How To Open Up to Your Parents or Relatives About Marijuana
- 1. Take it slow!
- 1. a. Identifying your target's position first
- 2. Keep it light, don't push and slowly break the taboo
- 2. a. Breaking the taboo
- 3. Call science for some back-up! bring on the facts
- 4. Be honest and state your intentions clearly
- 5. Don't give up!
- 6. The bottom line
When it comes to marijuana, as the stoners we are, we can clearly see that the pros outweigh the cons that are involved in its consumption. In fact, in our eyes, the pros are so many that we need some extra pair of hands to be able to count them.
However, and sadly, not everyone agrees 100% on this specific aspect. We may often find ourselves discussing and trying to back up the benefits that this magic plant provides with those who have always refused to even get a taste of it, a.k.a. people who like arguing with no real facts, breather, don't get mad.
And it's okay when these are just regular people you might have bumped into at some gathering, but what happens when you're a deep stoner and you know your family or close friends are completely against the use of marijuana? The situation can get complicated.
So, if you need to find a way to open up to your parents, relatives, or close friends about your use of marijuana, you've come to the right place. Here are a couple of tips to approach the talk.
1. Take It Slow!
The first thing you'll need to tell yourself when approaching your family, friends, or relatives so you can open up about your cannabis use is 'take it slow'. It's crucial that you're aware that you're going to shock them with thoughts that really oppose their stance on the subject, so taking it slow is essential.
If your family or friend has absolutely no idea that you consume weed on a frequent basis, it can strike them as a big surprise for them, so do expect to encounter some wild reactions, which, if they don't happen, then that's better anyway. It all really depends on who you're facing and how stiff their thoughts on marijuana are.
Identifying Your Target's Position First
As a first step towards talking to your family or relatives about marijuana is taking a minute to untangle this person's point of view on the subject. Asking yourself some of the following questions will help you get a better view of what you're going to have to face.
- In general, is this person rather close or open-minded?
- Has this person ever tried marijuana?
- Is this person stubborn?
- Do you think this person would listen to arguments and try to understand a different point of view?
- How old is this person? How were their childhood and their relationship with their parents?
- Is this person curious?
These types of questions and many more will give you a better overall view of this person you're going to be dealing with, and by counting with this better view you'll be able to choose the right approach towards them. If you know they can be stubborn then you should recharge yourself with patience, or if they are factual people, then be prepared to show some numbers, and so on.
2. Keep It Light, Don't Push And Slowly Break The Taboo
It is also ideal that you try to keep an easy and light environment for having the talk about marijuana. Be prepared for any sort of negative reactions, and even more, try to think of ways to answer these reactions to bring the atmosphere back to a friendly place when things get out of hand.
The problem is, people who have no idea about what cannabis really is about tend to react over-dramatically, and sometimes even ridiculously when they find out other people do consume it, even more if this someone is strongly related to them. So, keeping this in mind, don't let what they might say get to your head and make you react, remember we're trying to make peace, not war.
When you see that this person you're trying to talk to is getting aggravated through the conversation, definitely back off and give them some space. As long as you've achieved to let out a couple of arguments on why cannabis is not what they think of it, put the talk on hold, and give them some time to rethink what they've just heard while they're on their own.
Sometimes if you push too much you push things away. Keep things light and allow them to take their own time.
Most likely something you've said has managed to stay inside their heads, which is just perfect, that's how it usually starts. One first conversation that may be too striking, the second one again but slightly less upsetting, followed by several more casual talks until points of view slowly start to change.
Breaking the Taboo
The key part from what we just said is "several talks" and this is why. When you first approach this person to open up about marijuana, you can't expect them to get rid of a lifetime of prejudice in just one talk, which if it happens, then that's great! But we don't live in a fairytale world and this usually isn't the case.
So, by talking about cannabis on a regular basis, but always casually, maybe mentioning something you've seen in the news about it, or commenting on this famous person or athlete who's a stoner, you slowly soften this person's stiff thoughts, without them even noticing. Before you know it they may even be laughing at the same stoner jokes you laugh at in movies or series.
The more you talk about it the faster you'll deconstruct the taboo aspect that this person had built about marijuana. But again, do it casually and without pushing or making it look forced, and without it being too often or too much that you raise concerns.
3. Call Science For Some Back-Up! Bring On The Facts
If the person you're dealing with is specially stubborn, it's time to pull out the tricks from under your sleeve and call science for some back up. We didn't want to slam on this person's face how blindly stubborn they were being, but if they give us no other choice, then what else is there to do?
Since there are infinite amounts of scientific studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of marijuana in so many different aspects, take the time to do some research so that you're ready to defend yourself like a lawyer. Searching for subjects that might be of interest to this person can be a great tactic.
For instance, does this person struggle with sleep? That's an open door right there for you. Are they dealing with chronic physical pain? We've got the answer for that too. Skin disorders? Also for that one. Think well and play your cards right.
Apart from science's approval of weed, you can also use the legal aspects concerning weed to your advantage. Is or isn't cannabis gaining more respect as it becomes a legal substance in more and more countries around the world? And what about the numbers? Has anyone ever died from marijuana consumption? Try to argue with all these, huh.
4. Be Honest And State Your Intentions Clearly
Another key aspect of opening up about your relationship with marijuana is being honest. When you approach someone who hasn't ever even come across the thought of trying weed, sometimes all you need is to get them to see not the bigger but your picture.
What we're trying to say is, explain to this person why you enjoy consuming cannabis, in which ways weed takes part of your life, what you think about it, and what you expect from this conversation to come. Essentially, we assume you want to have your freedom to do whatever you please without having to worry about others' misjudgments. So why don't you try to explain this?
It's also even a matter of respect. State clearly that you're not looking for approval to allow you to continue smoking or not, since no matter what, you will only stop doing it whenever you feel the impulse to do so for yourself, not for someone else. But, since you care for this person and respect them, being open about weed to them is just a way to get closer and stop hiding a big part of your life.
Being honest is just the best advice we can give for any matter in this life, as long as you know that you are being true and have no bad intentions, then it's all up to the rest to take it or leave it.
5. Don't Give Up!
Lastly, if you want to open up about marijuana to your parents or relatives, it's important that you don't get let down after a couple of failed attempts. These failures are just tests to see whether you really want to go for it or not.
We're not saying don't stop until you get a yes for an answer, or you might actually annoy the other person. But do keep your hopes up, people can change over time, so an initial "no" doesn't mean all is doomed. Who knows, perhaps this person even starts to use weed and its derived products too.
From my own personal experience, two years after my parents walked into my room screaming when they heard I smoked weed, I was then happily growing my own plants in my family's garden. Even I was surprised at how I finally achieved to get them to change their minds.
How did this happen? Well, combining all of the strategies above, and never giving up!
6. The Bottom Line
Opening up to your parents or relatives about marijuana can be frightening at first, we know. But if there's something you should always keep in mind is that sometimes we must go through rough patches to thrive later. If not, life would be too easy and we would never learn anything.
Comfort is for the lazy mind, so go out of your way to find the tools that'll help you achieve anything you set your mind to. After all, you already have the no as an answer so what is there to lose, really?
Good luck pitching your cannabis habits to your close relatives! Don't forget to let us know if you made it!
