Hi Professor Hodges, I could use some help getting my causal argument started. I am researching how the use of smoking weed that provides the high can help reduce anxiety for those who suffer from it and how that can eliminate pharmaceuticals altogether. I am not sure if I should just focus on smoking weed for reducing anxiety and not worry so much about pharmaceuticals. I know that I want to write about smoking weed for anxiety and the effect it has on reducing it. Also, I am worried that I won’t have enough evidence for weed and its relation to anxiety since there aren’t many experiments to help support this.
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Counterintuitive 
OK, Flowers, let’s get started.
I think it was me who first raised the question of whether the high was part of the therapy, but not in exactly those words. The question still intrigues me and will be essential to your argument and to your readers’ interest.
So, is it the high that reduces anxiety? Could any non-high active ingredient of the cannabis plant achieve the same anxiety reduction, or do smokers/users need to get the kick of mood elevation / enhanced awareness / multiplied relevance in order to achieve the therapeutic benefit? Because if so there’s an opponent who needs to be appeased to make your argument fly. If not, then we can all agree to administer some synthetic compound that offers the “effect” without the “unfortunate side effect” of feeling wonderful.
You see what I mean.
“Just Say No” is still with us, even if saying Yes would alleviate suffering, reduce panic, avoid suicide.
I don’t see how you can eliminate the pharmaceutical angle from the argument when every refutation would suggest a manufactured, dose-specific, doctor-prescribed, insurance-reimbursed drug of some kind as the “more reasonable” alternative. (Like opioids. You know. Profitable.)
No, there aren’t a lot of studies on the benefits of weed for the same reason there aren’t a lot of studies on the hazards of coal-burning. It runs counter to the narrative.
Let me see what I can find. If I get you one good source that might lead to others, will you stay the course?
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Do you know this study on the “Mitigation of Post-Traumatic Stress symptoms by Cannabis resin”? It seems pretty powerful.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/dta.1377
Or how about this:
“Medical cannabis access, use, and substitution for prescription opioids and other substances: A survey of authorized medical cannabis patients”
It at least suggests the benefits of substituting cannabis for pharmaceuticals.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395917300130
That took five minutes to search, fifteen minutes to copy, link, and abstract the results for you. It appears there might be enough evidence in the literature to support your substitution claim.
We good to go?
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Thank you. Would I be able to switch my topic around a little and talk about why smoking weed for anxiety doesn’t reduce it and how pharmaceuticals are more effective?
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If you discover that’s true, then by all means you want to share the results of your actual research, Flowers. The whole purpose of a research project is to find out what’s real.
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