Medical/Recreational Marijuana

[Carbon]

Are you for or against Medical/Recreational Marijuana?

 

[Sereni-tea]

I am not supportive of it for recreational use but I am in favour of medicinal cannabis if a doctor believes the potential benefits outweigh the risks involved. Like any medication, a doctor should consider the safety and efficacy of the drug before prescribing it to a patient.

My husband has looked into this as he has had a chronic pain condition for over 15 years now. For him however, there was no indication it was going to help, and due to the costs involved, it was not really an option for him.

 

[Musician]

I'm for it, there are worse things to worry about. Plus it's one of those things people will do anyway, so might as well tax it and put the revenue towards something useful.

 

[ammi]

Though I don't use it myself, I think medical use is appropriate. Especially if one can avoid using opioids. Since Cannabis was legalized in Canada, opioid overdose deaths are down. Though I don't see how legalizing hard drugs in big cities will help anything.

 

[MamaEtna]

Are you for or against Medical/Recreational Marijuana?

I am against Recreational Marijuana. The jury is still out on it for medical purposes.

 

[Carbon]

I am against Recreational Marijuana. The jury is still out on it for medical purposes.

I agree.

 

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

Legally, or as it pertains to myself, or others, or...?

What I think is good behavior, and what I want the government to regulate are two different things.

 

[Musician]

Those of you that think recreational use should be illegal, do you feel the same way for alcohol and cigarettes? I bet both of the latter are responsible for more deaths

 

[jeremiah1five]

Are you for or against Medical/Recreational Marijuana?

If it can come in a form that addresses and deadens pain without the 'head change' I'd be interested to know more.
I love sobriety.

 

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

If it can come in a form that addresses and deadens pain without the 'head change' I'd be interested to know more.
I love sobriety.

THC is the chemical in marijuana that makes one "high." CBD is another chemical in marijuana that is sometimes used to treat pain/inflammation.

There are a number of CBD products for pain relief out there. But perhaps you already knew this?

 

[jeremiah1five]

THC is the chemical in marijuana that makes one "high." CBD is another chemical in marijuana that is sometimes used to treat pain/inflammation.

There are a number of CBD products for pain relief out there. But perhaps you already knew this?

No, I didn't. Thanks.
See, I am as dumb as I look (in the mirror.)

 

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

Legally, or as it pertains to myself, or others, or...?

What I think is good behavior, and what I want the government to regulate are two different things.

Let's expand on this. I don't think getting high is a good thing. However, I prefer that the government does not try to enforce behaviors, unless those behaviors cause danger or damage to other people. That government is best which governs least.

It should be illegal to smoke weed and drive (it is). It should be illegal to smoke weed in public (it is in most places). It should be illegal to post up in a public place to sell marijuana (yep, it is).

But the government really shouldn't be dictating what a person does on their own private property. So if a person wishes to smoke on their private property, so be it. If a private business wishes to sell weed, that should be allowable (assuming it isn't laced with something else that is undisclosed).

-Jarrod

 

[MamaEtna]

If it can come in a form that addresses and deadens pain without the 'head change' I'd be interested to know more.
I love sobriety.

Same here. Can't stand stuff that alters the mind.

 

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

Same here. Can't stand stuff that alters the mind.

I can't help but wonder if this is a matter of personal experience. Kind of personal... don't feel obligated to respond.

 

[MamaEtna]

Personal from Laughing Gas from a tooth extraction. Couldn't stand it.

 

[Musician]

Let's expand on this. I don't think getting high is a good thing. However, I prefer that the government does not try to enforce behaviors, unless those behaviors cause danger or damage to other people. That government is best which governs least.

It should be illegal to smoke weed and drive (it is). It should be illegal to smoke weed in public (it is in most places). It should be illegal to post up in a public place to sell marijuana (yep, it is).

But the government really shouldn't be dictating what a person does on their own private property. So if a person wishes to smoke on their private property, so be it. If a private business wishes to sell weed, that should be allowable (assuming it isn't laced with something else that is undisclosed).

-Jarrod

It's illegal to drink and drive, that law has been so effective

 

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

It's illegal to drink and drive, that law has been so effective

True. But we've outlawed alcohol and the result was... drinking actually increased, and organized crime gained a huge foothold in America.

