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Advocating Use Not Abuse

The Dark Side of Cannabis

By Kayleigh Fraser ✨Published 2 years ago 9 min read
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Advocating Use Not Abuse
Photo by David Gabrić on Unsplash

Cannabis' reputation in society has swung tremendously in the past decade; from being known as illegal & dangerous to now spoken of as a powerful healing plant medicine.

There are countless groups who have successfully advocated for its legalisation and it has now found itself located in the doctors prescription book in a growing number of countries. The movement towards making cannabis accessible and legal has gained great momentum and the plant is now hailed as a cure for many different ailments - including cancer. Rick Simpson became a household name amongst users after he released videos on how to extract potent oil from the plant at home alongside claims that he used the oil to cure his own cancer.

The relaxation on cannabis laws across the world have been have been taken as validation to regular users that their use is justified and it is a harmless drug. I advocate for all drugs having medicinal use - whether we are speaking of heroin, MDMA, ketamine etc. However, what no one appears to be discussing is the dangers of regularly consuming cannabis as medicine.

Let's first remember that medicine is something we take when we are sick.

If we are in need of cannabis as medicine on a monthly, weekly or (in the extreme albeit common) daily basis, shouldn't we be looking instead to alter the choices that we are making which result in such sickness? Any medicine taken regularly or over a prolonged period of time will have severe adverse affects - and for as much as every addict will vehemently disagree with this - cannabis is no exception.

Cannabis is a beautiful plant. When we consume it, most of us are lifted to a lighter state of emotion. Many will recall their experience of "the giggles" after their first smoke. A feeling of such elation that we want to recreate over and over. And yet, what we find is that we can't. Instead we accept the lazy, peaceful, relaxed state that we enter from then on. Of course that is the upside with moderate abuse - we probably all can relate to a time when we ingested too much and were forced to ride on the rollercoaster of extreme fear for what seemed like forever.

I used to think that cannabis works by suppressing our negative emotions, but I have come to realise that it is more accurate to say that it detaches us from them. When we are 'high' (but not too 'high'), we are protected from having to feel more difficult emotions or to feel stress when considering problems that we perceive as difficult. We inhale the sweet THC and we float into a lighter, less stressed version of ourselves.

Sounds ideal right?

Well, arguably it is. The best and worst qualities of cannabis lie exactly here. When we detach from stress and feel deeply relaxed we are entering a state of wellbeing that allows our bodies to heal and repair. This is why it is can help people to heal from multiple diseases; from neurological disorders such as epilepsy to physiological diseases such as cancer.

Stress causes inflammation. Inflammation causes pressure and imbalance within the body. Which in turn causes disease (think about this word - 'dis' 'ease'; a lack of ease). Depending on the root cause of the stressor depends upon where the disease will manifest. Our bodies are constantly communicating with us. But how many of us are truly listening? Or able to listen?

A good example of this would be a person who feels a headache come on, takes a paracetamol and continues with their day. The symptom of a headache is a communication from the body that something is wrong. The person should be investigating and remedying the root cause of what is wrong (eg. dehydration, lack of sleep, lack of nutrients, lack of or too much sunlight etc etc) - but rather, is silencing the pain signal with a drug. This is extremely dangerous. If the root cause is not addressed and continues to be an issue, the body will begin to find louder and louder ways to communicate the problem. This is the disease path.

A person regularly using cannabis is doing exactly the same as the person with a headache. If being 'high' is perceived as a better feeling than being sober - then there is a serious imbalance at play in that person's life. Think about this. The person feels better because they are more relaxed (question why were they not relaxed to begin with or able to engage their relaxation response naturally?) and detached from negative emotion. As all emotional states begin with thoughts - why is the person unable to stop thinking thoughts that are creating such negative charge within them?

We are supposed to feel joyful.

Filled with energy and vitality.

Laughing, dancing, singing, loving and sharing all of that with others.

So if we are not - then we really need to be addressing why we are not.

Cannabis masks the symptoms that our bodies are communicating to us with. This can be a positive thing, especially if the body is screaming so loud that we are unable to focus on addressing the underlying cause due to intense pain / seizures etc. The trick (with all drugs) is to use to time spent in alleviation from pain to consider what lifestyle changes can and should be made in order to naturally feel relaxation and wellbeing and begin to practice those (e.g. meditation, slow deep breathing, leaving toxic relationships behind, following our heart's desire, gratitude practices, practicing kindness, compassion and love, focussing on positive aspects of life rather than repeating our victim stories / complaining etc).

