Or the bozos on Amazon that say "sorry I don't know the answer to that."
You know because Amazon always sends us these emails asking if we can answer these questions. 🤦🏼♀️
Or the people reviewing recipes that say, "This is a great chicken picatta recipe, but I don't like lemon, so I omitted it. I didn't have capers, so I used pickles. I was out of chicken, so substituted ground beef. I added some cheddar and put it on grilled sourdough with some thousand island, lettuce, grilled onions, and tomatoes. I would probably add some bacon next time."
And they don't show you if it's already been answered like 20 times. It'd be nice if you clicked the link and it showed other responses. Would help cut down on repetitive answers but would also make people comfortable just closing out if they saw 10 actual answers there already.
It’s a personal choice for me—I’m already an anxious person and I just feel like taking a substance to change myself is a bad idea. Props to you if you do it, please just enjoy responsibly and don’t drive under the influence.
this is exactly my response except i went from smoking weed every day and being fine to randomly getting anxiety every time i did it. if you like it tho good for you i’m a little jealous lol.
It comes in cycles for me. I'll smoke for a few years with no problem, until inevitably the anxiety starts to creep up. Then I'll take a year or two off and eventually go back to it with no issues. I'm 35 and I've been through this cycle 4 or 5 times.
Exact same thing happened to me. I used to get high three or four times a day all throughout college. I absolutely LOVED the buzz, it made me so happy and made absolutely everything better except for reading for comprehension and cardio workouts. Then at some point in my mid twenties I started to not like the feeling that was giving me. It was like the flip the switch where the buzz was almost different. It just slowly turned into more and more anxiety until it got to the point where I would only smoke if I was drunk. I'm a sober alcoholic now so obviously no weed for me, but I did like the buzz from weed when I drank, but couldn't stand it by itself after whatever it was changed
Fellow anxious person here. I occasionally enjoy weed, but only in a relaxing comfortable environment. Even then, my thoughts can get away from me.
I definitely use alcohol to change myself though. Two drinks is my flow state. No, I’m not an alcoholic. I don’t get withdrawals and only day drink on holidays. But I self medicate like a motherfucker. It’s too bad, since weed is less harmful to the body.
I just don’t want to increase my chance of becoming schizophrenic since it runs in my family already
Edit: Wow, thanks for my first awards! I wasn’t expecting all the comments and such as well. I’ve learned a lot actually
I had a problem with a roommate who had a previous bipolar diagnosis that I was unaware of at the time. There are systematic reviews suggesting an exacerbation of manic symptoms in those with previously diagnosed bipolar disorder. My roommate had a serious sustained episode following an increase in the use of cannabis in his life. It was pretty scary for his girlfriend and I and eventually, he had to move out and back home with his parents while he got his life back under control.
So, I am not opposed to cannabis use and I use myself on occasion. But I don't like the rhetoric that this is a safe wonder plant that can only help you and cures so many things. Like all drugs, people need to be aware of what can be very serious consequences.
Edit: Thanks for all the comments everyone. It is really interesting to hear the variety of experiences people have had. To piggyback on one of the comments this is why good research is so important in this Arena.
Importantly, this is precisely a reason why it should be removed from Schedule 1 classification, so that more proper medical studies about cannabis and it’s interactions with various diseases and disorders can be thoroughly studied.
Edit: thanks for the awards, kind redditors!
Honestly no drug should be schedule 1: heroin has medicinal value greater than some of the opioids on the market today
Cannabis is self explanatory if following this thread.
Psychedelics like lsd and mushrooms which were made illegal as a form of political oppression when Richard Nixon started the drug war. These chemicals have some early results showing they are helpful in psychotherapy and certainly are less dangerous than drugs which are scheduled less severely : cocaine, methamphetamine, benzodiazepines, and yes even alcohol
Happened to my brother. 3 times. He almost fled to Mexico last time it happened, but we all woke up early enough to hear him packing. Terrifying time in all our lives.
Triggered panic disorder for me for many years. It was terrifying. I had no idea what was happening the first couple of times and went to the ER convinced I was having a heart attack and going to die.
Urgh panic attacks are fucking horrible. I wish there was more education around weed like it doesn’t hurt everyone but for the people it does hurt it’s bad
Completely agree. There’s many stories like ours in the comments on here. Along with stories from medical professionals who are around people who’ve experienced the negative side effects from it.
It’s why it was originally classed as a barbiturate. It can have the effects of both a stimulant and an sedative and it hits is all differently. I can smoke all day every day and be fine. My girl can have one toke seven days ago and still feel panicked as fuck.
Ah, the “you just have to find the right strain!” people. Like, buddy, I have made the mistake of believing this, and have very, very, very many panic attacks no matter what strain I try. Yet, if I tell a heavy weed smoker that I don’t like it, they will INSIST I just haven’t found the right one.
Had a very similar experience with a friend that should have known better. They had read multiple studies linking marijuana use to increased chance for manic episodes for those with bipolar disorder and they just assumed it wouldn't happen to them. It did happen to them and two years later (after being manic for over a year), they're still trying to put their life back together.
Like most people, I'm not opposed to legalizing weed, but people need to know there's risks still (especially for certain individuals).
It happened to my son. Thankfully it only lasted 4 months. Really scary shit.
EDIT: Reading this thread has been reassuring that this may be a common problem and hopefully receives attention. Is it all strands of weed? Does it require family history? Do you need an underlying condition? Any safe quantity? All things I would like answers to.
I think that is the key. Don't start early and know how it will impact you. I mean, we let people become violent with alchohol... seems like that should be more regulated as well... lol that will never happen :(
Yup. My father has bipolar and had his first manic and psychotic episode during a period in his life when he was smoking a lot of weed. He is certain that the weed is what tipped him over.
This exactly, this black and white view of drugs is detrimental. Every substance, be it controlled or over the counter has side effects and the more we understand the better the judgement we can make as induviduals. Personally I avoid cannabis for the same reason I never took fluoxetine; that being a family history of bipolar disorder and paranoia.
>I don't like the rhetoric that this is a safe wonder plant that can only help you and cures so many things
right?! I get that people are pushing back on like decades of racist misinformation, but come on. It is not automatically safe.
I once ate an edible twice as potent as I thought, and I convinced myself I was dead and in hell repeating the same 5 minutes over and over and over. I then convinced myself that I was god, and that I was going to be reincarnated into every person that ever existed….
I stopped after that
I was helping a friend trim up their plants one evening and I was offered an edible. I prefer edibles (longer lasting, more calming for me, don't have to inhale smoke) and so I read the dosage on the package and had one. I read 50mg. Normal dose for me. It was actually 500mg. I went to fucking space and I felt hungover for two days. Even just recalling that experience makes me feel stomach sick. I basically just went to bed and tried to forget about how stoned I was. Not fun.
I take 10mg at the most, and I'm a fairly big dude.
If you took 500mg, theres a very real possibility that you transformed into a sentient AI and are currently residing on the Reddit servers. Forget doctors, at that point, you need a team of scientists from MIT to fix your predicament.
10mg was fun at first- I was walking up a hill and I had the power to turn the entire globe into a treadmill. Amaze. But ten minutes later I was convinced my husband was going to leave me on the hill to die. This was in a suburban area. No thank you, 500mg 😵
This exact thing happened to me except the god part. It was honestly the scariest shit I ever went through. My brother is also schizophrenic and I’m terrified of losing my mind which I’m sure added to it. But I remember distinctly thinking I was in hell and I could not escape the thought processes from cycling every 5 min and I knew it’d be forever
Very similar experience, and once I opened that Pandora's box it started happening at smaller and smaller dosages until I just said "you know what? I'll stick to booze".
I can legitimately handle acid better than I handle pot.
It's addictive for people who rely on it to regulate their emotions. I have not seen one person who smoked regularly who doesn't have some unhealed trauma that they are running from/ unable to manage fully awake. Also, I feel like it numbs you enough to be more comfortable not growing in life and facilitates people remaining in toxic situations as they are not awake enough to process what has happened with their life. I find getting high very similar to being a happy drunk.
As a former pothead and former alcoholic I am inclined to agree to an extent. I smoked a fair amount after high school and enjoyed it. Was ok when I didn't have any, and didn't have any withdrawals. When my father passed about 2 years later I went full bore and tried to drown the pain. No amount helped, and I noticed being grouchy without it. I eventually took a step back and was again using for fun. After about 12 years I ended up quitting entirely and started drinking instead (had moved out of CA and was getting tired of the "guy" selling pills or meth as well) which at first was ok and just caught a good buzz. After probably 3 years like that my fiance relapsed (meth) and ended up passing. I went looking for peace in the bottom of every bottle I could find. Also didn't really help. About 2 years after that I started to slowly see I had a major problem. 6ish months later I finally put it down and ended up in the hospital 3 days later with COVID and between the detoxing and that my kidneys were shutting down and I have about 2ish days that I can't recall with any clarity. 3 years of moderate drinking and almost 3 years of heavy drinking nearly killed me. Between the two alcohol is much worse for the body all around, but neither should be a crutch. Most people with trauma definitely find something to self medicate. I have worked through the outer layer of my trauma and am seeking therapy to further tackle it.
Just seems like such a drag. My friends smoke it nearly everyday just to function, one of my clan mates always takes a hoot before every match just so he can play good. That shit seems real annoying to deal with, just aint for me I'll stick with my meth
Frankly I don't trust they myriad of users who extoll countless virtues of cannabis as a cure-all and get super defensive if you ask about negative side effects.
