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 love this, perfectly said.

No, resin.

I’ve never met a decent cannabis user so it’s tainted my views. Growing up my stepdad smoked it daily and he was, I’d argue, paranoid schizophrenic as a result. I would be in another room laughing at something on TV or whatever and he would be convinced I was laughing at him. He would count biscuits in a packet and if he returned home and found one missing, he was convinced this was me and I was trying to get at him. He was a total nut job. He beat me regularly too from the age of 6.

The friends/boyfriends I’ve had who smoked regularly weren’t violent and aggressive like him but they were just losers, I’m sorry. No other way of wording this. They were lazy as fuck and just wanted to doss about smoking 24/7. They’d also talk about weed constantly too like they had nothing else to offer the world, their life revolved around it.

So yeah, I’m not a particular fan of it.

I would say a lot of cannabis use is antisocial for the simple fact that it smells awful. We should be cutting down on that, not expanding it.

Also, for all cannabis users want to portray themselves as cool and trendy, a lot of them are very clearly total losers.

That said I would be in favour of legalisation with heavy restrictions. Restricting it to licenced indoor establishments would make sense. Maybe allowing private home use, though even that can be bad for the neighbours in terms of the smell.

You don't have to smoke it, though, which deals with the smell issue.

Right. For some reason the very well studied damaging effects of cannabis are not particularly well known in the general public.

This is just a quick copy paste from one of the many websites that list the damaging effects of cannabis very clearly. It's not actually up for debate - it's harmful. recovery.com/resources/understanding-the-long-term-effects-of-marijuana-use/

But you will never get an addict to admit that their drug of choice is dangerous.

"Unlike many other substances that clear from your system quickly, THC is stored in your body’s fat cells and released gradually over time.3 Because of this, it can take several weeks for your body to return to its baseline state after chronic use.

Physical Health Effects of Long-Term Marijuana Use
The health effects of marijuana can impact different bodily systems:

Research shows that about 1 in 4 long-term marijuana smokers experience respiratory symptoms:5
Chronic cough
Regular mucus production
Wheezing
Episodes of bronchitis

Interestingly, these respiratory symptoms were similar whether people smoked just marijuana or just tobacco—one wasn’t necessarily better or worse than the other. Marijuana primarily affects the larger airways in the lungs, while tobacco has more impact on the smaller airways.

Cardiovascular Impact
Long-term effects of cannabis use can interfere with the healthy functioning of your cardiovascular system, too.6 During use, most people experience an increase in heart rate, and some notice changes in their blood pressure or feel their heart beat stronger. For most healthy people, these changes aren’t dangerous. But if you have a heart condition or are at risk for heart disease, it’s important to talk with your doctor about how marijuana might affect your cardiovascular health.

Immune System Implications
“Cannabis use is associated with a wide range of adverse health consequences that may involve almost every physiological and biochemical system including respiratory/pulmonary complications such as chronic cough and emphysema, impairment of immune function, and increased risk of acquiring or transmitting viral infections such as HIV, HCV, and others.”
While we’re still learning about the long-term effects of marijuana on the immune system, we know that THC can affect how immune cells function. Regular use might make it slightly harder for your body to fight off certain infections. If your immune system is compromised, you should talk to your doctor about your marijuana use.

Brain and Cognitive Effects of Marijuana Use
cannabis can affect everything from your memory and thinking skills to your motivation and emotional well-being.

Memory and Learning
Marijuana affects several types of cognitive functions. THC, the active compound in marijuana, works by attaching to receptors in the parts of your brain that form memories. That means marijuana can impact aspects of your memory and thinking:

Working memory: Holding and manipulating information in your mind
Executive function: Planning, organizing, and completing tasks
Psychomotor function: The conscious thought required for physical activities
That’s why it’s common for people who regularly use marijuana to experience these symptoms:
Trouble remembering recent events or conversations
Challenges with learning and retaining new information
Changes in how quickly you can process information

Usually, these effects are temporary. Most people report improvements in brain function, such as with memory and thinking, after they cut back or stop using marijuana.

