I've been thinking, since I posted; I have some very good friends, some in COG, that have older parents with extreme health and pain issues. I have discussed this subject with them at times, as it seems doctors are all to quick to prescribe opioid pain meds, in endless quantities to them. Both of my in-laws are up in years, and taking very strong pain meds... I've gotten my M.I.L. to seek herbal products, and she finds great benefit from CBD creams, as a supplement for relief; I've been badgering my F.I.L. who is closing in on 90 now, and telling him to move here, and use cannabis.. he laughs, and says "sure...", that's his mindset, but at least he thinks about it.. both of them are in a non-use state currently...
I was raised by my grandparents, and I really benefited from my Grandmother's wisdom, she was very open minded, but still had a difficulty understanding the "pot" thing, when I was a teen. Somehow I stupidly left a bag of weed, in a shirt pocket, which she found when doing the laundry... damn.... busted... I had to work up the courage to ask her if she threw it out.. $40 was a lot of money for a kid to "loose". She surprised me, pulled it out of her apron pocket, tossed it on the kitchen table, and went "searching" in a drawer, only to come back with a rolling machine, and a pack of ancient cig papers from the 40's.. she sat down, rolled 2 up, and we smoked them (I was speachless, and didn't dare ask why...),
She looked at me and said "I was going to give a big lecture, but figured it would be silly if I didn't try this, before...."
my response was "Well? are you high?", she just shrugged her shoulders and smiled, and said, "I don't think so... But now I know why you eat so much peanut butter and jelly... I'm hungry..." we smoked the second one, then she munched stuff from the fridge, and went out and walked around the back yard, and woods.. when she came back in she made me promise never to tell Dad. She ended up having part of her colon removed, many years later, and I would drop off "medicine" every other month, she always said natural is better than addicting pills. Bless her. She ended up having a stroke, years later, that was induced by a nicked blood vessel from a surgery, and the EMS responders gave her a strong opioid sedative on the way to the hospital, she was trying to come out of the stroke, but they suppressed her...she was allergic to the opioid meds, she went into a coma, and died.
My actual "mother", was introduced to the herb, by my younger sister and I, when we were in our 20's; and forced/coerced her to toke at my sister's house.. she also admitted that there was "nothing wrong with it, in my opinion, kind of a nice feeling"..
She died from migrated breast cancer, and cancer thruout her body in '93; my little sister made sure she got her "medication", as the prescriptions were so expensive, and didn't help her.. they just made her unconscious.
I really hate "modern medicine" at times, having lost so many loved ones...watching them try to endure pain, with no resolve, because of rediculous mindsets of legislators, has to end; sometimes simple plants, are the answer.
self medicate.
it's your right.