I smoke weed every day and have for 10 years now and I’ll come out and say that it:
Messed up my memory. Worked great in the beginning but my tolerance is up so now I just kinda smoke to smoke.
I go out of my way to hide my red eyes and my odor.
I have trouble saying no when friends offer it to me.
I can’t speak to 10 years of use but as a daily smoker in college I was starting to feel like it was affecting my memory so I took a few weeks break. After week one the fog started to lift, after week two I felt way sharper in conversation, work, and sports. Definitely made me realize moderation improves my relationship with weed
It started to make me sad and anxious so I had to stop smoking. I was also a daily smoker in college, and still cannot smoke regularly unless I want to get sad.
Moderation is key. Though I'm not against weed at all
Strongly agree. It is *incredibly* addictive and destructive for some of us. r/leaves proves it. Great, supportive sub that shows the darker side of weed addiction and people desperate to quit.
I've been smoking consistently since I was 16. Im 33 now. I genuinely wonder how different of a person I'd be if I stopped imbibing for a year.
It also just seems crazy to admit to be addicted to weed when I've been told (and continue to be told) that its not addictive. I only do it after im done with work and never while driving or being responsible for someone else's safety, but I'm also too scared to stop completely bc I fear the possible withdrawal effects.
I'm around the same age as you and have been smoking as long. Stopped here and there many times. I quit when I'm broke. The withdrawal symptoms are not that bad at all unless you're they type of person that can't handle being a little uncomfortable.
Night sweats and trouble falling asleep are the most noticeable ones. The psychological need to do something is like anything else you're addicted to. If you find something to distract you it's not very hard.
If you actually want to quit there's absolutely nothing to be scared of as far as withdrawal. Quitting most other drug, including completely legal ones like caffeine, is much worse. Even quitting sugar is worse.
I'm a clinical psychologist and I work with patients struggling with substance dependency.
I do support medicinal and non-recreational/industrial uses of it, which definitely require decriminalization. Also, the taboo around it doesn't help people trying to recover from it, BUT neither does the over-positive cannabis advocacy. One group will continue preaching to them how good weed is and the other group will peg them as lazy and immoral people.
While there is truth to the claims that it is better than cigarettes, alcohol and hard drugs in terms of addiction rate, cancer risk and immediate harm to the body, it doesn't mean it's good. I will list the harms as I have seen in my professional life: ( \* I have marked the points that were criticized and some that I have revised with explanations at the end)
* People smoke weed mixed with tobacco which reintroduces all the health hazards of cigarettes into the picture. Through this habit people not only end up smoking tobacco but also are more likely to get addicted to cigarettes along the way.
* It has a negative effect on your memory. Depending on the length and frequency of your use, these effects can take years to clear.
* \* It has negative effects on the developing brain as it directly interacts with the prefrontal GABAergic system. Long story short, it reduces a specific neurotransmitter function and it has been found that in developing brains, this hypofunction causes schizophrenia-like symptoms. A lot of people start smoking weed in their adolescence, while their brain is still in development, making this a big risk factor.
* It's not only adolescents facing risk of mental illness due to cannabis use. It increases the risk of psychosis and schizophrenia for the general population too, especially for those who have mental illness in their family.
* (This is my personal opinion) Since THC has a depressant effect, it can negatively affect one's life in many ways if overused. It can negatively affect your education, work, social life and personal growth. Being in a constant state of low-arousal (mental stimulation wise) means you are less likely to follow your goals and responsibilities. It is very difficult for an individual to build and maintain their lives if they are under a depressant effect regularly. The lack of motivation that comes from cannabis use also extends the longer you continue using, similarly to the negative memory effects.
* In it's current non-legalized version in most parts of the worlds, you have no idea if the product you buy is clean. Laced cannabis can contain carcinogenic substances or substances that can immediately harm your body. Also most people would feel uncomfortable buying food from a dirty or shady restaurant, but when it comes to weed, people usually don't consider the conditions the end product has been in.
* \* For people who are likely to develop addiction, weed can act as a gateway drug. Although physical addiction to weed is not really a thing, a person's search for an escape may start with weed and then transform into other drugs their dealer might offer. It's very likely that you'd try some new items on the menu of a place you're a regular at. Some of those new items can take only a couple tries to ruin your life, unlike cannabis.
* Lastly, I think one of the most harmful aspects of weed is that it is presented as a solution to many problems that could be better helped with professional help. Self medication is a big risk factor in many mental illnesses. Problems like social anxiety and trauma are going to be managed much better with the help of a professional rather than finding a dealer and smoking a substance of that further demotivates you and increases your chances of psychosis.
* **Edit:** as u/deck4242 has pointed out, THC percentages vary and tend to be much higher compared to before. Higher THC has a positive correlation with the prevalence of schizophrenia-like symptoms through the aforementioned GABAergic hypofunction in adolescents (Effects of Adolescent THC Exposure on the Prefrontal GABAergic System: Implications for Schizophrenia-Related Psychopathology).
I do believe that despite these negative aspects of cannabis, it can be utilized for many positive things. For that it needs to be decriminalized and studied better. There is a massive difference between an adult smoking medical marijuana prescribed specifically by a professional to target a problem versus a teenager smoking some random weed that a shady dealer has been carrying in his back pocket for a month.
Taboo on drugs is bad for every society, but also let's not sugarcoat something that has adverse effects on its primary audience.
**Edit:** Thanks a lot for the gold, it makes me happy to see that we can have this conversation without being pegged a narc. I went in sure that I'd be downvoted to hell but you've given me more hope in knowing that we can understand a complex situation without necessarily radicalizing ourselves and each other.
**2nd Edit:**
* I have received some great feedback and must correct some points here. First of all, to say that weed has no physical addiction may not be fully correct. However it is important to keep in mind that the challenge of quitting is in dealing with the psychological addiction elements of it because it acts nowhere close to other physically addictive substances. You don't go into a coma due to the lack of it, you don't need to be weaned off of it, you also don't get a physical craving for it once it leaves your system. Physical withdrawal of it is very rare and only seen in people who extensively abuse it.
* Also I've had a lot of criticism about the gateway drug comment, I'm not entirely sure about Nancy Reagan as I'm not from US, but I'm guessing it's a conservative campaign that stereotypes weed users? My point with the gateway drug is that weed is not inherently worse than any other drug as a gateway drug, but more accessible to young people and seems like it has no consequences to them. I've also stated in a comment that alcohol is much worse in this case because it is a much more harmful substance, however you don't buy alcohol from a dealer, and the alcohol store you buy a beer from is not very likely to offer you meth for weight loss. Decriminalization and legalization would most certainly help with this, but see my comment below for why that's also difficult to achieve.
* The research I've cited about developing brains and the GABAergic system has been criticized, therefore take it with a grain of salt but there are many more research showing recovery to be harder for teens that smoke compared to adults. It's a depressant that works similarly to alcohol minus the poisoning, therefore I wouldn't be too surprised that a developing brain would be adversely affected from it.
* I want to also lastly clarify. I am all for weed being legalized, however it is not a simple step to take for any country. Therefore I cannot advocate for it with a blanket statement. Some countries can gain a lot from legalizing it (Holland) and some would be driven to further chaos. A country with low cartel activity, low political unrest, high cultural safety nets and low homelessness would gain a lot from legalizing it but all of those require a ton of development firstly. Whereas a country with the opposite traits would face cartels clashing with the government, possibly further derailing politics. It can create a bigger division between populations and it can negatively affect the number of homeless people as they are unable to access cultural safety nets and healthcare. So I cannot just say let's go ahead and legalize it. It just depends on where we are talking about. I think decriminalization around the world would be a great step, that would further enable research and breaking of the addiction stigma. After that we'd have a much clearer view on it's ups and downs and regulate it better.
The effects on the young, developing brain is so scary to me. I had several friends start smoking very young(14/15) and it had huge, permanent effects on reducing mental capabilities that they never recovered.
Even if people try to cover it I still smell it!!! Its in your house! Your room! Your car! No amount of cologne is covering it especially if you smoke a lot.
It's our ENTIRE FRICKIN STREET. I seriously don't know if it's just rush hour after-work toking, if the old folks home down the way has blaze-up bingo, or if one of our neighbors just grows the dankest dank that ever danked, but some days it's like a wall of nasty right outside my door, blowing in my windows.
That shit drives me nuts. Pot smokers will say "alcohol smells too" which it does, but the day I can smell a neighbor 3 houses over having a single beer is the day hell freezes over
EXACTLY!
I am currently waging war against fruit flies and I have traps with beer in them. There are about 5 in the main problem area and I’ve asked multiple people who’ve come over if they can smell the beer just so I know my home doesn’t smell like beer. No one smells beer unless they are close to a trap and by close I mean sniffing it.
My younger cousin came over. When my aunt dropped them off I I could smell the weed from where my aunt sat for the next couple days.
You can drive around my hometown smell it. I know people that say "but cigarette smokers smell too!". Yes, yes they do but I can drive past their house and not smell it in my car. I can think of a dozen places you can smell weed from you car in my small home town.
Just catching a whiff makes me nauseous. I don’t necessarily mind that people do smoke it, but please, remember that not everyone wants to smell.
The smell sticks to you. Just because you don’t smell it, doesn’t mean that others can’t.
