Greetings from White Plains, NY

I haven't smoked in 9 years. I am a writer and used to smoke almost daily, and it gave me a great creative boost and kept my stress levels down. But I stopped, got married, had kids, etc. Now I have been experiencing high levels of anxiety, and my doctor has been prescribing me this and that when what I really need is cannabis to alleviate my stress. Unfortunately, I live in New York State, and they are behind the times, although possibly getting closer. I don't know anyone anymore who smokes, which makes my situation frustrating, so they'd better do something soon!

If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

I'm a newcomer to cannabis, but my sense is that we are going through a dark-before-the-dawn stage. The wild hopes of 2009-10 brought an inevitable backlash as the feds realized that part of their empire was in real danger of slipping away and the Obama Administration realized it could be vulnerable on the drug front in an election year. But once the political heat is off, the long-term dynamics toward cannabis liberalization will remain and grow (no pun intended). One of the biggest reasons is generational: as the Baby Boomers age and hurt, they will find (as I and evidently you have) that the docs are peddling shit for most of it. (The same docs whose supposedly wonderful medical judgment has made opiate prescriptions the leading cause of accidental death in the United States.) The BBs' careers are finished, their kids are grown, a lot of them have good medical insurance and adequate cash. Many of them plan to change their residence upon retirement anyway; why not to a semi-legal state, where they can at least grow their own without too much anxiety?

Another factor is that the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is showing signs of stress as the Latin American countries start to rebel against American dictatorship on narcotics. They know what the American "war on drugs" has done to their countries. And they also see the global potential for some of their product, especially cannabis.

For anxiety--try AA meetings. No, it really works.