the "good" and the "bad" effects of weed

[Rez]

I been doing some thinking and to follow on from Twicthe's thread about age and the conversation between myself and 711...

I said that I :

had major doubt about just how weed has improved my life... there are two sides to the weed coin... My only advice would be to try and enjoy both sides. Respect the weed, don't "want" it. Enjoy the good times the weed brings you and appreciate just how good life is without it. The biggest dissalusion weed has given me is that life is shit without it... well, it's not really.

I actually have rarely smoked at all (maybe only a couple times a week) in the past couple months, but every day still gets better. Believe me, I am fully enjoying my life. =D I just also happen to like finding new and more fun ways to help enjoy it.

so, 711...and eveybody else; how much do you smoke and how often. Pure joints or weed mixed with tobacco, joints, bongs, pipes...?

I know we've down this kinda thread before but this has a twist... I'm kinda thinking the weed is having a negative impact on my life...

I started getting into weed as aleeping aid. My teenage experience with UK hash (soapbar) just made me feel really tired. I therefor never bothered trying any kind of cannabis until about 2/3 years ago (I'm now 36)... I would smoke a small Rizla with a 50/50 mix of baccy and weed, good skunk- always. One small joint and I had to get comfortable and horizontal... I accepted the fact that I would wake up on the sofa in the middle of the night but getting more than half a decent night deep sleep was an improvement.

Over two - three years my consumption has increased... an 1/8th (3.5g) would last me 4 -6 weeks Now, well I buy a 1/4oz (7g) bag and if I get more than 7 days out of it - I'm lucky... about a gram a night... how could an 1/8th have ever lasted so long OR how can I smoke a 1/4oz a week ???

SO, the point of this thread is am I going out of my head ??

I can't believe I'm alone in my questioning of the benfit weed brings me. I know I have such a wondeful time when I've smoked... music sounds better, food and drink tastes better, everything smells... good ? I'm comfortable, content and life is so damn good... BUT I need the smoke weed to feel this...

For me, I'm about to try a break from weed... I might document my feelings and progress... Might help as I could publically vent some steam...

I want to "know" that life can be as good as it feels when I've had me "fix"... Once I've confirmed that, I can have a big fat joint to celebrate my findings...

Anybody else wanna share thier consumption growth rate and over what time length... and any doubters out there every felt like giving it all up...? Is that a part of "long term" tokin...?

Sorry for yet another smoke fuelled thread... I sit here thinking and I start writing...

Rez

[mazdog]

For me its become a part of my life. I've only been a smoker for about 9 years now (started at age 17), and other than a few small issues herb has never done anything negative for me.

I insist that i am not 'addicted' to herb but i do love it with a passion. Some people work hard all day and just want to come home and have a beer (my father for example). I just want to work hard all day and come home and relax with a joint. Alcohol makes me fell sloppy and at volumes i surely can start to get obnoxious and beligerent. Weed is essentially the opposite. When sober i have a fairly cynical and 'angry' kinda attitude, herb takes the edge off this and just helps me relax and not worry about all the bullshit (that i percieve around me).

A few years back a had to take break from smoking (fuck the govt!!) for a few months. I thought this would be disasterous and was fairly worried about it beforehand. Decided a day to stop and then went cold turkey on that day. First week or two was kinda shitty, and mainly boring, what the hell do i do with all this time. After that it was fine, sure i missed it but i surely didn't 'need' it.

So to you i say... if you are not fully enjoying it, take a break and see how you feel. If you like life better without then do what you gotta do.....to each their own. Just make sure you are deciding for YOU, not for society or anyone else.

edit: so i voted "mostly good", there is a dowside to everything. Not much one to herb for me.

Also i've been smoking for about 9 years or so. Heavy/daily smoker for about 7 of those (minus a small break here an there, and a 4-5 monther 'imposed' on me).

For me can't see a legitmate reason to stop anytime soon. Safer than aspirin, less addictive than coffee......how can you go wrong with that?

[711]

I say mostly good, a little bad, but in reality, it's more of a 95/5 ratio, as the only bad things to have ever comes from my smoking pot are from other people being upset about it, but, they get over it, so nobody is hurt. =D

I usually smoke with the most elaborate thing available, if there's a 4 man shisha on the table, I'll insist on using that over the roller, but honestly I'll take whatever I can get.