Better to legalize it, subject it to consumer protection laws, and tax the crap out of it.

 

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

Personal from Laughing Gas from a tooth extraction. Couldn't stand it.

I've had laughing gas before, and it doesn't seem to affect me. It also does nothing to help with the pain.

 

[Dave_Regenerated]

Totally against it.

 

[Josheb]

Are you for or against Medical/Recreational Marijuana?

Against.

Eating or smoking marijuana changes the brain in psychotropic ways. It does not just mitigate pain. It alters one's consciousness. As Christians the basement fact is that God gave us the consciousness He wanted us to have and except in cases where normal emotional responses are healthily experienced consequent to life's circumstances, or possibly that which occurs in episodes of deep prayer, we should not be messing with our states of consciousness artificially. Doing so is an indication something is wrong inside. Physically, long-term inhalation of any hot gas, especially that also containing particulate matter is injurious to the lungs and cardio-pulmonary system.

It is also unnecessary. The analgesic components of marijuana can be extricated from the plant in various forms that do not require smoking or eating the whole plant. They can also be synthesized and for all but a very, very, very small minority of people the body cannot tell the difference.

Although a minority of all users, marijuana use leads to dependence. Studies vary (anywhere from 10-30% of all users) but dependency increases with frequency of use, and this increases when Marijuana is used from analgesic purpose. Keep in mind marijuana is now artificially bred and the breeding makes it more potent as time passes. The psychotropic effects of modern marijuana are exponentially increased in comparison to what musicians smoked in the 40s or hippies smoked in the 60s. Perhaps of significant import but yet unknown is the cultural and societal impetuses and consequences of marijuana use for pain. I could easily persuade my doctor to write me a prescription for "medical" marijuana because I have had chronic pain and a variety of otherwise "normal" medications either are not effective or come with side-effects of long-term use. Additionally, we do not have a lot of data on how often these scripts are misused or abused, but as a former drug dealer I can assure you they are being abused.

The above pertains mostly to medical use. As far as recreational use goes, I've known many people who smoke pot on occasion and manage to live otherwise perfectly normal lives. In that sense I might include them in the group of people who occasionally use alcohol without any detrimental effect. However, those seem people would not be any worse off if they did not use and might even be better.



I say all that from diverse points of view. I had a good upbringing, but both my parents would have qualified clinically as alcoholics. I myself began using drugs as a teenager and was successful enough as a drug dealer that I made more money than I could spend without holding any other job. I was once arrested for felony distribution. There are three ways any behavior can be measured: frequency, intensity, and duration - and that includes drug use. There is no drug I have not used daily, a lot of, for long periods of time. None. I used to be poly-friendly . At my worst I drank a case of beer daily, smoked an ounce of pot daily plus whatever other drugs happened across my path on any given day. Eventually, I lost everything and ended up homeless. Lost ten years of my life in my addiction, including the many years spent in treatment and recovery. Do not remember most of it. Poof! It's just gone. Now that is an extreme case because most users do not do what I did. Use is not misuse and misuse is not abuse, and abuse is not dependence or addiction (clinically speaking). I attended AA and NA for many years and lived totally abstinent of any and all drugs (except those medically prescribed) from 12 years. During that time I went to college and grad school and became a counselor. I did my internship in a residential drug treatment facility where the men lived there for one whole year (not a 30-day program). Afterwards, when I went into private practice I stopped treating addiction* and specialized in treating trauma. That specialty was a natural progression consequent to my studies, practice, experience, and skill set in the addiction center because most drug users have experienced some form of trauma. Drug use also incurs trauma. The "textbook" explanation for any abuse of any drug is there is some emotional content the user wants to consciously or subconsciously reduce and make manageable. Most deny it. Now I am retired. In my forties I began using alcohol occasionally - a glass or two on special occasions like Thanksgiving or Easter. After many years of sobriety, I am able to use in moderation and self-control and I am able to not use. I've walked both sides of the drug-use fence and done so diversely, but I don't assert my views solely based on my personal anecdotal experience. I know the research. And I know Jesus .

Smoking marijuana hurts the body and the soul. It may be a lesser evil than some others, but it is not a good thing.










* Clinically speaking the correct term is Dependence. The term "addiction" is not a diagnosis found in the DSM.
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