Last June I had a large wood chip hit my eye and it took four surgeries to get them removed. The pain was off the charts and the hydracodone did nothing for it. It made me want to claw my eyeball out I was puking which only made the pain worse. My neighbor gave me and eight ball (1/8 oz) and I had relief within five minutes. In two days the corneal pressure was back to almost normal on my re-exam. I told my optometrist what I used and she told me how badly she wants to be able to tell patients to use it but can't without risking the loss of her license.
It is obscene that a substance that can give so much instant relief to certain conditions is illegal and a doc can't even hint about it. It's commonly used for glaucoma(sp?) and nausea second to chemo but for eye injuries a doc can't suggest it. I used less then 1/4 of the bud and gave what was left back to my neighbor. Since then I have not used it and up until then I had not touched it since my early thirties. I did not get addicted, become psychotic or have any side affects. Responsible informed people can use legal and illegal drugs safely and without problems.
On the flip side I have a friend that is 60 and uses it every night and has for years. I have watched his short term memory deteoriate over the last two years. The bud in my area is grown in volcanic soil that is high in mercury. Pot plants uptake large amounts of it out of the soil and mercury oxide accumulates in our tissues and is there forever until you chelate it out.
So somewhere between me using it for extreme pain once in 13 yrs and my friend using it every night there is a safe harmless happy medium.
Will we ever evolve as a species enough to find that safe middle ground?