Marijuana?!

I smoked once or more a day for two years or so. It started off being great--as a freshman in college it was a different experience than I'd ever had, and on top of already existing anxiety and depression it was great at helping me relax and focus. Around the middle of the second year though I started smoking 4 or 5 times a day; on winter break that year all I did was sit in my room, smoke, watch youtube videos, and smoke again whenever I started feeling sober. It was a big problem, but I didn't realize it at the time. I had a few very close calls with the law.

It was extremely addictive for me. Not physically so much as psychologically but for me that almost seemed worse. The last few times I smoked I got too high & had extreme paranoia and anxiety to the point where I couldn't do anything besides cry or sleep. I was extremely lucky to have supportive friends and a boyfriend who cheered me on the whole time--my greatest ally was my best friend/smoking buddy who invited me to do things with her without weed and was careful not to smoke around me. I'm currently 5 months clean and I still think about smoking every once in a while, like how nice it felt to listen to my favorite music and smoke and relax. My lungs were not holding up very well by the end of my smoking though, and especially with the horrible anxiety and paranoia my mental health was suffering greatly. Quitting was very hard. I gave all of my things to my friend (who uses them frequently and appreciates my "donations" ) but even then I still had cravings enough to make me miserable and depressed.

I know that it can be very useful for mental illnesses, physical illnesses, etc. but for me after a while, whether it was because of addiction, the frequency with which I smoked, addictive personality, etc., it was more harmful than beneficial. Additionally, I think that edible marijuana products are the way to go rather than smoked forms because that way people can get the benefits they need, the positive effects will last a lot longer and be cheaper overall than smoking, and there is no awful lung or heart damage from smoking. As a whole I'm in full agreement with medical legalization, but as I am against cigarettes being legal I'm not sure how I feel about recreational marijuana at the time--after seeing how it affected my life I don't want addiction to be a problem for others, especially younger people.

Thanks for your input/perspective

I am in favour of legalisation. Coming into conflict with the forces of law and order can definitely damage your health, and criminalising a significant proportion of the population, while filling the coffers of the criminal classes, makes no sense.

But, having said that, I am also concerned that people should be properly educated about the possible negative health effects of all drug use, including marijuana.

Starting in the sixties, marijuana use came to symbolise a whole way of life and set of values and attitudes, and this mythology persists and colours thinking about what is, in reality, just another drug, and not some sort of sacrament. It is the minority who can enjoy long term medium to heavy use without it having negative side effects. And quite how the so called legal highs which have become marijuana substitutes have not caused many more major problems is a surprise to me, and perhaps an epidemic waiting to happen.

Yes, in the name of freedom, we need the right to change our brain chemistry if that is what we chose to do, but this should be undertaken in full knowledge of the facts.

3 weeks sober boom chicka bam

In a world without consequences I would smoke it every day. Alas, we don't live in such a world so I don't. I can't. Almost 10 years clean and i still miss it from time to time. I'm almost glad I live in a red state that has no intention of legalizing it anytime in the next 6,000 years.

I still smoke it and it keeps me alive through depression and anorexia. It has true medicinal value. It's God's own medicine.

F.D.

No it isn't. Its a chemical that screws up more people than it helps. Get real. Separate myth from reality.

As one who started smoking dope in the late 1960's I know exactly what I'm talking about.

I have seen the damage done. I'm glad it works for you, but you are, in the long term, the exception.

If there was a god, and (s)he had a medicine, it would be fresh air, sunshine, and laughter!

As has been pointed out before this forum's title is "Addiction" not "Self Medication". If you are abusing marijuana, then this is the place for you. If you want opinions about marijuana's medicinal value, or validation for using it, then there may be a better place for that discussion. The basic purpose here is trying to help each other with our own addictions/ abuse issues.

I used to be heavily addicted to pot. While I enjoyed it, I almost lost my job because of it. I have nothing against it though. I have more to fear from drunk drivers than high drivers.

I have been using pot to self medicate for decades, definitely not addicted to it because it is not freely available where I live and sometimes i go months without because I just cant get it. I dont crave it, I just feel a little more normal when I take it and really helps the depression. when I have it I dont binge or anything like that, I just smoke a little bit every few hours, not to get stoned because i actually hate that feeling of not being in control so I am very careful about the amount I consume. It gives me energy and motivation, the opposite of what others report.

