# weed and mental effects



## nork123 (Oct 22, 2009)

does anyone know much about mental effects of weed that last more than the effects of the drug?

Im wondering because I was having a conversation about it earlier and quite a few people in my family have had bad experiences with it including my dad, a couple of my uncles and my auntie, particularly my auntie who is very anxious and paranoid because of it even after stopping smoking when she was 17 and one of my uncles, who is a very nice person but just seems a little "off" to put it nicely lol, and my dad said it has effected his mind as well

Im wondering if it might be the same for me to because I very much relate to the descriptions of their bad experiences, and for me internally it does feel like life before weed and life after weed, not sure how it looks externally, although one of my long term friends did ask me if I have gone insane or have any mental problems once so I guess there have been noticable changes in my mental state and personality


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## Pok (Nov 17, 2010)

No personality change here


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## js367124 (Dec 30, 2010)

being a pothead for 2 years caused alot of my issues with anxiety and confidence. I would say stay away from all drugs.


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## HeWhoCouldNot (Nov 18, 2010)

I've had no long lasting effects from weed, but it does tend to trigger other problems (such as SA).


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## Recipe For Disaster (Jun 8, 2010)

smoking weed very heavily for years definitely affected my mind. i became extremely paranoid and obsessed with becoming enlightened. it took a very long time after i stopped smoking weed for these effects to go away. i think that if you only smoked it occassionally you would be fine, it could even be beneficial perhaps. however, our minds just weren't designed to be stoned 24/7 and there are lots of bad consequences that can come with heavy use. i believe a large part of the marijuana using community is in denial about the dark side of cannabis.


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

Of course it will if you smoke 24/7.

Normal usage e.g. a couple of times a week at the most is harmless and I've had absolutely no long-term effects.


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## sparky10 (Dec 30, 2008)

I smoked it quite a lot in from the age of 19 to about 22 because i loved the euphoria and enlightened feeling it gave me. After a while i started getting negative affects like paranoia worsened social anxiety.
It has not had any effect long term as i had social anxiety before and after and it has not caused any other mental problems.
I think if you think it has caused you to have long term problems or put doubt in your mind that mentality can be more detrimental to mental health imo.


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## GummieBear (Nov 13, 2010)

*I like weed I don't ever get paranoid on it but I know people who do. I think you may have to stop smoking or it will worsen...I don't smoke weed that often,*


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

Recipe For Disaster said:


> smoking weed very heavily for years definitely affected my mind. i became extremely paranoid and obsessed with becoming enlightened. it took a very long time after i stopped smoking weed for these effects to go away. i think that if you only smoked it occassionally you would be fine, it could even be beneficial perhaps. however, our minds just weren't designed to be stoned 24/7 and there are lots of bad consequences that can come with heavy use. i believe a large part of the marijuana using community is in denial about the dark side of cannabis.


If you got to that point, yes. Most people smoke relatively little cannabis. Some people fall for the mystique, being enlightened and want to constantly feel enlightened 24/7. That's when you start smoking 24/7. Before you know it, anything less than that feels weird. Being full blown sober, you feel all the anxiety and full-blown depression you been suppressing bubble up. I'm sure it'd take along time to recover from. People make two choices, to keep smoking or to quit and deal with their issues. I have to admire that you made a noble choice.


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## Himi Jendrix (Mar 24, 2010)

If you smoke everyday than it does have lasting effects beyond the intoxication. 

For me it makes me feel more relaxed even once the high has come down. 

I used to get noid on weed but now it just completely chillaxes me. Might have something to do with me being on prozac, buspar, and xanax.


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## rockyraccoon (Dec 13, 2010)

I used to smoke weed when I was younger. When I first started with weed it made me very happy, and outgoing, and relaxed. But over time, things changed. I started to get real nervous on it, and it would massively make my SA much worse. So I had to stop smoking it all together. I haven't touched weed in years, and I will never go back to it.


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## Emanresu (Jun 2, 2010)

Weed in no way cause any long term mental health issues.
Weed in no way causes any long term damage to your brain.

Those are two scientifically proven facts.

When compared against 99.9% of medications weed will have the least amount of negative side-effects by FAR.