As for mixing cannabis with other things, pretty much just no. Personally, I despise tobacco and alcohol. Tobacco is a nasty deadly thing, and I only indulge with the rare cigar (not some cheap philly blunt, either, if I smoke a cigar, I want something nice, slow burning, and tasty). As for alcohol, it used to intrigue me, but I realized it's just another poison. It makes people feel stupid, aggressive and irrational. (Besides, if ever I mix pot and alky, I have a whitey, and that's never fun. =D)

But for the big question, how pot has affected my life... it's pretty much been nothing but good to me. When I first tried it, I was depressed, down, maybe even self-loathing, but weed helped me to relax. And once I'd learned to relax, take it slow and enjoy life, it ocurred to me that life wasn't meant to be lived how I was living it.

Ever since I first tried weed, I've been more social, relaxed, outgoing, open, accepting, and generally all around friendly. You'll rarely catch me without a smile on my face anymore. And no, it's not because I'm always high. I hardly smoke compared to most of you guys, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it. I don't just smoke for the buzz/high, I smoke to remind me that life really is grand, and I should be living it to it's fullest, we all should.

[cannibistourist]

ive always heard that if you think ya have a problem maybe ya do. But i have to say i've been exactly where you have been and a lot of us probally have. dont worry rez its all in your head im sure youll be just as happy sober and just think after the break it will take less to get you stoned ! but in the meantime try some tai chi are something else relaxing as you will be a bit snippy!


im currently only smokin the odd joint but for a very long while i was "that high guy" wake and bake, school and bake, bake and bake, etc, etc. and this was all great fun but then deceided to slow and eventually stop for work reasons and living arrangements and i was still the same awkwardly funny guy

[Doog]

All in all, my experiences with hash/weed have always been good, I don't miss it when I don't have it (which is most of the time), but I've become much more of a boozer these days anyway.

I can take it or leave it, no problems at all. All about mind over matter.

Once upon a time.................

I made a good few friends when SB was widely available where I stay a few years back. Was great going to work knowing that you had a little something to unwind with when you got back.

We would often say things like "I'm not gonna do this for the rest of my life, this is just a phase because we're young and we don't really have the money to do anything else"

Then the supplies dried up and I turned more and more to drinking in bars as a way to relax and those friends I made soon disappeared off the radar.

The drinking did bring about a lot of new friendships, basically because I was going to new places and I was something new for the regulars going in there with my accent and stuff. It's amazing how people are more eager to know you if you've got something that nobody else around has.

Then I did the Ibiza bar crawls (also Mallorca once) and decided never again to embark on a drinking holiday.

I started making fresh enquiries into the availability of hash and was able to get a fairly regular supply and that's when i decided that it was time to check out Amsterdam as a holiday destination.

Went for the weekend at first (March 2004) then for the week 5 months later.

I was still getting supplies and so I didn't really think about going back too much until everything started drying up again to the extent where it was non existent in my neck of the woods.

And so began my membership of this forum, which spawned the trip 27th March - 3rd April 2006 adventure and there's a sequel due out round about 20th April 2007.

[DrGonzo]

I can't see many detrimental effects apart from I put off some things that I really should get done.... mind you I'm a lazy twat at the best of times!

I think the benefit sin any case far outway the costs..... far far outway the costs...... far far far outway the costs..... I think you get it by now!

I like me better when I've had a toot.... and that's good enough for me.

I also like to drink, a lot, too much probably but rarely mix the two.

I don't like me much when I'm drunk.

[back2thedam]

know what u mean DrG, im an instant asshole if you add alcohol! much easier to deal with when ive had a smoke

[den]

I remember the convo i had with my best mate at the time we both started smoking weed. My first joint was a bit of nefertiti black brought back from amstrdam by a freinds bro. It was 18 years ago and i was 11 at the time. Shortly after a whitey my mate turns round wipes the sick from his mouth and said to me. Do you think you will be smoking this stuff wen your 30?. Hell yeh!! was my answer.

Ive always been a highly strung person easy 2 jump down peoples throats at the slightest hint of an argument. but 11 years ago i made a choice 2 do something i enjoyed doing and see myself continuing to do so for the unforseeable future. Smoking cannabis does make me a bit more forgetful but i can put up with that.
I do not take prescription painkillers infact i do not like taking medication of any description wot so ever. I have personally seen a lot of my freinds and family die due to drugs and beleive it or not i,ts been the prescription drugs that have caused the most damage.
I am sorry to say that even a 2 year spell in the forces did not stop me from indulging in the plant i love most.

Rez

Peace.

