https://soundcloud.com/jch254/cannabis-vs-opioids

This short recording captures a real conversation I had with my GP in

Australia in August - one that left me questioning how deeply outdated parts of our medical system still are... and why the opioid epidemic continues to take unneeded lives.

After months of agonising withdrawal from long-term oxycodone and codeine, I was advised to stop using cannabis and go back on opioids. As "Cannabis messes up the mind". I can tell you from lived experience that the brain is much more messed up from addiction/dependence to opioids than cannabis.

That advice directly contradicts both my experience and the growing body of scientific research around cannabinoids, pain modulation and neuroinflammation.

I’m sharing this not out of anger, but transparency. Too many people with chronic pain end up caught between stigma and bureaucracy - told to choose between being compliant or being well.

The audio has been anonymised and voice-morphed for privacy, but the sentiment is real. This isn’t anti-doctor; it’s pro-truth. It’s about asking why evidence that challenges the status quo still gets buried.

Sometimes the system needs a remix.

EDIT: Added interview excerpt with Guy Haddleton - Every New Zealander Should Have The Right to a Pain Free Existence - https://soundcloud.com/jch254/every-new-zealander-should-have-the-right-to-a-pain-free-existence