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.
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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 don't use cannabis. I don't like the smell of it. I tried it when I was younger and didn't feel much effect from it.
I don't get the hysteria around it. I think alcohol is worse. I think drugs should be legalised. As a teenager, me and my friends used drugs but didn't drink alcohol much. The reason being we couldn't get served with alcohol but the drug dealers didn't care how old we were. Many deaths from drugs are due to them being mixed with other things unbeknown to the user. Legalise and regulate drugs and county lines will no longer be an issue, there will be a reduction in children using drugs (not eradicated I know but any reduction is positive) and a huge decrease in fatalities. They do have some benefits, there have been successful trials of psychedelics and MDMA being used in the treatment of mental health issues.
Not many people are open to discussion around the benefits of legalising drugs because they don't have the ability to think beyond them being illegal and being bad.

Isn't it still illegal to smoke medically prescribed cannabis?

Yes. It should be dispensed in a vaporiser device, which does unfortunately still smell, or ingested via edible or oil.

I think this is one of the most balanced posts on this thread. Whether people personally choose to use cannabis or not is almost beside the point.

Criminalisation hasn’t stopped people using drugs. What it has done is hand the market to organised crime, leave people with unregulated products, and create stigma around people who genuinely use cannabis medicinally—or who are self-medicating because NHS waiting lists are years long or private prescriptions simply aren’t affordable.

Regulation isn’t about encouraging use; it’s about acknowledging reality and reducing harm. This thread is exactly why I started the discussion. We should be capable of a more nuanced conversation than assuming everyone who uses cannabis is just a “waster.” Life, and people’s reasons for using it, are far more complex than that

I have known it to create a calm sense clarity of mind when taken for severe depression, this is very dependent on the correct dosage of the correct strain of course.

I know an 85 year old who uses it for pain relief. Her GP knows and is okay with it. She still walks a lot and gardens most days.

Chronic pain which I had before surgery caused me awful brain fog. I was rattling with strong painkillers. I did look into it.

A friend early sixties with fibromyalgia takes it sometimes when particularly bad. She works full time.

So yes I do think it should be prescribed for medical reasons.

It's the smell that I hate. It genuinely makes me me feel sick.
I had to temporarily have a young person staying in my house last year and I could sniff out small amounts of cannabis that they'd brought in, wrapped in foil and hidden. Think I must have been a drug detection dog in a previous life. 😬😂

Im glad you’ve seen this post, and hope it goes someway to helping you make an informed decision regarding your health care, sorry about your pain ❤️

The street stuff is probably around 30 percent THC, if it's THC and not some synthetic stuff. I am guessing prescription weed is maybe 5 - 10 per cent. I think it should be available on private prescription to any adult that wants it, provided they have no history of severe mental illness.

I smoked it daily for years. Now I just have a few hits on a vape a few times a year. Usually during time off. My main issue was that I got really cranky when I couldn't have it and I felt myself making excuses to go home and get 😑 in instances where I'd have previously been having a great time. Almost all of the heavier recreational users I knew were the same. They'd be calling every old contact in their phone book if they ran out and couldn't get hold of their guy.

But prescribed use is different from recreational or addicted use?
Responsibly sourced is not the same as illegally grown.
I think most people understand that

It helps some people. I do think that it should be available for medical reasons, but not for recreational use: I've seen too many children having their lives blighted by it.

I used to be a secondary school teacher. I recall one very bright teenage boy who got hooked on the stuff and just stayed home and smoked pot all day.

Another lad got hooked on it, and then conned into trying heroin.

Never known a doper who wasn't, on some level, a total waste of space and generally an arsehole to boot. Known plenty of people who drink the occasional glass of wine or beer and function perfectly fine.

Thank you for your inout, it merely strengthens my points

I'm not entirely convinced it is. Sure, it helps some people with genuine pain issues who'd otherwise be on a cocktail of opiates. However, one look on most MC subreddits and it's just like listening to a load of stoners talking about getting blazed and boasting about how they get their buds delivered through the letterbox.

Every advert on FB is full of comments from people saying "how do I get this?". It rarely seems clinician led so much as people deciding they want it and working out what hoops they need to jump through. The people who cry about not being able to use it in public venues because "they'd never say that to an insulin user" need to get in the sea lol. You're not going to die because you can't vape bud in the cinema or because you had to have a gummy instead for once.

Not really.
I said about the people I knew like that you accused me of stigma.
There are people who make dope their life and identity. You are fortunate to have not met people like that and therefore deny they exist. They absolutely do.

I think many people (who have knowledge about cannabis) are supportive about legalising cannabis

but the absolutely devastating impact cannabis is having on so many young people is at a level that was just never predicted. I work in mh mainly with younger people and that vast majority is cannabis related with long term mh issues.

looking at other countries who have legalised it this has had mixed results regarding criminality and people needing mh support

it’s complex but it is time to have discussions around legalisation, its used by so many and to be able to sell cannabis with lower thc levels may stop so many smoking cannabis with often dangerous thc levels

Spoken like a true addict. Have witnessed what it does to some people and it's not pleasant. Absolutely despise this drug.

I've known several people with Cannabis-induced psychosis - like any vice (legal or not), there's no knowing how it might affect you until after the event.

The cannabis available in the 70's and 80's contained a far lower level of THC, a friends was fond of resin lightly dusted with opium (acquired from the docks) that enabled him to lose days at a time without seeming lasting issues.

Current cultivated weed and synthetics can do serious harm.

There is a medicinal forest of cannabis in Kent and regulated, standardised cannabis products should be safe for most but I'm not sure what happens if the prescribed quantities fail to meet your appetite.

As it's been mentioned, one small thing about County Lines, while I thought I was well informed and that these were networks connecting cities with rural areas to boost sales and profits. I was shocked to learn that the Home Office defines County Lines as telephone lines/accounts for the ordering and supply of drugs.
Send a text to your dealer and it's a County Lines matter, send a despatch rider with your order, for delivery by a transit and it's conveniently ceases to be a County Lines matter.

What I've never seen addressed is what the plan is to stop using in the instance that a curable condition is successfully treated? It seems most patients have no intention of ever stopping.

With many MH conditions the idea is to use medication as a tool to reach the stage where ideally you don't need it. Of course many don't reach this stage but certainly the idea isn't that you take antidepressants etc for life and don't ever think about stopping.

The cynical part of me suspects that a lot of clinics would rather you kept paying indefinitely. I mean, we're talking about profit making enterprises selling unlicensed meds at the end of the day. Money is the priority.

Everyone I've known who used Cannabis regularly has been a dysfunctional waster, plus completely in denial of their own condition.
I will never, for example, date anyone who is even slightly partial to weed - the odds are just not worth the risk.
I also wouldn't date a daily drinker, smoker, someone with a condition that necessitates daily pain killers or psychotropic medications.

Since I'm set on keeping weed-heads out of my life, it doesn't really bother me which poison some randomer chooses. If the sodding stuff didn't reek so bad and affect enjoyment of my home, there would be zero brain space devoted to it.

Yep, I went out with a dope smoker for a while. His hobby and life was weed... and a bit of gaming. Would rant about politics and how how anyone with a job was a mug (which was me).
He was a waster and dull as hell.

I did a have a friend who relied on it too... but she was the same. No hobbies or interests... just weed.

So why can't the same be said about cannabis smokers?

And alcohol doesn't cause issues??

Your take on reality is so heavily sanitised Im not sure that you have much in the way of points.