However, the use of marijuana among adolescents and young adults can impede proper brain development, potentially making cognitive recovery more challenging

Regular use can influence your mood patterns—and if you have existing mental health conditions, such as depression, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, marijuana might affect how you experience or manage these conditions."

Because it is presently illegal unless medically prescribed and it is often a starter drug.

On a complete tangent, I'm sick to the back teeth of reading 'critical thinking' on here. It's become so trite - no critical thinking going on everytime some MNetter trots that tired phrase out.

Honestly, for me, my reaction is partly about the smell. I can't bear it and it makes me feel really sick. I find it incredibly antisocial as it really lingers.

Apart from that, there are is the increased risk of mental health issues, including psychosis. I just feel that the people who choose to expose themselves to that risk by taking cannabis that isn't prescribed for medical reasons are a bit dumb?

Absolutely nothing wrong with using prescription drugs, and I think the evidence is clear that it should be available to more people.

But buying illegal drugs is different. I wouldn't knowingly buy shoes made by slave children or meat farmed in horrific welfare standards. Illegal drugs are in the same category.

@TwilightSkies "I despise alcohol and the effect it has on society. Anger, fighting, nastiness, stupid decisions, self-pity, burdening the NHS. It ruins people’s health."

Fine, but drug driving offences have now actually overtaken drunk driving offences. The rate of repeat offending (getting caught 3 or more times) is five times more common in drug driving than drunk driving. The presence of drugs has also overtaken the presence of alcohol in fatal road accidents. And no matter what you say, smoking weed carries significant health risks. It increases the risk of psychosis and schizophrenia and is linked to higher rates of paranoia along with persistent anxiety, depression and lung damage. It also increases the heart rate elevating the risk of high blood pressure and heart attack. So I'm very much afraid that no matter what your drug of choice is (be it alcohol or cannabis) you run the risk of ruining your health, other people's health, making stupid decisions and being a burden on the NHS. There is no such thing as a harmless or perfect drug and it is completely false to claim otherwise.

Firstly, thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to reply. I genuinely wasn’t expecting this thread to grow into such a wide-ranging discussion.

One thing that’s really struck me is just how many people’s opinions are rooted in very personal experiences. Some of those experiences have been genuinely heartbreaking to read. The posters who’ve witnessed and lived through psychosis, violence, addiction, dependency, family breakdown and the devastating impact cannabis has had on someone they love. my heart goes out to them

Equally, there are people sharing positive experiences, whether that’s prescribed medical cannabis, self-managing difficult health conditions, or simply questioning whether our current approach is the right one. Those experiences matter too.
I think that’s exactly why this is such a complex subject.

One thing I do want to clarify is that I’m not here to convince anyone that cannabis is wonderful, harmless, or that everyone should use it. I’m not. Nor am I suggesting there are no risks. Dependency exists. Mental health risks exist. Young people are particularly vulnerable. Those are all important discussions to have.

What I’ve been interested in for a long time, and what prompted me to start this thread after reading another discussion on Mumsnet, is something slightly different.
It’s the way cannabis seems to strip away nuance.

For some people, the word itself immediately becomes shorthand for “loser”, “bad parent”, “waster”, “pothead” or worse.

An incredibly diverse group of people, from every background imaginable, can end up being viewed through exactly the same lens simply because one word is involved.This is what I do take exception to, and find quite unfair and why I thought it warranted further discussion.

I’ve seen first-hand the devastation drugs can bring to families, and I’ve also been a victim of the antisocial behaviour that can surround drug use. I’ve also seen situations where cannabis, particularly medically, has had a genuinely positive impact on people’s quality of life. And this is why I hold a balanced view.

I’m deliberately not turning this into a deep dive into my own life because that isn’t really the point of the thread. My views come from my own lived experience, just as everyone else’s do.

What has fascinated me isn’t whether people are pro-cannabis or anti-cannabis. It’s how people arrive at those views.
Some posters have clearly had terrible experiences and will understandably never have a positive view of cannabis. I completely respect that.

