Marijuana for pain relief, What are the alternatives?

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

While the majority of marijuana users are recreational ones, there are those who use marijuana for pain relief. And in fairness if there was ever a justification for using marijuana, these people are it. But what are the alternatives to marijuana for pain relief? Well there’s the standard opiate based drugs, although they are potentially highly addictive and in regards to their potential for addiction are far worse than a drug like marijuana. There are also anti-inflammatories, nerve blocks, hydrocortisone injections and numerous other alternatives for different types of pain, which may be less harmful for the brain and lungs than smoking dope.

There’s also the option of controlling pain through meditation and self hypnosis and if you can master them, are definitely the safest option available. I watched a documentary about a woman who had extremely painful dental surgery under hypnosis and felt very little pain. How cool is that?

If you are smoking cannabis to deal with emotional pain, then you need to deal with the underlying reason that is causing you to feel that way. This may require changing your life, or seeking professional consoling or treatment. This will usually be more effective than self medicating with cannabis, which often fuels depression and can become part of the problem rather than the solution.

I am not saying that people should not use marijuana to relieve pain, depending on how you react, if it’s what works best for you then fine, I am just saying consider all the options that are available to you, as it may not be the safest one, especially for the lungs and those prone to mental health problems.

Take care

[Cannabis Rehab Guest]

An alternative for marijuana seems like something that most people want but very few people find. After a really bad car wreck I ended up taking this hobby up. I hated the way that the six pills the doctor's gave me worked. I was in physical therapy four times a week and when I was not walking around like a semi-live Zombie I was sleeping more than I was awake and barely eating. Trying to work was a drag, at the time I was working the night shift and at the end of every shift no matter what the weather was like I was always in pain.

I started smoking and most all issues went away. My sleep schedule was back on track, the pain was manageable and I was not walking around like a mindless person. I no longer smoke (over a decade later) but I still think that medical marijuana does have its purpose, hopefully lawmakers can figure that out sooner rather than later.

[Cannabis Rehab Guest]

Hey, bro,

You do realize this is an addiction rehabilitation website right? probably not the best place to spew your pro pot propaganda. ersonally I think it would be a very ****ing bad idea to make weed even more easily accessible. Think about all the kids that will have an easier access to it, and thus develop a devastating addiction at an early age. The people who need weed for medicinal purposes can still get it easy enough as is. Just because something may be beneficial to a small percentage of people suffering injuries or special illnesses doesn't mean the general populace should have easy access to it. While wee at it lets just put bentos in vending machines or sell special cocaine infused smoothies at Jamba Juice. In my opinion, weed is just as bad as those other " harder drugs"

Also consider yourself lucky you were able to use the drug as just a medicine and then just simply stop smoking. That's pretty rare bro, you must have super special genetics. I'm jealous.

[Cannabis Rehab Admin]

Just to chip in my own and most recent view at present, yes some people can stop much more easily than others and you are right that genetic predisposition can play a major part when it comes to any addiction including pot.

As to whether one group of people should be denied something for which they may have a legitimate reason for using in order to benefit another well some may choose the “greater good” type view depending on what you think that is, others may say regardless that why should one person be punished just because another can't take responsibility and so on, etc, etc. You get this argument with lots of issues and I am sure you have heard all the arguments before, it’s something on which we all have our own views.

Either way we are a group that is here for the rehabilitation from the use of any drug and so that is indeed what we have to try and keep our focus on, anyway I guess the case for both sides has been made and now it’s probably best to get back to what we are here for even if there are cases where it’s use may be justified.

All the best,