Cannabis has pretty awful side-effects for me. It gives me absolutely incredible nausea, to the point where I've tried it ~10 times in varying doses, thinking my dosage was an issue, and out of those I was violently ill 4 of the times. The other 6 times were simply unenjoyable.

It doesn't just go away like alcohol either. If I drink too much and throw up, I feel better within a few minutes. For cannabis I remain high afterwards, so I've become pretty hesitant about it.

That being said, it is very likely less addictive and has far fewer side-effects for those who it helps. For that reason I am extremely positive about legalizing it and studying it further. :)

A lot of people who take cannabis for pain or anxiety take CBD [1] rather than the raw THC-containing plant. There's almost no associated high, so it sounds like you haven't tried it. The abuse of medical marijuana laws to circumvent prohibitions on recreational use has confused the issue, but people shouldn't equate the substances that get consumed recreationally with the much more processed and specific substances that get used medicinally.

Sorry to pick on you, but people should realize that if all they want to do is try cannabis for pain management, they shouldn't let a dislike for the recreational effects deter them because the two can absolutely be separated.

FWIW, I manage my pain with meditation techniques and it's the only form of pain management that I recommend whole-heartedly, so I'm not recommending anyone try CBD. But I know people who take CBD for pain and I think people should, at least, understand how cannabis is used medicinally before saying negative things about it.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabidiol

I never touched the stuff, but I would end up having to take my friend to the ER. For some reason at different times it would cause an allergic reaction and he would act like he was in septic shock and have dementia.

Doctors and I were convinced he was not telling the truth or his stuff was laced. Ended up that he was telling the truth and was clean other than pot. Sad thing was he would keep using pot which ended up messing with his health.

I never see why people care to be sedated emotional. Worst thing about pot to me. They miss out on so much emotionally.

If you don't understand why people would avoid the full force of their emotional response to life then you apparently have had great fortune in your emotional experiences. I note you don't have to want it for yourself to understand why others would want it.

Cannabis enhances my emotions. I'm normally pretty flat emotionally and cannabis is one of the only things that changes that. I'm not sure what you mean by sedation here.

Who the hell would 'lace' weed? With what, water? Nearly every other dug costs more to lace it than just sell it de novo. THC as a drug is SUPER cheap with the various 'legal' states. Even at high-end stores, concentrates are $25/gram [0]. This reads like some ham-baked DEA post.

[0] http://www.terrapincarestation.com/stores/broadway/

I am not sure you actually had just Cannabis if you had those symptoms. Was this at some legal location with a proven supply chain?

PS: Not to defend Cannabis, it can trigger Heart Attacks and is associated with a host of Lung issues. I just never heard of those symptoms.

Yep! I tried edibles, joints, and vape pens from 3 different dispensaries in the bay area. The edibles and "free" joint I got from Airfield Supply Co. were the ones that effected me the least negatively.

Interesting, thanks for the heads up. Though, dosage may be the issue even being around smokers can be considered a low dose.

This was my thought as well, dose is most likely the issue. A non tolerant patient will respond to under 10mg thc

“Respond” is an understatement. 10mg THC, with no CBD, represents a typical edible from a dispensary, but as a small person with low tolerance and a fast metabolism, I’ve found that amount of THC by itself ends with me fearfully holding onto the Earth for dear life for a couple hours.

On the bright side, at dispensaries you can know precisely what you’re getting, so at least I can say “this weed will pleasantly reduce my anxiety and pain, that weed will blast me unwillingly into space” which is an option I never had before.

Anecdotal, but I can't imagine living a normal life while regularly using though--even if regular is just a couple days a week.

It's legal where I live and the handful of times I have used during the week, I can't remember what I did the day before as well, or what my tasks for the day are. My performance at work noticeably degrades. I'm also more tired the day after, despite generally getting more sleep.

It's great for the weekend when I can just sleep it off or my only tasks are to go for a hike and get groceries though. Better than alcohol at least.

I'm curious what makes it great for the weekend for you. Not being able to remember what your goals for the day are or remember what you did the day before doesn't sound great, even if it is the weekend.

I suppose I was thinking in terms of the alternative being alcohol. If I were going to choose between a night out drinking, or a night out having smoked a bit, I'd go for the latter. I'd rather feel a bit hazy the next day than be sick to my stomach or have a headache--which I get even just from ~3 beers over a few hours. I could of course opt for neither, but social norms being what they are.. there's some pressure there but that's a separate issue.

That being said, I may have exaggerated the memory issues. It isn't like full blown amnesia. More so it just takes longer than usual to remember things. I'd compare it to a cache miss. Smoking clears my brain's cache the next day and I end up feeling like I am pulling short-term thoughts and memories from colder storage.

I'm not the person you are responding to, but I limit my cannabis use during the workweek for similar reasons. Most often my goals for the weekend are to relax and enjoy myself. Of course I'm not going to get high if I'm about to fill out paperwork to refinance my mortgage.

It may help to note that THC and CBD are two active components which can treat different symptoms. I find CBD extraordinarily effective at treating my essential tremor. CBD and THC combined provide mild help for my pain, but THC makes me anxious and spacey. The side effects don’t quite outweigh the benefits for me, personally. But I cannot recommend CBD enough, and agree both are worth trying.

It's almost certainly not as well studied over long term large populations though.

So many innovations in medicine, food, exercise, pesticides, whatever, only look better than the old stuff because they haven't been around long enough for all their flaws to be discovered.

Perception changes with cannabis are a significant negative side-effect.

True for high-THC strains, but not high-CBD / low-THC ones. And of course opioids also famously affect perception: "do not operate heavy machinery" etc.

I have heard that CBD is extremely great as a natural anti inflammatory however the strains that get recommended are so absurdly expensive. On the order of 30ml for 150$ for charlottes web for example. Is it actually worth it? How long does that 30ml bottle last for 150$?

The bottle lasts approx 2 weeks with 'correct dosage'. And that price is the higher end product. I am familiar with the mid-range product which I used for 1.5 months (due to pain) and discontinued it because I honestly couldn't really tell the difference.

Yeah this is quite disheartening to hear. 300$ a month for something that some people can't even tell the difference with. I don't want to spend 150$ for 30ml of snake oil haha.

My wife has a number of health issues (chronic knee pain, low-level anxiety, CFS). She tried the same CBD oil for about a month and found it had no effect one way or the other.

you're referring to the LP prices, i.e the "legal" stuff. you can buy far higher quality CBD strains at dispensaries, or even black market dealers, for cheaper.

Cannabis makes my pain worse.