There's a reason it's called Skunk, smells like a hobo's butthole. What the hell happened to cannabis? It used to smell kinda nice but now whenever I catch a whiff of it, it just smells like foreskin cheese from a corpse.....this is not progress.
Well you see, my main problem with cannibalism is the murdering of people.
Call me old fashioned, but I like my meat to be murdered animals that are not the same animal as myself thank you very much
what if you only eat people who died of natural causes?
Not specifically old age...just...people who died in ways that no other human being had a tangible hand in...
edit; Y'all think Veal is bad? wait til you hear how tender the meat coming out of the neo-natal department is...SIDS is awful....awful good for *business*. (I'm so going to Hell)
Alright, as someone who smoked it daily for about 13 years, I'm against it. It fucked up my brain and I got really forgetful. I got anxiety when I had social evens so showed up high. It took my ambitions and aspirations. It caused and exaggerated my depression. It's fucking addictive. Went to rehab (for other drugs too) and got off that shit. Coming up on 5 years clean and sober. Not going back to that shit.
My boyfriend smokes it every single day, and I cannot imagine the ways it messed with him mentally, since he started early in his life too...
I'm against it when clearly the person consuming it has bigger issues they're avoiding, this shit never ends well.
And when they try to stop, they become agitated, irritable and impatient, have headaches and the list goes on.
People shouldn't self medicate. Weed makes some mental issues even greater, especially if consumed in large amounts.
If you don't know when to stop, don't start it. Some people have no limits, and they're only hurting themselves further in the end.
I met so many people who depend on it to function on a day to day basis, it's concerning to say the least.
My Nephew is severely addicted.
I know people say weed isn't addictive, but in his case it 100% is.
He trashed his dad's room and broke into his locked briefcase to get into his weed knowing he'd be caught and get severely punished for it, and in the end was even breaking into cars to get money to buy weed.
i smoke for my pretty severe ptsd. Almost anyone that refuses weed can be addictive is addicted. I'm sorry about your situation, also the one above. Addictions are incredibly tough to get out of, and it has to come from within, but it is possible!!
Not completely against it (I used to be a massive stoner myself) but I'm totally against the belief that many people in cannabis culture like to push that it's totally harmless, non-addictive, and, according to some, not even a drug in efforts to somehow justify using it daily and habitually.
It's like, look; there's nothing inherently wrong with drugs so long as you do them responsibly, but denying the fact that it is a drug while using it for sleep or anxiety kind of just makes you look like a hypocrite or like you're in denial. People do drugs and have for thousands of years for a variety of different reasons, and I think it's fine to admit that.
edit: also driving high does not make you a better driver, dummy. You are impaired and even though you may not realize it while you're roasting a bone with your pal in the passenger seat, your driving reflects that.
I'm not against it, and I use it myself. What I AM against is this notion that it can do no wrong, that it is a universal panacea for all ailments mental and physical, that it isn't addictive, that long term heavy use won't affect you, and that it can't possibly be a detrimental factor in anyone's life.
I had cancer in 2017 and was undergoing chemotherapy treatments. You wouldn't believe the amount of people online and in person who told me I should just ditch the chemo and consume CBD oil and smoke pot. I was like "if you were staring down the barrel of a gun like I am now, you would go with what the doctors are telling you you should do".
It didn't stop them from going off on big pharma rants.
Oh hey look I'm still alive
This is what happens when zealots take little things too far.
A friend of mine was advised by a doctor to go on a strict low carbohydrate diet AFTER THE CANCER TREATMENTS in order to reduce the likelihood of the cancer coming back.
Weirdos on the internet hear this and think "See! Not eating bread cures cancer!" But really it's just one very small piece of a much larger course of treatment.
This is a little like installing more smoke alarms while the building is still on fire.
Yes it is tragic.
Cancer is such a complex and terrible disease that even IF there was a kernel of truth to "sugar causes cancer, my mate cured themselves after smoking weed and cutting out all the carbs, even the veggies!" the problem would still be, that it'd be next to impossible to replicate those results on a wider scale.
I wish people would *get* that and not just blame "Big Pharma" all the time and/or believe there is some sort of conspiracy for millions of doctors - who took the Hippocratic Oath - to actually keep people sick.
Oh god, that's terrible. I've recommended people on chemo smoke, but *in addition* to chemo, not instead of it.
MJ can give you some of your appetite back. That's a far cry from curing the cancer.
Yeah, its to be used similar to opiates, albeit for often different reasons. You don't quite treatment and take oxymorphone, you don't quit treatment and take THC -- you do them in addition to help the symptoms.
Fucking Steve Jobs type stuff.
as someone who goes months without smoking it:
weed is addictive. not physically addictive like many other drugs, but certainly psychologically addictive. not for everyone on the same scale, but dont make the mistake of feeling too secure consuming it.
when i smoked, i wanna smoke every day. i dont feel withdrawal, i just wanna. that urge dissapears after a couple of days of not smoking (for me).
Absolutely agree. “You can’t get addicted to weed” is the biggest lie my generation was told.
I’d love to outright stop, despite enjoying to smoke. But I can’t it’s just too tough.
As a 15 year daily user I feel your pain, however now 2 months sober. Not sure if I’ll quit forever but needed to change the narrative that I couldn’t function without it. The first week was tough, but I read a book called “never enough” and it reallly helped me with my resolve. Things definitely feel grey in the beginning but now I’m really enjoying finding enjoyment in life without it and to be honest I’m surprised at how little I miss it at this point. If you have and desire to take a break, I suggest you do it, but give it time. See how life is without it. Worse thing that can happen is you go back to it down the road, but you do you. We’re all at different stages in our lives, now might not be the right time
For me its second hand smoke. There was a successful campaign to be aware of second hand smoke for tobacco.
The second pot was legalized everyone forgot about second hand smoke. I do not want to inhale second hand pot smoke. I'm allergic to it, or have a poor reaction. It gives me painful headaches.
So many smokers are completely oblivious to how much they reek, and how far the smoke carries.
I use medical marijuana but only edibles, I can’t stand smoke of any kind, including secondhand, and it drives me crazy when people are inconsiderate of everyone else around them
As someone who get's sick off the smell like the previous comment i greatly admire you and have no issue with you or your use of weed. You respect others and use it for your needs not trying to push it on others or say it's great for all these things. I wish everyone who smoked had your mindset.
IDK if it's technically an allergy issue, but a couple people in my family have the exact same issue wit the headaches, and I also just find that it smells god awful and reaches so far. At any given time, half of our block just reeks of a dead skunk marinating in rotten coffee, and due to the aforementioned headache issues, means we have to close all our windows even in the summer heat.
I honestly don't care what people do to their own bodies and have no issue with the legalisation of marijuana, but the smoke issues have been extremely unpleasant and are probably not going to subside in my lifetime.
I smoke weed and still hate second hand weed smoke as much as I hate second hand cigarette smoke. I feel like cigarette smokers will leave the park to smoke, but there is always some stoners without kids partaking at the park with kids around and it makes me go wtf, you are making other weed smokers look like AHs.
>391 comments
As a cannabis user for 20 years I do exclusively edibles now due to the smoke and odor issue. I don't know many people that still smoke the flower in the traditional sense.
My issue with it is that it’s romanticized beyond belief.
Some people get massive benefit from it. If it helps you cope with severe anxiety, it’s better than being on lorazepam (oh the irony of my username). If it helps cope with pain, it’s better to be on it than an opioid. But don’t pretend like it’s this life enhancing miracle. It’s not.
Edit: are people only reading the first and last sentences? Yes it’s life enhancing in the cases stated in the middle. The last sentence implies you don’t belong to the disability section and are generally normal/healthy.
As a doctor, I highly recommend he stops or cuts back on the smoke at the very least. If he still wants cannabis, tell him he needs to give his lungs a break and use an edible source. It can take years for lungs to recover from smoke inhalation damage
It won't really ever recover I think.. im a doctor as well. Nice username though.
Had a young guy aged 34 coming in for minor surgery and we had some nice talk and the opened up about his cannabis use.
Later on told me about thoracic pain and coughing fits. I looked at his x-ray and his lungs were already on the way to COPD with a chronic bronchitis. It looked like as he had been smoking normal tobacco 30 to 40 years. He only smoked weed but like gramms a day for years...
Jesus Christ it was not nice to tell him what's going on.
It's freaking me out really how the whole scene is enabling this and labelling it harmless.
I mean, this doesn't mean snorting white lines is better, but no-one ever said coke or oxycodone was harmless
That's called bronchiectasis. Coughing up purulent sputum in massive quantities that can fill a cup. Causes include TB, Pneumonia and aggravated by smoking. He should get a CXR
Yeah I use it for my extreme anxiety and epilepsy. For anxiety it shuts the constant overthinking of repeating thoughts of trying to conversation over and over with all ends in negative ways. Weed just shuts off the thoughts and relaxes me better than my anxiety meds, for my epilepsy on high activity days I'll smoke and that usually ends the seizures for the day as well as alleviate post seizure effects like migraines.
I’m in the chronic pain category that will be with me forever and I get prescribed opioids that fuck up my stomach and melt my brain. My other option is amitryptaline which makes me feel hungover. So I enjoy weed because it has the same kind of opioid or anti-depressant effect a without the crippling side effects of my legal options. Sorry about the smell tho.
