AIBU to think cannabis mention shuts down critical thinking?

[PearlsAreHeavy]

AIBU to think people completely lose the ability to think critically the minute cannabis gets mentioned?

Inspired by another thread…

Before anyone gets confused about he point of my post…

This isn’t about county lines, gangs, trafficking, driving while high, smoking around kids or any of the other extremes people immediately wheel out whenever cannabis gets mentioned.

I don’t support any of that.

I’m talking about cannabis itself.

For transparency, I use prescribed medical cannabis. It’s prescribed by a specialist clinical team, my GP is supportive, it’s grown legally under licence and arrives from a pharmacy.
.
And before someone inevitably shouts “this was written by AI”… yes, I used ChatGPT to help organise my thoughts. I’m dyslexic and it stops me rambling and making mistakes. The opinions are mine. The punctuation is not. Feel free to debate the subject rather than the software. I’m not here to defend me using a language model for its intended purpose.

Cannabis has genuinely changed my life.
Under medical supervision I’ve reduced other medications that came with a whole shopping list of side effects, some of which then needed treating themselves. I sleep better. I function better. I’m more present. My family gets a better version of me.

I have a senior job, I own my home. I pay my mortgage, I pay my tax, don’t have debts, and I’ve never been arrested. I volunteer at the local animal shelter and I donate money to charity. I’m making those points so that people understand where I’m coming from - I consider myself a decent human being who happens to use prescribed cannabis.

Yet the second people hear the word cannabis, critical thinking seems to leave the building.
“It’s illegal.”
“It’s drugs.”
“It ruins lives.”
“Think of the children.”
“Druggie.”
Conversation over.

Why?

Every substance can be used responsibly.
Every substance can be abused.
Every substance can ruin lives.

Someone taking codeine after surgery isn’t the same as someone addicted to opioids.
Someone prescribed diazepam for anxiety isn’t the same as someone dependent on benzodiazepines.

Someone enjoying a couple of glasses of wine on a Friday isn’t the same as someone drinking a bottle of vodka every day.

Alcohol ruins lives.
Prescription medication ruins lives.
Gambling ruins lives.
Food ruins lives.
Social media ruins lives.

But mention cannabis…

Apparently the plant itself tells some people everything they need to know about your morals, your intelligence, your work ethic and your ability to parent.

Why?

And yes, before someone says it…
I know it’s illegal unless prescribed.
That’s a fact.

But since when did legality become everyone’s moral compass?

It’s technically illegal to be drunk in a pub.

It’s illegal to handle salmon in suspicious circumstances.

It’s illegal to wear armour in Parliament.

There are loads of weird, outdated laws that nobody uses as the basis for deciding whether someone’s a good person.

Yet cannabis seems to be the one subject where “it’s illegal” is treated as though that ends the discussion.

It doesn’t.
It tells me what the law says.

It doesn’t tell me why you think it’s wrong.
I’m not expecting everyone to agree with me.

I’m not even expecting everyone to like cannabis.

What I am interested in is hearing from people who’ve actually thought about why they believe what they believe.

If your entire contribution is “it’s illegal”, “drugs are bad” or “it ruins lives”, you’ve probably missed the point of the thread.

I’m asking why you think that.

And if your position is simply “I don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t swear, don’t break the rules, therefore everyone else should live by my standards”… then honestly, please scroll on, I’m not having that debate.

Abstinence doesn’t automatically make someone morally superior. It just means you’ve made different choices.

I’m interested in hearing from people who can separate behaviour from stereotypes, evidence from stigma and legality from morality.

And one last thing…

I genuinely worry about the people who could benefit from medical cannabis but are too scared to even ask about it because of the stereotypes attached to it.

I know people in exactly that position.
They’re frightened of being judged and labelled a druggie.

Whether cannabis is right for someone should be a conversation between them and their clinician, based on evidence, not fear of social stigma

I think it very much depends where and when we’re exposed to them. I think very badly of someone walking around our local park smoking weed. And exactly the same if they’re drinking alcohol.

Basically if I know you’re doing it, you’re being antisocial. If you don’t stink and can hold down a job and aren’t wandering around smoking it, dropping it and poisoning dogs and kids, well then you aren’t the problem. But that isn’t what I see.

