Medical and Recreational are the Same

Hey folks.

I've been a patient for a few years here in WA state, and I've been smoking for probably 5 or 6 years in total. I waited a very long time to begin smoking (as an adult), and cultivated my opinion on this topic very well before ever taking a hit.

I grew up with cannabis in my family, and never saw it as a dirty drug until I got to school. The DARE program corrupted my view on the plant, but I still understood it's usefulness. Glad to say that brainwash has been left behind and I am always medicated. I have quite a few ailments for which I require cannabis (won't bore you with them).

It's my opinion that everyone that uses cannabis and likes it for any of its effects is doing so with medical use in mind. Even those people who don't feel they have a medical use for cannabis and still like to smoke it because it makes them feel good (high, relaxed, etc) are using it medicinally.

I honestly can't see a difference between recreational and medical uses. In my opinion, medical is recreational, and the other way around. Unless you are taking only CBDs and are not getting any psychoactive effect, it's both. And we should all be okay with that!

It's good to feel good and have fun.

As the research catches up (or big drug companies admit) there will be a better picture of how to utilize the drug in a medical setting. However that will mean less then nothing to the plant and those who reject the medical control lens, much like those who reject the legal control lens. IMO

I agree somewhat. I look back on a lot of my recreational use and can now recognize it as having been medically motivated even if I didn't see it that way at the time. Now that I understand what it does for me medically I can see why I enjoyed it so much.

I always used to consider myself a recreational user only, until I realized that our wonderful plant can be so effective as a preventative medicine as well.

Ever since, I vapourize my flower, and always ingest the remains, to utilize the overall effects of the entire plant, which works in such synergy.

I now consider myself a rec and med user both

I think a person going through chemotherapy and using cannabis so they can function to get through their day would probably differ with you on that.

All the folks that need high CBD low THC to help with seizures, that would be medical wouldn't it?

Myself I use for pain and anxiety and I used to strictly use for recreational so I'm kinda in the same boat as some others. I realized how well it works for pain so I got my medical certification.

I don't think I would be in the same category as some that are severely sick and close to dying and needing cannabis to servive.

EDIT
Cannabis makes my life easier and my disabilities easier to live with. It helps me to continue to be able to work and be a productive citizen in my community. I'm not sitting in my house too zoned out to participate in life like some people believe cannabis users to be.

CarolKing said:

I think a person going through chemotherapy and using cannabis so they can function to get through their day would probably differ with you on that.

All the folks that need high CBD low THC to help with seizures, that would be medical wouldn't it?

Myself I use for pain and anxiety and I used to strictly use for recreational so I'm kinda in the same boat as some others. I realized how well it works for pain so I got my medical certification.

I don't think I would be in the same category as some that are severely sick and close to dying.

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To me that seems like an arbitrary definition. We're all dying, and we all have imperfect bodies that decay and give us pain in different ways.

I do agree that CBD and THC give a different result, but I don't think people that need it to function are different than people who use it to stay calm. We all use it for different needs, and none is more important than another.

I disagree with the OP quite a lot. I used to think the medical aspect of cannabis was not that serious until I joined FC and started to learn about the relief and help that cannabis provides for many members. As members such as @Vitolo and many others have shared, cannabis provides a tremendous amount of help and relief to many users.

Mr. Gweilo 420 said:

I disagree with the OP quite a lot. I used to think the medical aspect of cannabis was not that serious until I joined FC and started to learn about the relief and help that cannabis provides for many members. As members such as @Vitolo and many others have shared, cannabis provides a tremendous amount of help and relief to many users.

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Then you seem to agree with me. I'm saying everyone uses it medically, even if they don't realize they are. Recreational users are doing so for relief from something.

JiggyJack said:

I agree somewhat. I look back on a lot of my recreational use and can now recognize it as having been medically motivated even if I didn't see it that way at the time. Now that I understand what it does for me medically I can see why I enjoyed it so much.

