I was educating people in the hospital about Pot..

So, I went on vacation for a week. Well, I wound up in the psych ward for a week.
I was honest about my illegal use of Pot for medicinal purposes. (Plus you know it was going to show up in the UA anyways...) A lot of staff weren't judgmental at all, but were concerned that it might get me put in jail or cause me problems mentally, or bother my anxiety (which it does sometimes). One staff member said: "Well we need to get you out of here soon so you can get back home so you can keep using your pot." Another staff was amazed that it allowed me to stretch beyond what I normally could stretch because of how it relaxes my muscles and allows me to be more flexible.
Some other staff had 'mixed feelings' and a LOT of staff, we're talking RNs, MHPs, MDs, and Social Workers, didn't know much about it at all!!
Other patients I got to know (we had an awesome group of fellow crazies on the unit, btw) who smoked pot didn't know much about the herb that they smoked. And other patients on the unit who had problems with chemical dependency issues didn't know that Alcohol affected your brain from the front to the back and that Pot acted much differently...
A patient who never smoked pot said that smoking pot was WORSE than smoking tobacco. (She's a cig smoker...and a native American, part of the reservation near Tulalip). She asked me if I was coughing since had been on the unit.. (I never had any coughing or lung irritation...)

So I did a lot of educating. AND BAM I wound up in Recovery Group. Thankfully it was the last two days I was there, but the drug and alcohol lady asked me if pot was an issue for me, on a scale from 1 to 10 and I told her it was a 3 because of how it bothered my anxiety at times and how uncomfortable the highs could be since I was still trying to figure out my dosing.

She and I got into a bit of discourse during group about Marijuana, and I asked her to give me concrete EVIDENCE and RESEARCH about her claims that Marijuana could cause psychosis in people, and to also support her other claims.
She printed out this piss poor section from a website: http://www.drugabuse.gove/ResearchReports/marijuana/marijuana4.html

I laughed while reading it to my roommate later after group. It had one bar graph and only a couple of citations. Though I agreed with some of it.

I think we should all treat this drug with respect, so that it will treat us with respect.
I want to remind everyone, that driving while stoned is pretty much just as bad as driving while buzzed or driving after taking Vicodin/Percocet/other medicines that make you loopy or sleepy. Driving impaired in any way is a risk.

I would also like to gently say that drinking while enjoying Mary Jane is a good way for Mary Jane to slap you. I know people like to get twisted up like this, but your further impairing your coordination and sense of reality.
Sure, if you can do this in a safe environment with minimal risk to yourself and others, go ahead, no one can stop you, but please if you're going to do these things to get 'messed up' or 'twisted' or 'fucked up' do them as 'responsibly' as you can.

Remember that alcohol is a poison. Pot is not.

I couldn't believe that no one that worked on the unit could answer my question is pot use could be linked to lower potassium levels in the body (my potassium levels were low like they were back in 08 when I had that incident with the high heart rate).

Some knew about CBD and CBC for sure, others just knew about THC. Harborview Medical Center is one of the best hospitals in the Pacific Northwest.. you'd think that they would know more about certain things.. especially since a lot of addicts wind up in Detox or on their psych units.

I want to become a Peer Supporter so I can educate patients so they can make better decisions about their use, so it doesn't impact their lives, so they don't mix pot with Alcohol or continue believing a bunch of bullshit.

That being said, I think much more research needs to be done on Marijuana. We know a bit about it's medicinal effects, but I'd like to know more about how it affects the body, like other drugs do, so we can find ways to work around those undesired effects to get the most out of this natural resource.

 

^ Exactly.
I can't stress enough how important it is for people to have transparent, universal, accessible information..

I Believe that Transparency is a Key to a Greater Humanity. <--- That is my Quote, that I made up.