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More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

theatlantic.com

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Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#251

Post by dgzl »

loblollyboy wrote: post #219
01100011 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your choice. If you feel it's not holding you back then go for it. IMO, pot is great when you're stuck in a situation in life which you can't escape for other factors. It can make a bad situation tolerable. IME, pot increases your tactical thinking skills while reducing your strategic thinking ability. For instance, I spent years as a programmer doing well in my job while I was high all the time. It was great during…

How did you manage to stay so high at work?

As long as you a) have experience being stoned in public, and b) don't smell like burnt flower, it's not too difficult to fly under the radar. Just try not to talk with people, however if you do, I've learned that overloading a person's mind distracts them enough to not pay attention to your slightly glassy eyes. Basically: do your job and ask them to do theirs.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#252

Post by heurist »

mylons wrote: post #190
heurist wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the worst change I made after I began regularly smoking was ceasing my regular workouts. I felt that I was making more intellectual and emotional progress with regular meditation while high than I was with my body during workouts, which I struggled with at the time for various reasons. My life has become much busier since I began smoking (much of which I positively attribute to the creativity I felt while smo…

the pot doesn't have anything to do with you ceasing your workouts. the brasilian jiu-jitsu community has an incredible high # of regular users, while high.

It didn't make me stop exercising, no. I was dealing with some undiagnosed health issues that made my workouts exceptionally unproductive and chose to spend more time writing poetry, painting, and journaling while high instead of continuing my workouts. I felt I was making more personal progress with those than with exercise, and that being creative and productive was a better use of my time and energy.

After ending my five year exercise habit it became a lot harder to start exercising again, and brain fog and laziness began setting in. The highs also got a lot duller and less productive, and I subsequently began seeking the highs I knew from when I was in good health which led me down the wrong path for a while. I'm not blaming marijuana for this in any way, just acknowledging that I stopped exercising when I started smoking, and that some physical/mental health issues I've had since then most likely exist because I haven't been exercising.

In other words, putting psychoactive chemicals in your brain is a big deal and you should try to establish strong personal health and wellness routines before you begin doing it, and then prioritize those routines above the chemical habit.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#253

Post by bihnkim »

psychedelic wrote: post #237
01100011 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went back after nearly 2 years clean. I don't recommend it. Once again I'm lacking in mental energy. I'm all for MJ if you need it, but I think a lot of us are fooling ourselves into thinking it's benign. Sure, it's better than alcohol, but I don't think that's a useful benchmark. Sobriety can be boring, but until someone invents a better drug I think it's my only option until I retire.

As someone who has never smoked, I feel like this is the argument I always had with my friends who all have/do. Ultimately, their argument for smoking basically boiled down to the lack of scientific evidence that there are lasting consequences and that it was nowhere near as bad as alcohol. My argument was that there was a lack in scientific evidence, and that comparing the utility to alcohol was stupid.

then that's a pretty ironic username for ya!

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#254

Post by kenshen »

insickness wrote: post #17

In the past I was addicted to pot. I was addicted in the sense that pretty much everything felt better when I was high. I was more relaxed and had less anxiety. Sex was better. Food tasted better. I was more creative. I thought about much deeper things. I spent less time online and in front of screens. The biggest downside for me--and the reason I ended up quitting--was that my sober life just sucked in comparison. I…

> I wasn't as ambitious. I was less social. In other words, it made me feel fine just hanging out in my apartment doing nothing.

Wow. I just realized that's been my life for the past few years and I don't smoke. I might need to change something...

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#255

Post by fakeuser767676 »

Prozac and related make me violent, and it's been prescribed to me.

Claritin-D might as well be Meth to me, but it's the only thing that clears my sinuses. This is OTC.

I live in a legal state. I vape a heavy indica strain near nightly, and a gram lasts me almost two months. I'm a one-hitter, MAYBE two if it's a weekend evening. ALL this does is keep me from aching (52, athletics and a few car crashes have me a mess of broken bones and torn stuff), and allow me to sleep better.

I was the most anti-weed person ever when in my teens and 20s, I destroyed several relationships because of it. Decades of traditional painkillers, and current doctors who want me on opiods gave me the idea. Why not? The last three years I've felt better than any time in the past 20.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#256

Post by [deleted] »

psychedelic wrote: post #237
01100011 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went back after nearly 2 years clean. I don't recommend it. Once again I'm lacking in mental energy. I'm all for MJ if you need it, but I think a lot of us are fooling ourselves into thinking it's benign. Sure, it's better than alcohol, but I don't think that's a useful benchmark. Sobriety can be boring, but until someone invents a better drug I think it's my only option until I retire.