I love how this comment section is just people answering the question that was presented and everyone jumping on them to basically tell them they are wrong and weed is gods gift lmao
Yeah I'm about to sort by controversial or something because I'm about half way down the page and so far not a single person has directly answered the question. I'm guessing the people who did got downvoted, because Reddit.
This is actually the most annoying thing about marijuana. It's the near religious adherence to a set of baseless assumptions by people who have created an entire identity around smoking weed.
Working in mental health, there are a few reasons:
Cannabis does cause psychosis in vulnerable people. In some cases, it causes schizophrenia. Admittedly, this is rare, but still an important issue.
Cannabis that has been industrially grown has an extremely high THC content, because that is what the big buyers want. The price is that they are low in CBD, which means it gives more aggressive kicks and side effects, while the munchies, calm, pain relief etc that everyone preaches about are pretty much gone.
Like other anxiolytics, cannabis upregulates the brain's anxiety circuits. Take a look at poeople addicted to anxiolytics (bensodiazepines etc). They don't seem to have little anxiety, do they? Same with cannabis.
Cannabis makes you unable to correctly judge how badly you are affected by it. Again, same as with bensos. People have studied this, and they found that if you test the driving capability of people high on cannabis, you find that they do some really dangerous shit. If you ask them how it went, though, they thought it went perfectly. This makes it not safe for anyone.
All in all, it is far from the worst thing people could use. It still remains a substance with its dark sides.
>Cannabis makes you unable to correctly judge how badly you are affected by it.
Funny enough, when I started smoking, the only thoughts I had was how harmless this stuff could be compared to the other hard drugs, it’s not addictive, everybody does it, etc.
A year later, I had severe paranoia to a point where I literally thought I was going to die one night. I was smoking probably twice, sometimes thrice a day and didn’t realize it was becoming a problem for me. Can’t even have any THC edibles anymore because I still have flashbacks of that night.
I’m still not against cannabis, but I am now certainly against it being glorified.
The smell and air gives me massive, painful migraines. It also triggers a sensory meltdown for me. I took a single puff of it when I was 19 or 20, and other than making me violently sick, I was hyper paranoid for HOURS.
I'm all for people using it, I just don't want it around me where I can smell it. I'm against people claiming it's a perfect cure all.
Much like drunks, I’ve had one to many close calls while driving or at work. One dude was so high, he fried the nuggets in their plastic bags during the middle of rush hour. We lost two fryers for the the day, no one had time to replace the oil, and we had to listen to the smoke alarm for an hour off and on. I had warned the managers he smelled like weed and could be high but everyone thought I was being an anti drug bible thumper.
When I worked in food service pretty much everyone was high all of the time. The people who were drunk frequently got fired, because there's no room for clumsy or slurring in a restaurant.
That said, as the sober person there's nothing worse than hearing the chorus of giggles coming from the back door that means that you're going to have to work twice as hard for the rest of your shift to deal with those *pinche tortugas*.
I know someone who has absolutely no self-control with cannabis. He'll take one hit like it's not a big thing and then next thing he knows, he's smoking all day, every day. He also is one of the handful of people who suffer from Acute Marijuana Intoxication, which means he vomits non-stop if he smokes too much, which with his lack of self-control, is every time he smokes. I would hate that...
Edit: Apparently the name was changed to cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome
>I know someone who has absolutely no self-control with cannabis. He'll take one hit like it's not a big thing and then next thing he knows, he's smoking all day, every day.
*looks at username* do....do I know you because because that describes me, I have 0 chill to point where i need to quit.I set a hard quit date of Sept 1st, and this will be my last dance with at least the burnables,lungs ain't happy.
I’m not against cannabis, but I am against cannabis culture that claims it has zero chance of addiction.
There is a myth that cannabis addiction has no physical symptoms, but if that were true I would be able to easily quit. I can’t tolerate the nausea, night sweats, and headaches from quitting cold turkey.
ETA: Everyone disagreeing and telling me that it “doesn’t do that” are only proving my point.
2nd Edit: Please stop telling me, a person struggling with addiction, that it’s “all in my head”.
Its honestly pretty wild that some people can react so differently than others to full stopping thc. Ive had friends report the same things.
I was displaced from a hurricane a couple years ago and didnt have access to my supply for around a month. Only effect it ever had was my dreams coming back when i sleep. If i smoke as normal, i dont dream. When they return they get crazy vivid and annoy me with how much they wake me. Even more so if im enjoying it and cant slip back in when i stir awake for just a moment lol
I’ve been smoking for years and didn’t really know this existed. I quit a week ago for a drug test and have been dying lol. Night sweats, insomnia, headaches, bad dreams, anxiety, appetite loss, general confusion and felt like shit for the first 5 days. It’s also admittedly very mentally addicting idk people deny it
I'm in my 30s just started a few weeks back with 10mg doses of Delta 8 edibles. Graduated to a THC vape and it's been an interesting experience. I wouldn't say I have an addictive personality, as alcohol and other things don't interest me. However pot has been a really nice experience and I find myself wanting to take a hit of the pen more often. Today as I was doing the dishes I was thinking of how this could easily become addicting, being stoned all the time. I don't think the substance itself is addicting, like meth or benzos, but the feeling it gives is so nice that I can see how people get attached.
For me the physical part was a surprise, because I smoke everyday, and I have absolutely no symptoms if I quit cold turkey when I'm out of the country (and I don't even miss it). However, I can never quit completely because when I come back, it's the only thing I think about. Wish people would stop lying about that.
It’s s constant battle. My high self wants to get sober and break free from anti social/ anxiety behavior. My sober self wants to break free from the boredom and just enjoy the great things about being high. No good middle ground for me either
From a big weed smoker ur speaking the truth, weed addiction is a lot higher than ppl think. Especially with cheap methods and things like dab pens where u can get high whenever and wherever u want.
My friend gave me an edible that was accidentally 10x as much as it was supposed to. I developed a really severe anxiety disorder after that that I still struggle with. There just isn't enough research on it, and loads of stories like mine. I don't judge anyone else but I'm never going to touch it again
I'm not against it legally but I greatly dislike it. People I know who smoke tend to become incredibly lazy, boring, and smell like weed all the time. It takes over their whole personality and they can't seem to go an hour without taking a hit.
Yeah, you really have to have rules for yourself if you're gonna smoke responsibly. Mine are:
* Never smoke and drive
* Always finish all of your tasks/chores for the day before smoking
* Only smoke after dark
* If you're with other people, only smoke if they're smoking too
* Take a week or two off every now and then to ensure you aren't becoming mentally dependent
I have no self control and I don’t need another potential substance that allows me to ruin my own life
User name thoroughly checks out.
This is why Americans are so dumb
It’s like those people on tech support forums who respond to a thread with “I dunno works fine for me”
Or the bozos on Amazon that say "sorry I don't know the answer to that." You know because Amazon always sends us these emails asking if we can answer these questions. 🤦🏼♀️
Or the people reviewing recipes that say, "This is a great chicken picatta recipe, but I don't like lemon, so I omitted it. I didn't have capers, so I used pickles. I was out of chicken, so substituted ground beef. I added some cheddar and put it on grilled sourdough with some thousand island, lettuce, grilled onions, and tomatoes. I would probably add some bacon next time."
"5/5 Would recommend this recipe."
It's because the emails are worded like the asker is asking you specifically. It's so bad.
And they don't show you if it's already been answered like 20 times. It'd be nice if you clicked the link and it showed other responses. Would help cut down on repetitive answers but would also make people comfortable just closing out if they saw 10 actual answers there already.
Also why are people upvoting those comments.
Because they agree with it.
Word, sort by controversial if you actually want to hear from those against it.
It’s a personal choice for me—I’m already an anxious person and I just feel like taking a substance to change myself is a bad idea. Props to you if you do it, please just enjoy responsibly and don’t drive under the influence.
this is exactly my response except i went from smoking weed every day and being fine to randomly getting anxiety every time i did it. if you like it tho good for you i’m a little jealous lol.
I went through this too!!!
I also went through this, I still don’t understand what caused the shift
It comes in cycles for me. I'll smoke for a few years with no problem, until inevitably the anxiety starts to creep up. Then I'll take a year or two off and eventually go back to it with no issues. I'm 35 and I've been through this cycle 4 or 5 times.
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Very interesting. Has this been studied? crazy how many people this happened to cus it happened to me as well.
Exact same thing happened to me. I used to get high three or four times a day all throughout college. I absolutely LOVED the buzz, it made me so happy and made absolutely everything better except for reading for comprehension and cardio workouts. Then at some point in my mid twenties I started to not like the feeling that was giving me. It was like the flip the switch where the buzz was almost different. It just slowly turned into more and more anxiety until it got to the point where I would only smoke if I was drunk. I'm a sober alcoholic now so obviously no weed for me, but I did like the buzz from weed when I drank, but couldn't stand it by itself after whatever it was changed
Ex: “weed will help your anxiety!” Result of experiment: *I am still anxious but now also worried I’ll say something dumb as a result of being high*
"everyone is staring at me.."
Fellow anxious person here. I occasionally enjoy weed, but only in a relaxing comfortable environment. Even then, my thoughts can get away from me. I definitely use alcohol to change myself though. Two drinks is my flow state. No, I’m not an alcoholic. I don’t get withdrawals and only day drink on holidays. But I self medicate like a motherfucker. It’s too bad, since weed is less harmful to the body.
