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Medical Marijuana – Vocabulary Lesson

Hi, this is Kristin Dodds, one of the teachers and directors of Learn Real English. Welcome to this month’s vocabulary lesson for the conversation called Medical Marijuana. I have the text of the conversation and I’ve made some notes about some words or groups of words that you may have had difficulty understanding. So the purpose of this lesson is to give you the meanings of those words as they relate to this conversation. So let’s begin.

As I always begin each vocabulary lesson, I’d like to talk about three words that you hear us say a lot and you also see it in written English a lot. And that is…the first one is you, sorry, not you, y’know. So it sounds like y’know and it’s actually two words put together or combined together, you and know. But sometimes when we’re speaking fast it sounds like y’know and it becomes one word.

The next word is yeah. So yeah is a slang word for yes. And the third word is like. You hear this one used a lot. So you probably know that like can mean to have a positive feeling for someone or something but it can also not have a meaning. It can be just a filler word. It’s just said but there is no meaning to it.

Alright, so let’s begin. Medical marijuana: so medical means the treatment of an illness or an injury. And marijuana is a type of plant. So medical marijuana is using plants, this particular plant called marijuana, it’s using that plant, marijuana, to treat illnesses or injuries.

Alright, in the very beginning, Joe says, “I don’t know if Kristin told you about this couple that we met the other day who were from Florida.” So Florida is a state in the southeastern part of the United States.

And if you’re looking at a map it looks kind of like a thumb. It’s also well-known because Disneyworld is there.

And then Joe says, “We were actually having some drinks over in that beer garden.” So a beer garden is an outdoor bar.

And then AJ says, “Nope.” Nope: n-o-p-e, that’s a slang word for no.

And then Joe says, “They had a son who unfortunately has a medical condition where he has a lot of seizures.” So medical condition: this is a general term meaning any type of illness or injury or disease.

And seizures: these are uncontrollable movements of the body and they’re brought on by a sudden electrical activity in the brain.

And then Joe says, “I don’t know if he has epilepsy or what the cause of the seizures is.” So epilepsy: this is the name of a disorder where people have seizures.

And then I say, “It’s constant.” So what I meant by constant was it happens a lot throughout the day. The son has seizures a lot throughout the day. They’re constant.

And then Joe says, “They had him on all these medications.” So medications: medications are medicine authorized by a doctor. And they’re advised by a doctor as well. So a doctor will suggest them or recommend them and then if you have to go to a pharmacy to buy them and you need what’s called a prescription then the doctor actually has to sign his name on a piece of paper saying he has recommended this, this medication, this medicine for his patient. So that’s what authorized means.

And then Joe says, “They were having really detrimental effects on him.” So detrimental means bad or negative.

And then Joe says, “They had really bad side effects.” So bad side effects: this means negative effects from the medicine or from the medication.

And then Joe says, “Things that were really not good for his liver.” So the liver is…it’s an organ, an organ is something that’s inside of your body that you need in order to live. So it’s one of our organs. So it’s inside of our body and we need it to live.

And then I say, “The movement of medical marijuana.” So a movement is an organized effort to help something get started.

And then I say, “It’s actually a compound in marijuana. I think it’s called CBD which is not psychoactive like the THC.” Alright, so I want to explain all of that. CBD and THC: these are each parts of marijuana, of the plant marijuana. So when I say they are a compound, compound means a part of. So you have CBD, you have THC, there’s other compounds or there’s other parts to the plant as well, but those are two parts or two compounds. And psychoactive: this is a substance or a drug that affects the mind.

And then Joe says, “I just read an article in National Geographic.” So I’m sure National Geographic is accessible around the world, but if you don’t know, it’s the name of a magazine.

And then Joe says, “It has no psychoactive properties.” So properties means qualities here, qualities.

And then Joe says, “She’s not taking all those other medicines that they had prescribed to her.” So I talked about prescribed earlier when I was talking about medications so again, prescribed is advised and authorized by a doctor. So if a doctor prescribes medicine to you, he is advising or he is suggesting that you take that medicine and if you can’t just go to the store and buy it, if you have to go to a pharmacy, then he has to sign a piece of paper saying that he says it’s okay for you to buy it.

And then I say, “They go over to Colorado.” So Colorado is the name of a state here in the United States.

It’s…it’s, there’s a lot of mountains in the state. It’s I guess considered the middle part of the United States but it actually kind of borders or it’s right on the edge of where the western states start. So it’s the middle but it’s kind of middle but also, also more to the west.

