Opinions - Cannabis

I would like to know your opinion on the use of cannabis for medicinal and recreational purposes. Personally, I think it is a great, natural remedy for many illnesses. It helps with depression, anxiety, insomnia, and has even been proven to kill cancer cells. It is also great to add to your tobacco when you decide to smoke your pipe and just think about things and enjoy nature. It really helps you absorb your surroundings and think deeper about things.

Replies to This Discussion

My wife and 2 sons (in their 30s) think that legalizing cannabis is a smart thing to do (and they also think that legalizing recreational use of marijuana is a smart thing to do as well). I have told them that the reason that alcohol is legal but marijuana is not, is that alcohol has been around forever (it seems) -- and we all know how Prohibition didn't work. So responsible use of alcohol, and recreational marijuana, and medicinal cannabis is probably what we should shoot for, I guess. (In case you're interested -- and not from a holier-than-thou attitude -- I don't use alcohol or marijuana or tobacco myself. I have other things that are part of my life that I have to keep under control, but that is another discussion for another day.)

Thanks for the reply. I personally think that the use of these things are good in moderation. And I think a good argument for marijuana legalization is that it is much safer than alcohol and tobacco, in regards to health. Alcohol causes over 2.5 million deaths per year while marijuana has never caused a death, because it impossible to overdose on. It also helps people stop smoking and drinking, because you don't have to smoke marijuana to use it. Again, thanks for replying!

Personally - I don't use marijuana. But in the same way, I don't smoke cigarettes either. If we are going to have tobacco and alcohol available to adults, I see no reason to not allow marijuana. Regulate it, tax it, then let people do what they want with themselves. That will destroy the black market, and reduce prison populations too. So, bonus. Safer and less expensive for everyone in general. I really see no downside.

Exactly. Especially since things that are legal, like alcohol, tobacco, and prescription opiates are much more dangerous. Currently we have an opiate epidemic, and the solution is to stop prescribing them and prescribe marijuana, which treats pain and depression, without the huge risk of addiction.

John, I prefer the term "opiate crisis" rather than "opiate epidemic" because this addiction was not a disease that attacked innocent people out of the blue. Of course they need help, but I think that "crisis" is more honest than "epidemic."

Currently most people get hooked on opiates through prescriptions. Opiates are used to stop pain. Marijuana stops pain and has a very low risk of getting addicted and has no withdrawal symptoms. Stop prescribing opiates and start prescribing marijuana.

I'd be cautious about making claims like this. First, I don't think that the opioid problems are going to be easily solved at all. There are enough good reasons to argue for legalization without making broader, hard to prove, or contentious claims about it as some panacea to other ills.

Even if you honestly believe this to be true, convincing others will be an uphill battle, and distracts from the things that are well supported.

MJ might be useful in helping with some people's chronic pain, but it's not a replacement for opioids in treating acute pain, and for those (many) for whom MJ is not effective as a pain killer. They are not going to go away so easily because they remain clinical viable and valuable - neither doctors nor patients will go along with removing options.

I see what you are saying. I shouldn't have said it would be easily solved. What I meant however, is that most people get addicted from prescription opiates to stop pain. Marijuana does this and has very low addiction chances and no withdrawal symptoms. Start prescribing marijuana instead of opiates and you can start to solve the bigger issue.

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