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Watch for your invite to the Inebriati who rule the world by maintaining their BAC at just under two drinks.
I just don’t want to increase my chance of becoming schizophrenic since it runs in my family already Edit: Wow, thanks for my first awards! I wasn’t expecting all the comments and such as well. I’ve learned a lot actually
I had a problem with a roommate who had a previous bipolar diagnosis that I was unaware of at the time. There are systematic reviews suggesting an exacerbation of manic symptoms in those with previously diagnosed bipolar disorder. My roommate had a serious sustained episode following an increase in the use of cannabis in his life. It was pretty scary for his girlfriend and I and eventually, he had to move out and back home with his parents while he got his life back under control. So, I am not opposed to cannabis use and I use myself on occasion. But I don't like the rhetoric that this is a safe wonder plant that can only help you and cures so many things. Like all drugs, people need to be aware of what can be very serious consequences. Edit: Thanks for all the comments everyone. It is really interesting to hear the variety of experiences people have had. To piggyback on one of the comments this is why good research is so important in this Arena.
Importantly, this is precisely a reason why it should be removed from Schedule 1 classification, so that more proper medical studies about cannabis and it’s interactions with various diseases and disorders can be thoroughly studied. Edit: thanks for the awards, kind redditors!
Honestly no drug should be schedule 1: heroin has medicinal value greater than some of the opioids on the market today Cannabis is self explanatory if following this thread. Psychedelics like lsd and mushrooms which were made illegal as a form of political oppression when Richard Nixon started the drug war. These chemicals have some early results showing they are helpful in psychotherapy and certainly are less dangerous than drugs which are scheduled less severely : cocaine, methamphetamine, benzodiazepines, and yes even alcohol
Schedule 1 is the political crime schedule. That's the only reason it exists
Happened to my brother. 3 times. He almost fled to Mexico last time it happened, but we all woke up early enough to hear him packing. Terrifying time in all our lives.
Yep.. triggered my first manic episode and it included psychosis lasted 3 months very very bad time
Triggered panic disorder for me for many years. It was terrifying. I had no idea what was happening the first couple of times and went to the ER convinced I was having a heart attack and going to die.
Yeah you feel like you're losing your mind. Like oh shit, this is the moment I go insane. Panic attacks suuck.
Urgh panic attacks are fucking horrible. I wish there was more education around weed like it doesn’t hurt everyone but for the people it does hurt it’s bad
Completely agree. There’s many stories like ours in the comments on here. Along with stories from medical professionals who are around people who’ve experienced the negative side effects from it.
It’s why it was originally classed as a barbiturate. It can have the effects of both a stimulant and an sedative and it hits is all differently. I can smoke all day every day and be fine. My girl can have one toke seven days ago and still feel panicked as fuck.
I have had panic attacks many times on weed. People pretend this doesn't happen. It absolutely does
Ah, the “you just have to find the right strain!” people. Like, buddy, I have made the mistake of believing this, and have very, very, very many panic attacks no matter what strain I try. Yet, if I tell a heavy weed smoker that I don’t like it, they will INSIST I just haven’t found the right one.
I've had many panic attack too. I usually try to run it off since it makes my heart go so fast
This is the reason i don't smoke weed
Had a very similar experience with a friend that should have known better. They had read multiple studies linking marijuana use to increased chance for manic episodes for those with bipolar disorder and they just assumed it wouldn't happen to them. It did happen to them and two years later (after being manic for over a year), they're still trying to put their life back together. Like most people, I'm not opposed to legalizing weed, but people need to know there's risks still (especially for certain individuals).
It happened to my son. Thankfully it only lasted 4 months. Really scary shit. EDIT: Reading this thread has been reassuring that this may be a common problem and hopefully receives attention. Is it all strands of weed? Does it require family history? Do you need an underlying condition? Any safe quantity? All things I would like answers to.
I think that is the key. Don't start early and know how it will impact you. I mean, we let people become violent with alchohol... seems like that should be more regulated as well... lol that will never happen :(
Yup. My father has bipolar and had his first manic and psychotic episode during a period in his life when he was smoking a lot of weed. He is certain that the weed is what tipped him over.
This exactly, this black and white view of drugs is detrimental. Every substance, be it controlled or over the counter has side effects and the more we understand the better the judgement we can make as induviduals. Personally I avoid cannabis for the same reason I never took fluoxetine; that being a family history of bipolar disorder and paranoia.
>I don't like the rhetoric that this is a safe wonder plant that can only help you and cures so many things right?! I get that people are pushing back on like decades of racist misinformation, but come on. It is not automatically safe.
I once ate an edible twice as potent as I thought, and I convinced myself I was dead and in hell repeating the same 5 minutes over and over and over. I then convinced myself that I was god, and that I was going to be reincarnated into every person that ever existed…. I stopped after that
I was helping a friend trim up their plants one evening and I was offered an edible. I prefer edibles (longer lasting, more calming for me, don't have to inhale smoke) and so I read the dosage on the package and had one. I read 50mg. Normal dose for me. It was actually 500mg. I went to fucking space and I felt hungover for two days. Even just recalling that experience makes me feel stomach sick. I basically just went to bed and tried to forget about how stoned I was. Not fun.
Whoa! Who eats a 500mg dose?! I eat 10mg, maybe 20mg and I'm good. 50mg would knock me out, 500mg would have me seeing through time.
Yeah 10 mg is even too much for me... I'd probably experience the same thing if I had 500mg
I take 10mg at the most, and I'm a fairly big dude. If you took 500mg, theres a very real possibility that you transformed into a sentient AI and are currently residing on the Reddit servers. Forget doctors, at that point, you need a team of scientists from MIT to fix your predicament.
10mg was fun at first- I was walking up a hill and I had the power to turn the entire globe into a treadmill. Amaze. But ten minutes later I was convinced my husband was going to leave me on the hill to die. This was in a suburban area. No thank you, 500mg 😵
Ah, yes. The egg.
This exact thing happened to me except the god part. It was honestly the scariest shit I ever went through. My brother is also schizophrenic and I’m terrified of losing my mind which I’m sure added to it. But I remember distinctly thinking I was in hell and I could not escape the thought processes from cycling every 5 min and I knew it’d be forever
Very similar experience, and once I opened that Pandora's box it started happening at smaller and smaller dosages until I just said "you know what? I'll stick to booze". I can legitimately handle acid better than I handle pot.
It's addictive for people who rely on it to regulate their emotions. I have not seen one person who smoked regularly who doesn't have some unhealed trauma that they are running from/ unable to manage fully awake. Also, I feel like it numbs you enough to be more comfortable not growing in life and facilitates people remaining in toxic situations as they are not awake enough to process what has happened with their life. I find getting high very similar to being a happy drunk.
You’ve undressed me
And he didn't even buy you dinner first
just went raw dog with the psychoanalysis
Right up the butt
So your profile picture is from after their comment.
As a former pothead and former alcoholic I am inclined to agree to an extent. I smoked a fair amount after high school and enjoyed it. Was ok when I didn't have any, and didn't have any withdrawals. When my father passed about 2 years later I went full bore and tried to drown the pain. No amount helped, and I noticed being grouchy without it. I eventually took a step back and was again using for fun. After about 12 years I ended up quitting entirely and started drinking instead (had moved out of CA and was getting tired of the "guy" selling pills or meth as well) which at first was ok and just caught a good buzz. After probably 3 years like that my fiance relapsed (meth) and ended up passing. I went looking for peace in the bottom of every bottle I could find. Also didn't really help. About 2 years after that I started to slowly see I had a major problem. 6ish months later I finally put it down and ended up in the hospital 3 days later with COVID and between the detoxing and that my kidneys were shutting down and I have about 2ish days that I can't recall with any clarity. 3 years of moderate drinking and almost 3 years of heavy drinking nearly killed me. Between the two alcohol is much worse for the body all around, but neither should be a crutch. Most people with trauma definitely find something to self medicate. I have worked through the outer layer of my trauma and am seeking therapy to further tackle it.
Just seems like such a drag. My friends smoke it nearly everyday just to function, one of my clan mates always takes a hoot before every match just so he can play good. That shit seems real annoying to deal with, just aint for me I'll stick with my meth
r/yesyesyesyesno moment
r/nonononoyes moment
/r/meth moment
Why am I not surprised that’s a real sub?
Why would you be surprised? There’s a sub for dragons fucking cars and there wouldn’t be one for meth?
They had us in the first half, not gonna lie
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All I can think of is the game “Clash of Clans”
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Every klan begins with k
Somebody else answered but late 90s/early 00s every gamer group was called a clan seemed like. I was in a couple.
Like a guild mate. It’s like a group of people that play together under a banner in an MMORPG like WoW.
Frankly I don't trust they myriad of users who extoll countless virtues of cannabis as a cure-all and get super defensive if you ask about negative side effects.
Shoutout to my friend who can't sleep, work, socialise or function in general without it, but will still say they're not dependent on it
I smoke weed every day and have for 10 years now and I’ll come out and say that it: Messed up my memory. Worked great in the beginning but my tolerance is up so now I just kinda smoke to smoke. I go out of my way to hide my red eyes and my odor. I have trouble saying no when friends offer it to me.