As someone who has never smoked, I feel like this is the argument I always had with my friends who all have/do. Ultimately, their argument for smoking basically boiled down to the lack of scientific evidence that there are lasting consequences and that it was nowhere near as bad as alcohol. My argument was that there was a lack in scientific evidence, and that comparing the utility to alcohol was stupid.

[deleted]

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#257

Post by [deleted] »

froogie wrote: post #179
dgzl wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I've said in another post, I smoke about everyday, but I don't have any problem pursuing my goals, producing creative works, or excelling in my career. The fine line you're talking about does exist, but it doesn't have anything to do with the frequency of usage. Responsibility can be achieved with or without pot.

Edit: If this sounds like a off-place rant, it was not my intent. :) If you haven't smoked from dawn till dusk day in day out, you can't really say people can achieve responsibility with it. What I am saying is not to disagree, but to state that if you're a person who ends up smoking 12-16 times a day, there isn't much willpower left to handle anything but immediate responsibilities. You may not use much, and you may…

[deleted]

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#258

Post by [deleted] »

dgzl wrote: post #235
froogie wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edit: If this sounds like a off-place rant, it was not my intent. :) If you haven't smoked from dawn till dusk day in day out, you can't really say people can achieve responsibility with it. What I am saying is not to disagree, but to state that if you're a person who ends up smoking 12-16 times a day, there isn't much willpower left to handle anything but immediate responsibilities. You may not use much, and you may…

Your message did seem off-putting at first, but I appreciate the clarification. > If you haven't smoked from dawn till dusk day in day out There have been several times in my life where this was exactly my behavior, and truthfully, they weren't my best times. In fact I'm not at all proposing that endless and mindless medication, or even limited and conscious medication doesn't have adverse side-effects. That would be…

[deleted]

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#259

Post by pmarreck »

slowandlow wrote: post #66
insickness wrote: post #17

In the past I was addicted to pot. I was addicted in the sense that pretty much everything felt better when I was high. I was more relaxed and had less anxiety. Sex was better. Food tasted better. I was more creative. I thought about much deeper things. I spent less time online and in front of screens. The biggest downside for me--and the reason I ended up quitting--was that my sober life just sucked in comparison. I…

> The other downsides were that I wasn't as sharp mentally when I was sober. I wasn't as ambitious. I was less social. In other words, it made me feel fine just hanging out in my apartment doing nothing. On the balance that made pot a negative for me. This is exactly why I quit. I found myself not comprehending technical conversations as well as I used to while sober. Hanging out at home doing nothing when you REALLY…

This is something I had a serious problem with. First times I got high I realized I would forget the beginning of sentences by the time I got to the end of them so I basically could not form a complex thought. And I found this a hugely negative aspect. The relaxation/easygoing/laugh-at-everything/everything-tastes-amazing factors were not good enough to justify basically being mentally-handicapped.

The other problem was the hunger. Oh my god, the hunger. Food was the best thing ever... which is bad for a guy battling weight gain ever since 18. I knew this wasn't my drug when I ate an entire pizza by myself after smoking up and my stomach absolutely hated me the entire next day. The pot-using crowd I was with another time was highly entertained when I demanded to see the chef to compliment him in person on his risotto, though. :)

So I went back to my favorite mind-altering substance- A good whiskey or a couple of dark beers. :)

But to each their own. I do think that pot users, like gamers (note: is a gamer), need to be careful that their utilization does not impede other important/impactful areas of their lives too much.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#260

Post by emodendroket »

froogie wrote: post #179
dgzl wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I've said in another post, I smoke about everyday, but I don't have any problem pursuing my goals, producing creative works, or excelling in my career. The fine line you're talking about does exist, but it doesn't have anything to do with the frequency of usage. Responsibility can be achieved with or without pot.

Edit: If this sounds like a off-place rant, it was not my intent. :) If you haven't smoked from dawn till dusk day in day out, you can't really say people can achieve responsibility with it. What I am saying is not to disagree, but to state that if you're a person who ends up smoking 12-16 times a day, there isn't much willpower left to handle anything but immediate responsibilities. You may not use much, and you may…

On the other hand, participating in online forums can have similar effects.
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