Is Cannabis the Answer?

We wake up every morning to assume the round, pointy avatar of a cog in the monstrous machine of life, a life that has essentially become mechanical, juiceless, monotonous and rife with the burden of fulfilling a hell-load of expectations. Like the mythical Sisyphus, most of us are pushing a huge rock uphill everyday, just to watch it fall back. People are compressed air forced into a cylinder. The tight schedules, the ten hour job and the night shifts for working people; the incessant assignments, projects, hang-out sessions for students- somewhere in all this life that’s running like a super-fast express which is more of a “burning train”, we have lost touch with ourselves.

What we need is a communion with our soul- to touch and feel, to see and feel, to hear and feel, and find the deepest extent of our existence.

Is there any possibility that we might, standing in the middle of life which is only passing us by, realise our own self to the degree that we understand the true meaning of being alive?

We are failing our senses, and not giving them the fodder that makes them exert themselves to achieve happiness for ourselves. I am not saying that we are not listening to music, or eating a lot of tasty food. The point is that the intensity of our sensory experiences has lowered and our enjoyments have become as much a part of a boring schedule. The neglect of a state with a heightened sense of self- a self that is the coming together of our sense perceptions and other impressions- is a mistake we might regret on our death bed, or when we find ourselves unable to indulge. Aren’t we missing out on experiences that, even though tabooed and prohibited, are just an experience of ourself, only from a different angle, through a peculiar prism of perception?

Cannabis. What is its consumption if not pure bliss? Who does not want a change? All these people that walk in a crowd and forget themselves in the stress of work, in modern life style and everyday fads, need to see how they are totally ignoring a part of themselves that can make them feel more alive. Women who live under the yoke of sexual oppression, exploitation and harassment, are usually more stressed than the men working under similar conditions.

Why should they not viciously suck on a joint and conjure a world where they are one with themselves, where they are face to face with a spirituality and realise the power of their “self” to turn into effective dissenters!

Many top inspiring women have enjoyed their consumption of cannabis. Isn’t cannabis the answer!? There are many people who found an inlet to life, or an outlet to monotony, in cannabis. It takes them to a world that exists on a different plane. More colourful, more imaginative, more creative and where all of their existence spirals into a point that exaggerates their feeling of life. Women health and fitness blogs are continuously witnessing a rise in information suggesting the benefits of cannabis. You have to do it to know what it adds to your life, and then decide.

We need cannabis to feel ourselves. We need it to feel a connection with the cosmos that has been relegated to ignorance. As Carl Sagan writes in his “Mr. X” essay about how we need to experience a heightened state of consciousness. Didn’t he tell us how the cosmos is within us and that we are star stuff.  Cannabis is what brings out that cosmos in us. Carl Sagan talks about the sensory enhancements that give us a vivid perception that brings us face to face with our imagination. A consciousness that we did not know existed within us , is brought out in ecstasy.

Not to sound like a helpless addict, let’s back it up with something that ongoing researches tell us.

Many medical and scientific studies are looking into the benefits of cannabis. Its healing properties are being widely investigated and there are proofs to its being useful as a medicinal agent.

Cannabis is known to help lose weight by regulating insulin production and calories. This property makes it a valid drug to help prevent and treat diabetes. Cannabinoids are also known to fight certain kinds of cancer.

 

Cannabis is also found to be beneficial in helping patients suffering from depression, which grips a rising number of people and is not getting enough attention. A research at Buffalo University headed by Samir Haj- Dahmane has come to the conclusion that certain compounds derived from cannabis are helpful in stabilizing mood and mitigate the condition of depression patients.

 

Science is also digging into other researches that try to find out the help cannabis can provide with certain diseases. It is supposedly used by parents of Autistic children to help curb violent mood swings. It is also under investigation that cannabis might be a saviour for epilepsy by helping regulate seizures.

Among other diseases, cannabis’ role to help one better one’s health is being scrutinised- healing processes like recovery of broken bones, arthritis, glaucoma, anxiety, nausea, anorexia, improvement of lung health, these are where cannabis earns our gratitude-points!

What is important to understand is that the benefits of Cannabis have not been well-researched. The act of smoking, a generally condemned habit, attaches the prohibition with it. Researches need to be taken up to remove the associations that the consumption of cannabis has gained. And, while the science peeps are at it, we need to listen to Carl Sagan’s wisdom that suggests the experience of a “heightened consciousness” and have a spiritual encounter with our own repressed self. And let’s listen to the wise words of many other inspiring women achievers!

However, keeping in mind the proverbial saying: Excess of everything is bad. Like overeating, right? Doesn’t mean we stop eating altogether and starve to death!