Using Cannabis for Pain Management

When I was growing up, weed was the devil. Not because of the time I lived, no I was about 6 in 2001 when my dad had to explain to my brother and I what weed was. Being little kids, we assumed people were talking about the stuff that grows in your yard. However, not a lot of the people I know grew up with a dad in the DEA. He was retired by this point but he still help firm to the law. He was always a good cop and my mom and dad raised my siblings and I as best they could.

I started developing back pains at a young age and was put on so many medications to try and help. However, they would either work for a week or two and then stop or they would have horrific side effects. During high school I was told by many of my friends who smoked cannabis that it would help with my issues. But the lessons of my childhood were nailed so hard into my head that I didn't want to do it. One thing I will say about nearly all people who smoke or use cannabis in anyway they are rarely pushy about you smoking or anything.

So flash forward 4 years later I'm now married to my high school sweetheart and I still have back pain, but it's getting worse. I now also have knee pains that would slowly turn into hip pains. At this time my dad's health is declining, he had a heart attack and after that everything had gotten worse and at this point his pain meds aren't working for him and cannabis is now legal. Everyone, my mom, sister, brother and I were trying to convince him to try it. He kept saying no, that he fought to keep it off the streets for years he wasn't going to use it now.

My mom finally just went to a dispensary and explained to them what it was like for my dad and how he could barely get an hours sleep before he would wake up in pain. So she got a chocolate bar and when my mom took it to him, she handed him the bar and said that she spent the money on it and the least he could do was to try it, but it was up to him that she just wanted him to sleep and feel a little better. She sat down to watch tv with him as she always did next thing she knew my dad was opening the package and he just took a bite out out of it. Within 30 minutes my dad felt better than he had in years.

He started calling it his medicine, which to a lot of people it is. Cannabis can help with a lot of aches and pains, depression, anxiety, or even seizures. When I turned 21 I was still scared to try it, so I talked to my brother and sister-in-law about it and they encouraged me to give it a shot. I decided to also talk to my doctor.

I made my appointment and when I got there my regular doctor had a family emergency so they put me with another doctor so I figured oh well. So I explain to this doctor what's been going on with me and before I could say what I wanted to do, he asked me, "Have you tried smoking weed?" I was in shock! I stuttered over my words and finally said no but that I wanted a doctor's opinion. He laughed and said to give it a try and that he will let my doctor know there is a possibility of me trying it.

I tried CBD drops which don't get you high and I've tried the edibles and I finally started smoking it. I wanted to transition from something easy to actually smoking. I will say cannabis was my miracle! I have felt better than I ever have I can smoke Sunday night and be fine up until Wednesday night.

The reason I am writing about this experience is to explain that cannabis is something anyone can use. Even if you're on oxygen and you can't smoke, you can eat edibles or use drops. Cannabis is a medicine, not a drug that needs to be feared.