I often treat patients who feel like they have to (or DO have to) hide their use of medical marijuana from their significant others or family members.   Some are parents with teenage children.  Others are not able to speak to their spouse because of the dissenting opinions regarding its validity as a medication.   In this post I offer some advice because having the support of your family can be a blessing when it comes to being healed.

1. First, fix you OWN mindset. You have to believe that this is a medicine being used to help relieve you from suffering AND NOT recreational drug use.   Even if you have used it exclusively for recreational purposes in the past, you are now a patient and this is medication…. NOT A RECREATIONAL DRUG.    Believing that in your heart is the first thing you have to do before you can approach your family with confidence.

2. Eliminate all slang terms regarding cannabis. Everything in life is how you say it (almost everything).   You “medicate with cannabis” and “take a dose”.  You do not “smoke marijuana, smoke pot, get high, smoke weed, take hits, smoke dope, hit the bong, roll joints” etc.   All these terms, even though they say the same thing ultimately as “medicating with cannabis”…. saying it that way makes you sound like a recreational drug user and NOT A PATIENT.   You are medicating with cannabis to relieve your pain or to help you sleep.    And you take two “doses” prior to going to bed.  You “vaporize” your medicine…. you do not smoke it.  So from now on choose your words carefully.

3. Contrast your medical cannabis use with what your alternative is. When sitting down with your family you can approach them like this.   “For the past year I have been in so much pain and the only thing the doctors want to give me are narcotics like oxycontin/percocet/morphine… all these drugs make me nauseated, constipated and are highly addictive.   I read about how many people overdose on them.    I really want to try something that is much more natural and does not have all those side effects.   I have been reading about how many patients get relief from using medical cannabis and I think I want to give it a try.  If I can stop taking all of these pain pills I think it would be worth it.  I hear their are strains of cannabis that are not psychoactive and that in small doses it works really well.   I really would like your support in this treatment plan.”

Sometimes people don’t consider the alternatives which in most cases are worse when compared side by side with cannabis.   It is your job to get them to think about the alternative.

4. Explain to them how you have a plan to use it responsibly.   Make sure you let them know that you are NOT going to use this recreationally.  Tell them that you are concerned about the smoking aspect and have researched vaporization and that you are NOT going to have to smoke it.  That alone will put most people at ease because no one wants to endorse smoking anything.   Let them know about the different strains and how you plan on using the ones that are not psychoactive but just help relieve your symptoms.

5. Let them know that you are going to a reputable physician to get your recommendation and offer to them that they come with you (if you feel comfortable). There are many clinics that you just walk in with your money and two minutes later walk out with recommendation where the doctor could care less about your diagnosis.   When patients come to my clinic and experience REALLY being taken care of like a patient they leave feel much better that they are doing it “legitimately”.  This way they can ask the doctor questions and here it straight from the horses mouth.

If you can take these 5 steps I really believe that anyone in your life that genuinely cares about you will be more open to your medical cannabis use.

Be blessed,

Dr. Breen