I’m one of the fortunate ones for whom conventional medications made a positive difference for my OCD, but I’ve also found cannabis to be useful on occasion. OCD is characterized by never-ending obsessive thoughts—basically, one gets caught in a loop of irrational negativity. And I’ve found that the ability of cannabis to alter perspective has helped me put a stop to some obsessions. Now, cannabis isn’t perfect. On occasion, it has made obsessions worse, but I would say it does more good than bad for me.

I second the previous responder that said we definitely need more research into this area. I’d be wary of falling into the assumption that cannabis is all-powerful and all-curing just because it’s “natural.” Lots of natural things are nothing but pseudoscience. I think cannabis has a similar potential to other natural remedies, in that it can offer modest to moderate benefits to a lot of people, but not all people all the time.

There needs to be less red tape preventing science from learning more about this mysterious yet powerful plant.