Marijuana and its use

I've been using medical cannabis for a slew of illnesses, and would be happy to contribute what I could towards your project if you are still working on it.

I got myself into trouble over the use of cannabis. I knew I had a pre-employment screening once a new job call came, but I made the choice to risk using it while on unemployment during the Thanksgiving break and then again in the first week of December. When the time came to take a UA, I planned on using a fetish kit to circumvent the test. However, I wasn't as smart as I thought I was, and they popped me at the shop instead of sending me to a place like Quest Diagnostics. So, I panicked, and tried to leave the site to heat up the kit. Unfortunately, they saw me leave and turned me away after that. As a result of my poor choice, my family has to pack up and move; I've got to take a new trade, and start over a five year apprenticeship after working two years on the first.

While I have nothing against cannabis use, I know that I have abused it. My family has addiction written into its DNA on both sides. Regardless of my noble intentions, the only substances I've never abused were "hallucinogens" (I prefer the term entheogens) like psilocybin, DMT, and the like. At this point, even if they stopped testing for it I question whether or not I would start using again. Certainly, I've cut out everyone in my life who does, because I don't want the temptation.

How do you broach the subject with a doctor. One of my cousins gets severe nausea and pain, and I think it could be good for her.

rrhodes67 wrote: How do you broach the subject with a doctor. One of my cousins gets severe nausea and pain, and I think it could be good for her.

I just straight up told my doctor I was using it, only because his office requires you to inform them of medications you are taking.

Unfortunately, most doctors in the states aren't going to have much of any knowledge of cannabis outside of treatment / addiction centers. Unless you are in a MMJ state, in which case it's still highly likely that the only practitioners who will have an idea on how to treat illness with it are practitioners of alternative medicine and dispensary specific clinics.

You're most likely going to have to do a lot of your own research and bring materials in with you when you visit with your doctor. Having reference materials will make it more likely that your doctor will work with you using cannabis as a medical treatment.

If you live in a MMJ legal state, consider looking on Leafly to find doctors and dispensaries in your area which offer treatment services including medical cannabis.

I hope that helps you somewhat.

Yes I think that it does help, but you can't get stoned off you a**. You have to find the right balance so it heightens your senses and sensitivity. We need a research group to work out a balance for those who want to try it.
But to those who don't I don't think it should be pushed on you if you don't want to don't, if you do then do. That's what I have to say.
May the force be with you always and forever.

Br. John wrote: If it was up to me - it's not - it would be a Blessed Holy Sacrament. And alcohol is so much more harmful than marijuana that saying otherwise is either a bad joke or a sign of extreme ignorance about the verifiable scientific studies on the substances.

If you use it just because it make you feel good and you're not abusing / misusing it - great. Our society has still not gotten over the Puritan crap - "The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” ― H.L. Mencken

Study: Alcohol Is “More Than Twice As Harmful As Cannabis” — So Explain To Me Again Why Pot Is Illegal? - See more at: http://blog.norml.org/2011/11/01/study-alcohol-is-%E2%80%9Cmore-than-twice-as-harmful-as-cannabis%E2%80%9D-so-explain-to-me-again-why-pot-is-illegal/#sthash.u07Sfvhx.dpuf

I agree with all of the above. Marijuana IS actually a holy sacrament for Rastafarians. It was just recently legalized in Jamaica.

Now, the health stuff I don't really want to comment on. I believe it does have a lot of medicinal uses and I think the reality is that things are sometimes made illegal based on a profit motive. Once the state figures out a profit model that is better than the criminal justice system's fines and penalties for locking up people for marijuana sales and possession, then you'll see more acceptance. The legality has nothing to do with whether it's good or bad, right or wrong.

The other thing that was brought up was "force sensitivity". Now THIS.... is very interesting.

Now for me, most weed I've had I would say could only be used for meditation. I remember the first time I smoked it (which wasn't all that long ago really) and I instantly had all these insights about how it worked and what it was doing. The ability to slow/quiet the mind enables/aids meditation, especially for people like me who think a lot and are distracted easily. If I turn off external stimuli and try to meditate, my brain will quickly use that opportunity to catch up on whatever subjects it wants to discuss; which are usually more mundane.