It isn’t the cannabis. It’s the irresponsible behaviour that goes with it whenever we can see it.

Terrible car crash in my area recently. It stank of weed. Life changing injuries for people who were simply walking along a road.

Actually, I did know why. They were unemployed and bored. Would smoke weed and play on consoles.. maybe go to the pub. Men in their late 30s.
Would be in the pub stoned and just talk rubbish. On about politics etc. Self professed "very intelligent", but totally wasted on them. Cannabis is an identity to them.

I do know people who use cannabis because they have chronic pain, and it helps them a lot. They use it, and get on with their life. It is a tool that helps them.

I have also been in psychiatric wards with people who smoked, and ended up psychotic.

@PearlsAreHeavy who are you talking to?

My only problem with it is the smell. It's a big problem in my block of flats and I hate smelling it out and about as well.

I wouldn't describe anyone using drugs as a waster. Most of the people I have known who are taking other drugs have quite big careers. I worked with one brilliant woman whose breakfast was a can of Red Bull and a joints.

but the smell! I really wish they could do something to it so it didn't smell. Obviously, the smell gets people really worked up in a block of flats, so no one is going to admit to being the person who is smoking it but my neighbours are also people who are working hard, many of whom have more than one job.

I guess I don't really know any wasters.

Not everyone who drinks alcohol has those issues though. Most people are capable of enjoying it responsibly.

I think it just depends on your circle. On a site like this you’ll get the curtain twitchers telling you it’s for criminal degenerates, but in my friendship group it’s the opposite. All of us were basically high from 96 until the early 10s. I still get weird looks if I decline a toke when out with friends.

And for people who have never smoked, I get why it’s viewed of negatively. For those people their exposure is usually their neighbours disturbing them with the disgusting smell of it, or their DC smoking it and then locking themselves in their room. And it’s also “illegal” which some people can’t help affecting their viewpoint, but “illegal” is pushing it these days. I can’t count on my hands the amount of times police have walked past us smoking and said nothing.

The viewpoint on this will change though. For kids these days weed is a lot more popular, especially as a night out becomes more and more expensive. Plus you can get it prescribed with ADHD or Anxiety. I’m still relying on dealers which is a shame but I hope it is legalised in my lifetime.

I have been thinking about medical cannabis for chronic pain. I am hesitating and I don't know why. Pretty sure I am eligible. I suspect my hesitancy is because of the bad rep cannabis has.

I'm not a fan of cannabis. The habitual users of cannabis that I know all have a varying range of negative effects from it.

One gets massively depressed, they know this because when they quit for a few months the depression goes away but they still keep going back to it.

Another few have rage issues when using habitually, they are like any other drug user when it comes time for their fix. They get agitated and angry if they can't get to their drugs at the time they usually do. It's fascinating to hear them insist that cannabis is not addictive when you've just seen them twitching waiting for their fix.

Another couple have become delusional, paranoid, conspiracy theory nuts, maybe just a coincidence and they would have become that way anyway but it's enough to turn me off it.

If you feel that cannabis helps you fine, I'm not out there trying to stop anyone from using. Personally though I choose not to.

Yet I know people who have good jobs, own houses and grow themselves ( so contribute nothing to illegal economy) that smoke it

Sorry, edited as I quoted the long post.

Yes, if they could engineer the smell put of it then it wouldn’t be considered so anti social based on that

So that’s great- they aren’t inflicting it on other people. No one is suffering as a result. Some of my neighbours might be in this camp, I wouldn’t know.

What we see most is people who aren’t like that. People who are inflicting it on others.
And anyway, Are you sure their neighbours aren’t bothered by the smell? There have been lots of threads on MN with people upset that the smell is getting in their homes, DC’s bedrooms, or they can’t open windows in the heat because of it.
I had a volunteer pull out because one of the families we delivered to stank so much of weed she’d have been obliged to report them.

I’m curious, did you smoke weed when you were a teen?

Skunk laced with smack? you cannot seriously believe what you just typed ffs.

This has made me realise that my park no longer honks if it as frequently as it did last year. Some people must have moved away.

Medical cannabis is a completely separate debate, like discussing botox for cosmetic vs medical purposes - it’s not the same thing.