[DC]

At the end of it all......Drugs are bad mmmkay!.

[Twitch]

Since I notice my name in this post I feel that I should respond. I have been smoking for over 40 years and the primary negative effects I feel from smoking are still the same as always, short term memory loss and sleepiness. ( which my leagal medications also contribute to ) I am a fairly heavy smoker, not because I need more and more to get me high, but because it effects my life in ways I enjoy. Helps calm me down, am rather hyper, makes me a little more talkative and less shy and just seems to add a certain spice to life. After a seizure it helps relax muscles. I have gone with out plenty of times, sometimes by choice and sometimes not,but after the first few days of being " on edge" things are o.k.. Have more trouble going w/out cigs. I used to do an oz. (28-30 grams) about once a week, but since purchasing Fat Freddy I'm down to about an oz. every 2 week. I am not working ( on disability) so am home alot,which contributes to amount I smoke, but I don't drink, which is a major accomplishment considering my family. Anyway, just had to get my two cents in. p.s. smoke pure no tobacco.

[Rez]

OK... I've had some time to think and with regard to my weed situation, I've just gone past the "running low" stage that I'de normally re-stock at, I'm down to my last 2 pipes worth... so tonight will be my last smoking night for ... a while. My target is one calendar month, so that's 15th July (after tonight). Once I've gone a month without weed I'de like to get wasted to celebrate.

What I've got to achieve is :

The ability to be just has happy as I am when I'm stoned/high but without any weed.

I've been week (lack of willpower) over the last few months and as such I've not been bothered to do lots of stuff I should have done... decorating, paperwork, gardening... normal stuff that has taken second place over getting wasted.

Once I've had a little detox I hope that, 1: the weed seems stronger because i'm not used to it. 2: I can enjoy being wasted AND being sober... AND not be moody or resentful because I'm not wasted... (that seems to be too often these days ) ... This has been one of my realisations about the weed... I love using it and know I am not addicted to it because I can choose if/when I smoke it... When I'm prevented from smoking when I want to, I get moody... My Mrs has told me this too often and when I break the news that I'm out of stock and not re-stocking for a month, well... she'll be pleased. I look for somebody to blame for not being able to smoke, trying to release the anger thats building up... and the desire for a smoke to calm down and chill out... that would be so nice at that time... then I get even more wound up because the smoke that would end this rage is not happening and I then flip out... with desire / WANT

I'm (for the first time in 2-3 years), "happy" to be out of stock.

I know that I'm going to have a few hard days/evenings but on the flip side, I should be up a little earlier in the mornings (I usually enjoy being wasted I stay up until 1am or 2am and then when the alarm goes of at 6:15am I'm either still wasted or just cant get up) and out walking with the dog before work... no more late night munching so I might even loose a few pounds... and not forgetting a happy Mrs...

There is good news and bad news though...

The good news : I will 100% definately be returning to cannabis use after the month detox but I aim to use alot less, maybe Friday nights & Saturday days and/or nights and maybe Sunday days (?) that way I'l also be fresh for work...

The bad news : I will be using the forum just as much as normal... this might be my only connection to weed... I'll be thinking about it the whole time, usually do anyway, BUT I'm not going to get stressed about not having it. In fact I want to be able to be "me" and looking forward to being "stoned me" at the weekends...

Now my only question is... should I document my progress ? One of my reasons for considering it is because I cant remember reading many "negative" posts about cannabis use/withdrawal... I don't want to paint a bad picture in anyway but some good "honest" negative & positive coments could prove to be informative and possibly useful... OR should I just get on with it and shut TFU ?

Rez

[DrGonzo]

Rez sounds to me like all your problems arrise through not smoking!

[Rez]

Rez sounds to me like all your problems arrise through not smoking!

Man, I've been barking up the wrong tree !!

Maybe I should give up "not smoking" ... I had a week off work last week and did the wake & bake from Tuesday morning until Sunday night... It was a complete blur but I'm glad I did it...

[Twitch]

Good luck my man. I hope you accomplish your goals and maybe realise that in the end it is all in your head. I really mean the good luck part am not being feceitious Keep on posting though, would miss your comments, which appear very rational and lucid, no matter what you may be smoking. p.s. I am considering taking a week off b4 going to Amster for 420.

[Doog]

I took six months off before my last trip and MAN DID I FEEL IT.

Rez, I hope you manage to give yourself the break (not for as long a mine) but it is amazing how you change when you go from being regular smoker to non smoker.