However, weed is a mind altering drug and as such if you already have a mental health issue or have a pre-disposition to one (paranoia, schizophrenia, bi-polar, etcc) there is the possibility that using marijuana will worsen the severity of the already present problems. Saying "I have SA and smoked weed and now I'm always paranoid" is like saying "I had a broken leg and jumped off a couch and it made my leg hurt sooo much! Jumping off couches will make your legs hurt horribly!"

90% of the negative things you hear about marijuana are completely made up propaganda left over from years and years ago. Two of the only negative things I would agree with are (#1 while intoxicated marijuana will greatly affect your short-term memory, this will go away soon after returning to sobriety) (#2 inhaling anything resulted from burning un-regulated plant-matter can be hazardous to your lungs. Marijuana is still far less worse to smoke than cigarettes and if you're worried about your lungs you can use Vaporizers or simply ingest the THC)

I have used marijuana 4-8 times a day for the last 2 years. In that time I have been able to completely come off my mix of Prozac, Ativan(prn), Clonazepam(daily), and Seroquel(spelling?). While by no means a complete cure it does alleviate about 70% of my symptoms, the other 30% I have learned to deal with through social and cognitive therapy. 

In short if that was TLDR;

Do not simple go off what people tell you, like any medication the results greatly vary from person to person. Marijuana is completely safe and there has not been one case of marijuana reported death EVER. Try if for yourself and see how YOU feel, but remember if you're scared and paranoid to death when you try it chances are you're going to have a bad experience.


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## Pok (Nov 17, 2010)

Emanrusu weed is almost the worse thing you can when you have high anxiety.
weed makes you more think and with my gad it made it more bad thinking and sa also.
weed is bad for everyone who has emotional problems like anxiety or depression, except maybe for people with anger issues/adhd.


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## Emanresu (Jun 2, 2010)

Pok said:


> Emanrusu weed is almost the worse thing you can when you have high anxiety.
> weed makes you more think and with my gad it made it more bad thinking and sa also.
> weed is bad for everyone who has emotional problems like anxiety or depression, except maybe for people with anger issues/adhd.


You clearly have no idea whatsoever what you're talking about. (ie: I suffer from everything you listed and I also happen to fit into the "everyone" category.)

O/P this is the kind of thing I am talking about. If you're actually curious about marijuana I urge you to do some research and look into it, don't take the word of some people that just want to say "it's bad for everyone" or "i tried it, it was horrible, it doesn't work for anyone"

As far as negative effects, here's the side effects of ONLY Ativan. Compare that to marijuana now.... unbelievable!


abnormal thinking (disorientation, delusions, or loss of sense of reality)
anxiety
behavioural changes (e.g., aggressiveness, angry outburst)
blurred vision or other changes in vision
changes in appetite
changes in sexual desire or ability
constipation
diarrhea
dry mouth
false sense of well-being
fast, irregular heartbeat


headache
increased watering of mouth
memory problems
muscle spasm
muscle weakness
nausea or vomiting
problems with urination
rash
trembling
unusual bleeding or bruising
unusual excitement, nervousness, or irritability
unusual tiredness or weakness
yellow eyes or skin
 *Stop taking the medication and seek immediate medical attention if any of the following occur:*


breathing difficulties
chest pain
convulsions (seizures)
hallucinations
skin rash or itching
swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

Emanresu said:


> You clearly have no idea whatsoever what you're talking about.


Wait till 4-8 a day becomes 4-8 an hour and you get to the point where you have to wake up and be like oh man I don't want to go outside without getting lit and you start refusing to do things because the activity takes too long between the periods you want to smoke a bowl. Then you'll realize what everyone here is talking about.


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## VagueResemblance (Apr 17, 2010)

Different effects from different strains for different people. Without self-control, smoking heavily the strains that will make one paranoid, or just smoking too much can cause some damage. Otherwise it can be extremely beneficial, and honestly it's rather ignorant to toss out something like WEED IS BAD without any research or experience in the matter.

It's helpful against my anxiety, it ended long-term chronic depression for me, killed my panic attacks, various CBT-ish techniques I puzzled out while stoned still apply while I'm sober.

This couldn't have happened if the fearmongering in this thread were true. Quit talking in absolutes.


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## Emanresu (Jun 2, 2010)

Brightpaperwarewolf said:


> Wait till 4-8 a day becomes 4-8 an hour and you get to the point where you have to wake up and be like oh man I don't want to go outside without getting lit and you start refusing to do things because the activity takes too long between the periods you want to smoke a bowl. Then you'll realize what everyone here is talking about.