Because I'm half Jamaican I get to go to Jamaica occasionally for family -related events. So I went to Jamaica for a cousin's wedding. Our driver told us that weed was legal now and there's always someone selling to tourists. We went on a tour of the Bob Marley house, where he grew up. An older Rasta gave us the history and during the tour, one of the other Rastas noticed my dreads and offered me some marijuana.

I want to make it clear that I had marijuana from 2 different sources. One was a guy selling it on the beach and the other was a genuine Rastafarian. The Rasta wanted a little more for his but he assured me it was worth it.

It was.

On the balcony of my resort room I smoked this stuff and I actually had a vision/dream. I guess it had put me into a state of mind where this was possible. I don't know if I was really awake or sleep but I've never "seen things" from smoking weed before. It was basically the kind of high I would imagine you get from mushrooms, but maybe not as powerful as ayahuasca (which I've never tried).

I'm a very logical person. I don't believe in a magical deity. However... there are some things that exist on Earth that don't seem to have explanations in modern science. There's a really good book called the Cosmic Serpent that is about this guy's experience with ayahuasca and he talks about how he saw this serpent and this was a common vision. And that this was possibly a method that taught humans which herbs they could use as medicines and natural remedies and stuff. Oddly enough, that kind of vision reminds me of certain elements of Star Wars in which a person can actually communicate with an entity who is a force user. For all we know, there are beings that exist outside the visible electromagnetic spectrum. Saying this almost makes me feel silly but even with what I saw, I feel like I got a taste of what might be possible with the mind in an altered state of awareness.

Could you call this "force sensitivity"?

That's a good question. Who am I to answer that? However, it is definitely intriguing and if some people react differently than others perhaps that is a difference in "sensitivity" whereas the slowing of the mind... and whatever substance you use acts like a gateway to bridge the gap between your sensitivity and "the force"; assuming that it is something that can be felt/experienced in this way. I'd love to see more discussion on this.

Something I feel that this thread has sort of missed a little is that for some marijuana is smoked for pleasure. Not everyone takes it because they want control or focus, or to help their pain or nausea, they do it because they enjoy it and that's it.

Now, I don't want to smoke weed, that's not for me, but as someone around others who smoke I've done my time listening to opinions and challenging them.

Addiction, often an argument used against weed, may also be used as an argument against mobile phones, food, gaming, shopping etc. and is on shaky ground.

From what I have read so far (elsewhere), there is no definitive evidence that marijuana causes any serious health issues. As Ryujin pointed out earlier, no-one it seems has died from marijuana use and if they have, compared to the number of weed smokers, is miniscule, versus the number of people that die by being grossly overweight or from tobacco related issues.

If a person smokes weed for pleasure or for health, having done their own research, I really don't see why I should tell them no.
All I can do is educate and discuss (as we are doing here).

Well I think that's simply because the OP was specific to health and "force sensitivity". I thought recreational usage was irrelevant and probably a given.

ZealotX wrote: Well I think that's simply because the OP was specific to health and "force sensitivity". I thought recreational usage was irrelevant and probably a given.

It sort of became relevant when people starting giving their personal reasons for not wanting to take it...

Also, I did talk about health...

You're right. And that was a good post.

I didn't smoke anything until about 34-35. It just wasn't my thing and I didn't understand the attraction, honestly. I didn't have a reason so I felt it wasn't useful (to me) or worth my time. Now, I'll mostly just do it socially. For me, it would be a waste of money unless I was doing it for a particular purpose. I could see myself planning a meditation session and buying it as an aid, but unless I'm in Jamaica I don't plan to spend money on it. I think what you said about addiction was exactly right. I'm definitely more addicted to my phone (because of the games) than anything else and I don't think weed is addictive. I think the act of smoking could become addictive like cell phones but I don't think weed is chemically addictive. When the government turned against it I think there was a lot of propaganda that made it out to be this evil gateway drug that we should just avoid like the plague and that was very unfortunate. I think a lot of more tribal/native people smoke it to feel closer to nature.