Smoking a joint before session? Frowned upon?

[QUOTE=elliemay;3737590]This is all frightening to me. How do you guys get to therapy? Public transportation? I'm all about mitigating anxiety, just please don't drive. Your relief may be putting a lot of people (including yourself) at risk.
QUOTE]

Agreed, no one should drive impaired. The beauty of pot is that while on one hand it slows your reaction speeds, on the other hand it makes you more sleepy, lazy, and cautious. The best way to spot a stoned driver is to look for the car going 15 or more under the speed limit. But, on the bright side the stoned driver is a rare sight. Most stoned people order food to be delivered, they are lazy and don't have any desire to leave home, LOL.

I sometimes smoke a little somewhat shortly before going to therapy, but don't feel its appropriate to get stoned for that so no I would not smoke a whole joint more like a small bowl if I am feeling especially nervous that way the therapist can see what symptoms I am having but I am mellow enough to explain things as clearly as I can due to lack of racing thoughts. Also I might end up going off on some tangent about off topic things which is fine for more casual conversation but have to focus on the issues in therapy.

I wonder how people feel about people driving on say, anti-anxiety medication. If I drove i do not think I would do so if I took any valium for anxiety makes me kinda space out a bit more so than I already do. But for all I know some people do drive on their anti-anxiety medication and are fine doing so but could still get a DUI if the medication is determined to be the cause of impairment should they drive in an impaired manner(if I understand right).

I'd be too paranoid he'd be able to smell it on my clothes, lol. I'd never admit to it though, I know my T and he'd frown on it. I doubt he would kick me out but I'd hate to disappoint him. Personally, I think if someone is feeling anxious they should work with that anxiety and not try to mask it.

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It's illegal in my country, and I don't think I've ever met anybody who has used it (and have no idea what it smells like or how one can tell that someone has been using.) I understand that there are medicinal uses, like pain alleviation, that are more than reasonable. But I would never for a second contemplate using it, for any reason, myself. It's not any kind of moral statement, it's just something I would never do, even if I knew how.

You raise a valid point. I take xanax for the past 14 years. When I was first prescribed it my pdoc said to not drive until I had I had taken it for awhile and was familiar if/how it impaired me. I am okay driving on the xanax but some other meds that I take at night (neurontin and clozapine) do impair my alertness and I cannot drive after taking them.

I have a prn .25Mg xanax. Had it since July '13. Doesn't impair. Can function. The anxiety, itself can be debilitating.

I implied, in an earlier post, the state of Colorado, although mj is legal, has tests to determine if under influence of mj. Yeah, it's legal, but like alcohol, it comes with an expectation of responsibility. Oh, and many employers don't hire mj users. Go figure.

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I do not see how you can in one sentence acknowledge that it hinders your ability to drive, then disagree with the statement that it hinders your ability to drive.

I know people who drive drunk, never been in an accident, never killed anyone, or got hurt themselves. It doesn't mean it's a good idea. It just means they are lucky, and do not make good decisions.

I think most wouldn't encourage it for legal reasons, especially if you're driving. But if they don't know and all it does is relax you then it's probably no different from taking a (low dose) benzo before hand.

I've driven after taking a low dose of klonipin and been fine, but only if I've had crippling anxiety.

You mentioned you know longer do it because you have children..why is that?? Not being snarky but just curious

I know I trust my source and my own gardening more than I trust pharmaceutical companies.

Correct, the biggest why would be because it is illegal and I enjoy having custody of my child . I also don't want my child to grow up thinking that it is ok to self medicate. I want something different for her then what I grew up with. I rarely even drink alcohol now, and when I do it is never more then one drink.

I acknoledged that it likely did, correct. I can argue that it didn't hinder my ability to drive, because I lived my entire life (work, school, driving, et. all.) in a marijuana induced haze. When one learns to drive stoned it can be an incredibly interesting experience driving sober.

My sister told me yesterday that a T has the right (and that they most likely will) to terminate the session and overall therapy if you come in impaired in any way, shape, or form.

Now...she's also an ex-heroin user, so she's a bit extreme. She states this happened to her. She was probably strung out. And could also be over-exaggerating. Do you really think EVERY T would be this rigid, or is it still a case by case basis? Again, I am just talking about the small stuff. Even alcohol I think is worse (than MJ), but that is all opinion.

The ones I see and the other two I have seen in the past always seemed to think people coming in stoned was not a huge deal.

Case by case, certainly. Way too much variation between therapists, clients, treatment methods, circumstances, for you to get a correct answer about what your therapist would do if you came in stoned.

Are you trying to work up the courage to discuss your issues/transference w/him?

Yes. Though I've discussed them before, I can just never talk about the deep feelings as to *why*. I mean I feel guilty talking about stuff like this because it's like it derails the session. It's important, though!

So yeah, okay...I know going in stoned isn't the best idea, but my session is tonight, and he still never responded to my text about his e-mail address. I feel completely rejected. I thought maybe just going in with a tiny little buzz might help me to loosen up, as I get a little more chatty and open. I usually don't have a problem being chatty/open with him, but lately there is a strain on our relationship, thanks to-- you guessed it, me and my transference antics.

I was obviously dancing around this topic a little but I guess from reading my posts enough you know that I was actually considering it, maybe a little, haha. (also I'm fairly certain he smokes himself, as he seems more knowledgeable about it than I do; not that that justifies anything!!)