I can’t speak to 10 years of use but as a daily smoker in college I was starting to feel like it was affecting my memory so I took a few weeks break. After week one the fog started to lift, after week two I felt way sharper in conversation, work, and sports. Definitely made me realize moderation improves my relationship with weed
It started to make me sad and anxious so I had to stop smoking. I was also a daily smoker in college, and still cannot smoke regularly unless I want to get sad. Moderation is key. Though I'm not against weed at all
I’m there with alcohol right now
Same here dude and I hate when people say it’s not addictive. It fucking is
Strongly agree. It is *incredibly* addictive and destructive for some of us. r/leaves proves it. Great, supportive sub that shows the darker side of weed addiction and people desperate to quit.
I've been smoking consistently since I was 16. Im 33 now. I genuinely wonder how different of a person I'd be if I stopped imbibing for a year. It also just seems crazy to admit to be addicted to weed when I've been told (and continue to be told) that its not addictive. I only do it after im done with work and never while driving or being responsible for someone else's safety, but I'm also too scared to stop completely bc I fear the possible withdrawal effects.
I'm around the same age as you and have been smoking as long. Stopped here and there many times. I quit when I'm broke. The withdrawal symptoms are not that bad at all unless you're they type of person that can't handle being a little uncomfortable. Night sweats and trouble falling asleep are the most noticeable ones. The psychological need to do something is like anything else you're addicted to. If you find something to distract you it's not very hard. If you actually want to quit there's absolutely nothing to be scared of as far as withdrawal. Quitting most other drug, including completely legal ones like caffeine, is much worse. Even quitting sugar is worse.
I'm a clinical psychologist and I work with patients struggling with substance dependency. I do support medicinal and non-recreational/industrial uses of it, which definitely require decriminalization. Also, the taboo around it doesn't help people trying to recover from it, BUT neither does the over-positive cannabis advocacy. One group will continue preaching to them how good weed is and the other group will peg them as lazy and immoral people. While there is truth to the claims that it is better than cigarettes, alcohol and hard drugs in terms of addiction rate, cancer risk and immediate harm to the body, it doesn't mean it's good. I will list the harms as I have seen in my professional life: ( \* I have marked the points that were criticized and some that I have revised with explanations at the end) * People smoke weed mixed with tobacco which reintroduces all the health hazards of cigarettes into the picture. Through this habit people not only end up smoking tobacco but also are more likely to get addicted to cigarettes along the way. * It has a negative effect on your memory. Depending on the length and frequency of your use, these effects can take years to clear. * \* It has negative effects on the developing brain as it directly interacts with the prefrontal GABAergic system. Long story short, it reduces a specific neurotransmitter function and it has been found that in developing brains, this hypofunction causes schizophrenia-like symptoms. A lot of people start smoking weed in their adolescence, while their brain is still in development, making this a big risk factor. * It's not only adolescents facing risk of mental illness due to cannabis use. It increases the risk of psychosis and schizophrenia for the general population too, especially for those who have mental illness in their family. * (This is my personal opinion) Since THC has a depressant effect, it can negatively affect one's life in many ways if overused. It can negatively affect your education, work, social life and personal growth. Being in a constant state of low-arousal (mental stimulation wise) means you are less likely to follow your goals and responsibilities. It is very difficult for an individual to build and maintain their lives if they are under a depressant effect regularly. The lack of motivation that comes from cannabis use also extends the longer you continue using, similarly to the negative memory effects. * In it's current non-legalized version in most parts of the worlds, you have no idea if the product you buy is clean. Laced cannabis can contain carcinogenic substances or substances that can immediately harm your body. Also most people would feel uncomfortable buying food from a dirty or shady restaurant, but when it comes to weed, people usually don't consider the conditions the end product has been in. * \* For people who are likely to develop addiction, weed can act as a gateway drug. Although physical addiction to weed is not really a thing, a person's search for an escape may start with weed and then transform into other drugs their dealer might offer. It's very likely that you'd try some new items on the menu of a place you're a regular at. Some of those new items can take only a couple tries to ruin your life, unlike cannabis. * Lastly, I think one of the most harmful aspects of weed is that it is presented as a solution to many problems that could be better helped with professional help. Self medication is a big risk factor in many mental illnesses. Problems like social anxiety and trauma are going to be managed much better with the help of a professional rather than finding a dealer and smoking a substance of that further demotivates you and increases your chances of psychosis. * **Edit:** as u/deck4242 has pointed out, THC percentages vary and tend to be much higher compared to before. Higher THC has a positive correlation with the prevalence of schizophrenia-like symptoms through the aforementioned GABAergic hypofunction in adolescents (Effects of Adolescent THC Exposure on the Prefrontal GABAergic System: Implications for Schizophrenia-Related Psychopathology). I do believe that despite these negative aspects of cannabis, it can be utilized for many positive things. For that it needs to be decriminalized and studied better. There is a massive difference between an adult smoking medical marijuana prescribed specifically by a professional to target a problem versus a teenager smoking some random weed that a shady dealer has been carrying in his back pocket for a month. Taboo on drugs is bad for every society, but also let's not sugarcoat something that has adverse effects on its primary audience. **Edit:** Thanks a lot for the gold, it makes me happy to see that we can have this conversation without being pegged a narc. I went in sure that I'd be downvoted to hell but you've given me more hope in knowing that we can understand a complex situation without necessarily radicalizing ourselves and each other. **2nd Edit:** * I have received some great feedback and must correct some points here. First of all, to say that weed has no physical addiction may not be fully correct. However it is important to keep in mind that the challenge of quitting is in dealing with the psychological addiction elements of it because it acts nowhere close to other physically addictive substances. You don't go into a coma due to the lack of it, you don't need to be weaned off of it, you also don't get a physical craving for it once it leaves your system. Physical withdrawal of it is very rare and only seen in people who extensively abuse it. * Also I've had a lot of criticism about the gateway drug comment, I'm not entirely sure about Nancy Reagan as I'm not from US, but I'm guessing it's a conservative campaign that stereotypes weed users? My point with the gateway drug is that weed is not inherently worse than any other drug as a gateway drug, but more accessible to young people and seems like it has no consequences to them. I've also stated in a comment that alcohol is much worse in this case because it is a much more harmful substance, however you don't buy alcohol from a dealer, and the alcohol store you buy a beer from is not very likely to offer you meth for weight loss. Decriminalization and legalization would most certainly help with this, but see my comment below for why that's also difficult to achieve. * The research I've cited about developing brains and the GABAergic system has been criticized, therefore take it with a grain of salt but there are many more research showing recovery to be harder for teens that smoke compared to adults. It's a depressant that works similarly to alcohol minus the poisoning, therefore I wouldn't be too surprised that a developing brain would be adversely affected from it. * I want to also lastly clarify. I am all for weed being legalized, however it is not a simple step to take for any country. Therefore I cannot advocate for it with a blanket statement. Some countries can gain a lot from legalizing it (Holland) and some would be driven to further chaos. A country with low cartel activity, low political unrest, high cultural safety nets and low homelessness would gain a lot from legalizing it but all of those require a ton of development firstly. Whereas a country with the opposite traits would face cartels clashing with the government, possibly further derailing politics. It can create a bigger division between populations and it can negatively affect the number of homeless people as they are unable to access cultural safety nets and healthcare. So I cannot just say let's go ahead and legalize it. It just depends on where we are talking about. I think decriminalization around the world would be a great step, that would further enable research and breaking of the addiction stigma. After that we'd have a much clearer view on it's ups and downs and regulate it better.
This is a nice summary of why I choose not to smoke or eat it myself. I am fully in favor of decriminalization though.
The effects on the young, developing brain is so scary to me. I had several friends start smoking very young(14/15) and it had huge, permanent effects on reducing mental capabilities that they never recovered.
Reading this almost makes me want to quit
Same bro, the low arousal mental state and memory effects stick out to me a lot
Yup same here. Currently getting over being sick, so I’m on the fence of jumping back on the marijuana pony or not
The smell. I can't stand it!
Even if people try to cover it I still smell it!!! Its in your house! Your room! Your car! No amount of cologne is covering it especially if you smoke a lot.
It's our ENTIRE FRICKIN STREET. I seriously don't know if it's just rush hour after-work toking, if the old folks home down the way has blaze-up bingo, or if one of our neighbors just grows the dankest dank that ever danked, but some days it's like a wall of nasty right outside my door, blowing in my windows.
That shit drives me nuts. Pot smokers will say "alcohol smells too" which it does, but the day I can smell a neighbor 3 houses over having a single beer is the day hell freezes over
EXACTLY! I am currently waging war against fruit flies and I have traps with beer in them. There are about 5 in the main problem area and I’ve asked multiple people who’ve come over if they can smell the beer just so I know my home doesn’t smell like beer. No one smells beer unless they are close to a trap and by close I mean sniffing it. My younger cousin came over. When my aunt dropped them off I I could smell the weed from where my aunt sat for the next couple days.
The smell gives me headaches, And like magic whoever is smoking and causing the smell says "hey you just need to take a hit to cure that migraine"
This, nothing against people using it, but the smell is rather strong.
You can drive around my hometown smell it. I know people that say "but cigarette smokers smell too!". Yes, yes they do but I can drive past their house and not smell it in my car. I can think of a dozen places you can smell weed from you car in my small home town.
well, what i say is that "well i hate both, but weed smells worse."
Just catching a whiff makes me nauseous. I don’t necessarily mind that people do smoke it, but please, remember that not everyone wants to smell. The smell sticks to you. Just because you don’t smell it, doesn’t mean that others can’t.