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my use at 15 was "survival" - so that's about as medicinal as you get. It truly was not a gateway drug, but "rescue-drug" that helped me NOT DO DRUGS - I was cool with being a "pot-head" instead of junkie.

Neceros said:

Then you seem to agree with me. I'm saying everyone uses it medically, even if they don't realize they are. Recreational users are doing so for relief from something.

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I'd say I agree.
-- Sometimes I use it for pains, so that's for sure medical.
-- When I'm not using it for pain, it is putting me in a state of "flow" where I am physically/mentally/ emotionally/ spiritually in a better place and better connected to nature and the world. I'd call that "alternative medicine" and medical use.
-- every time I use it, I would definitely call it "preventative medicine". The research is in its infancy but research is showing it helps prevent cancer, Alzheimers, anxiety, glaucoma, and the list will likely grow to hundreds of ailments. It's like getting your medical flu shot, but mj helps hundreds of potential illnesses instead of just one. Medical use.

MJ is the most universal medicine there is

I got lucky that my "vice" in life was actually a healthy choice, I can only imagine if I drank and smoked cigs this much where I'd be...

I use it medicinally though the state doesn't consider it medicinal use, but we all know that a number of indica's provide beneficial anxiety relief. So I am a recreational user is by law. I use it recreationally for fun, and also use it to put me to sleep though it's not necessary for me to get sleep.

At the upcoming phish show in sep, I'll be using it recreationally to celebrate a fun concert, but also medicinally for some pain relief from the dancing ahead =)

Using the some of the same logic:

a martini after work is "medicine" for the stressed out banker.

the cigarette a mom has in the backyard when her kids have been driving her nuts is "medicine"

The caffeinated soda I drank because I had to spend the morning waiting for a jump, and as I started to get a migraine (caffeine can help with headaches) is "medicine."

Therefore, there is danger to be found in too broad a definition of both "illness" and "medicine."

Just my 2 cents, of course. I can see where you are going, but not sure that I can totally agree.

laws are words that my brain chemistry doesn't give a fuck about. No herb, bad sleep, been that way for as long as I've had anxiety, which is at least a few decades - unconsciously self-medicating is still the human spirit surviving not just getting stoned - although that's nice too, for now, I'll just take anxiety - free.

woolspinner said:

Using the some of the same logic:

a martini after work is "medicine" for the stressed out banker.

the cigarette a mom has in the backyard when her kids have been driving her nuts is "medicine"

The caffeinated soda I drank because I had to spend the morning waiting for a jump, and as I started to get a migraine (caffeine can help with headaches) is "medicine."

Therefore, there is danger to be found in too broad a definition of both "illness" and "medicine."

Just my 2 cents, of course. I can see where you are going, but not sure that I can totally agree.

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Caffeine IS a toxin (which we use as medicine, sometimes) that the whole world refuses to acknowledge. If you take a full drop of caffeine and put it on your skin you will likely die.

Neceros said:

Caffeine IS a toxin (which we use as medicine, sometimes) that the whole world refuses to acknowledge. If you take a full drop of caffeine and put it on your skin you will likely die.

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Yes, and the corn syrup is addictive and unhealthy and the carbonation will, at the least, cause acid reflux.

My point being that too broad a definition of either illness or medicine could leave the door open for all sorts of things to qualify as medication if the user perceives a need for that substance, activity, or even object in his/her life.

I understand the OP's thoughts, but needing to take the edge off is not the same as stage 4 breast cancer.

I agree that in one's own mind, one's current state of being may qualify to one's own self as an illness because it differs from the norm (provided this is a known normal baseline to compare). And therefore, to that person, his or her need is quite real. It may appear differently to those outside.

It is a bit of a philosophical conundrum. And it speaks to how a society chooses to define illness and there could be debate about the reasons behind the decisions made. Why do we define illness? What is the baseline for health? This is a question we certainly are asking ourselves now when it comes to mental health.

Hmmm...very interesting question to raise anyway. Deeper than at first glance. And I am not even stoned.

Now I am going to go home and enjoy some mj. Have a good one, all.