I realize that you're kind of talking about things you have no idea about. And you make a lot of assumptions, I'm not sure what you base them on though. Pretty sure I already have the initial problem of not wanting to go out and do things kind of comes with the SA yeah? If it wasn't for marijuana I'd do LESS things than I do now. You'd have realized this fact already if you had been paying attention to what had already been said and didn't just try to relay the propaganda that's already been spoon fed to you. It's always good to take in information but you always need to use your own common judgment and do your own research into things before making an affirmed decision. Not just be another monkey gulping down anything you're spoon-fed.

You know what happens when you assume? You make an *** out of u and me.


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## Saurus (Oct 17, 2010)

Ive never been a heavy smoker, but I started about three years ago and do it maybe every week or two weeks or so. For me its never really been a chillout thing like it is for a lot of people, but mostly for exploration/curiosity purposes. Usually it puts me in a very elevated energy states which has often led to either really bad anxiety or really bizarre but funny times (oftentimes it has made me crazy eccentric and others find it to be extremely funny --> introspecting on it I think the only reason I continued to smoke was that I was seeking out that experience where others, including myself were so enthralled by this other side of my personality--> so it was mainly just for this fleeting sense of validation in the end). The main dangers I have seen with it were the lasting feelings of paranoia and social anxiety I experienced. There were a lot of times where I was having a good time with friends and then after smoking I would feel a terrible wall of paranoia and alienation which would last for days afterward. I also have a problem which I think began from one of these smoking sessions---its actually outlined in one of the other Secondary Disorder forums-- but basically I started feeling this shaky/tremor tension in my neck which would make my head feel like jerking and this was in tandem with my social anxiety and is something that I still deal with to some extent to this day. Two years ago I also had a short experience (4 days) with depersonalization after being really high. It scared the **** out of me because it was like I was walking in a fog and I felt a weak, robotic connection to my body. The thing that stood out to me the most was that I would touch stuff to my tongue and all I felt was this most disconnected, remote feeling. Now looking at it I can definitely say that it was not enjoyment which kept me smoking weed, but a genuine psychological addiction to whatever fleeting feelings of validation weed had offered. To conclude, I think that weed is definitely an interesting drug, but I don't think it offers any sort of true spiritual potential by itself. It has offered me insight into some things, but I think people should be wary of the deluding and detaching thought labyrinth that can come about when one puts too much significance on being high. Definitely balance out your high thinking with sober introspection too- those thoughts are just quieter and tougher to excavate sometimes, but are often the most valuable. 

-P.S. If you're looking for good information/stories on drugs check out Erowid.org


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## Saurus (Oct 17, 2010)

Ive never been a heavy smoker, but I started about three years ago and do it maybe every week or two weeks or so. For me its never really been a chillout thing like it is for a lot of people, but mostly for exploration/curiosity purposes. Usually it puts me in a very elevated energy states which has often led to either really bad anxiety or really bizarre but funny times (oftentimes it has made me crazy eccentric and others find it to be extremely funny --> introspecting on it I think the only reason I continued to smoke was that I was seeking out that experience where others, including myself were so enthralled by this other side of my personality--> so it was mainly just for this fleeting sense of validation in the end). The main dangers I have seen with it were the lasting feelings of paranoia and social anxiety I experienced. There were a lot of times where I was having a good time with friends and then after smoking I would feel a terrible wall of paranoia and alienation which would last for days afterward. I also have a problem which I think began from one of these smoking sessions---its actually outlined in one of the other Secondary Disorder forums-- but basically I started feeling this shaky/tremor tension in my neck which would make my head feel like jerking and this was in tandem with my social anxiety and is something that I still deal with to some extent to this day. Two years ago I also had a short experience (4 days) with depersonalization after being really high. It scared the **** out of me because it was like I was walking in a fog and I felt a weak, robotic connection to my body. The thing that stood out to me the most was that I would touch stuff to my tongue and all I felt was this most disconnected, remote feeling. Now looking at it I can definitely say that it was not enjoyment which kept me smoking weed, but a genuine psychological addiction to whatever fleeting feelings of validation weed had offered. To conclude, I think that weed is definitely an interesting drug, but I don't think it offers any sort of true spiritual potential by itself. It has offered me insight into some things, but I think people should be wary of the deluding and detaching thought labyrinth that can come about when one puts too much significance on being high. Definitely balance out your high thinking with sober introspection too- those thoughts are just quieter and tougher to excavate sometimes, but are often the most valuable. 

