream. When filled with varying ratios of THC:CBD, suppositories have been found effective for everyday aches and pains to life-threatening ailments. Concentrated cannabis oils can carry extremely high amounts of THC, or CBD, or a mixture of each. While CBD oil has dominated the medical marijuana landscape for years now, emerging science indicates that THC carries medical promise for an untold number of patients. Suppositories provide a solution for patients with diseases like cancer or epilepsy, who struggle with the high doses of THC recommended for their conditions. When these doses are taken in edible form, patients report that it can be hard to function in their daily lives. Nobody wants to be stuck on the couch, if they don’t have to be. Suppositories also provide a valuable solution in pediatric cases. Even though the cannabis suppository delivers the highest amount of medicinal benefit, it does so quickly and efficiently, without making the patient feel “high” at all. When administered rectally, the medicine that is released enters the patient’s bloodstream immediately, bypassing the liver. (When you smoke, vape, or orally ingest cannabis, it gets filtered by the liver.) This is helpful for patients with certain conditions. Other patients may be suffering from COPD, or other respiratory ailments that prevent them from smoking or even vaping cannabis. These patients could technically turn to edibles, but they may have dietary restrictions, or concerns about ingredient standards and labeling accuracy. Suppositories can be a healthy alternative. If you’re looking for a DIY option, there are recipes online for making your own cannabis suppositories at home. As always, with any health-related issues, it’s advisable is to talk with your doctor. Cannabis can be an awkward topic, and adding your backside to the conversation won’t make it any less awkward. But it’s time to normalize this conversation, for the sake of patients everywhere. This article was originally posted at www.beardbrospharms.com.