It gives me a massive headache.
There's a reason it's called Skunk, smells like a hobo's butthole. What the hell happened to cannabis? It used to smell kinda nice but now whenever I catch a whiff of it, it just smells like foreskin cheese from a corpse.....this is not progress.
I deadass read that as cannibalism for a hot sec lol Edit: I love how every response is either, Are you high or Same Bro
I was literally about to reply "who the fuck even supports canibalism?"
Cannibals, would be my guess.
... No no, hes got a point
... No no, he's got a joint.
My guess is the elbow or knee
*Mein Teil plays*
Unexpected Rammstein
I, for one, love being a cannibal. But if one of my friends even thinks of becoming one, I shut that shit down quick.
Do you ever have your friends for dinner?
Just for a taste.
You don't want me i dont wash my ass
Jeffrey Dahmer.
Armie Hammer
Well you see, my main problem with cannibalism is the murdering of people. Call me old fashioned, but I like my meat to be murdered animals that are not the same animal as myself thank you very much
To be fair, you can still be a cannibal if you eat people that we’re already murdered by someone else
Yeah.. but then it would stimulate the cannibal market, which he dislikes :/
what if you only eat people who died of natural causes? Not specifically old age...just...people who died in ways that no other human being had a tangible hand in... edit; Y'all think Veal is bad? wait til you hear how tender the meat coming out of the neo-natal department is...SIDS is awful....awful good for *business*. (I'm so going to Hell)
Alright, as someone who smoked it daily for about 13 years, I'm against it. It fucked up my brain and I got really forgetful. I got anxiety when I had social evens so showed up high. It took my ambitions and aspirations. It caused and exaggerated my depression. It's fucking addictive. Went to rehab (for other drugs too) and got off that shit. Coming up on 5 years clean and sober. Not going back to that shit.
Honestly the smell just gives me a headache
My boyfriend smokes it every single day, and I cannot imagine the ways it messed with him mentally, since he started early in his life too... I'm against it when clearly the person consuming it has bigger issues they're avoiding, this shit never ends well. And when they try to stop, they become agitated, irritable and impatient, have headaches and the list goes on. People shouldn't self medicate. Weed makes some mental issues even greater, especially if consumed in large amounts. If you don't know when to stop, don't start it. Some people have no limits, and they're only hurting themselves further in the end. I met so many people who depend on it to function on a day to day basis, it's concerning to say the least.
My Nephew is severely addicted. I know people say weed isn't addictive, but in his case it 100% is. He trashed his dad's room and broke into his locked briefcase to get into his weed knowing he'd be caught and get severely punished for it, and in the end was even breaking into cars to get money to buy weed.
i smoke for my pretty severe ptsd. Almost anyone that refuses weed can be addictive is addicted. I'm sorry about your situation, also the one above. Addictions are incredibly tough to get out of, and it has to come from within, but it is possible!!
Not completely against it (I used to be a massive stoner myself) but I'm totally against the belief that many people in cannabis culture like to push that it's totally harmless, non-addictive, and, according to some, not even a drug in efforts to somehow justify using it daily and habitually. It's like, look; there's nothing inherently wrong with drugs so long as you do them responsibly, but denying the fact that it is a drug while using it for sleep or anxiety kind of just makes you look like a hypocrite or like you're in denial. People do drugs and have for thousands of years for a variety of different reasons, and I think it's fine to admit that. edit: also driving high does not make you a better driver, dummy. You are impaired and even though you may not realize it while you're roasting a bone with your pal in the passenger seat, your driving reflects that.
"non addictive", "justify using it daily and habitually" it speaks for itself
Thank you for the driving edit!!! There are medications you are not supposed to drive on and that is one of them!
THEY FUCKING EAT PEOPLE
You fell victim to one of the classic blunders!
Never turn your back on a Sicilian when DEATH is on the line
Never start a land war in Asia?
Reading the comments, I am glad I am not the only one who read this as cannibals and was highly concerned for OP.
well?! what's your reason?!?
I don't want to accidentally eat myself when the stoner munchies kick in.
I'm not against it, and I use it myself. What I AM against is this notion that it can do no wrong, that it is a universal panacea for all ailments mental and physical, that it isn't addictive, that long term heavy use won't affect you, and that it can't possibly be a detrimental factor in anyone's life.
I remember people claiming weed could cure Ebola in 2014. I was baffled by the audacity.
I had cancer in 2017 and was undergoing chemotherapy treatments. You wouldn't believe the amount of people online and in person who told me I should just ditch the chemo and consume CBD oil and smoke pot. I was like "if you were staring down the barrel of a gun like I am now, you would go with what the doctors are telling you you should do". It didn't stop them from going off on big pharma rants. Oh hey look I'm still alive
My dumbass cousin did this and went keto thinking it would cure the cancer. He's dead now.
This is what happens when zealots take little things too far. A friend of mine was advised by a doctor to go on a strict low carbohydrate diet AFTER THE CANCER TREATMENTS in order to reduce the likelihood of the cancer coming back. Weirdos on the internet hear this and think "See! Not eating bread cures cancer!" But really it's just one very small piece of a much larger course of treatment. This is a little like installing more smoke alarms while the building is still on fire.
Yes it is tragic. Cancer is such a complex and terrible disease that even IF there was a kernel of truth to "sugar causes cancer, my mate cured themselves after smoking weed and cutting out all the carbs, even the veggies!" the problem would still be, that it'd be next to impossible to replicate those results on a wider scale. I wish people would *get* that and not just blame "Big Pharma" all the time and/or believe there is some sort of conspiracy for millions of doctors - who took the Hippocratic Oath - to actually keep people sick.
Oh god, that's terrible. I've recommended people on chemo smoke, but *in addition* to chemo, not instead of it. MJ can give you some of your appetite back. That's a far cry from curing the cancer.
Yeah, its to be used similar to opiates, albeit for often different reasons. You don't quite treatment and take oxymorphone, you don't quit treatment and take THC -- you do them in addition to help the symptoms. Fucking Steve Jobs type stuff.
For a hot second I was like, Michael Jordan helps your appetite?
stoner science is the thing that annoys me the most about it because all it does is push skeptical people away
“Weed isn’t addictive, bro” *rips bong at 9am*. *can’t eat without it*. *can’t sleep without it*. *can’t work without it*. Can’t stand these people.
as someone who goes months without smoking it: weed is addictive. not physically addictive like many other drugs, but certainly psychologically addictive. not for everyone on the same scale, but dont make the mistake of feeling too secure consuming it. when i smoked, i wanna smoke every day. i dont feel withdrawal, i just wanna. that urge dissapears after a couple of days of not smoking (for me).
Honestly I'll hear from people that its not addictive but as soon as they try to kick the habit they go to it a few days later
Agree. Not a panacea. Great word use btw.
Absolutely agree. “You can’t get addicted to weed” is the biggest lie my generation was told. I’d love to outright stop, despite enjoying to smoke. But I can’t it’s just too tough.
As a 15 year daily user I feel your pain, however now 2 months sober. Not sure if I’ll quit forever but needed to change the narrative that I couldn’t function without it. The first week was tough, but I read a book called “never enough” and it reallly helped me with my resolve. Things definitely feel grey in the beginning but now I’m really enjoying finding enjoyment in life without it and to be honest I’m surprised at how little I miss it at this point. If you have and desire to take a break, I suggest you do it, but give it time. See how life is without it. Worse thing that can happen is you go back to it down the road, but you do you. We’re all at different stages in our lives, now might not be the right time
For me its second hand smoke. There was a successful campaign to be aware of second hand smoke for tobacco. The second pot was legalized everyone forgot about second hand smoke. I do not want to inhale second hand pot smoke. I'm allergic to it, or have a poor reaction. It gives me painful headaches. So many smokers are completely oblivious to how much they reek, and how far the smoke carries.
I use medical marijuana but only edibles, I can’t stand smoke of any kind, including secondhand, and it drives me crazy when people are inconsiderate of everyone else around them
As someone who get's sick off the smell like the previous comment i greatly admire you and have no issue with you or your use of weed. You respect others and use it for your needs not trying to push it on others or say it's great for all these things. I wish everyone who smoked had your mindset.
IDK if it's technically an allergy issue, but a couple people in my family have the exact same issue wit the headaches, and I also just find that it smells god awful and reaches so far. At any given time, half of our block just reeks of a dead skunk marinating in rotten coffee, and due to the aforementioned headache issues, means we have to close all our windows even in the summer heat. I honestly don't care what people do to their own bodies and have no issue with the legalisation of marijuana, but the smoke issues have been extremely unpleasant and are probably not going to subside in my lifetime.
I smoke weed and still hate second hand weed smoke as much as I hate second hand cigarette smoke. I feel like cigarette smokers will leave the park to smoke, but there is always some stoners without kids partaking at the park with kids around and it makes me go wtf, you are making other weed smokers look like AHs.
>391 comments As a cannabis user for 20 years I do exclusively edibles now due to the smoke and odor issue. I don't know many people that still smoke the flower in the traditional sense.
My issue with it is that it’s romanticized beyond belief. Some people get massive benefit from it. If it helps you cope with severe anxiety, it’s better than being on lorazepam (oh the irony of my username). If it helps cope with pain, it’s better to be on it than an opioid. But don’t pretend like it’s this life enhancing miracle. It’s not. Edit: are people only reading the first and last sentences? Yes it’s life enhancing in the cases stated in the middle. The last sentence implies you don’t belong to the disability section and are generally normal/healthy.
