shelikesitalot

I am curious what the legal (medical ) smokers are doing -

- do you smoke in public
- how do you smoke it
- is it available by prescription and what form
- do you feel ashamed, do you explain it all the time

I hope there are some legal smokers out there, I know we heard from Lymelady. I wonder if other legal smokers are on this site.

DreamyAJ

I have been sort of legal since the beginning of the year: one doctor wrote to my other doctor about my pot use, saying that my condition was greatly improved, but it didn't quite come out and "approve" or "recommend" that I use pot. So I went to an activist doctor and got a recommendation.

The minute we got home from the doctor, my husband handed me my pipe and lighter so he could watch me smoke. He said he wanted to see someone smoke pot legally.

So I've been legal for about a week. I'm not supposed to use it in public or to drive under the influence. While we know that ability to drive well is not significantly impaired (except perhaps when totally wasted), it's still reasonable to be extra careful because the whole situation is so delicate.

I don't have a prescription, but now I can register with a cannabis club and buy it if I need to. I haven't done that yet because I have enough to last me a couple of months. I'm tempted to try growing my own, but I have never been good with plants.

So far I have smoked discreetly in the car as a passenger while parked and on the freeway. I have also smoked in a public place while out of anyone's direct view. I keep a copy of my recommendation in my car and in my husband's car, just in case.

Some of my friends know I smoke pot for my illness and some don't. One of my friends who didn't know visited me this past weekend. I told her about it, but I didn't smoke in front of her. She was happy that I am feeling better, but she is not convinced that pot is really medicine. I didn't press the issue; people don't change their minds instantaneously, especially on things they have believed for a long time.

shelikesitalot

thanks for your reply. I am wondering how long you have smoked

also curious what illness you are treating, but I know that may be personal

it's very interesting the change to "legal"

DreamyAJ

I have Fibromyalgia, a widespread chronic pain and fatigue disorder.

It started in February or March, was diagnosed in July, and kept me in nearly constant pain all year. The doctor who diagnosed me said that smoking marijuana would make it harder for my doctors and physical therapists to treat me, so I quit smoking. I wasn't doing it very much at that time, but sometimes when the pain was really bad and the Vicodin hadn't kicked in yet, it helped me hang on. By mid-November, I was taking six Vicodin a day, and it wasn't enough to kill all the pain. I decided to start smoking pot again, to help me get to sleep at night. A few days later, I noticed that I didn't hurt so much in the morning and was able to cut back to just two Vicodin a day, at bedtime. Now I've been off Vicodin for almost two months!

Shaman

I smoke cannabis for temporal lobe epilepsy and chronic nausea. I always smoke in public, but I'm sneaky about it. I hide. They want us to smoke in our homes, only.
I was arrested on August 4, 2000 for smoking in my car in the parking lot at my work. AT the time, I didn't have the appropriate paperwork, but I told them I was a medical patient.
My case was just thrown out of court ;-)
In no way do I feel ashamed, I am proud because I am helping to legalize personal freedom.
As far as your question about "perscription" you cannot obtain a perscription for cannabis in the united states. Various states have systems set up so you can get "doctor's approval or recommendation" to legally smoke, but this does not apply to federal law, as they consider cannabis a schedule 1 drug with no medical benefits.

Bastards.

-Shaman

Chupacabra

Is A Schedule 1 drug like a class A drug is in the uk? or is it class b...
Class a drugs overs here are like Coke..Pills.. Heroin and Class B are weed...speed and some others...

Shaman

I don't know about the class system in the UK, but over here it's according to "medicinal value" IE, schedule 1 has no medicinal value, 2 has minor but extreme potential for abuse, 3 is moderate medicinal value, etc.
Cannabis,Crack, Heroin, Acid, I think PCP, =schedule 1
Coke, Speed, Quaalude, Morphene = Schedule 2
Coedine, ritalin = Schedule 3
Valium, Vicodin = Schedule 4
Most of these drugs that are scheduled in 3 and 4 are more dangerous than cannabis, which is schedule 1!

Lymelady

Hi AJ,

Very sorry to hear of the fibro dx! I fully understand the joint pain and over-all fatigue. As a Lyme patient I can honestly say that at times...even my "hair hurt"!
Quite a few in my Lyme support group have been previously diagnosed with MS, ALS, Eppstein-Barr, Lupus, Alzheimers, & Parkinson's ....FM too!

Glad to hear you are off the Vicodin. I've taken it before & it does take your mind off the pain...pain isn't gone...you just don't care about it. It's a synthetic opiate & is very addicting. The less crap you put into your system, the better off you liver & the rest of your body will be!

Bottom line is that pot works on many different symptoms. I would rather smoke some pot for my symptoms than take Marinol (1-2 hrs to take effect), Vicodin, Xanax, Soma, and GOD knows what else the pharmacuticle companies want to shove down my throat! IMO...cannibis has great potential for medical use
needs to be explored!
FYI...UCI is conducting medical Majijuana research & I signed up!

LK

Skywatcher

I have been smoking regularly and legally for the past year.I have had 5 operations on my back and have had an electric stimulator implanted in my side and back.It runs off of a power supply that I have to place the lead over the site were the pack is inserted under my skin on my side,from it two wires run up my spine to about the middle of my back and are connected to the nerves.Even with this the doctors had me taking over 1,260 (yes,one thousand two hundred sixty)pain killers in a month,including Lorcet,Percocet,Methadone,Oxy-cotin.and then I had to take muscle relaxers for the sever muscle cramps,and of course all the medication I had to take because of the side effects of the medication that reeked havoc on my body.Now since I started smoking cannabis,the doctors cannot understand why I am down to under 100 pills TOTAL for a month,And the supreme court has the nerve to say it has no medicinal value..I think they all could use a big fat one myself...