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

Smoking cannabis definitely does kill - Causes COPD faster than smoking tobacco, destroys circulation, causing gangrene leading to limb loss and eventual death if lung cancer doesn't get you first.

personal experience isn’t really relevant

Side effects are identified as a collection of personal experiences.

Scientific literacy in this country is seriously bad.

The plural of anecdote is, in fact, data.
Correlation is not always causation but it is evidence of a link.
Doing your own research doesn’t count unless you’ve followed a proper research protocol.
Theres is no such thing as “the” science.
Doctors are not, on the whole, scientists. They are not (usually) good at keeping on top of latest research or cost / benefit analysis - nice guidelines exist because we cannot expect them to be so.

It causes psychosis in 12% of people that use it, and the risk is extremely high for teenage boys with ADHD, who ironically use it to calm their symptoms.

I can only speak for myself and I'll tell you right now: I HATE CANNABIS. You will not change my mind on this. Why? Because the smell of cannabis has triggered seizures in me. It also more often than not makes me incredibly sick.

I literally have to carry sick bags on my commute to and from work because there is always some idiot who reeks of cannabis. I'm 34 weeks pregnant and only gained 19lbs of weight because of the sheer amount of vomiting I've been doing.

Now believe it or not I don't care what people do in their own time and their own space as long as it doesn't effect me directly or indirectly. If you work a job, pay into society, take care of your home and kids then shoot up some heroin before bed, I don't care: nie moj cyrk nie moje malpy. If that same person chucks their needles into my garden, then we're going to have a problem. Same thing with weed, the second that smell crosses into my home or garden live that objectivity is out of the way because you are intruding on my personal space AND putting my health at risk.

I would ask why do you want me to respond positively to something that causes me physical suffering?

I stuffed cotton wool up my nose when pregnant smells set me off. You can buy those swimming pegs to close off your nose which will help. It's a disgusting smell. Was in Leeds last week and could smell it in the street during graduation day.

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I agree with this.
I also think crime rates would drop, burglaries, shoplifting and prostitution, many of which are done in desperation for drugs.

If GPs could prescribe weed it would be massively abused. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive. There are already enough people shamelessly playing the system who'd love free weed as well.

Now that's an insult to the medical profession

It's always either indica, sativa, or a mix. Well, actually I think there's a rare third type which nobody uses as it's very low yield/low potency or something like that.

I think cannabis ruderalis is usually considered part of saliva these days. (I learnt loads about plants, and then the taxonomists go and look at DNA and stuff and change it all.)

Hemp itself is a very useful plant. There's loads of stuff you can make from it, not just rope and fabric and paper, but you don't need high-THC strains for that. However, it looks like the strains raised for drugs, so it's difficult to grow (legally, rather than horticulturally,) because it's easy to hide the drug plants in the middle of the fibre plants.

I don't follow the line of thinking here.
Do you think "legalise and regulate drugs" to mean "available on demand 24/7,free of charge to anyone interested?"
Otherwise,would there be addicts planning their weed and crack prescriptions ahead and GPs deciding on what is a safe starting dose for 18 year old girls and 72 year old Grandmas with arthritis? What would happen if I fancy another dose at 3am? How much would it/should it cost? And what happens if I binge all my drugs money in a week day and can't get through the next three?
I can tell you what would happen : illegal night-time economy, gangs delivering to doorstep no prescription required, prostitution, robberies, burglaries, theft, shoplifting...

speak for yourself 🤣 medical cannabis user here, helps my adhd ,
makes me more productive

This is just not true 🙄

The term might be used broad spectrum by people now but it isn't just actually any type of weed, it's a specific strain.

Taken from Leafly:
Skunk

My brother has been working in medicinal cannabis production for a lab in Amsterdam for 10 years.

Are you for real? 😂

You know alcohol is a drug that is readily available everywhere with devastating consequences, kills thousands of people every year and has absolutely no therapeutic benefit but not everyone is driving about pissed or falling down in the street leathered or is an alcoholic mugging people for their next cider.

You can tell some people on this thread know absolutely nothing about cannabis other than what they've read in the mainstream media.

Where did you get this stat from please?

I have a legit question. Why haven't they removed the smell in any of these varieties? or at the very least reduced it's ability to travel.

Some strains don't smell as strongly and there are low odour strains but I suppose it's strain dependent.

A lot of the illegal grows that supply a lot of cannabis smokers are cheap strains usually bred for their strong THC and grown using chemicals hence the strong smell.
One of the reasons why legalising it would be of benefit (aside from the fact they can tax it) is to filter out those strains. There is definitely a call for smell free weed (in fact I would suspect most weed smokers would love it if there was!) I will ask my brother if that's something that they will be working on in the future.

I don't mind the smell myself (in fact I love it) but I know it's certainly not for everyone. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke myself and other people's barbeques so I completely understand why people don't like the smell.

I don't smoke weed, as I said I make tinctures and oils and you wouldn't know I was consuming it if you lived next door to me.