I've been getting high for about 23 years with a 3 or 4 year break at one point. I am a pot head. I love the stuff. I spend money I don't really have on it. I use it all the time which means at work too. I am recently divorced. I stopped for the first 3 years of our marriage. After three years my H stopped his antidepressants and made our life together hell. I started smoking pot again to help deal with his mental abuse. Now he has been gone since Dec and I am still smoking. I have BPD and I have regressed big time. My T thinks that it's time to stop smoking pot. I agree but I just can't imagine never smoking again. I would like to take a break from it but nothing permanent. Anyway so now I'm going to NA but still using what I have left. Should be dry in a day or so.

Not sure if I answered your question directly but that is an honest peek into my life with weed.

I made new friends on a recent trip and they got me stoned. It had been 25 years since I'd smoked a joint and all the same successive traits came out -- loopy, spacy, brash, meditative. I felt young again and not in a good way.

They live in LA, CA with a prescription and promise plenty of pot. Ive got mixed feelings. Sure it's a sociable drug. Definitely not something I can use regularly. I'd get the urge to go back to using harder drugs.

But for them it's not a big deal. Varies for each person. Some folks find it's helpful.

There is a purpose for every substance and function in the universe.
If we do not know or respect that purpose, we will suffer.
The most widely abused and disrespected substance in the USA is food.

There is a reason why one becomes addicted to disrespectful behaviors.

How does marijuana change your perceptions on life? I've never done it, but I remember I lost a boyfriend because he would smoke, and I disapproved. I am regretting it now, but I am wondering...how does it change your perspective?

How did it negatively affect you? How long did it take for you to realize you were being affected by it negatively?

In brief, paranoia. If I were to smoke some weed now, I'd be acutely paranoid in minutes, and it is only through cannabis use that I experience such feelings. But this condition took several years to come about. At first the effects of cannabis were benign; giggles, enhanced enjoyment of music, the munchies, same as everyone else. Any feelings of paranoia were directed towards the real danger of arrest.

However, over time, over several years, the ratio of pleasure to paranoia totally changed.

But, in my experience, these feelings, this 'progress' is not unusual.

I am not an academic. I talk, mainly, from my personal experience. I am not proud to say that I started to abuse alcohol, to drink heavily. I see this behaviour in terms of self medication for depression. But, I had two friends who continued with a lifestyle of heavy cannabis use, and they both, separately, committed suicide, many years ago. And the dope, I'm convinced, and to put it mildly, didn't help. And basically, when I meet people from those days who are still puffing away, or if I have dealings with any long term potheads, it is to meet people whose minds seemed to have turned to jelly a long time ago.

I am aware of how what I am saying could be misconstrued. 'How I became an alcoholic and saved my life'. But the point I'm trying to make is, when I see cannabis being set up as some wonder drug, I feel obliged to point out that there is another side to the story.

Food is required to live, so I don't really get the concept of being addicted to it...I could see addictions to certain unhealthy foods but not just food in general. And not sure what disrespectful behaviors would be addictive...

Refined sugar is highly addictive. It is also toxic to our bodies. Obesity is an epidemic in the U.S. and the vast majority of overweight people grossly abuse their bodies by eating the wrong foods and being sedentary. Consuming harmful substances (gmo's, processed food with little nutritional value, recreational drugs, tobacco, alcohol etc.) is disrespectful to the body. People become addicted to television, overworking, oversleeping, lying, stealing, irresponsible sex, abusive relationships, self-pity, self-injurious behaviors etc...etc...etc...

Age 64. Smoked pot in late 60's, 70's, 80's, but not as much as in the 60's. I'm on bi-polar medications, and my psychiatrist said alcohol, pot, or any other drug would interfere with my BP medications. I gave it all up, including cigarettes 2.5 yrs back. My medications are working great, and would not want to mess it up.

When it comes to cigarettes, search Google - Stop smoking benefits timetable (whyquit). There the timetable shows when certain chemicals leave the body, and what parts of the body starts to heal from smoking. The first day, week, months, and years. Nicotine clears the body very soon you would see there. That's why I say avoid any nicotine patches, gum, or similar products. I stopped cold turkey, and feel so much better. Then for the very shocker, Youtube - Lung Damage

Heh, I live in Holland, so you can get genetically modified super-weed anywhere.
I was on it for years until I decided I'd had enough.
I wasn't smoking because it got me stoned anymore, but just because it was a habit.
Took me months to get off it, but when I did I felt healthier, more energetic and I didn't have this haze shrouding my thought-process all the time.
My advice is; if you light up, light a big one on rare occasions.
It will really hit you instead of making you all fuzzy all the time so you waste loads of time sitting around puffing away to no effect and getting disinterested in learning new things...