Considering medical marijuana for anxiety

For probably two years now I've been considering trying medical marijuana for anxiety. My GP has already said that he would give it to me if I wanted it, but I'm hesitant to take him up on the offer.

My concern is that I've known stoners and I don't want to wind up like them. One of the few things I have going for me is my mind, so the thought of having my mental capacity diminished causes me a lot of distress.

Basically why I've been considering it is when I try to create artwork I wind up having really bad anxiety, flashbacks, and experience avoidance due to some disastrous art therapy in my past. I also experience a lot of anxiety around other people due to social phobias.

I wouldn't want to use it all the time, but when I sit down to do some artwork or when I have an unavoidable social function I would like something to help me handle the anxiety that always comes with those activities.

I've never in my life tried marijuana, so I was hoping there were some members who have used it that could say whether they think it would be beneficial or not in my case. I'm not schizophrenic (I know there are some studies linking the two), nor is anyone else in my family, and I don't consider myself particularly paranoid. I'm a germaphobe, and I don't like close physical proximity, but I'm not paranoid as in thinking I'm being watched by aliens or anything like that.