# Why would someone choose gun ownership over their own well-being?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [August 24, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199 "2018-08-24T17:19:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2018, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/81 "2018-08-27T16:32:12Z")
nm
---
### Author:  [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/82 "2018-08-27T16:50:15Z")
A friend of mine is wheelchair-bound and in constant pain from post-polio syndrome. He was on opioids for a time, but they stopped working. Cannabis is the only thing that works for him.
Question: Do cannabis users develop a tolerance as users of other pain meds do?
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### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/83 "2018-08-27T17:03:41Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#):
>
> Given that she is in chronic pain and on drugs I would think puts her at a heightened risk for suicide.
Is this a possible (unspoken) reason to want the gun? Terrible to say, but I can imagine someone in chronic pain wanting to keep open the option of ending it.
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### Author:  [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/84 "2018-08-27T17:36:42Z")
> [@Sailboat](#):
>
> Is this a possible (unspoken) reason to want the gun? Terrible to say, but I can imagine someone in chronic pain wanting to keep open the option of ending it.
In my friend’s case, no. She has concealed carry for 24/7 protection. If there were other motives behind the purchase, there would have been no need for the carry permit – she could leave the gun at home.
Others in this thread have made better, more plausible cases for her wanting to have the gun.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2018, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/85 "2018-08-27T22:49:51Z")
Here’s one way of looking at it:
You can do whatever you want. You just have to accept the consequence.
In a lot of places, you cannot, by law, carry a concealed weapon or smoke dope,\* unless you have special permits.\* If having one precludes having the other, you decide which is going to be worse off to not have.
For all you know, this person smokes up every day, figuring if she gets caught with a little dope, it’s no big deal. But get caught with a concealed weapon, you’re fucked. So, she keeps the CCW.
Easy decision. Carry, legally, all the time. Smoke up, at home, on the down-low. You don’t have to give up one for the other.
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### Author:  [@ohiomstr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ohiomstr2)
#### Post date: [August 27, 2018, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/86 "2018-08-27T23:52:25Z")
> [@Quartz](#):
>
> It may be, but it’s her decision to make - not yours - and you should respect that.
Indeed, the decision belongs to your friend
However.
I carry an affliction similar to the person described in the OP. One of the more unpleasant side effects was\is severe bouts of depression.
It would be of concern to me if a friend who is possibly at risk for this condition insists on owning a firearm. Such behavior may be a sign of the disease creeping up on her, as is commonly the case.
While you cannot make a decision for her, please do her a favor and find out how to look for the signs.
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### Author:  [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/87 "2018-08-28T00:52:20Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> Here’s one way of looking at it:
>
> You can do whatever you want. You just have to accept the consequence.
>
> In a lot of places, you cannot, by law, carry a concealed weapon or smoke dope,\* unless you have special permits.\* If having one precludes having the other, you decide which is going to be worse off to not have.
>
> For all you know, this person smokes up every day, figuring if she gets caught with a little dope, it’s no big deal. But get caught with a concealed weapon, you’re fucked. So, she keeps the CCW.
>
> Easy decision. Carry, legally, all the time. Smoke up, at home, on the down-low. You don’t have to give up one for the other.
+1
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/88 "2018-08-28T01:55:21Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> Here’s one way of looking at it:
>
> You can do whatever you want. You just have to accept the consequence.
>
> In a lot of places, you cannot, by law, carry a concealed weapon or smoke dope,\* unless you have special permits.\* If having one precludes having the other, you decide which is going to be worse off to not have.
>
> For all you know, this person smokes up every day, figuring if she gets caught with a little dope, it’s no big deal. But get caught with a concealed weapon, you’re fucked. So, she keeps the CCW.
>
> Easy decision. Carry, legally, all the time. Smoke up, at home, on the down-low. You don’t have to give up one for the other.
This post makes a lot of sense.
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### Author:  [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/89 "2018-08-28T03:39:03Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#):
>
> Here’s one way of looking at it:
>
> You can do whatever you want. You just have to accept the consequence.
>
> In a lot of places, you cannot, by law, carry a concealed weapon or smoke dope,\* unless you have special permits.\* If having one precludes having the other, you decide which is going to be worse off to not have.
>
> For all you know, this person smokes up every day, figuring if she gets caught with a little dope, it’s no big deal. But get caught with a concealed weapon, you’re fucked. So, she keeps the CCW.
>
> Easy decision. Carry, legally, all the time. Smoke up, at home, on the down-low. You don’t have to give up one for the other.
This is bad advice. Any regular user of marijuana is prohibited from possessing firearms by federal law.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/90 "2018-08-28T03:40:27Z")
> [@Scumpup](#):
>
> +1
> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> This post makes a lot of sense.
Wow! They must be ice skating in Hell tonight!
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### Author:  [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/91 "2018-08-28T03:48:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Would the pain be worth owning that Lego set…especially if that Lego set sat unused for years?
I use Lego everyday - wake and make.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/92 "2018-08-28T04:21:32Z")
> [@Bone](#):
>
> This is bad advice. Any regular user of marijuana is prohibited from possessing firearms by federal law.
\*Any \*user of MJ is prohibited. It’s a bad law, a stupid law.
And i doubt if it is a law that is prosecuted much.
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### Author:  [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/93 "2018-08-28T04:52:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> \*Any \*user of MJ is prohibited.
