Marijuana is a tool I use daily.

I’m prescribed marijuana for anxiety. Most people find this odd because for them marijuana induces paranoia, but with me it’s the opposite. After the first couple of puffs I feel the weight come off my shoulders. I instantly feel a bit more confident and motivated. I smoke between one to three grams on a regular day, and yes, I’m still able to function normally.

It greatly helps with my anxiety. It stabilizes me. It makes me feel safe, calm. I instantly feel relaxed and I’m able to do things I otherwise would not be able to.

I smoke a joint in the morning to start my day. It relieves the anxiety from waking up and motivates me to get out of bed. Most people have told me that morning joints would make them go back to sleep. Not me.

Marijuana and I seem to have this agreement where it does what I need it to. If I need to get up it motivates me to do so, if I need to go to sleep I helps me go to sleep. At times I’m just smoking with friends and it works so well I begin to do dishes and have to put the joint out to save it from a watery death.

Because of this I’m often out in public after smoking. Under the disguise of Visine and perfume, no one is the wiser. I do have what I call ‘burn out’ moments sometimes where I say something wrong or forget a word. I blame these on being a stoner but really it could just be part of being human.

It helps me with public transportation, too. When I’m on the bus I get sweaty and my heart starts to race. If I smoke a joint prior to getting on the bus I usually don’t get sweaty nor does my heart race.

I’m not constantly eating. Yes smoking a joint will at times give me the munchies. But I can control it and it does pass. I have created some amazing concoctions from whatever was around. My favourite munchie is a sugar cone crushed up, sprinkled into ice cream topped with chocolate fudge syrup and then microwaved until just creamy.

Marijuana also makes me more creative. I don’t just sit around getting baked and watching movies on Netflix. I draw and paint. It’s like a tool I can use if I’m writing and I get stuck on something I can have a brainstorming joint which almost never fails.

The nicest part about being a stoner in 2015 has to do with legalization. Although I am already prescribed medicinally, the prices are high and with legalization could come the possibility of growing it myself. This would probably be much harder than I envision. But after acquiring the proper knowledge and the right equipment I could yield something that would do the job.

With all that being said, I believe everyone has their own personal reasons for using marijuana whether its recreational with friends, or to help with disorders such as anxiety or even anorexia. I believe it has a lot more benefits than people are aware of. And the people using it aren’t the stoners portrayed in movies or television.