Is your implication here that cannabis is deadly, or am I misunderstanding your point?
I have chronic pain and some headspace stuff that it really helps with but at this point my relationship with it could be construed as, um, er, addicted -- but same thing with coffee.
Cannabis can be psychologically addicting (a close friend is a chronic cannabis user who wheezes like a 2 pack a day cigarette smoker). It is not for everyone but should absolutely be legal everywhere.
Not only cannabis isn't a good painkiller, but it comes with very strong side-effects: it makes you totally unable to do any activity. This is fine for a recreational usage, but for a therapeutic usage, it's a serious problem. Especially when alternatives exist.
Well that is just completely, wildly untrue, and laughably so. C'mon now.
I disagree. There are varying levels of pain. The pain from being cut open and (metaphorically speaking) my spine scraped out with gardening tools, then being stitched up again is much more significant than pain from muscle aches, mild nerve pain and many other sources.
Cannabis was insufficient (for me) immediately (and for a couple days) after surgery. However, it was absolutely sufficient after three or four days.
Yes, the psychotropic effects can be debilitating, but that's not true for everyone.
N.B.: The observations below are anecdata, so obviously YMMV.
I find (as an InfoSec/Infrastructure guy) that I can't give the level of focus required to do my job effectively if I use cannabis regularly.
However, I know several lawyers and other folks with mentally rigorous professions that use cannabis multiple times daily and are able to function reasonably well. Note (as I mention above) that I am not one of those people.
The impact of cannabis on an individual is subjective and nuanced, so I don't accept your assertion that "[cannabis] makes you totally unable to do any activity."
In fact, different strains of cannabis (presumably based on THC/CBD/other cannabinoids levels) have different effects on different people.
I don't doubt your (and/or others you know) experience has been that cannabis is disabling. But that's not true for everyone in every circumstance.
Which is why I strongly believe (as I stated in the comment to which you replied) that cannabis and the chemicals it contains should be thoroughly researched to determine its impacts, both positive and negative.
tl;dr: I disagree with your statement because it was categorical, not that it was necessarily wrong in all cases.
I also know people who smoke cannabis all the time and are able to work. But I suspect their tolerance is so high that it's also ineffective as a pain killer.
Of course, this is anecdata as well. I'm willing to concede that on some very specific cases, cannabis may work as a painkiller (right type of pain, right dosage and so on). But I'm convinced there are always better conventional choices. And same thing for anxiety, depression, sleeping issue, and most things people try to advocate cannabis for.
Cannabis should be legal for recreational use, and may have some niche therapeutical applications. But it's certainly not a miracle drug as some people try to picture it.
I had a similar experience, albeit (and thankfully so) much more short term. I had spine surgery (lumbar laminotomy[0]) to address spinal stenosis[1] that significantly weakened my right leg and was prescribed oxycodone after the surgery.
I had prepared for this by acquiring significant amounts of cannabis (concentrate, butter and flower) to address the pain, but for four or five days, cannabis was insufficient to address the pain.
After the first two days I reduced the dosage and frequency of taking the oxycodone as I was concerned about dependency.
I will say that the first two days (full doses at four hour intervals) made me understand why some folks end up dependent on opioids.
My takeaway was that short-term use for acute (vs. chronic) pain, opioids are very effective.
For lesser pain levels, cannabis is also useful, with the caveat that cannabis doesn't actually get rid of the pain, you just don't care.
Your experience (and mine as well as that of many others) make it quite clear that (at least in the US -- elsewhere too, but legal regimes are different elsewhere and I'm not necessarily familiar with those) cannabis should be removed from schedule I (and potentially moved to schedule IV or removed completely) of the Controlled Substances Act[2], which would allow more widespread research into pain management and other medical uses.
I hope you don't find yourself in that situation again.
[0] https://adrspine.com/treatments/lumbar-laminotomy
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_stenosis
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Substances_Act