Normalizing Cannabis by telling our Stories

For the last year or so, I’ve been going through the process of telling people about my cannabis use. I have been using cannabis regularly since I was a teenager. My use started recreationally, but cannabis had an ability to help me through night terrors, panic attacks, pain, and severe vision issues has been a literal life saver to me. I have often lived in states where use and possession was illegal, it was vital that I keep my usage a secret, but whenever I have been able to, I have always registered as a medical user.

For a long while in my 20’s I was interested enough in the issues I was having psychologically and neurologically to attempt to seek traditional medical help with them. Those years in particular are hard for me to recall, as they are lost in a pharmacological haze of Lithium, Depakote, Lamictil, and the like. I’ve also had a nearly decade long exploration of SSRI’s that overlapped (from my teenage years forward). Ends up, there’s no pill that can take away some of the damage done by vicious abuse. In addition to helping me navigate PTSD and a whole host of other psychological-related issues from that abuse, cannabis has also helped me deal with the ocular migraines that resulted from all the head trauma. Cannabis is the best medication for me, and the issues I’m facing.

I’m not the only one, and my problems aren’t as serious as some of the others out there. There are many people suffering who self-medicate using cannabis. There are also many people who just want to have a joint after work to relax — why should they be more judged than people who want to have a single malt?

I was particularly dismayed while searching for jobs. For a while, I was seeking employment in my old field — data architecture in healthcare (I believe my health has other plans). I was careful about when I would disclose, and since most of the leads I got during my job hunt were from recruiters, I would often disclose early in the process with them. In more than one instance, I found out during the onboarding process that the recruiter lied to the client about my status as a medical cannabis user, or wanted me to lie about my status.

As states begin to legalize the use of cannabis it’s important that we begin to re-examine some of the cultural ideas that we have about it, regardless if that use is medical or recreational. Only through normalization of both aspects will medical users be able to hope to re-engage truthfully in areas of our life where that wasn’t possible before.