Others seem to hold equally strong opinions despite having little or no direct experience themselves, and I find that just as interesting. It makes me wonder how much of our thinking is shaped by education, media, cultural attitudes and stigma, compared with our own lived experience.

An incredibly diverse group of people, from every background imaginable, can end up being viewed through exactly the same lens simply because one word is involved.This is what I do take exception to, and find quite unfair and why I thought it warranted further discussion.

But it is not a word problem. It is a drug problem. Cannabis can lead (and indeed does) to a significant mental health decline and other outcomes associated with the use of the drug. There will be a medical term for the state of affect that is a "loser" or "waster" but I'm content with the shorthand that people and time have created.

I live next to a half-way house for drug addled prisoners on release. The sort of zombies that take every substance going.
Trust me, they also think they have reasons and stories and the only problem lies with the surrounding society, hurty words and unfair perceptions.

Cannabis itself doesn’t hugely bother me.

I am bewildered by the use of alcohol though and the worst deaths I personally saw as a doctor were hepatic encephalopathy/end stage liver disease. At medical school it was drilled into us that if alcohol was discovered today it would be a class A drug due to the effects on the body/society but it is so ingrained in our culture that prohibition could never work.

A simple, but probably unworkable, solution should be medical cannabis only in a form that doesn't smell, isn't smokable. Clamp down hard on recreational use.

I'm still a bit surprised by how much is about, that you can smell in suburban streets. Plus reports from DS about kids who go to school reeking of it. From parental use, not the kids.

Good thread OP.

I take MC to manage a mental health issue. I am not sure what it is but every so often I have terrible episodes of anxiety and depression. I'm not sure if it's genetic (close members have been diagnosed with possible culprits) and one died prematurely of a MH condition) or as a result of repeated traumas - and believe me, I've had more than my share of them.

I have tried to access mainstream support many times, various antidepressants and counselling. Last time explained the whole thing to the doctor that I was very tired of having these episodes, felt their could be an underlying cause and could they help?

Nope, they just wanted to shove me on Prozac, which last time turned me into a fat zombie who sat on the sofa eating all day (so same outcome as stereotypical weed user, yet Prozac appears to be entirely acceptable). When I came off the Prozac I went back to feeling anxious but with the added bonus of weight related health conditions. I just didn't want to go through all that again.

Beta blockers mess with keeping fit.

When I'm on MC I feel calmer, more relaxed. I sleep a lot better. I hugely cut down on alcohol for months.

I also hold down a job, pay plenty of tax, take my kids and myself to things, volunteer, and am really into keeping fit and very aware of my diet.

I don't think it's right for everyone, at all; obviously medicine use needs to be tailored to the person. I think taking it as someone in middle age with a fried brain is entirely different to taking it as a teen.

I don't smoke it so no smell.

The one person I have told IRL immediately leapt to the assumption I was smoking and went on about how it turned her relative into a bad person.

It is expensive to get and extremely rare to get on the NHS here too.

Sorting out my diet and exercise habits, going out and exploring new activities, all that sort of thing has helped too. But the cannabis itself helps and is part of the package. I'm not all the way there but I'm so much better than I was.

Mental health services here are shit and I got the impression - perhaps unfairly - I might get more help if I wasn't holding down a job.

I think you’ve made some good point OP. The current status quo means some people eligible for medicinal cannabis feel the stigma is too high to request it so go without or source it themselves and nothing else changes. There’s limited nuance applied to many things as though there’s no middle ground - the people perpetuating the stigma are often those who say they have no qualms about it being used for “genuine” reasons, perhaps without realising that their views impact most on the people they perceive as needing it, whilst exacerbating the issues caused by not legalising it more generally. It’s not just cannabis of course, it can be anything from stigma around seeking mental health support, accessing the NHS, applying for disability benefits and so on.

I agree it is overly frowned upon. It can make you very lazy and were as you cant really function properly being drunk you can being stoned so some people use it as a way off life rather than a little smoke to wind down after work etc, its also the smell that puts people off but personally I think its pretty harmless.

Thank you. It is very informative. I am just desperate for a night sleep. Opioids make me feel awful. I will explore a bit more. I understand the vape is the best way to take it.

