Although medical marijuana may have it's attributes, I really do not have much use for the stuff. I quit smoking it when a lid went from $10 to $12 (50 years ago) and haven't missed it. The biggest problem I have with it is that people honestly get up, smoke up and go to work half stoned. Every single cook I have ever talked to who smokes before and during work said that it makes them calmer and faster during a lunch or dinner rush. From what I have observed, they are disorganized, slow and make a lot of unwarranted mistakes.
I haven't smoked marijuana often in my lifetime but I have tried it, back when it wasn't nearly as potent as they say it is today, It made me feel tired and stupid, and I didn't see either of these to be an improvement on my normal state of mind.
Pot 201: Marijuana has been legal to grow for personal use since 1977, but it could not be sold, given away or transported--you had to grow and use it in your residence. In Alaska, anything that is done totally within your private residence is technically legal. As far as the medicinal uses, research is just getting underway since the Feds have made research very difficult to conduct. Marinol, the prescription form of "pot" contains only THC, one of the cannabinoids in the plant. Pot advocates maintain that other compounds in the plant have as much or more medicinal value than THC. Recent research has detected natural cannabinoid receptors in the nervous system of humans, and the fact that we "make" our own endogenous cannabinoids, just as we do opioids. That would seem to make cannabinoids potentially addictive, as opioids are, since taking in exogenous cannabinoids could lead to the loss of the ability to manufacture the endogenous substance, as happens with opioids. Endogenous opioids are self-regulated pain regulators that lead to things like the "runners' high"; the endogenous cannabinoids regulate "neuron firing", so could be useful in MS, Parkinson's, and other similar diseases. It seems that most of the actual pain reduction brought about with cannabinoids is simply placebo effect, although CBD oil (a non-hallucinogenic cannabinoid) appears to reduce pain is some subject when used under supervision. As far as I know, CBD oil is not federally regulated and is legal in most places if used externally. At least I have known of people ordering it and receiving it through the mail. There is evidence that marijuana both causes cancer and prevents it, depending on the site of attachment of the cannabinoid and the molecule bonded. I believe that smoking pot is at least as harmful as smoking cigarettes, if not more so, but few people would smoke 20-40 joints daily, while that is not uncommon with cigarettes. Contrary to common belief, there is a "roadside test" for marijuana intoxication, but authorities cannot agree on a so-called "cut-off" level, as tolerance in some people is built quickly, and frequent heavy users are not affected at the same levels as occasional users. Also, cannabinoids are fat-soluble and I have seen cannabinoid metabolites show up at detectable levels six weeks after the last "dose". Was she "under the influence"? I have no idea. Complicated subject, and probably more that you want to know/read.
Ain't much difference I can see. Some who have a evening martini don't stop there. One becomes two, two turns into three, they go to bed drunk, wake up with a hangover, down some more booze, get to work tipsy, at lunch more drinking, barely do the job, then come home to the evening martini. What about them that use pot for medicinal use to take the place of opiates, pain killers or whatever. What are the chances they stop taking the opiates, pain killers or whatever during work?
Well, I can't speak to the feeling stupid bit, but if one is an insomniac, feeling tired and sleepy is a big improvement.
The difference is that I have never had someone who drinks tell me they always work better under the influence of alcohol, but it's the exact opposite for pot smokers. The difference is that when a person smokes pot they are intentionally setting out to get high. One or two good drags and you're off and most of the time from the way things look, way off. Most drinkers do not set out to get drunk but some do throw caution to the wind and get that way. And just to top it off, most experienced drinkers know that "a little bit of the hair" doesn't work for a hangover. Comparing someone who is using pot for medical reasons or just before bed to get a good night's sleep with someone who uses 24 and 7 is a skewed thought process the same as comparing a glass of red wine before bed and someone who needs to go AA meetings. Either way, when I detect someone who cannot function because of a personal habit, they go home the first time and come back and the second time they look for another job.
At this time I am happy to say I do not need to try medical marijuana for any health reasons and I pray I never do. At the same time I know that if the day ever does come when I do need to try something for extreme pain and nausea...this will be my first "drug" of choice to try to "mellow" that pain and nausea. And just like I wouldn't drink and drive, etc. I also would not do any of these things while "mellowing" either.
It is helpful for chemo and radiation patients as it does reduce nausea and keep their appetites up. I work with hospice patients, and I am sure that a few of them use it, but I am not around them when they do. I had one old lady who had a vodka and coke every afternoon until she died, however. It helped her get through the day.
Too bad it wasn't available when my husband was on hospice 14 yrs ago.....the meds they gave him for the nausea didn't work too well.
Also, kudos to you @Don Alaska for working with Hospice. Are you a volunteer? I considered it after my husband died but couldn't do it. Watching my husband die was enough for me.
Yep. I am a volunteer. I had a health crisis of my own and I decided I would give hospice a try if I survived. I have been around death all my life, so I have no fear or dread of death, but I hate suffering, and would like to relieve suffering and fill loneliness where I can.
Hospice is great! They were a great help with my husband. Always made sure he had enough meds and they would deliver to the house. Also other services. I became very good friends with the woman who was my husband's volunteer. She came once a week for 3 hours to be with him so that I could go out and do what I needed to do.
I am glad you had help. I have been relieving the family in my latest hospice case. I cannot carry on much conversation with my current patient as she has "terminal" Alzheimer's and doesn't remember me from one visit to the next, but I lift the burden somewhat from her daughter, who is her principal caregiver. I have been visiting there for about 6 months, and my patient/client has deteriorated healthwise in the last few weeks.
Yes, sometimes the volunteer helps the patient and the caregiver! My husband had cancer and was bedridden for the last year of his life but his mind was still sharp. He had a good time with the volunteer while I was out. She had a good sense of humor.
The fact that pot smokers are better at self-deception means little, and are they really? Pot smokers claim that they work better while high, boozers claim they are not drunk even when they have to hold up the wall, & those on pain killers claim they are perfectly capable of doing the job as they nod off in mid-sentence. Methinks you have a special affection for potheads, and a blind spot for the others. So the pot smokers set out to get high, and the winos get high accidentally (day after day?), either way both are high. Whether or not experienced drinkers know that "the hair" does not work, it does not stop them. If someone come to work tipsy, its not because he got drunk last night, and the alcohol failed to clear his system before work....its because he got drunk last night, got up, had a few more for the road (or to wash down breakfast), and if still tipsy at 2 or 3 in the afternoon, its because he had some more drinkies on lunch break. Make no mistake, I do not in any way support going to work high on anything (pot, booze, pills, anything), nor do I support retard employers doing drug tests for them that never come to work 'dazed and confused'. That is basically saying that if you want to work for him you got to let him dictate your behavior 24/7.