-P.S. If you're looking for good information/stories on drugs check out Erowid.org


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## nork123 (Oct 22, 2009)

Emanresu said:


> I realize that you're kind of talking about things you have no idea about. And you make a lot of assumptions, I'm not sure what you base them on though. Pretty sure I already have the initial problem of not wanting to go out and do things kind of comes with the SA yeah? If it wasn't for marijuana I'd do LESS things than I do now. You'd have realized this fact already if you had been paying attention to what had already been said and didn't just try to relay the propaganda that's already been spoon fed to you. It's always good to take in information but you always need to use your own common judgment and do your own research into things before making an affirmed decision. Not just be another monkey gulping down anything you're spoon-fed.
> 
> You know what happens when you assume? You make an *** out of u and me.


What about if you smoke it from a young age? for instance my auntie I has talking about smoked heavily from the ages of 13-17 and was using strong hash and taking really heavy smokes out of a shisha pipe etc. and said she was fine on it for years but it eventually got to her in a bad way and says it has effected her ever since in terms of anxiety and panic attacks, and she also developed asthma that she never had before

At that age I guess your brain is still developing so getting it constanly stoned to the levels she was wouldn't do you any favours I would have thought


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## DaedalEVE (Dec 2, 2010)

No study ever conducted has been able to prove that marijuana has any sort of lasting mental effects. 
Physical is another story. You are inhaling particulate matter, some of which gets caught in your lungs and stays there. 
Aside from that, you should be fine. 

I'm not a doctor though, and I've never used the stuff so I'm just saying all this based on the scientific information I have, not any first hand experience.


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## mojow (Oct 24, 2010)

If you have SA dont do weed more than once a week and thats pushing it.

It makes my mind think overboard, I think more deeper into things, self loathing, hating, worrying... you get the drift!

Not to mention the hangover the next day is horrific, it sends my blushing into overdrive, and I'm a paranoid freeeeek!

Saying all that, I love a good J once in a while!


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## OtherGlove (Dec 28, 2010)

Brightpaperwarewolf said:


> Wait till 4-8 a day becomes 4-8 an hour and you get to the point where you have to wake up and be like oh man I don't want to go outside without getting lit and you start refusing to do things because the activity takes too long between the periods you want to smoke a bowl. Then you'll realize what everyone here is talking about.


Ive been smoking for more than half my life. 14 years now. In high school I smoked before, during and after school. Without it, I'm 100% certain that I would have dropped out. For me it isn't about being high anymore. For one thing, I cant even get extremely high anymore. Its more about being comfortable. Just like someone may not want to leave the house without taking antidepressants or anxiety medication. This IS my medication. It was the antidepressants that made me less active for the time I was on them.

To me its benefits are proven, and this is like debating evolution or global warming. Anyone that still believes its bad is always going to.

Also, after 14 years, this is the first I'm hearing of a hangover??? And you breath in more particulate matter by living in a major city than you would from smoking weed.


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## VagueResemblance (Apr 17, 2010)

mojow said:


> If you have SA dont do weed more than once a week and thats pushing it.
> 
> It makes my mind think overboard, I think more deeper into things, self loathing, hating, worrying... you get the drift!
> 
> ...


Oh please tell us more of this good J that makes you worry and hate yourself and gives you a hangover but you love smoking it anyway.

Hangover?
'Do weed?'

What?


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## Emanresu (Jun 2, 2010)

VagueResemblance said:


> Oh please tell us more of this good J that makes you worry and hate yourself and gives you a hangover but you love smoking it anyway.
> 
> Hangover?
> 'Do weed?'
> ...


Pretty sure someone put something in his stash.


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## OtherGlove (Dec 28, 2010)

Emanresu said:


> Pretty sure someone put something in his stash.


Yeah, or there's opium in the water supply


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

mojow said:


> If you have SA dont do weed more than once a week and thats pushing it.
> 
> It makes my mind think overboard, I think more deeper into things, self loathing, hating, worrying... you get the drift!
> 
> ...


Weed doesn't give you a hangover. If you smoke right before going to bed, if anything, you feel _refreshed_ when you wake up.


