Cannabis is neither physically addictive nor toxic in any demonstrated way, it is beneficial to health for people who have conditions that it treats, and no possibility of overdose fatality exists. It is, in short, perhaps the safest medicine known to humankind.
Those who, like myself, suffer from chronic pain, and use cannabis under a doctor’s recommendation, will use it every single day, because we benefit from having pain relief, and it does not impair our function. To the contrary, we are less functional without it because we then have untreated pain.
You cannot honestly say that it would be better to take some prescribed opiate or over-the-counter drug that causes liver damage. Cannabis does not cause organ damage.
Those who have no pain to begin with will have no need of cannabis, but those who are addicted to other drugs would be well advised to switch, were it only legal to do so. Cannabis can treat cocaine, heroin and other dependency, by helping make withdrawal less difficult. Those other drugs can kill, and have very serious withdrawal symptoms that can be dangerous, making their addictiveness truly horrific.
Cannabis is benign, it is beneficial, it is good. It is not for everyone, some will dislike it (and I dislike broccoli, so there). I would not give it to children unless a doctor thought it was appropriate to recommend. There is no real harm in adults using cannabis, except for the harms consequent to prohibition. These are points you may wish to contest, and the social consequences of cannabis are important considerations as well. I’m looking forward to having that conversation with more of you.
April 11, 2007 at 6:21 pm
But it really REALLY screws with ones’ head!
ha!
-Jack
April 11, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Whose?
Are you insulting my intelligence, or saying something about your own experience, or what? Please be more clear.
April 12, 2007 at 8:00 pm
you forgot alcohol. i don’t deny being an alcoholic. if i have weed, 2 beers, i’m good, or none. but if i don’t have weed, 8,9,10,12. i just go crazy.
weed is much healthier.
and i don’t even want to talk about the marlboros. this country has it’s head up it’s ass. and morphine is not even considered a particularly good pain killer. i might need heroin. ok, i’m trying to be snarky, but i 100 percent agree with your point.
April 12, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Charley, would you be able to quit drinking alcohol if you had a reliable supply of medical grade organic grown herbal cannabis and a doctor recommended it for treating addiction and alcohol dependency?
April 12, 2007 at 8:12 pm
I personally smoked tobacco until I could obtain cannabis. It’s been some recovery. For awhile I used them together. Then I just ceased to need the tobacco, and that was it. For what it’s worth it was mostly organic pure tobacco, mostly American Spirit, so maybe not as hard to quit as the Marlboros. Though at one time I did smoke Camels.
April 13, 2007 at 7:37 am
No, Whig! I would never insult your intelligence! I know some very intelligent people who are not very smart, but that has nothing to do with their intelligence.
-Jack
April 13, 2007 at 9:54 am
So you are saying you think I am not very smart?
April 13, 2007 at 10:16 am
Ha! Whig, man, you’re wound much too tight, dude! Relax a little 🙂
I am doing like you suggested and researching the topic of cannabis, and noticed that it has mind altering properties. I’m kind of a naturalist–don’t like putting things in my body that may play with my thoughts–I even tend to avoid painkillers and all that sort of thing when I can.
If you get a chance, can you fill me in on what kind of pain you experience?
Your friend,
-Jack
April 13, 2007 at 11:27 am
If you are a naturalist, who do you think made cannabis? And you just discovered it has mind-altering properties? Wow, who knew?
I have a replaced hip and bone disease due to a genetic condition. I’ve written in more detail elsewhere here. Feel free to look around.
April 13, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Sorry to hear that, Whig. I know that chronic pain is a hard thing to live with.
-Jack
June 9, 2007 at 7:42 pm
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