Chronic Pain: Finding Relief with the Benefits of Cannabis
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Some pain you can’t stop. You can address the symptoms though.
People who typically extol the benefits of cannabis are typically recreational users themselves.
The theraputic dose for pain and appetite relief is very very low. Enough that a recreational user wouldn't get any enjoyment from it.
And typically those who are recreational users are outright abusing the drug and don't want to admit it because being stoned isn't as obvious as being drunk to someone who smokes a lot.
The problem is, we have no quantification of what abuse is. Is 1 hit abuse? 1 bowl, 5 bowls, 1 blunt?
Personally I would equate 1 bowl of weed to one glass of wine or a can of beer. Depending on the strain too this can even throw off the balance. If you're smoking multiple bowls, then it's equivalent to drinking multiple glasses of wine or beer.
If you're smoking a blunt, You're taking shots.
You could even switch this analogy to coffee since weed is similar to caffeine in terms of its obvious physical damage. Too much caffeine and you're a jittery mess. Too much weed and you're a couch locked burn out.
Yeah it's not a perfect system but it's better than nothing.
Cue the posts about high performing stoners and how it doesn't affect their work
I too know some high performing alcoholics.
It's obvious what abuse looks like when it's alcohol or coffee. It's harder to identify abuse of marijuana. Maybe it's time to start.
Regards, a former 15 year "all day everyday" stoner who quit cold turkey 6 months ago.
I like that you acknowledge that cannabis is useful for pain and appetite relief before writing at length about the existence of another group that uses cannabis differently and how we should all be focused on them and not the group that successfully uses cannabis for pain and appetite relief.
I was disappointed with the hype vs reality of CBD in my personal experience, but so much of this is variable on the strain/concentration/my personal metabolism, etc.
I'm not entirely convinced it's a painkiller in the normal sense, though - I think it might be doing something dissociative. Talk to someone who uses it for pain relief and you'll get a lot of "it's still there, I just care about it less"-style descriptions.
I've also seen tons of homeless people in my city who have ruined their lives because of morphine and its derivatives. Maybe I'm wrong, but I haven't seen droves of homeless due to Cannabis usage.
Why focus on the amount of consumption, when the side-effects of the consumption are more important?
I would argue the amount of consumption is more indicative of tolerance and dependence than addiction or abuse. The interactions between all of those phenomena are extremely complex and can occur together or independently.
> It's harder to identify abuse of marijuana. Maybe it's time to start.
Maybe it's time to start looking as to why people abuse cannabis (and other substances) in the first place?
There is only one true reason why people abuse substances. It's because they work and they work damn well. What other options do people have? Psychotherapy and psychopharmacological interventions may help, but there are no miracles there. And at the end of the day, what are those who choose that route left with? "Do not depend on Cannabis. Instead, become dependent on this other substance." Looks like you end up in the same place either way -- just with a different stigma attached to one's poison of choice.
To that end, a lot of this is highly personal to you and your experiences.
> The theraputic dose for pain and appetite relief is very very low. Enough that a recreational user wouldn't get any enjoyment from it.
Citation? The small anecdotal sample size of people I know who use it for pain management definitely use higher doses than I personally take for recreation. This is likely related to several factors: personal tolerance, pain level, how readily your body processes THC, etc.
> And typically those who are recreational users are outright abusing the drug and don't want to admit it because being stoned isn't as obvious as being drunk to someone who smokes a lot.
Do what? Your questioning about what defines abuse is definitely a good line of thinking, but it seems you’ve already defined abuse in some way and you’re holding a lot of people to whatever that definition is. I use cannabis somewhat regularly, and I wouldn’t say I’m addicted or abuse it. I know my limits, and I don’t use it everyday. It’s something for me to enjoy and not something I need. I think most of my recreational use friends are in the same camp - even the daily stoners I know take breaks without issue.
For me, abuse of any substance has always come down to: does it interfere with your personal or professional life in a severe and negative way? If your cannabis consumption got you fired, is straining your marriage, alienated your friends, etc, then it’s a problem. In this way, “cannabis abuse” is not at all different from alcohol or other drugs.
> Personally I would equate 1 bowl of weed to one glass of wine or a can of beer.
To me, this is a useless metric for anyone but you - I’m glad you prefaced with “personally”. Alcohol has a much different impact than cannabis and while they can share some overlap in perceived effects, they’re radically different. Equating the two in terms of effect and impact is just not a good idea in any kind of serious discussion.
> You could even switch this analogy to coffee since weed is similar to caffeine in terms of its obvious physical damage.
Again, this is just based on perceived effect and even then you’re analogizing “jittery” and “locked to the couch” - two very different states.
> It's harder to identify abuse of marijuana.
It really isn’t.