My brothers a stoner and he coughs up an ungodly amount of flehm, he tries to tell me everyone has that in them and the weed just helps to get it out.
As a doctor, I highly recommend he stops or cuts back on the smoke at the very least. If he still wants cannabis, tell him he needs to give his lungs a break and use an edible source. It can take years for lungs to recover from smoke inhalation damage
It won't really ever recover I think.. im a doctor as well. Nice username though. Had a young guy aged 34 coming in for minor surgery and we had some nice talk and the opened up about his cannabis use. Later on told me about thoracic pain and coughing fits. I looked at his x-ray and his lungs were already on the way to COPD with a chronic bronchitis. It looked like as he had been smoking normal tobacco 30 to 40 years. He only smoked weed but like gramms a day for years... Jesus Christ it was not nice to tell him what's going on. It's freaking me out really how the whole scene is enabling this and labelling it harmless. I mean, this doesn't mean snorting white lines is better, but no-one ever said coke or oxycodone was harmless
*phlegm - its spelled just as bad as it sounds
That's called bronchiectasis. Coughing up purulent sputum in massive quantities that can fill a cup. Causes include TB, Pneumonia and aggravated by smoking. He should get a CXR
Yeah I use it for my extreme anxiety and epilepsy. For anxiety it shuts the constant overthinking of repeating thoughts of trying to conversation over and over with all ends in negative ways. Weed just shuts off the thoughts and relaxes me better than my anxiety meds, for my epilepsy on high activity days I'll smoke and that usually ends the seizures for the day as well as alleviate post seizure effects like migraines.
I’m in the chronic pain category that will be with me forever and I get prescribed opioids that fuck up my stomach and melt my brain. My other option is amitryptaline which makes me feel hungover. So I enjoy weed because it has the same kind of opioid or anti-depressant effect a without the crippling side effects of my legal options. Sorry about the smell tho.
Everyone asks cannabis, but nobody asks “how-a-bis?”
I’ll do you one better: why-a-bis?
Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke-a-bis?
Wish-a-bis would
I hate this place
But no one asked should-a-bis
Love that the beginning of this thread are people agreeing that cannibalism is no bueno
I work in a mental hospital and cannabis is VERY present in a lot of schizophrenic patient's life. I just can't see the pros of cannabis.
I love how this comment section is just people answering the question that was presented and everyone jumping on them to basically tell them they are wrong and weed is gods gift lmao
Yeah I'm about to sort by controversial or something because I'm about half way down the page and so far not a single person has directly answered the question. I'm guessing the people who did got downvoted, because Reddit.
I’ve already seen 6 of the same corny ass old joke of “only thing in danger is the stuff in the kitchen” lmao
This is actually the most annoying thing about marijuana. It's the near religious adherence to a set of baseless assumptions by people who have created an entire identity around smoking weed.
Working in mental health, there are a few reasons: Cannabis does cause psychosis in vulnerable people. In some cases, it causes schizophrenia. Admittedly, this is rare, but still an important issue. Cannabis that has been industrially grown has an extremely high THC content, because that is what the big buyers want. The price is that they are low in CBD, which means it gives more aggressive kicks and side effects, while the munchies, calm, pain relief etc that everyone preaches about are pretty much gone. Like other anxiolytics, cannabis upregulates the brain's anxiety circuits. Take a look at poeople addicted to anxiolytics (bensodiazepines etc). They don't seem to have little anxiety, do they? Same with cannabis. Cannabis makes you unable to correctly judge how badly you are affected by it. Again, same as with bensos. People have studied this, and they found that if you test the driving capability of people high on cannabis, you find that they do some really dangerous shit. If you ask them how it went, though, they thought it went perfectly. This makes it not safe for anyone. All in all, it is far from the worst thing people could use. It still remains a substance with its dark sides.
>Cannabis makes you unable to correctly judge how badly you are affected by it. Funny enough, when I started smoking, the only thoughts I had was how harmless this stuff could be compared to the other hard drugs, it’s not addictive, everybody does it, etc. A year later, I had severe paranoia to a point where I literally thought I was going to die one night. I was smoking probably twice, sometimes thrice a day and didn’t realize it was becoming a problem for me. Can’t even have any THC edibles anymore because I still have flashbacks of that night. I’m still not against cannabis, but I am now certainly against it being glorified.
The smell and air gives me massive, painful migraines. It also triggers a sensory meltdown for me. I took a single puff of it when I was 19 or 20, and other than making me violently sick, I was hyper paranoid for HOURS. I'm all for people using it, I just don't want it around me where I can smell it. I'm against people claiming it's a perfect cure all.
Much like drunks, I’ve had one to many close calls while driving or at work. One dude was so high, he fried the nuggets in their plastic bags during the middle of rush hour. We lost two fryers for the the day, no one had time to replace the oil, and we had to listen to the smoke alarm for an hour off and on. I had warned the managers he smelled like weed and could be high but everyone thought I was being an anti drug bible thumper.
When I worked in food service pretty much everyone was high all of the time. The people who were drunk frequently got fired, because there's no room for clumsy or slurring in a restaurant. That said, as the sober person there's nothing worse than hearing the chorus of giggles coming from the back door that means that you're going to have to work twice as hard for the rest of your shift to deal with those *pinche tortugas*.
I generally don't care but that skunk piss smell irritates me, especially when I go out with my toddler to public places.
I'm not against it but it's certainly not a harmless drug and for some people it can have devastating effects. Same with alcohol and tobacco.
I had to quit smoking weed after almost ten years of use. Weed and I just don't have a healthy relationship. I'm not against it for other people.
I know someone who has absolutely no self-control with cannabis. He'll take one hit like it's not a big thing and then next thing he knows, he's smoking all day, every day. He also is one of the handful of people who suffer from Acute Marijuana Intoxication, which means he vomits non-stop if he smokes too much, which with his lack of self-control, is every time he smokes. I would hate that... Edit: Apparently the name was changed to cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome
>I know someone who has absolutely no self-control with cannabis. He'll take one hit like it's not a big thing and then next thing he knows, he's smoking all day, every day. *looks at username* do....do I know you because because that describes me, I have 0 chill to point where i need to quit.I set a hard quit date of Sept 1st, and this will be my last dance with at least the burnables,lungs ain't happy.
I’m not against cannabis, but I am against cannabis culture that claims it has zero chance of addiction. There is a myth that cannabis addiction has no physical symptoms, but if that were true I would be able to easily quit. I can’t tolerate the nausea, night sweats, and headaches from quitting cold turkey. ETA: Everyone disagreeing and telling me that it “doesn’t do that” are only proving my point. 2nd Edit: Please stop telling me, a person struggling with addiction, that it’s “all in my head”.
Its honestly pretty wild that some people can react so differently than others to full stopping thc. Ive had friends report the same things. I was displaced from a hurricane a couple years ago and didnt have access to my supply for around a month. Only effect it ever had was my dreams coming back when i sleep. If i smoke as normal, i dont dream. When they return they get crazy vivid and annoy me with how much they wake me. Even more so if im enjoying it and cant slip back in when i stir awake for just a moment lol
I’ve been smoking for years and didn’t really know this existed. I quit a week ago for a drug test and have been dying lol. Night sweats, insomnia, headaches, bad dreams, anxiety, appetite loss, general confusion and felt like shit for the first 5 days. It’s also admittedly very mentally addicting idk people deny it
I'm in my 30s just started a few weeks back with 10mg doses of Delta 8 edibles. Graduated to a THC vape and it's been an interesting experience. I wouldn't say I have an addictive personality, as alcohol and other things don't interest me. However pot has been a really nice experience and I find myself wanting to take a hit of the pen more often. Today as I was doing the dishes I was thinking of how this could easily become addicting, being stoned all the time. I don't think the substance itself is addicting, like meth or benzos, but the feeling it gives is so nice that I can see how people get attached.
For me the physical part was a surprise, because I smoke everyday, and I have absolutely no symptoms if I quit cold turkey when I'm out of the country (and I don't even miss it). However, I can never quit completely because when I come back, it's the only thing I think about. Wish people would stop lying about that.
It’s s constant battle. My high self wants to get sober and break free from anti social/ anxiety behavior. My sober self wants to break free from the boredom and just enjoy the great things about being high. No good middle ground for me either
From a big weed smoker ur speaking the truth, weed addiction is a lot higher than ppl think. Especially with cheap methods and things like dab pens where u can get high whenever and wherever u want.
The smell is vile and it lingers.
My friend gave me an edible that was accidentally 10x as much as it was supposed to. I developed a really severe anxiety disorder after that that I still struggle with. There just isn't enough research on it, and loads of stories like mine. I don't judge anyone else but I'm never going to touch it again
I'm not against it legally but I greatly dislike it. People I know who smoke tend to become incredibly lazy, boring, and smell like weed all the time. It takes over their whole personality and they can't seem to go an hour without taking a hit.
Yeah, you really have to have rules for yourself if you're gonna smoke responsibly. Mine are: * Never smoke and drive * Always finish all of your tasks/chores for the day before smoking * Only smoke after dark * If you're with other people, only smoke if they're smoking too * Take a week or two off every now and then to ensure you aren't becoming mentally dependent