This is simply not true. There are derivatives of marijuana that are schedule 2 which is legal.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/94 "2018-08-28T05:32:42Z")
> [@Magiver](#):
>
> This is simply not true. There are derivatives of marijuana that are schedule 2 which is legal.
But that’s not actually “marijuana” then, is it?
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### Author:  [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/95 "2018-08-28T05:47:43Z")
> [@Magiver](#):
>
> What the op hasn’t established is any benefit of marijuana over Vicodin. It’s as if we’re supposed to assume marijuana is some kind of a miracle drug for pain. There is no medical evidence that it is.
No, there is medical evidence.
1. Vicodin is ok for acute pain, but it is bad for chronic back pain.
2. According to a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Health and Medicine division, “There is conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective: For the treatment for chronic pain in adults (cannabis)…”
[http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2017/Cannabis-Health-Effects/Cannabis-conclusions.pdf](http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2017/Cannabis-Health-Effects/Cannabis-conclusions.pdf)
## That’s as of Jan 2017. [http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/reports/2017/health-effects-of-cannabis-and-cannabinoids.aspx](http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/reports/2017/health-effects-of-cannabis-and-cannabinoids.aspx)
I am still not a doctor. I understand that marijuana gives folks the munchies. (Are there varieties that don’t stimulate the appetite?) Being overweight doesn’t help backpain.
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### Author:  [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/96 "2018-08-28T13:27:25Z")
> [@DrDeth](#):
>
> \*Any \*user of MJ is prohibited. It’s a bad law, a stupid law.
>
> And i doubt if it is a law that is prosecuted much.
If my friend was smoking up at home (which, incidentally, she’s not, because she doesn’t much like smoking – that’s why we were discussing her getting a medical card, so she could obtain good-quality edibles), how would the state or feds know she was a user? Do they require concealed carry applicants and licensees to submit to regular, random drug testing?
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/97 "2018-08-28T14:20:37Z")
> [@Algher](#):
>
> I have a family member who has made the same decision. They do not want to have to give up their firearm rights for a new source of pain relief. They will stick to federally approved prescriptions, rather than end up on a federal watch list.
>
> And they see their self-protection as important to their life as well, and they don’t have a substitute for that like they do for marijuana.
The presence of the substitute is the important thing here; if the choice was as stark as “ANY pain relief” vs. “having a gun”, then I suspect most people might be toking it up in that situation.
But when there are substitutes available which are also not ones she’s probably been conditioned her entire life to think of as illicit substances, then the equation may favor the possession of guns for defense over said illicit substances.
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### Author:  [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/98 "2018-08-28T15:11:05Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> She could have been deader! Thank goodness she wasn’t armed!
Do you know what ‘statistically’ means?
In this case, it means that a person is more likely to die by making one choice vs. the other. Shockingly, it doesn’t mean that making the statistically safer choice means one becomes immortal.
I think it’s safe to say that a person in severe chronic pain choosing Opiods and Guns is statistically more likely to die in the near term than the person choosing Marijuana and No Guns. Both from the opiods and the guns, overdoses and suicides take tens of thousands of lives each every year.
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### Author:  [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/99 "2018-08-28T16:28:22Z")
> [@Akaj](#):
>
> If my friend was smoking up at home (which, incidentally, she’s not, because she doesn’t much like smoking – that’s why we were discussing her getting a medical card, so she could obtain good-quality edibles), how would the state or feds know she was a user? Do they require concealed carry applicants and licensees to submit to regular, random drug testing?
They wouldn’t know, obviously. But given the state of current law, it would still be commission of a felony, and simultaneously unlikely to be prosecuted much less convicted.
But given the act itself would be illegal, I would not recommend it.
---
### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 28, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-someone-choose-gun-ownership-over-their-own-well-being/820199/100 "2018-08-28T17:02:02Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#):
>
> No, there is medical evidence.
>
> 1. Vicodin is ok for acute pain, but it is bad for chronic back pain.
>
> 2. According to a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Health and Medicine division, “There is conclusive or substantial evidence that cannabis or cannabinoids are effective: For the treatment for chronic pain in adults (cannabis)…”
> [http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2017/Cannabis-Health-Effects/Cannabis-conclusions.pdf](http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2017/Cannabis-Health-Effects/Cannabis-conclusions.pdf)
>
> ## That’s as of Jan 2017. [The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research | The National Academies Press](http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/reports/2017/health-effects-of-cannabis-and-cannabinoids.aspx)
Something is wrong with those links, if i click on the first it shows up, then disappears. The 2nd doesnt come up. I checked Google scholar, and generally cannabis returns mild pain relief. But as I pointed out earlier, by now her opioids are likely only feeding her addiction.
[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304395902004001](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304395902004001)
> **[Are cannabinoids an effective and safe treatment option in the management of...](https://www.bmj.com/content/323/7303/13.full)**
>
> Objective: To establish whether cannabis is an effective and safe treatment option in the management of pain.
>
> Design: Systematic review of randomised controlled trials.
>
> Data sources: Electronic databases Medline, Embase, Oxford Pain Database, and...
C_onclusion: Cannabinoids are no more effective than codeine in controlling pain and have depressant effects on the central nervous system that limit their use. Their widespread introduction into clinical practice for pain management is therefore undesirable. In acute postoperative pain they should not be used. Before cannabinoids can be considered for treating spasticity and neuropathic pain, further valid randomised controlled studies are needed._
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