Simply following what feels good to us and believing in our worthiness of being healthy and happy will indeed lead us there. We have many plants, seeds, roots and fruits that will help us to walk along that path until we are strong enough to walk without them. Let us not forget, however, that the goal is to walk without them! To feel so good within mind and body that we reach a point where we realise that taking drugs will in fact lower our energy and vitality rather than raise it. This is the point we need to be working towards.

Healthy people are not regularly consuming medicine.

I have worked in severe and enduring mental health wards (filled with cannabis abusers). I have dated cannabis addicts. I was friends with addicts. I was an addict myself. (Although if anyone had suggested this at the time I would have vehemently denied my habit as being an addiction.) Any time addiction was discussed within my circles there wasn't one of us who considered ourselves addicted in spite of regular and often daily abuse of the drug. It is only in being free of cannabis that I can truly see the hold it had over me (and still has over the people I used to know).

Some of the biggest problems that stem from cannabis abuse?

You are continually overriding your bodies natural relaxation response. If this is done too regularly - your mind will associate relaxation only with cannabis. This in turn will prompt you to smoke more cannabis. It also means that when you try to engage your relaxation response in other ways - it will become increasingly challenging.

Regularly 'protecting' yourself from managing challenging emotions through avoidance has highly detrimental effects on your being. A tree that never feels the wind will grow to have weak roots. A person who never learns to overcome difficult emotions will grow in the same way, and so when faced with difficulty, they will become easily overwhelmed.

This in turn often creates a cycle of fear. Fear of situations that require emotional intelligence or intimacy. I have yet to encounter a cannabis abuser who is capable of creating and sustaining healthy relationships. The two are in direct opposition to each other. You cannot be in a state of regular detachment and expect to be capable of creating healthy attachment within relationships.

Another obvious (and profusely denied by abusers) side effect of regular cannabis abuse is mood disorder. Any substance that pushes you up, will also allow you to fall just as far back down when it wears off (which in the world of drugs usually means time for another dose). This sharp rise and fall in your energy comes with numerous side effects and creates an ongoing emotional rollercoaster for you to navigate. When your energy is high - your mood is naturally easygoing. When your energy falls - lower emotions such as anger are inevitable.

Some people have enough will not to hurt another with their anger projections and instead will internalise it - this state of being is more commonly known as depression. Others who do not have the same will or possess the same values will end up taking that anger out on those around them resulting in severe and detrimental effects on their relationships (which are in turn a fundamental of our wellbeing - the quality of our life experience is arguably hinged on the quality of our relationships).

Laziness and a lack of motivation are well acknowledged side effects of cannabis abuse. Even so, many abusers will remain in a state of denial about this. I have known many people who would (angrily) defend that they are in fact more productive when smoking cannabis. The extent to which we are capable of lying to ourselves when trapped in addiction never fails to amaze me. I speak from personal experience also. I was once that same person.

Low self worth and low self esteem also go hand in hand with cannabis abuse. Numerous studies have shown the direct correlation between these in adolescents - with trauma informed interventions in boosting self esteem helping abusers break free of their cannabis addiction. Low self worth and drug abuse go hand in hand. Anyone who truly understands, values and loves their body would not regularly intoxicate themselves. As previously stated - medicine is only regularly consumed by the chronically sick.

Another less discussed dark aspect of cannabis is that people begin to attribute their creativity or enhanced perspective on life to the drug and not themselves. When we enter a medatitive state it is like adjusting the dial on our radio and suddenty tuning into a station; a station is giving us endless creative inspiration and ideas. I want to make this clear to anyone reading this - you can achieve this (and much more) through silent meditation. Cannabis does NOT enhance creativity. It relaxes you enough for you to access the creativity that is already inside you.

In summary, I would like to leave you with this thought.

Cannabis is neither good nor bad but it can become both!

It is a potent plant that can be used as a medicine to help us when we are severely out of balance. It can allow us to relax enough to access creative inspiration. It can help us to relax enough to allow healing to take place in our bodies. All drugs are tools. We can use these tools to craft healthier, better lives or we can become heavy and burdened from constatly carrying them in our day to day lives.

USE NOT ABUSE.

Author Note: Written with love in the hope that I may reach someone who needs to read this article. Cannabis abuse is a major problem in many people live's today. If this helped you in any way and you can afford to send me a dollar or two - you can be sure it will put a huge smile into my heart. If you can't, don't worry! Pay it forward instead by sharing this on your social media. Let's work together to uplift and create a more wonderful world ❤️

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About the Creator

Kayleigh Fraser ✨

philosopher, alchemist, writer & poet with a spirit of fire & passion for all things health & love related 💫

“When life gives you lemons,

Know you are asking for them.

If you want oranges, focus on oranges”

🍊🍋💥🍋🍊

INSTAGRAM - kayzfraser

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