I know of several people who use pot to relieve their symptoms of Ulcerative Colitis and Crohns Disease. I know that pot helps with nausea for a lot of people going through Chemo. I think it has medicinal legitimacy in a lot of instances.

When I read what you write, youre very focused on the feeling pot gives you. And it Mellowing you out is not a medicinal use of marijuana. Thats recreational use (otherwise known as gettin high). You also sound like you're trying to justify using it. Youre an adult and so, you know, do whatever the hell you want.

Ive got no beef with pot in general although Ive not gotten high since college (over 20 years) and theres a reason for that. After a certain age, being around people who get stoned makes you feel like a loser. Pot doesnt make you smarter, nicer, funnier or more creative. It just gives you the feeling of being those things. In terms of relating to other people, it makes people completely inauthentic. Theres no bravery in it; theres no honesty in it. I hate having to have any kind of discussion with anyone who is high or loaded because all those deep conversations you think youre having are just bullshit.

I dont know. For me, I dont want to be warm and fuzzy, unless its a real emotion. Id prefer to go through the world with my ups and downs, my rage and my sadness, and my happiness in between, and feel it ALL, than veil any of it, which is what happens when you approach things under the influence. Its a freakin sham.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. I agree espec regarding the fakeness of people. It does the opposite to me, opens up more empathy in me towards others, maybe this has to do with my maturity/age...By the way I'm not interested at all in the recreational aspect, quite the contrary..I have high blood pressure and I'm very interested in pots ability to lower the blood pressure. It seems to have a vasodialating effect.. Relaxing the arteries and veins. This is a huge problem as we all age. For me it seems to work like magic to bring down the blood pressure. I really have no interest in getting stoned.. But high blood pressure is a major killer. And although I take prescription meds they are not always effective.. Plus like your car engine if you rev it all the time it will konk out sooner than later.. Pot may help to add good years on our chasis.. No oned really studied this. I like being clear headed not under influence of pot.. But having recently been through a lot of meds and side effects, I do look for better alternatives. Plus I really dislike the drug companies. If there are better alternatives I'd like to not support the drug companies. In California and other states many people are allowed to use medical marijuana. Rmb I'm happy you're clear about this for you, I'm interested uin real peoples experiences getting therapeutic value out of pot and any other more natural plant-based alternatives to prescription meds.. That's why I'm asking here, we live in a phobic, gulag type oppressive state that is in the pockets of drug companies that don't want us to take alternatives to their meds...I sincerely wish I live long enough to benefit from results of real scientific double-blind studies that can reveal if there really are medical benefits from marijuana. Trust me I'm not a kid wanting to get high, I'm a very intelligent, adult who is very productive in my own life who is hineTly searching for better therapeutic strategies to all ailments that afflict people.

Hmm.

RMB, I would certainly agree that if someone always has to be high to express their emotions, that would seem inauthentic. And I do not understand folks who seem to need to be high all the time, particularly given how strong the weed is these days. It seems kind of crazy.

It seems like you do have a bit of a beef with pot, and I do reject some of the stereotypes you present. Maybe the pot smokers you know are just losers, but there are plenty I know who are not. Actually, I've heard a lot of recordings of people talking when they are stoned, and if they are intelligent people, what they say is usually intelligent-- though no more or less so than when they are straight.

David, here is what I have heard about weed and DVT: What your post doesn't discuss is some of the potential negative effects of weed, notably paranoia. For example, there is nothing that will make someone feel more stupid than trying to set up to give themselves a Lovenox injection when you're heart is pounding and you're having a paranoia rush. Very bad voodoo.

Also, I have heard that the combination of strong weed and blood thinners is not always so good-- makes you even more light-headed.

On the other hand... if you can manage to smoke moderately without getting totally wasted, and it keeps you out of the painkillers, that could work for you. I just know people who have had issues when they oversmoked, which is very easy to do.

I think RMB raises a good point, though perhaps indirectly: The line between symptom relief and getting high is a fine distinction, and the point I'm adding is that it is a line that can be crossed by accident. It just seems fiendishly difficult to control dosage, and it's not a solution I've really been interested in.

--Cat

Hey Cat, haven't seen you out here in a while. Happy New Year!

Why yes, I do know a lot of losers, both pot smokers and not!

I guess I have a beef with the philosophical aspects of it,this idea that being stoned, whether it be pot, other drugs, alchohol, whatever, makes you somehow a deeper, more creative, more kind person. I just don't buy that. I come from a long line of drug abusers and alcoholics, so of course, I'm completely biased. It's just a lifestyle I think can become a slippery slope.

It's the same reason I don't drink to excess. I'm a rotten drunk. It's all a good time until it's NOT and then I'm a royal asshole. Again, my biases at play here.

Cat thankyou so much for your thoughts. I never get paranoid or racey, I generally relax, my BP goes down, my vessels dilate, it's healthy I think... Sex after thc/cnb is incredible, i think it somehow dampens my pts which that's what I wanted to check with others who do this. I feel fortunate to live in a free state where I can have access to the potential benefits... Remember there are signicant differences between strains, sativa and indicas as well as unlimited combinations.. Again I don't like or strive to be stoned, it's not me, but with my high BP and now pts I'd rather take this than a lot of medications whic I often get terrible side effects from.. Because our govt is still oppressive and anti this and that, really good scientific studies haven't been done.. Some university researchers in Israel I read on net did isolate a cannabinoid of which I think there are 65+ and found that reduces blood pressure effectively.. Again, for health promotion, whenever you dialate the vessels and lower blood pressure, reducing pressure against artery and vein walls, you are adding years to your "chasis" so to speak, especially In our culture which is inceasingly more stressful and atery/vein constricting raising adrenaline levels which constict arteries. I am hopefully thinking because there are no scientific studies on low- mod use to promote health..so if anyone has anectodal reports of it's benefits that's all we got right now.. Again, thanks for the comments..

Hey, RMB, happy new year to you, too! Ya, my mom passed away, so I've been off this board for a while, mostly been on MCTD because that is sorta my "primary" illness. (Though I did have a good chat with Dero a month or so ago.)

The point you make here that I like is "it's all good until it's not." And this is the thing: Weed didn't make my friends paranoid for a long time either.

Until it did. Things change as you get older, both strains of indica and sativa and body and neuro chemistry. There may come a day, David, when it does not work the same way for you, either. If that day comes, just be ready to walk away. And for pain, I feel it's best not to rely on any medication too much. I also wouldn't use the word "magic" for cannabis, though it does seem to have a very good track record compared as drugs go.

Sophie, I do not know a single pot smoker-- either medical or recreational-- who is not productively employed and a major part of the tax base. Most of the heavy smokers I know are extremely motivated, highly productive, and make a lot more money than I do. Maybe it's a generational thing, but the idea that weed smokers are lazy and don't get anything done just seems like a complete myth. I've never understood it.

David's message does ramble considerably, but frankly, I've gotten far sloppier e-mails from studio executives about business! And I believe the real problem with smoking is the nicotine, which is a vasoconstrictor and tweaks blood vessels big time. Cannabis doesn't do anything like that, though it can cause tachycardia, which I find unpleasant and part of the anxiety/paranoia thing.

Okay, maybe I got a contact high, because I'm starting to ramble!

--Cat