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## 49erJT (Oct 18, 2010)

0


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## Pok (Nov 17, 2010)

No I dea ??? emanrusu I speak from personal experience and also other people , I don;t know what you smoke , but when I smoked it my anxiety was terrrible high and some of people I knew it was also . Dutch weed . american weed is probaly 5 % THC or so of course you don't feel the anxiety then , but we have 25 % THC here.
I smoked it every day for 2 years if you tell weed reduces your anxiety then you either don't have sa or you just bought crap weed.

Just some american talk about weed , how great it is blabla they make weed like s uper power drugs that is healthy. weed is bad ok , in the netherlands they even want to ban the weed, its good for pain but smoking with with high anxiety is a bad advice


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## Emanresu (Jun 2, 2010)

Pok said:


> No I dea ??? emanrusu I speak from personal experience and also other people , I don;t know what you smoke , but when I smoked it my anxiety was terrrible high and some of people I knew it was also . Dutch weed . american weed is probaly 5 % THC or so of course you don't feel the anxiety then , but we have 25 % THC here.
> I smoked it every day for 2 years if you tell weed reduces your anxiety then you either don't have sa or you just bought crap weed.
> 
> Just some american talk about weed , how great it is blabla they make weed like s uper power drugs that is healthy. weed is bad ok , in the netherlands they even want to ban the weed, its good for pain but smoking with with high anxiety is a bad advice


I say you have no idea what you're talking about because you don't pay attention, and you just pull things out of nowhere. If you looked slightly to the left of my post you'd see I'm not an American. As far as the THC content of our weed, well BC Bud is known world-wide... I'm not sure if you're a troll or just really really dumb, I'm kind of leaning towards troll but... seriously are you this ignorant for real?


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## nork123 (Oct 22, 2009)

Yeah from what I've seen and experienced first hand I think it can definately be psychologically damaging in certain people even if most people can smoke it without a problem, I never experienced pure-o untill smoking weed and I had it for quite a long while after I stopped and it can still crop up from time to time, it also gave me depersonalisation like I have seen mentioned in this thread and also on depersonalisation forums a lot of the cases are weed related, even after smoking just one time in some, all of this also made my anxiety and social anxiety worse

Although there are no directly proven links from weed/psychadelics, the way I see it is that x can cause y which can cause z, and although z is more related to y it wouldn't have happened without x


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

Emanresu said:


> I realize that you're kind of talking about things you have no idea about. And you make a lot of assumptions, I'm not sure what you base them on though. Pretty sure I already have the initial problem of not wanting to go out and do things kind of comes with the SA yeah? If it wasn't for marijuana I'd do LESS things than I do now. You'd have realized this fact already if you had been paying attention to what had already been said and didn't just try to relay the propaganda that's already been spoon fed to you. It's always good to take in information but you always need to use your own common judgment and do your own research into things before making an affirmed decision. Not just be another monkey gulping down anything you're spoon-fed.
> 
> You know what happens when you assume? You make an *** out of u and me.


Of course you wouldn't understand. You only smoked for 2 years, still in the magical phase, any differing point of view that talks slightly negative about cannabis makes it "propaganda." You haven't reached the point where you smoke so much that cannabis that starts to escaberate your anxiety. I swear, when people start to get deep in it, they spew basically the same goddamn ****, it's gotten to the point it's so unoriginal it pisses me off because you aren't respecting how cannabis affects another person. Look at my avatar, it's says "Phish." That's all that needs to be said. So think twice before you make senseless comments.

It's isn't about how beneficial cannabis is because you are right, you have to make a decision for yourself and is incredibly beneficial, I'm not arguing what you said is wrong. It's the fact you had no respect about how cannabis makes others feel. How cannabis makes you feel is different than the dude you were say "he had no idea what he was talking about." So instead of thinking everything is propaganda, make yourself aware that it's possible cannabis might make you feel anxious one day and how to combat it so you can continue using it as a medicine.


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## VagueResemblance (Apr 17, 2010)

Brightpaperwarewolf said:


> Of course you wouldn't understand. You only smoked for 2 years, still in the magical phase, any differing point of view that talks slightly negative about cannabis makes it "propaganda."


Actually, anybody that comes out with WEED IS BAD and leaves it there as an absolute sounds, to me, a lot like they're just mindlessly parroting propaganda.

