"Smoking cigs is a no no for us, so I assumed smoking marijuana wouldn't be optimal either, and consumption would be best."

Actually the nicotene helps releive the symptoms too..i did some research on it and it will affect some people differently. For me the nicotene helps a little but not nearly as much as the bud does. On the other hand the nicotene counters the effects of the bud as far as reducing your high, which i can say is true for me. If i feel I am too high i have to fire up a square to bring me down a little bit.

As far as strains, I have heard that strawberry cough was really good for crohns but have not personally tried it.