As if the holidays weren’t stressful enough, you might have a few members of your family with an outdated take on cannabis. Maybe they think it’s dangerous. Maybe they’re stealing your edibles and don’t understand that these are your precious meds! We’re all adults here, so why do we have to keep tiptoeing around a widely accepted and well understood legal medical treatment? It's time to stop sneaking, hiding, and “going for a walk” with your cousins when you need a dose to cut the anxiety. This guide ought to help the conversation go more smoothly.
Patience Prevails
Some of those closest to you can have shockingly different views on something as innocuous as medical cannabis. You may just want to grab their shoulders and shake them until it makes sense, but try to remember that for them, this is a sensitive topic. No matter if it’s a parent, grandparent, sibling, in-law, or just a family friend who’s on your case, keep in mind that you’re up against decades of misinformation and targeted anti-cannabis campaigns.
Whether you choose to speak to them one-on-one, as a group, or with an ally on your side, try to make sure they don’t feel ganged up on. Pick a comfortable place, stay calm and rational, and stick to the facts. Remember this is about changing their minds, not attacking them for their (uninformed) opinions.
Go Smash the Stereotype
Some people still have a ridiculous image in their minds about who uses cannabis. They see cannabis users as lazy, strung-out losers with no ambition or future. And no offense to the lazy, strung-out losers out there, but your loved ones probably don’t want that life for you!
In reality, that’s just not true for most cannabis users. And you can (kindly) update those skeptical old stereotypes: surveys are tricky, but in 2022, 16% of Americans said they smoke marijuana (and that number doesn’t even account for people who consume edibles, tinctures, topicals, etc). That’s nearly 50 million hard working Americans – everyone from blue collar workers to entrepreneurs, lawyers, and CEOs – all enjoying the benefits of cannabis. So you can let your fam know that no, cannabis isn’t a one-way ticket to Loserville.
Put Those Benefits on Blast
And why, your family may ask, do all these everyday folks partake? Well, the answer is in that research, pouring in for years now, repeatedly that shows the medicinal value of cannabis. In the early days of medical marijuana, people slowly accepted it as helpful treatment for fighting cancer and other terminal diagnoses, but in recent years we’ve seen the potential for so much more.
THC and CBD are being used to fight diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Patients are looking for terpenes like limonene, myrcene, and pinene to help reduce chronic pain and inflammation. As a whole, cannabis is showing promise in the fights against neuropathy, nausea, anxiety, PTSD, and more.
Bring Receipts
Come to the conversation prepared with straightforward articles and scientific research to back up your facts (there are some great articles linked in this very blog). If they push back, challenge them to find any evidence to support their views (it likely doesn’t exist). You may be able to head off a lot of their arguments, since most anti-cannabis points are tired and have been debunked for years:
MYTH: Cannabis is dangerous.
FACT: Taking too much cannabis can result in confusion, anxiety, dizziness, and other temporary issues, but no one has ever died from a cannabis overdose.
MYTH: Cannabis is a gateway drug.
FACT: There is no evidence that cannabis leads to the use of harder drugs. In fact, cannabis may help curb usage of more dangerous drugs like opioids.
MYTH: Cannabis makes you lazy.
FACT: Some strains of cannabis are sleep-inducing and can help promote restful night for insomniacs. Others are actually super stimulating! A few choice terpenes might help you finish that research paper or have your house cleaned in half the usual time.
Extend a Cannabis Branch
If the conversation is going well, your family is receptive, and the mood is calm, maybe it’s time to see if they would benefit as well! After all, those years of stress about the “dangers of cannabis” could have caused a lot of unresolved anxiety or inflammation. Maybe your dad doesn’t even realize that the reason he’s stealing your edibles isn’t to “get high,” but because they help ease his back pain.
Now that you’ve gotten through, they might finally be open to exploring medical cannabis treatments themselves. That’s great! Follow our link below to show them how they could become a registered patient. This time next year, the holidays could be way more merry and high.
Medical cannabis products should never be shared with others.
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