Self-medication and Medical Marijuana

"For every pothead who is simply toking to enjoy the sensation there are others who use cannabis in an attempt to self-medicate in some way.

It is interesting to consider how cannabis might work as a pain reliever. I once got in to a conversation with someone who smoked dope to help deal with chronic pain that developed from an industrial injury to his leg. He explained it wasn’t so much that getting stoned stopped the pain itself, but rather that his mind tended not to fixate on the pain in the same way as when he hadn’t been smoking…"