DCs friends who smoke weed all seem to be depressed but I don’t know if that’s the reason they smoked in the first place. In my circle
tends to be a bit of a vibe of “I smoke week because I’m more intellectual than those basic drinkers” which I can’t be bothered with.

About half the posters are proving your point beautifully OP, I wouldn't bother - it's like debating politics with a right winger when you're a lefty.

I should be so lucky

Who am I talking to as in real life? Or on here?

I started the thread because of a discussion on another thread to ight. But ithe negative stereotypical attitude is something that is peddled out time and time again on here and Ive kept my mouth shut until tonight. I thought it warrented a discussion, and might help just one person to make an informed decision should they benefit from it medically.

in real life, I tend to keep it to myself, my family know and my director knows, but I don’t wander round Sainsbury’s proclaiming that I think cannaabis is wonderful. So thought Id come here and have a anonymous discussion

Pretty bad for the heart going by all the latest studies though. Like, even people that used just edibles and never smoked had the arterial function of a smoker - around 50% reduced function. Another found a 42% higher chance of a stroke and 24% higher chance of a heart attack. Weed users under 50 were 600x more likely to have a heart attack.

The stoners on reddit seem to believe it's big tobacco conspiracy but I'm not convinced the British Heart Foundation have been infiltrated lol.

Pretty bad for the heart going by all the latest studies though. Like, even people that used just edibles and never smoked had the arterial function of a smoker - around 50% reduced function. Another found a 42% higher chance of a stroke and 24% higher chance of a heart attack. Weed users under 50 were 600x more likely to have a heart attack.

The stoners on reddit seem to believe it's big tobacco conspiracy but I'm not convinced the British Heart Foundation have been infiltrated lol.

EDIT: The 24% and 42% above were based on daily users. The figures dropped to something like 3% and 5% for those that only used a couple of times a week.

🤣🤣
As if anyone's giving away free drugs, bless em.

Thank you. 😊

The irony is, I don’t think I could’ve demonstrated my point half as well as some of the replies have.

Some of the replies have been the perfect case study.

End of the day , cannabis is a herbal medicine that has been used for hundreds of years with many many benefits. And all the do gooder weed haters can protest as much as they want but you cannot argue the facts lol , yes there are people who misuse but there are also people who benefit massively where modern medicine has failed them.

Most of the negatives with cannabis can actually be fixed with making it legal tbh.
Im quite torn tbh as I do agree with all the points you made also my husband gets medical cannabis like you.

I've worked with people with psychosis and there is a very clear link between cannabis and psychosis which can't be denied.

Does the benefit outweigh the negatives? We ask ourselves the same question with other medications.

Informed discussion, this is what I was hoping for and actual evidence. Thank you.

If good quality research shows cannabis carries cardiovascular risks, then we absolutely should be talking about that. That’s how medicine is supposed to work. We weigh up benefits against risks.

Every medication I take has potential side effects. So does alcohol. So do opioids. So does HRT. So does codeine. Risk is part of medicine, not a reason to shut the conversation down.

My issue has never been with discussing the evidence - whether it’s positive or negative. Quite the opposite. I want more evidence, better evidence and more informed discussions.

My issue is when people skip straight from “this substance has risks” to “therefore everyone who uses it is a druggie, a bad parent or a waste of space.”

Those are two completely different conversations.

If the science evolves tomorrow and tells us something new about cannabis, then my views will evolve with it. That’s the difference between holding an evidence-based opinion and holding a moral one.

I know three people who got scripts specifically so they didn't have to worry about driving after smoking. One got it for his bad knee despite the fact he had surgery seven years ago and is playing five aside every week. The other got it for 'anxiety and adult ADHD' but has never been officially diagnosed with ADHD and only ever talks about it in connection to weed. I get the impression it's pretty easy to get a script.

up until very recently i would have said exactly that - wasters, loser etc

But seeing a relative the past year in so much pain, housebound unable to move without howling... with no end in sight desperate to just find a way to enjoy the day she has woken up to, to enjoy a tv programme, listen to a book, hold a conversation - but being unable to because the pain is all she can think about.

I am starting to come round to the idea.