And then I say, “Colorado has legalized it both medically as well as recreationally.” So when I say they’ve legalized it, it means marijuana, the plant. And legalized means making something allowable by the law.

And then when I say recreationally, Colorado has legalized it both medically as well as recreationally, so recreationally means doing it for enjoyment. So if someone is smoking marijuana or eating marijuana for medical reasons, they’re doing that because maybe they’re in pain and that might help. So the purpose is more to help with some injury or illness. If they’re doing for recreational purposes, then they’re doing it just for enjoyment.

And then AJ says, “It’s recreationally legalized in Alaska, Washington, Colorado, probably coming to California very soon.” So Alaska: this is one of the states of the United States and it’s actually, it looks like it would be a part of Canada, so it’s…it’s north, it’s the northwestern-most part of what would look like Canada but it’s actually one of our states. It’s Alaska. And then Washington is a state on the western coast of the United States and it’s the northern, the most northwestern state except for Alaska, but it’s right there on the border of where Canada starts then. And then California is also on the west coast of the United States so it’s south of Washington. There’s one state that separates Washington and California and that’s Oregon.

And then AJ says, “I think eventually it’s just going to be legal everywhere in the states.” So when he says in the states, he means in the United States.

And then Joe says, “We’re definitely seeing a shift in marijuana policy.” So a shift means a change. And policy means laws, so marijuana laws. We’re definitely seeing a shift or a change in marijuana policy or marijuana laws.

And then Joe says, “They passed that Marijuana Tax Act which made it illegal to possess marijuana unless you paid a tax on it.” So illegal means not allowed by the law. And possess means to have on you or with you. So if marijuana is illegal in a particular state, that means it’s not allowed by the law so if a police officer finds you in possession of marijuana, if they find it on you or with you, like in your car, for example, then you can be arrested. You can go to jail. You can be in trouble.

And then Joe says, “They only allowed you to get it pay the tax on it if it was used for medical and industrial uses.” So what he meant by industrial use was using it to making clothing or to make rope, to make something with it.

And then I say, “It’s ranked up there with heroin.” So ranked up there means it’s classified the same as.

And heroin is a drug made from a plant called poppy.

And then Joe says, “It has a high potential for abuse.” So high potential for abuse means a great chance for addiction. Addiction means that you become dependent on it. You need it.

And then Joe says, “It’s made it impossible for people to conduct any research using marijuana.” So conduct means to do. It is the process of doing the research, conducting research, doing research.

And then I say, “We’re just tapping into the potential of this drug. We’re just scratching the surface.” So what I mean by all of that, tapping into the potential, scratching the surface, we’re just starting to learn about the large amount of benefits that this plant has.

And then I say, “They’ve injected rats with a human tumor.” So injected means to put into. And tumor is an abnormal growth, so it’s something growing inside of you that should not be.

Okay, then I say, “It started shrinking the tumors.” So shrinking means to make smaller or they were becoming smaller.

And then I say, “The guy admits there’s so much more research that needs to be done.” So admits means agrees.

And then I say, “There is obviously potential that it can shrink tumors.” So obviously means clearly and potential means possibility.

And then Joe says, “The pharmaceutical industry is probably salivating right now at the thought of being able to conduct research.” So the pharmaceutical industry: this is a legalized drug or these are legalized, this is the legalized drug business. And so it’s…what that means is they’re companies that make medicines. And when Joe says salivating right now at the thought of, what that means is very much wanting. They are very much wanting to be able to conduct research.

And then Joe says, “They’ve been prohibited from doing it.” So prohibited means kept, kept from or stopped.

And then Joe says, “The pharmaceutical industry is going to jump in right away and start producing this.” So when he says they’re going to jump in that means they’re going to take action right away.

And then AJ says, “They’re only interested if they can create synthetic chemical versions that they can patent and make tons of money from.” Okay, so synthetic chemical versions: these are imitations of the natural plant so they’re not real or natural. Patent: this means to have a legal protection which keeps others from making or selling something that’s been created. And tons of money: this means a lot of money.

So then AJ says, “It’s widespread.” So what he means by that is it’s found in many places across the United States.

And then AJ says, “The whole reason it was declared illegal in the first place.” So declared means made, it was made illegal.

And then Joe says, “They can have a big influx of revenue from it.” So what he means by an influx of revenue is a large amount of money being made.

And then Joe says, “They can solve some of their budget woes by taxing the people who are using it.” So budget woes: woes are problems, so problems with a budget, budget woes.

Alright, this is the end of our vocabulary lesson, Medical Marijuana, and I will be right back with the commentary.