Truth is yes, it can do damage, but there's also serious medicinal potential. This includes mental issues. It's a serious drug, often underestimated, and a lot of the WEED IS BAD comes from sheer ignorance of strains and strength and dosage.

By the way I'm not in some magical phase. Have been smoking intermittently for close to seven years, tried different strains, different cultivation methods, experienced some negative effects and some positive, and MY avatar has an arthropleura in it.


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

VagueResemblance said:


> Actually, anybody that comes out with WEED IS BAD and leaves it there as an absolute sounds, to me, a lot like they're just mindlessly parroting propaganda.
> 
> Truth is yes, it can do damage, but there's also serious medicinal potential. This includes mental issues. It's a serious drug, often underestimated, and a lot of the WEED IS BAD comes from sheer ignorance of strains and strength and dosage.
> 
> By the way I'm not in some magical phase. Have been smoking intermittently for close to seven years, tried different strains, different cultivation methods, experienced some negative effects and some positive, and MY avatar has an arthropleura in it.


Can you point out where I said weed was bad? Unless you consider smoking 4-8 times an hour to be such a horrible thing.


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

Of course there's going to be negative effects if you smoke 8 times every waking hour every day of the week. Nobody is forcing you to smoke that much. Name me one drug that _isn't_ harmful when abused? And even in cases of extreme, long-term abuse, weed is still less harmful than the majority of recreational and therapeutic drugs unless it's coupled with serious mental illness (not unipolar depression, SA, AVPD or ADHD, but paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar 1, for example).

Not all negative opinions on weed are propaganda, no, but they're usually formed by people who have recklessly abused it or who have serious mental disorders that it exacerbates.


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

Duke of Prunes said:


> Of course there's going to be negative effects if you smoke 8 times every waking hour every day of the week. Nobody is forcing you to smoke that much. Name me one drug that _isn't_ harmful when abused? And even in cases of extreme, long-term abuse, weed is still less harmful than the majority of recreational and therapeutic drugs unless it's coupled with serious mental illness (not unipolar depression, SA, AVPD or ADHD, but paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar 1, for example).
> 
> Not all negative opinions on weed are propaganda, no, but they're usually formed by people who have recklessly abused it or who have serious mental disorders that it exacerbates.


You have to realize that some people reach this point with cannabis, you might one day, your beloved mary jane starts to turn on you and some choose to quit. Others brave it and learn to make adjustments. I'm sure you have friends or yourself who smokes that much. Where they get to the point where they start to become anxious when smoking it. It's simply a fact of life if you decide you smoke cannabis and start smoking like drinking water and you guys are taking it like I'm the devil reincarnate, spewing propaganda. Some people moderate very well on pot. Others, especially those that like to consume lots of drugs, will reach this point too. It's simply learning to deal with it, but you can't deny that these things can happen to you, it's like you are cheating yourself. You should know this, especially since I'm certain you enjoy doing lots of drugs.


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## Duke of Prunes (Jul 20, 2009)

STOP PRESS! Pleasurable things can be addictive!

I agree with almost everything you've said, but the negative effects of drug _abuse_ shouldn't be grouped in with the effects of moderate, sensible drug _use_. The fact that some people might have a tendency to abuse and become addicted to a drug doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the drug itself, as it's inherent in any pleasurable activity. The fact that people consider weed to be "relatively harmless" and "not a serious drug" doesn't help, as all drugs, no matter how mild, demand respect.

I just don't think that the effects of long-term abuse are really relevant. Watching an hour of TV a day won't do you any harm at all, but watching 12 hours a day will send you to an early grave with obesity and heart disease. Should all forms of entertainment that don't require physical activity be banned? Absolutely not.

Personally I can keep up a moderate intake (a few times a week) of weed for months at a time (I take breaks every few months to reset my tolerance) without any desire to smoke more often, and the only reason my intake ever increases is to make up for tolerance, which doesn't get anywhere near the levels of people who smoke daily. It's early days, but I can't see myself smoking any more than that, and if I do, I've got plenty of anti-drug people around me to intervene, and I'm very aware of when I'm developing addictions to substances/games before they become a problem.


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

But where did I say that cannabis is a bad drug? It's definitely a blight take, but none of the less it's stuff that happens. You have to respect that how a drug make someone feel is a very personal thing. To tell someone they don't know what they talking about when they obviously smoked pot before and stopped enjoying it is disrespecting how he feels. Legality has nothing to do with it.


