Who doesn’t love a good mnemonic? Just in case you’re wondering, a mnemonic is a nifty little tool for memorizing things. You can use mnemonics to remember lists, how to spell certain words, or even the order of things.
You may already be familiar with some common mnemonics. When you were in elementary school, your teacher may have shared a mnemonic to memorize the great lakes — HOMES — Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. Or, if you took music lessons, you may have used the popular “Every Good Boy Does Fine” to memorize the notes on the treble clef. You can even use this tool to memorize color spectrums. For example, “Roy G Biv” is a common mnemonic taught to art students to help them remember the Primary and Secondary colors on the color wheel: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. It’s also the order of color hues found in a rainbow (also called the visible color spectrum).
There are hundreds of mnemonics in use that help us remember things but where are the mnemonics for medical marijuana? If the purpose is to spark our memory when it comes to lists and spelling, medical marijuana has its share of that. So, for your reference and to nudge your memory, here are a few medical marijuana mnemonics for your consideration.
This is a long word that means a lot when it comes to cannabis. Here’s one for spelling cannabinoid: Can, All, New, Nukes, Always, Be, In, No, Other, Individuals, Dwelling.
There are 144 known cannabinoids (so far) in marijuana. Since most start with “CB” we’ll use another technique for mnemonics and use the unique letter in some of the most common.
VACANT (CBDV, CBDA, CBC, THCA, CBN, and THC)
TAG (THCV, CBCVA, CBG)
The discovery of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) is relatively new. In the 1990’s, a chemist isolated the first endocannabinoid in the human brain. Since that time, researchers have been learning more about this system and the role it plays in bodily functions.
Research suggests that the ECS regulates the following functions in the human body: energy balance, appetite stimulation, pain, nausea, memory, and immune response. Cannabinoid receptors are found throughout the body and endocannabinoids (naturally occurring, lipid-based neurotransmitters) attach or bind to the receptors which sends a message to the ECS to cause a response. Enzymes break down the endocannabinoids after they finish their duties.
Let’s create a mnemonic for those functions.
PIEMAN (Pain, Immune response, Energy balance, Memory, Appetite stimulation, Nausea)
Of course, there are others and, as research continues, the list will naturally get longer. These are just a few of the most common functions the ECS has been found to regulate.
There are a number of hybrids and strains found in marijuana but there are three main types. Try this mnemonic to remember those:
SIR (Sativa, Indica, and Ruderalis)
Terpenes are chemical compounds responsible for the flavor and other properties of the cannabis plant. Terpenes are abundant in the oils of plants and flowers and have distinctive odors, flavors, and colors. There are more terpenes found in marijuana, but these are some of the most common.
BEACHBALL (Borneol, Eucalyptol, Alpha-bisabolol, Camphene, Humulene, Beta-pinene, Alpha-pinene, Limonene, Linalool.)
There are multiple ways to consume marijuana. Here’s a mnemonic to help you remember what they are:
TOTES (Tinctures, Oils, Topical, Edibles, Smoke)
There are signs you can look for when you think you may have over-consumed marijuana. Just like anything else, too much of a good thing might cause some unwanted after-effects. Here’s a mnemonic to remind you so you’ll know when it’s time to cut back or take a tolerance break.
HAIL (Headaches, Anxiety, Increased heart rate, Loss of Coordination)
Now that you know how mnemonics work and how they can help us remember different things you can MUNOY (make up new ones yourself) to help jog your memory when you’re learning about the vast and fascinating world of the medicinal plant we call marijuana. If you are ready to get started, click the button below to submit your new patient forms!
