Hi Everyone,
This is an ancient debate and a really interesting thread.
The cannabis plant is invaluable and has so many properties &uses,possibly even some not yet discovered by mankind.
I smoked hashish (weed was not so easily available)for about 7 years or so,for some of those years I smoked almost daily,and I existed in a fog of oblivion.
If I was to write on this thread during those years I would have been 100%in favour of legalising cannabis and I would advocate it's medicinal use for any ailment.(The thing is I would not have written because I was always thinking up "wonderful "ideas,how to achieve world peace,that kind of thing,which I then forgot seconds later &would not have bothered writing because I just didn't do much of ANYTHING except smoke,chill,hang out escape from reality etc.
I spent one summer travelling in the U.S and my American friends supplied me with lots of weed there,I found this had milder effect in comparison with the hashish back home.
Ingredients of that brown lump of stuff also known as hashish ,I am only realising that it's ingredients are God
knows what,a mixture of this &that thrown in,I know for a fact that I hallucinated on several occasions and had hugely terrifying experiences while /after smoking.Sometimes I was so paranoid,I would sit for hours in the corner of a room at a party/wherever I was and be scared stiff to speak or move,untill the effects wore off.Yes these are some bad examples I mention here there were many hours of blissful peacefullness and oblivion and giggling untill my stomach hurt.
And stuffing our faces when we 'd get the "munchies"
I swallowed some on one occasion ,an "eight "as we used to call it,which was alot to swallow, a "friend" suggested we swallow it when we saw the police while waiting for our flight at the airport,well it was the most horrific experience in my life,it was like what I imagine an acid trip to be like,around 7 hours of hallucinations,panic,anxiety ,airports,flying,
I thought we were flying but we hadnt taken off yet...

That was my worst experience with the stuff.
I used to smoke with my older brother & our friends,we were very close,and as the "friends"went their seperate ways over the years,myself &my brother drifted apart too,this is mostly because he still smokes &belongs to that world,and I no longer do.
I am sure that some of the anxiety & panic I now experience
can be attributed to my smoking that stuff.
It makes perfect sense to me that if you tranquillise your body in such a way for such a period of time ,you will have withdrawel symptoms,consequences.It may be a nice dream at times but then you have to wake up.If I was still a smoker and read this I would have thought I was such a boring idiot.

It was only when I gave up smoking that I realised that I was addicted,that I had a serious problem(I really did not know)that yes it is a drug, and unfortunately it does effect you mentally and physically and there is NO way of knowing what after effects &suprises are in store for someone years after they stop smoking,mental physical ,the evidence is inconclusive...the longterm aftereffects are so far unknown...

Smoking became a way of life and my perception and other people's perception of me was that I was a "stoner"I loved being called that,thought it was a compliment.And that was difficult to give up.I felt like I had to start over again,I had to lose all those "friends"and find a new identity.
Everything was completed distorted,it's now I can see that so clearly,it's like a fog has cleared.

Cannabis as medicine yes,but who can decide the quantities and the possible sideeffects?As with any medicine(I sure there are plenty of willing candidates to take part in those studies)