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

This is the same as people I know who are heavy/daily users. It's all great so long as they have access to it when they don't there is an edge there until they can get their hands on it again. I went on holiday with a daily user years ago and she was an absolute witch until she got her hands on some and then it was back to chilled stoner vibes. I hadn't realised how dependent she was on it until then, it was sad to see. She is a well respected teacher so not a 'waster' but her life definitely revolves around cannabis in a way that would spark concern if it were alcohol.

My experience is that most people don't drink every day and can have a few drinks and still be far from drunk.

Most weed users I've known use it daily and get pretty blasted. Very few are having three puffs and just getting mildly baked to the equivalent of two drinks.

And obv being 'better than an alcoholic' isn't really a great bar to aim for.

Thats my point, they don’t. All you have to do is scroll yhis thread and any others that mention cannabis

Herself of course, as smoking pot damages lungs faster than tobacco, so then the NHS, which will have to deal with her COPD, and any poor sod who lives near her and has to put up with the vile stink.

No offence, but a lot of MC users seem to be wilfully ignorant in thinking that other people 'just don't get it' when in fact many just don't agree.

I love getting blazed occasionally and I'd absolutely qualify for a script having been on ADHD meds for years. It's just that I can see that most of my mates that use weed regularly don't do as much as they did prior to using weed. They say things like "I'm more of a homebody type" or "I prefer nights in to nights out" etc. However, when they give up they always seem to suddenly start doing more stuff again.

In the rare instance you can get them out for a meal they'll try and make their excuses as soon as they've had the token post-meal drink. You can almost see them getting fidgety. I just can't imagine sitting in a chair all-day and then coming home to sit on the sofa all night. And I say that as somebody who loves nothing more than a lazy weekend or Saturday wake and bake after 50+ hours of working outside in the elements and hitting the gym four nights in the week.

The joke about the vegan and the crossfitter walking into a bar could easily apply to MC users too. How did you know? Because they told everybody within the first 30 seconds. 🤣 MC users always seem to love writing epic monologues about weed and most people just don't really GAF about it.

<Double posted>

She lives backing into a railway line and has a summerhouse at bootome of her garden so no one close. She's got no copd either at 76 .

So try again.

If cannabis becomes legalised it will be sold and it will just be another way the elites can make money off you like alcohol, at the cost of your mental health. In the US they're selling unnaturally strong weed that is causing mental health issues like psychosis and aside from that it neuters you and makes you lazy and sedate. Smoking weed imo as someone who smoked heavily makes the years tick by too fast and makes you too relaxed about it doing so. It's addictive like sugary food is addictive even if it's not the same as harder drug withdrawals.
If it's just a whatever plant you grow at home I don't really see the issue but it's very strong now and if it was legalised it would be the strong stuff people liked to use.

‘My take on reality is heavily sanitised’??

You have absolutely no idea who I am, my life, my history or my experiences.

Your first post is one of the reasons I started this thread - to challenge exactly that stereotype. Your second post isn’t an argument or point to discuss, it was just an attempt to belittle me.

I really appreciate the posters who’ve joined this thread for an actual discussion. I won’t be engaging with you any further

Many substances cause issues. I've not mentioned alcohol in my post: the topic of discussion is cannabis. We could fill a whole other thread with regard to alcohol.

You get far more people moaning about cannabis users than drinkers though. No one ever seems to mention people doing lines of coke at dinner parties either

So why is cannabis different?

You tell me. I didn't bring up the topic of alcohol. You did. Knock yourself out.

ETA Metaphorically speaking, for those outside the UK.

Interesting — writing style OP. 🤔

The reason I personally hate cannabis is that my brother with very serious mh issues used it to self medicate and almost killed my husband and me during a psychotic episode which was exacerbated by his use of cannabis.
Fair enough?

I can relate -the first time I saw who my boyfriend ( a wealthy man in his mid 40s) really is, was on a holiday. Not that the holiday was somehow inherently stressful, it was him being stressed for lack of weed. It was awful what went on.

I've always found it odd that cannabis hasn't got a similar research history as opiates - opiates are still massively important painkillers in various forms, and I don't see why it couldn't be more widely prescribed under the same sort of controls as morphine or strong codeine. There are many prescription drugs which are problematic if misused, which is of course why they are prescription drugs rather than OTC. I know there's an opiod crisis in the USA, but I think that's more to do with their health care system and commercialisation of drugs.

I also don't think it woukd be too bad a thing to have controlled recreational use, with similar restrictions to alcohol - over 18s only, no drug driving, no use at work and so on. I'd probably restrict alcohol more than it currently is, though. (My mother was an alcoholic, so I am biased.)

There are people who misuse it, but then there are people who misuse alcohol.

@EBearhug The research that has been done, has not been able to confirm Cannabis related pain reduction in acute or chronic pain. It's been done numerous times with the same outcome.
As far as pain reduction goes, one would be better off smoking heroin than weed.

Having said that, there are health conditions where achieving a certain oblivion or stupor would provide mental relief from suffering. And it is very individual to the person what gets them there -opioids, sleeping pills, cannabis, alcohol, benzos...tale as old as time itself. There's nothing magical about Cannabis - some people just prefer the feeling.

I feel people minimise the significant mental health impact cannabis can have specifically on young people.

I think it’s the whole stigma around ‘drugs’ research is moving in a different direction with certain drugs- microdosing mushrooms for example is meant to be way more effective for treating anxiety, depression and complex ptsd than any prescribed antidepressant/anti anxiety meds.

The couple of people I’ve known who’ve regularly used cannabis were definitely incapable of critical thinking. I personally wouldn’t touch the stuff.

Nailed it.

I live in North America where recreational cannabis is legal. I think it’s been a mixed bag to be honest. It can be used recreationally (or medically) safely. But some users have gone to the extreme claiming there’s never a problem, you can’t become addicted, etc. you may not be able to develop the physical dependency that you can with heroin, but there is definitely psychological dependence.

Legalisation has also meant the rise of formats that are easier to use but harder to control like gummy candies. I’ve seen people develop incredible tolerances on those.

There needs to be more balanced discussion and it does seem to be clear that teens really need to be careful (preferably abstain), especially with these new potent strains.

and yes the smell can be horrid.

It absolutely reeks. I don’t care what you imbibe; just don’t force it into my life/space which is what every cannabis smoker does.

At least alcoholics may smell of booze but it doesn’t travel.

Get rid of the stink and I wouldn’t give a fuck.

Also, it's not necessarily true that county lines, gangs and trafficking would disappear if cannabis were legalised.

That's not at all what happened in US states where it's legal. The gangs are still in the cannabis business (along with everything else). They offer cheaper prices than the legal outlets. Naive to think that these powerful multinational businesses would just disappear. They adapt to changing market conditions.

Of the 4 people I know who were daily cannabis users into their thirties, one is dead through combined alcohol dependency, and the other 3 have psychosis or schizophrenia, and have wasted their lives.