How to Support a Friend Using Medical Cannabis

There have been miraculous advancements made in the health and wellness industries over the last several decades, but perhaps none so surprising as finding out that cannabis might actually help alleviate your chronic pain, reduce your risk of cancer, and even improve cancer symptoms if you have it. Sure, there have been a lot of life-changing procedures and treatments established, researched and developed, and now offered to people on a regular basis, but cannabis remains controversial and people continue to question its use in every corner of the globe. So what do you do when you aren’t totally sold on the idea of using cannabis for medical reasons, but you have a friend or family member that swears by it? For starters, open your mind! And then do these five things to support your friend or family member who is relying on cannabis to help them feel better.

Ask Questions

domino-pieces-forming-question-mark-on-woodenWe forget that it is okay to ask questions of our friends and family. This is especially important if you don’t fully understand why they feel they need to use cannabis. Keep in mind that you are not questioning their pain or condition – and be sure to let them know that. But you are allowed to ask questions about how it makes them feel, if they find any difference, and if they are happy with the results. The goal here is to not try to convince yourself that medical cannabis is good or bad; in fact, it’s to establish a sense of support for your friend or family member and when you have more information, you can better support them in their journey.

Do Some Research

laptop-studying-research-campusDon’t go into this cold. Take the time to do some research and find out the facts about cannabis use for medical reasons. Patients swear by its ability to help them have a good quality of life and with more people signing on to use medical cannabis on a daily basis, you really have to stop and ask yourself if you might be wrong? Find a reputable source of information for medical cannabis use and read about it. Just because it’s not for you, doesn’t mean it’s not a good treatment option for others and you should be respectful of their right to select their own treatment paths.

Don’t Judge

good-therapist-should-be-convincingWhatever you do, don’t try to convince someone that is considering medical cannabis that it is the wrong choice for them. It’s hard to keep your two cents to yourself sometimes, we get it. But it’s important to your relationship and to your friend that you support them in their decisions and not make it any harder for them to consider their choices. If your doctor is not overly zealous about using medical cannabis, you might be inclined to not question that line of thinking, but it’s hard to argue with people who say it has drastically improved their life.

Pay Attention

young-student-woman-listening-her-friendThe next time you are with your friend or family member, take note of how they are feeling before and after using medical cannabis. Because it works quickly to reduce pain and discomfort and it helps people to manage symptoms of anxiety, watch how they change right in front of your eyes as they stop feeling pain and start to relax more. They’ll be happier, seem more connected to the conversation, and be present. Pain takes us away from our lives, and when we are in pain, it can be difficult to focus on anything, let alone carry on a decent conversation. So give them some room to come around and see for yourself how medical cannabis can change them. If they offer you a hit from their dab rig or glass bong, say thanks, but no thanks – medical cannabis is prescription medication and is not for everyone.

Be Grateful

female-friends-holding-handsIf you still can’t wrap your head around a friend or family member using medical cannabis, consider yourself grateful for note having to consider the option. If nothing else, you can count your lucky stars that you live a life that doesn’t require you to ingest medication to make you feel better. And if that still doesn’t help you get on board with what they are doing, consider that some of the alternative medications for conditions and diseases can actually cause cancer, tumors, and other life-threatening conditions. To date, there is no evidence that cannabis has long-term effects on our health and with carefully controlled strains of THC in medical cannabis, the risk of even lower. So you can choose to take medication that potentially rots you from the inside, or you can take something natural, grown in the ground, that has been around for eons.

If You Can’t Say Something Nice, Don’t Say Anything at All

group-of-diverse-friends-sitting-on-couchWhen you put it that way, the choice seems pretty simple to us. But that’s the beauty of the world today: you get to decide for yourself and your friend and family member gets to decide for themselves. What makes the world an even more beautiful place is if we can all just support one another a little more, have some compassion, exercise empathy, and try to understand what it must be like for someone to be faced with a choice to use medications that could help them, but potentially hurt them in the long run. Medical cannabis rules and regulations keep a tight lid on the industry and it makes it seem scary to those who aren’t in the know. But luckily, finding the information you need is just a click away, so don’t sit in the dark judging others for things you might not fully understand. And if you do have all the information you need to make a decision about medical cannabis and whether or not it is a good idea, do us all a favor and keep that information to yourself. Your friends and family members don’t need you hounding them when they are just trying to get well.