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## Saurus (Oct 17, 2010)

"I agree with almost everything you've said, but the negative effects of drug abuse shouldn't be grouped in with the effects of moderate, sensible drug use. The fact that some people might have a tendency to abuse and become addicted to a drug doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the drug itself, as it's inherent in any pleasurable activity."

-When we talk about weed being 'bad' we aren't speaking of the evils of over-indulgence or anything like that, rather we speak of the psychological dangers which are possible in a smoking spell. Sometimes weed can be a fun, insightful experience, but it can also be a psychologically disturbing experience, which is the yin and yang of smoking. 
-When you say that the relationship between weed and the smoker, and the effects that result are personal, then how does one know what sensible/responsible use of the drug is? It seems like you are drawing some kind of moral line to say what is good and bad, rather than finding a sensible line from experience--- of the more frightening aspects of weed. I see a lot of use as having a slothing effect on some people (this I have noticed through personal observation of friends and such), but there are definitely other problems which can be random, though are more probable with a lot of use-- e.g. heightening of certain anxieties, depersonalization, schizoid tendencies etc, etc. which can definitely drag into the long term.
-and also its not cool that you guys just ignore us, its not like we have never done it before or hate it, its mostly just annoying and concerning you just deny our voice and try to justify whatever habits you may have developed.


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## OtherGlove (Dec 28, 2010)

The only fair conclusion, which this thread clearly demonstrates, is that it's not for everyone. Personally, I'm more afraid of where i'd be without it, than where I am in life now.


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## Emanresu (Jun 2, 2010)

otherglove said:


> the only fair conclusion, which this thread clearly demonstrates, is that it's not for everyone. Personally, i'm more afraid of where i'd be without it, than where i am in life now.


qft


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## Saurus (Oct 17, 2010)

"The only fair conclusion, which this thread clearly demonstrates, is that it's not for everyone. Personally, I'm more afraid of where i'd be without it, than where I am in life now."

-Amen


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## 49erJT (Oct 18, 2010)

.


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

49erJT said:


> Think about that statement for a second...If your "voice" is coming from a completely different experience why do you expect that others will adopt your stance if all they've experienced is positive effects and not the negative effects many of you speak of? I certainly don't ignore others if they have a different opinion than I do...but it's not fair to expect people to change their views on a substance just because some say that the substance will "turn on you".


It's because you guys are being defensive and arrogant about reality, like anything that is negative, you sweep it under a rug. It might not happen to you, but what if you start earning a lot more money, your finances are great. You realize that smoking pot long-term isn't doing anything serious and life-threatening? What do you do? Smoke more. It's simply something that occurs naturally. It isn't about changing views, it's about awareness. This has happened to me, happened to lots of people. Happens at different points, especially since cannabis amplifies your current mood. You aren't going to feel good 24/7. It's evident, why are you guys pretending that because it feels this way to you, it must feel the same for everyone else? Why defend a guy that called someone out because he had no regard of how pot made someone else feel?

I also want to mention, I smoked cannabis alone through 2 cycles of chemotherapy. Alone, without any other medicine, anti-pain, anti-nausea, anti-depressant. So before you guys act like I don't know the benefits, I clearly experienced the benefits to a level of appreciation that hopefully none of you will ever experience. The difference between having no cannabis through the first 2 talking 14 drugs, people thinking I was dead vs the last 2, when I actually started healing, I became more alive, positive, feeling good, able to exercise and eat during chemo. When you are on chemo, it's like you are burning and freezing from chemicals on the inside. The difference is significant and I give cannabis a lot of credit.

With that, you have to respect people's point of view. Just because it worked for me, doesn't work for person B. It's fine to feel that cannabis saves you life, that is simply not the issue, it's simply wrong to tell someone they don't know what they had a different experience their body. You might not agree with their opinion, but it doesn't make them any less wrong about how they feel, than how you do about yours.


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## OtherGlove (Dec 28, 2010)

I think a lot of my fellow smokers feel there's a stigma against them. A lot of people are into the novelty of pot smoking. Tshirts, jewelry, posters, ashtrays with little jamaican guys sitting in them, all kinds of nonsense. I can see how someone would get defensive. I certainly wouldnt want anyone to group me in with them. Not everyone becomes a burnout mush-mouth.. "pot culture" makes us all look like idiots.


