I know I am coming into this conversation a little late, but I wanted to comment on your second question, if it is too late to be useful for you it may be useful for someone else. Since your treatments are done I know that I have found using medical cannibis to be helpful when I lived where it was legal. If in treatments (and even out) I would definitely speak with your doctor before using it. Without the government allowing any medical testing of it, there is not a ton of data on the safety of it and the available data is sometimes questionable (look at who is funding the research to make your own opinion). One study shows CBD (the non-THC component in cannibis) has been shown to stop tumor growth. CBD is also a great pain reliever without intoxicating you. You can get strains that have high CBD levels or a CBD extract/oil.

I think the biggest issue with medical cannibis is that there isn't a lot of regulation as to how it is grown. A lot of grower's tend to use harmful chemicals, which pretty much goes against it being a healthy alternative. Even some organic products are worse than the inorganic ones so just buying organically grown varieties isn't always the best option. I lived where I was able to grow and so I preferred to grow my own. This let me be fully organic and research each product I used to make sure it didn't have any heavy metals in it and to see how it was derived. Also I knew of any problems with my plants (at dispensaries you may end up with a plant that had mold on it, which is not healthy to injest or smoke - they can treat it and make it unnoticeable but traces are still there). So in my opinion in general medical cannibis is a good option and I had great results with no known side effects. However, poor regulations (just like with our other groceries and medicines) and the lack of inspections of growing operations means that you aren't always sure of what you are getting unless you can do it yourself, so there is always the chance of unknown side effects. We buy medicines and foods made in known to be clean environments, but if the cannibis is grown by individual grower's who sell to the dispensary, then we don't know what the conditions were like or what products they used. I have seen some pretty bad operations that just weren't very clean. I have to say I am in support of medical cannibis, but the system needs an overhaul to protect the consumers.

I prefer non-smoking methods such as edibles, ointments, tinctures, and oils. If you are having trouble sleeping then an indica would be helpful. If you are having trouble with appetite then sativa's help. You can alternate using these so that you are taking them when you need to sleep or eat - and mixing them together can also have a middle of the road effect. The tenders at the dispensary are very helpful and can help you pick out the strains/products that match your needs, this can be best as sometimes your preferred strains aren't available and new ones are. If you aren't smoking then figuring out the dosage can be trickier, just be wary of the level of each "dose" as what the dispensary claims is one dose may be too strong for you so start off small. I was simply wanting to medicate and not be completely out of it so I found making my own edibles to be the best option. That way I had full control over the dosage amount and you can make them into any type of food that requires butter or oil so you aren't just limited to junk food. Another option is to make non-alcohol tinctures.

As for your first question, even though I am HPV positive I prefer to not take a chance with drinking anymore. I've sipped my husbands wine and liquor and they don't even taste good to me anymore. I have a career where most of us are good drinkers and so it can be a pain at conferences and all, but I have a great excuse and still have a great time hanging out with everyone. I've also gotten creative at how to order non-alcoholic drinks so I can at least look like I am joining in.

These are just my opinions and I felt compelled to share since I gather that most people on the forum don't have as much firsthand experience with your second question. Hope this helps and best to you!