The stigma around marijuana is fading fast, and developed nations like Canada are beginning to adopt adult-use regulations that allow for recreational use. However, if you have never tried cannabis before, you might be skeptical that legalization is the right strategy. After all, cannabis has been illegal for almost a full century, and there are plenty of rumors about the dangers of weed that might dissuade you from sampling the substance on your own.

Unfortunately, many of those rumors are not well-founded in fact. Here are a few good reasons to try cannabis for the first time, whether you are interested in medical or recreational use.

You Suffer From a Health Condition Treatable With Cannabis

Decades’ worth of research has demonstrated that cannabis isn’t just a drug for recreation. Medical experts the world over have found abundant evidence that compounds within cannabis can be useful in helping manage a number of health conditions, from epilepsy to cancer to chronic pain and more. In fact, the evidence that cannabis is medically beneficial is so compelling that almost all states offer medical cannabis to qualifying patients. For example, dispensaries in Maryland function almost like pharmacies, providing recommended products to patients in need. Enduring a health condition when cannabis exists as a viable treatment is essentially needless suffering; you should talk to your doctor about taking advantage of cannabis if your state offers a medical marijuana program.

You Are Curious About the Effects of Cannabis

Contrary to common cannabis propaganda spread in the early 20th century, cannabis is not dangerous to healthy adults. Thus, indulging a natural curiosity about the effects of the drug won’t hurt. Still, you should talk to budtenders at your chosen dispensary about dosage, informing them that you are a first-timer with likely no tolerance to THC. It might also be useful to have a more experienced cannabis user with you when you experiment, so you can receive on-the-spot guidance to improve your chances of a good time.

You Are Interested in Spiritual Applications of Cannabis

Cannabis has been associated with spiritual practices for millennia. In fact, the oldest anthropological evidence we have of cannabis is as part of a funeral rite in Ancient China. In India, Africa, the Caribbean and many other places, cannabis has been revered as a sacred herb integral for unlocking spiritual insight. Even today, religions like Hinduism and Rastafari rely on cannabis consumption for certain celebrations. If you have a particular spiritual rite in mind, you should consider participating in cannabis consumption led by a qualified spiritual leader. Otherwise, you should feel open to explore the open-ended spirituality that cannabis can provide.

You Need Help Relaxing or Relieving Stress

Relaxation does not come easy in today’s fast-paced culture of productivity, and many people struggle to turn off work or worry, resulting in chronic mental and physical health conditions. One of cannabis’s primary effects is relaxing the mind and body, which can be of invaluable use if you find it difficult to relieve stress. You don’t have to consume cannabis whenever you feel stressed to experience a benefit; though microdosing can help with chronic stress conditions, you might opt to partake while you are on vacation or enjoying a family holiday to allow you to sink fully into the feeling of freedom.

You Want a Boost to Your Creativity

Research shows that intoxicants, like cannabis, do not actually increase a user’s ability to be creative. In fact, some psychoactive substances can interfere with the ability to create original ideas. Yet, if you are experiencing a creative block, you might still experiment with cannabis for the simple reason that it lowers your inhibitions. Most often, a lack of creativity is not the result of no originality but rather caused by too much self-doubt. A little weed in your system might give you the push to explore ideas you already have without destructive self-judgement.

You Feel Uncomfortable in Social Situations

Social anxiety comes in varying degrees. While some severe social anxiety conditions warrant clinical intervention, mild discomfort in social situations might be managed best through self-medication with small doses of cannabis. As occurs with creativity, cannabis can dampen thoughts of doubt or self-disdain that can make social interactions unproductive or unenjoyable. However, higher doses of THC can result in paranoia or insecurity, so you do need to be careful when consuming cannabis for this purpose.

It is never too late to try weed for the first time. As long as the substance is legal in your area — and as long as you get the go-ahead from your doctor — you can use any of the above reasons as a good excuse to partake.