The leaves are changing color and the temperatures are dropping off, which means the holidays will soon be upon us. While you might be excited about the merriment brought by fall and winter festivities, you shouldn’t feel guilty about a bit of trepidation. The holidays can cause anyone to feel stress, as the responsibility of managing so many gatherings, spending time with so many people and generally stepping out of your routine can be uncomfortable.
Yet, even amidst all this extra stress, you might be tempted to take a break from cannabis to avoid awkward questions about the drug from family — but that is the exact wrong thing to do. Here are some good reasons to continue partaking throughout the holiday season and how to field all the conversations about cannabis from friends and family.
Why Hiding Cannabis Use Is Hurting You
If your family doesn’t know about your cannabis consumption habits already, and especially if your family doesn’t have positive opinions about cannabis use, continuing to hide your interest in weed might be an easy and attractive solution for surviving the holiday season. You might be planning to take a break from cannabis, or worse, you might be thinking about sneaking out to enjoy your 420 sessions. This would be a major mistake.
Sneaking around to partake of pot is a bad habit that can have devastating effects, not only on your usage patterns but also on your family’s perception of cannabis consumers.
First, hiding cannabis consumption is one of the hallmarks of cannabis use disorder — colloquially called cannabis addiction. Often, those abusing cannabis know that their use is out of control, so they take to concealing their consumption from others in various ways. If you get particularly good at secreting your cannabis use, you might be able to slip into disordered consumption without others noticing, which could be devastating to your health and happiness.
Even assuming you aren’t at risk for cannabis use disorder, there are some notable benefits to continuing to use in the open during the holidays. Weed will jumpstart your metabolism, getting your body ready to take in all the extra calories during holiday feasts. Cannabis will keep you relaxed, which you definitely deserve during this break from work. Best of all, pot can smooth over social experiences, which means the time you spend with cousins you aren’t close with might feel much more fun.
Just as importantly, neglecting to tell your family about your cannabis consumption loses you the opportunity to gain more support for cannabis legalization. You use cannabis for a good reason — maybe you have a medical condition that cannabis helps manage, or maybe you merely like the way it makes you feel. Regardless, your cannabis use isn’t a danger to you or your community; in fact, it has a number of significant benefits. By opening up with your family about your cannabis habits, you can have a conversation about all the ways cannabis is good for you and those around you, even if they choose not to partake. As long as you don’t approach the conversation with the intention to cause conflict, and if you truly try to listen to your family’s perspective, you should be able to have a constructive discussion.
How to Talk Openly and Honestly About Weed
While you can arm yourself with studies and statistics about cannabis use to toss at family members who aren’t for legalization, the truth is that most people aren’t swayed by facts and logic. Instead, they slowly shift their opinions over time, usually as a result of their emotional state. Having a close loved one use weed — and continue to be a proud and productive member of society — is a good step toward changing your family’s attitude on the issue.
Of course, you should be prepared to field some questions and concerns. You should strive to be as honest about your weed experience as possible, so your family feels they can trust your perspective. You might offer to take those of age to a nearby dispensary in Tucson, if there is one close to your family home, just so they can see how non-threatening retail cannabis can be. While some family members might remain staunchly against your pot practices, you will likely gain a couple nods of approval from those who appreciate your directness.
The holidays don’t have to mean a stop in your cannabis consumption. You deserve to get into some dank nugs during the holiday season, so the sooner you talk to your family about your love of weed, the better.