But everyone does. It’s easier and less unpredictable than edibles.

“Maybe allowing private home use, though even that can be bad for the neighbours in terms of the smell.”

Private home use will not help. Every single one of my adjoining neighbours smokes this filth and I get it full on every time I open a window. And many times, I don’t even need to do that because it seeps through the cracks in the floors and walls.

I remember early days living here. My little cat had been upstairs running about on our private roof terrace. She came downstairs for a cuddle and her fur reeked of weed.

So no to private home use.

Given that alcohol killed 9809 people in 2024 and cannabis killed 0 I wonder why people seem to hate it so much.
There are so many beneficial elements to cannabis

I’m really glad the thread has helped a little.

I completely understand the hesitation. The stigma is real, and I think this thread demonstrates that quite well.

I’d only encourage you to make sure any information you use comes from trusted medical sources and your treating clinicians, rather than people like me on the internet. Medical cannabis isn’t right for everyone, just as opioids aren’t right for everyone. They’re both medicines with potential benefits and potential risks, and those risks need to be weighed up for each individual.

Vaping is one method, but there are also various gummies and oils, both mixed with CBD as well as THC and taken orally by placing them under your tongue and letting the absorb and I favour those personally, but whatever you decide, I genuinely hope you find something that gives you some relief and lets you get some proper sleep.

Chronic pain is exhausting, and I wish you all the best. ❤️

Good thread, although no doubt it will de-rail spectacularly soon enough.

My very close family member uses regularly and buys very locally (no trafficking of children involved). He had spinal surgery 12 years ago and is a manual worker. He took so much legally prescribed pain medication after the surgery and the following 2 years that he has permanent damage to his digestive tract and kidneys.

Now he is fully functional, in a manageable degree of pain and is in significantly better shape than he has been for a decade.

I fully agree that anything can be abused. Cannabis will be legalised eventually as it will be nice and taxable.

I am well aware that plenty of wasters smoke weed and don't contribute etc, just like there are plenty of alcoholics who delude themselves that they have less of a problem because it's Whispering Angel out of a hair-thin glass...

You are however unlikely to get a measured response on a forum that can't cope with toilet brushes...

Nothing to add really, but I’m disabled and in a lot of pain. I tried medicinal cannabis. All it did was give me the shits 😒

Reading through the replies, something else has occurred to me.

A lot of us seem to accept risk very differently depending on where it comes from.

Some posters have shared really sobering information about the potential harms of cannabis, and that’s been genuinely useful. Those risks absolutely deserve to be discussed.

But it has made me wonder why we don’t seem to instinctively approach other medicines in quite the same way.

Take someone living with chronic pain. They’re often prescribed medications that have very well-documented risks of dependence, tolerance, withdrawal and a whole range of unpleasant side effects. Those risks are real, they’re recognised, and doctors weigh them up every day against the potential benefit to that individual.

Yet when cannabis enters the conversation, it often feels as though the discussion shifts from balancing risks and benefits to judging the person considering it.

I’m not saying that’s right or wrong, just that it’s interesting.

Is that because cannabis genuinely carries a unique set of risks? Or is it because, culturally, we’ve been taught to see it differently from medicines we’re more familiar with?

I’m genuinely curious where people think that distinction comes from.

I actually agree with you. People lumping "drugs" (meaning controlled substances) together as one homogenous mass and talking about "druggies" are idiots. There is no comparison between cannabis and opioids.

For the record I don't think cannabis is harmless at all. I know people who have had psychotic episode triggered by cannabis use. It obviously posed significant risk to the respiratory system and it can make people really struggle to get things done. I used to smoke it a lot, haven't touched it for 20 years and don't miss it.

But net/net it's far less harmful and socially problematic than alcohol.

The legality of it is relevant and obviously there is a really ugly side to the economy of all illegal drugs. But surely the solution to this is to tackle the glaring anomaly in the fact that one of the world's most harmful and addictive drugs (alcohol) is still legal, widely available and glorified, as opposed to fixating on the supply chain problems of illegal substances which no one can control unless and until they are legalised?