Nurses smoking weed?

[bunnynurse]

Hey nurses,

In honor of "420" tomorrow... As a health-care professional, what are your thoughts on smoking weed? Any nurses out there that smoke a joint here and there?

Cheers.

[cbob]

So silly. When we look at this thread in a few years it will be like asking if a nurse will indulge in a glass of wine after their shift. This "weed" is medicine and it will be used much more in our careers as a healing plant. The stigma is about to be lifted, and it already is. We are starting to look at this plant as a respectable tool in medicine and one that has many uses. As far as healthcare workers using it… You don't work under the influence, but if you work under the influence of anything you are a danger to yourself, patients and co workers. So, would you come to work drunk? No so why would you come to work high? … I much rather work along a nurse that got stoned the night before on weed and slept the whole night and is fresh than one that went out after their shift and got wasted on booze and is worthless the day after.

If you work in a state where it is legal and you have a script than you can use it like any other medicine. I worked in a state where it was legal and there were plenty of nurses that smoked it. Great nurses that worked really hard. They were on weed rather than ambient, xanax or prozac, and much more alert.

[Farawyn]

We then yes . . . drowning in wine would be worse. [/quote']

I'd like to try that, though.

[vanityfair29]

As long as you don't show up high on the job, who cares? It's the same with alcohol, whatever you do on your time off is your business

[Farawyn]

There are no randomized trials on the use of parachutes, so technically we can't say they save lives either "there isn't enough research" LOL! Ok if you want a surgeon high on marijuana to operate on you that's your prerogative, I will find a clean one (hopefully) LOL

Instead of losing sponges inside the patient they will be dropping Cheeze Doodles.

I wonder if the Doodle will simply be absorbed by the body?

[holisticallyminded]

Well it's legal in my state. Does that mean I smoke it? Not since college. But then.....how is it any different than drinking? Are we talking about drinking/smoking on the job? What about tobacco? Now if we were talking about nurses abusing narcotic pain meds.....that's a different story.

[Farawyn]

As long as you don't show up high on the job, who cares? It's the same with alcohol, whatever you do on your time off is your business

I agree to an extent. Once it is federally legalized there won't be any way to curtail recreational weekend/ off time use. Nor should there be.

However, pot is metabolized at a much slower rate than alcohol, so technically you are still under the influence of the drug Monday morning if you smoke on Friday night.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Instead of losing sponges inside the patient they will be dropping Cheeze Doodles.

I wonder if the Doodle will simply be absorbed by the body?

Well, according to Seinfeld, it should be a Junior Mint, which will actually help you...

Personally, as long as I have a license, I will abstain from anything that has any potential of jeopardizing my livelihood. My facility does not hire smokers and tests for nicotine; I won't smoke. I won't drink alcohol within 10 hours of the start of a shift. And I will not indulge in any other mind altering substances, legal or not. That professional license already holds us to higher standards that I intend to adhere to.

[Farawyn]

Wait a minute, driving under the influence of any susbtance is dangerous? I frequently drive under the influence of caffeine and I guarantee it makes me a safer driver and may even prevent accidents when I am tired. If the surgeon smokes a little every day and has a tolerance then NOT smoking before my surgery would be even scarier. That's like telling a cigarette smoker they can't take a smoke break before performing some stressful test. A smokers gotta smoke. An addiction is an addiction but tobacco is the one that kills. Dosages have yet to be determined by the medical marijuana community. Like I said before, there isn't enough research yet.

Pot has been shown to impair judgement. Isn't that why we like it?

The coffee argument is a straw man. Unless you drink a gallon of coffee it is not going to be detrimental to your thought processes.

[NotAllWhoWandeRN, ASN, RN]

I can see both sides of this argument, on the one hand, it is illegal, on the other, it is just weed. Question, what states do y'all live in that you get drug tested?

Every employer I've worked for has screened prior to hire, randomly, and at the time of any incident in the facility (e.g. contaminated needlestick injury). It's not a state policy, it's a facility one.

[juanitarn]

I think marijuana is a crutch. I hate to think I am being cared for in the hospital by persons who need a crutch. Marijuana is not only illegal in most states it is psychologically additive. A well adjusted person does not need a mind lifting drug. I am against the use of marijuana in all cases especially by persons who are supposed to be mirroring good health practices to help create healthy individuals in our care.

[JuneRNRet49]

I am a Retired RN so I feel free to say this: I never smoked the stuff during my career and my license was too important to lose it for any reason. When everyone was trying it I had stayed away from that scene. Now I am in my mid 60's, I have several autoimmune disorders, and I have chronic pain issues and medical marijuana has helped a lot. I do not smoke it because I don't like to smoke anything. Not a smoker! But I do use tinctures under the tongue, small pieces of chocolate bars, and other ways to ingest it. I first saw marijuana use when my sister was dying of cancer. At first I was horrified that she would depend on that stuff but I saw her use it just exactly the way morphine is used for terminal patients. She had a puffer, sublingual tincture, and brownies. I learned about sites in the body with marijuana receptors. I learned that it is not an opiate and does not cling to opiate receptors. Later toward the end she did have morphine and lorazepam. But for most of her time dealing with terminal cancer she used marijuana for pain and to calm her when she panicked from the thought of dying. Really, I learned not to fear it. It's not a cure all but it helps with pain. I live where I can buy it. It saves me from the dependence on opiates and helps me live as near a normal life as I can live.

[armyicurn]

Honor? Really??? Sorry but I do not think it has anything close to it.