Flower helped me kick prescription painkillers

Six months ago, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to kick prescription painkillers, after a back surgery that sent me through hell and back. After a quick visit to Mt. Hood Legacy in Gresham and through the knowledge of the doctor I met that frightening evening, I realized I was going to be able to quit cold turkey (though it wasn’t recommended).

Instead of weaning off pills with more pills, I decided to get my medical marijuana card in the hopes of better treating my chronic pain, especially with also having Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease that is genetic. It was the best decision I made following my eight surgeries for three different medical issues in the last six years: getting my medical card.

Weed was a fix-all, when it came to anxiety. Some people laugh when I say I have my medical card, but most people understand when I tell them my story and about the fight to overcome major withdrawals. All THC products truly work against, and help to cure, pain and anxiety that go hand-in-hand, just like fine red wine and pasta from my late Italian great-aunt, Marie.

I was never a fan of flower until about two years ago, while I visited some family in Sacramento, Calif. It was then and there that I realized  needed something besides prescription painkillers, but I was so numb at the time. The idea of weed kind of scared me, since I had bad past experiences with getting severe anxiety – which defeats the entire purpose of this medicine.

I understand that it is now legal in the state of Oregon, as of Thursday, to buy marijuana, but, please, don’t forget those of us who really use it as medicine. In all honesty, I think there would be fewer problems in this world and the country if everyone, both young and old, experience weed and how it makes everything feel okay during rough times. Plus, it’s an all-natural alternative to pills. Different strokes for different folks, sure, but weed isn’t harming anyone. I haven’t heard many statistics of people killing themselves with the usage of THC products. I hope people don’t give weed a bad name, because this medicine has made a night-and-day difference in my young 29-year-old life.

I can’t wait until they open up bud bars. I’m over the alcohol bar scene, watching people on hard drugs who are mixing them with booze and then getting into accidents. Hopefully, people find the best in this medicine, and I hope more than anything that these bad stigmas go away, and that officials will improve the rules of the law, once it really comes into effect. I suggest you research your facts before you jump the gun into any conclusion about why weed is good, or bad. It’s at the click of a button online.

Again, I highly recommend to those persons in pain, especially to those who suffer with prescription pill abuse like I once struggled with, to get their card. It’s nice to be happy and to be myself again – something painkillers took away from me, having created a false reality and where doctors were handing these pills out quicker than the Oregon Ducks crank out new football uniforms.

Weed has helped me find a nice balance in my life, and it doesn’t interfere with anything and everything I do in my professional life. Since getting my medical card, I’ve had less and less trouble with pain management.

I also recommend to those age 21 and above to check out a dispensary and find out about the different strains, such as hybrid, indica and sativa. And for those dabblers who haven’t smoked before – I’m talking to you, Mom and Dad – enjoy the stress-free life that is produced by the all-natural flower.