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

OtherGlove said:


> I think a lot of my fellow smokers feel there's a stigma against them. A lot of people are into the novelty of pot smoking. Tshirts, jewelry, posters, ashtrays with little jamaican guys sitting in them, all kinds of nonsense. I can see how someone would get defensive. I certainly wouldnt want anyone to group me in with them. Not everyone becomes a burnout mush-mouth.. "pot culture" makes us all look like idiots.


There is, and part of it is because a lot of stoners push it on people and don't respect how it makes others feel. I was a bit aggressive about it, but I had to make a point to that guy. For exactly similar sentiments you have above. A lot of the stigma is the fault of the culture. It's similar to pushing religion on someone. Zealousness tends to take over and you start to lose reason that someone had a different story to tell.


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## OtherGlove (Dec 28, 2010)

Brightpaperwarewolf said:


> There is, and part of it is because a lot of stoners push it on people and don't respect how it makes others feel. I was a bit aggressive about it, but I had to make a point to that guy. For exactly similar sentiments you have above. A lot of the stigma is the fault of the culture. It's similar to pushing religion on someone. Zealousness tends to take over and you start to lose reason that someone had a different story to tell.


Well, it's similar to pushing anything, what's the point. (I've promised myself I wouldnt talk about religion anymore.) Yeah, it shouldn't even be a discussion.


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## 49erJT (Oct 18, 2010)

Brightpaperwarewolf said:


> It's because you guys are being defensive and arrogant about reality, like anything that is negative, you sweep it under a rug. It might not happen to you, but what if you start earning a lot more money, your finances are great. You realize that smoking pot long-term isn't doing anything serious and life-threatening? What do you do? Smoke more. It's simply something that occurs naturally.


I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through chemo and I'm sure that does give you a different perspective on MJ....


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## OtherGlove (Dec 28, 2010)

Awwww


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## Brightpaperwarewolf (Oct 16, 2008)

49erJT said:


> I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through chemo and I'm sure that does give you a different perspective on MJ....What I was trying to get across is that people have the freedom to what's best for them without being attacked for it...and that goes both ways. I think it's better to appreciate someone's point of view without trying to change it or make the person feel like their doing something wrong.
> 
> I don't agree with your assumptions about MJ usage but if your point is that it can negatively impact _some_ people then I agree...


I'll accept that it isn't the best method. But it definitely got the point across. Sometimes you gotta light a fire. And yes, that statement has multiple meanings.

These aren't assumptions. It might not apply to you, but if you never met some people who are like Cheech and Chong, you are lying to yourself. If you smoked for at least a decade and you didn't come across a time when you questioned to yourself whether to quit, you are lying to yourself. Heck, you could be like Willie Nelson, smoke so much, have a great life, get busted for 6 ounces and he's like so what? Be a stiletto stoner and smoke their brains out after work. And she loves it, no effect. On that token, there's also people if they smoked like Willie Nelson, they couldn't handle it. If they smoked one bowl, it like a nightmare. It depends on the context. You guys are looking like 4-8 times an hour is such a horrible thing because you believe it's a negative strike. Everybody is different, can handle different amounts.

Btw, thanks for the kind words, but **** in life happens. Just gotta make the best of it.


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## vond (Jan 3, 2011)

*weed & mental effects, cont'd*

Pretty interesting posts on here. I've smoked weed, off and on, for over 20 years. Overall, I've found it to have been quite helpful to me, with regard to SA. Whenever I was stoned, I had less internal tension. The perceptions changed. I would just blow off the usual slights, negative attention, etc. that would have otherwise annoyed me.
It's my opinion everyone has different tolerances to weed, much like alcohol. I, personally, could go from days to weeks not smoking, with no craving or 'jones', depending on the circumstances. When I moved to a small town, I found weed helped lessen my tensions even more. In a typical 'small town' way, there were people that went considerably out of their way to annoy or provoke me, and while I was stoned, I was quite cognizant of their attempts, yet stayed chilled out and didn't respond or react inappropriately. 
Indeed, I've often wondered, viewing some of the incredibly uptight individuals I've been around, or worked with, _ what, _ exactly, would they do if they were to have a few tokes of good weed. (Probably just go 'splat', like the effects of Slim Whitman on the aliens in 'Mars Attacks!')


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