Marijuana usage can be polarizing. You may love it or hate it. There are also plenty of cases where you may use it, and the people in your life do not support your use. Those waters can be hard to navigate, especially if you do not like confrontation.
1. Prepare Beforehand
As challenging as this may be for all parties involved, it’s always best to remain honest and upfront about what you’re doing. Try and help your loved ones see your side, but always take into consideration their opinions as well. After all, they are just looking out for you which is the source of their concern.
Preparation may be key to having these often difficult chats. Have your reasoning and your defenses, and think of the things they may have to say and ways to rebuttal them. And remember, listening to them is imperative. If they are taking the time to listen to you and hear you out, you need to give them that same courtesy.
2. Remember Your Reasoning
In most instances, the topic of cannabis is still considered taboo. Most stoners don’t drink, but the use of alcohol is widely accepted and considered a social gathering. You may wonder why smoking can’t be the same? To date, there have been zero deaths due to marijuana, while alcohol takes 95,000 lives each year. In the era of decriminalizing, it’s time to end the family stigmas of those you care most about.
3. Always Listen
As mentioned above, the first thing to do is listen. Steamrolling their concerns won’t get you anywhere. In fact, it may only aggravate the situation more and likely end the conversation altogether. Maybe they’ve had a negative experience with it. Maybe it’s rooted deeper than that. No matter their reasoning, they have legit concerns to be expressed to you that need to be heard if you want your side to be heard.
It’s next to have some facts at hand to counteract or help reassure them that while they’re feeling is valid, it doesn’t have to remain true. This gives you each a chance to see where the other is coming from in an understanding manner.
4. Ask Questions
You may need to spark some conversation with questions for them in hand. Where did their cannabis information come from? Where did yours come from? Is it possible their facts or opinions are outdated?
Are they willing to hear another side or reconsider their facts? Be transparent and honest. Sure it’s not 100% bad, but on the flip side, it is not 100% good either. It’s important that you acknowledge that you are aware of this too.
It’s not your job to explain every detail of marijuana use to them. But as someone they trust, you can be the best, most comfortable person for asking and answering questions. For more information, they can always search for more information online. A good example is this medical marijuana texas site.
5. Refute Misconceptions
It’s likely they are going to bring up plenty of topics you need to be prepped for. The most common is the misconception that marijuana is an addictive drug. To this, you may say that it can be habit-forming, and people may rely on it too much, but that can be just like any other substance.
Another concern often heard is that marijuana is a gateway drug. A rebuttal for this is that the Institute of Medicine released a document in 1999 that declared there was no substantial correlation between the use of marijuana and other addicting drugs.
6. Explain Your Unique Benefits
Open up to them about why you choose to use marijuana and the ways in which it has helped in your life. Be completely honest and upfront when doing this.
They will see right through you if you try to lie or hide the truth. Maybe it helps with your depression or anxiety. Maybe it helps you eat more throughout the day, ease your chronic pain, or one of the many other ways it can help improve someone’s life. More specifically – your life!
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Conclusion
You may just get lucky after an initial conversation, and whoever is questioning your use will back down. They may even want to join you next time, but it may also be a prolonged battle.
If you have both listened and communicated effectively, the hope is that they will back off a little and stop shaming you so much. All in all, you need to be prepared and be honest above all else. It’s never going to be an easy conversation to sit down and have, but the possible outcome is well worth it.
