Marijuana effect

[SuperStar]

Like a few others here, I used to be a hardcore pot smoker for a couple years. I quit when I realized that it was sapping my energy and my social skills. But, I still am glad that I did smoke, and I still do it once in a while.

I agree that experiencing altered states of consciousness affect your perceptions long-term, and that's why I think having those experiences are so valuable.

The way I look at it, our perceptions of reality are not reality. Sometimes you find new information or have a new experience that changes how you look at the world from that point on. This can involve "drugs" or not. An example I like to use is that what we see with our eyes is not all of what is available for seeing. Imagine if you had another set of eyes that could see the infrared spectrum, and a third set of eyes that could see the ultraviolet spectrum of light. What we percieve as "reality" - what is really actually there, is only a small part of what we know from science to be actually there.

There are obviously unanswered questions in science, and we may never know the full nature of reality because we may never develop instruments that can detect all of it (either evolved in our bodies or second-hand through man-made objects).

The way I feel about alcohol, marijuana, and especially halucinogens is that they truly do "expand our consciousness" by showing us how we would percieve the world if the arbitrary configurations of chemical levels in our brains were different, and thus get us closer to the ever-elusive "objective reality" that so many people think they already can see.

[Caveman Joe]

Several people have raised some very interesting points in this post.
I'm a very occasional smoker - about once every couple of months, if that - and I can honestly say that I've learned where my limits are, and know my mind and body well enough to know where to draw the line. In my experience, when people run into problems with drugs it's because they either never drew that line, drew it at the wrong place, or drew it in the right place and stepped over it anyway. Now, for you, that line might be at "No drugs, ever, at all. Except drugs that are taxable, of course." For most, it's somewhere around "Once in a while." Nobody can tell you where your line is, that's something that you need to decide for yourself.
My tuppence'orth:
Marijuana, like alcohol, can provide a very valuable altered perspective that can be positive for your personal growth - when taken infrequently, and in small doses. It can stimulate creativity too, like many other drugs - how many famous artists and musicians were occasional (if not outright rampant) users of one drug or another?
But when you start being silly - when you cross the line and carry on toking or drinking even though your body is complaining - you'll be letting yourself in for a really bad time, and potentially some long-term consequences of the social, biological and mental kind.
If you can honestly say to yourself that you are able to handle using marijuana once in a while, and you know yourself well enough to make that decision and have faith in it, then go ahead and light up. You'll probably have a pretty good time, and take something positive from the experience.

Some things to consider:
According to the Wikipedia article on marijuana, there has never been a confirmed human fatality resulting from a marijuana overdose.
A comedian I once saw said something very true about this. He said that when you've had too much weed and are whiting out, the first thing that goes through your head is something like "Right. How many people have died from smoking weed... None. Oh God, I'm going to be the first! How embarrassing."
The United Kingdom decriminalised marijuana after an investigation concluded that its use was less harmful (both to the body and to society) than alcohol or tobacco.
I (and a good two thirds of people under 40 in the UK) already knew the part about marijuana being... well, I'll not say "better for you," since there's no doubt that marijuana is bad for your body, but "not quite as awful" as alcohol. The bit about tobacco surprised me, though - I guess it makes sense when you consider the chemical addiction involved, but it was still a bit of a shocker even to regular marijuana users.

Marijuana is quite a tame drug to experiment with. Unlike alcohol it has a built-in mechanism to tell you when you've had enough - namely, that you start to feel like hell and perhaps white out.
(for the uninitiated - the spinning room is your body's way of telling you that you've had enough. If you continue smoking after the room starts to spin, you may white out. Whiting out is your body's way of stamping your face with a branding iron which says "TAKE THE HINT, YOU BLOODY STONER" and then kicking you in the crotch for good measure)
Also, you might get a bit too out of it to roll another joint - in which case, you've already had far too much already.

Having said all that, remember that imbibing alcohol, marijuana, caffeine or any other drug will alter your perception, and that you cannot always be sure of the results. Remember that drugs affect the chemicals running through your brain, which can dramatically affect the way you think. If you're going to use a substance that alters the way you think, you'd damn well better treat it with the respect and caution it deserves - if you don't, sooner or later it'll hurt you, real bad.

[placebo]

One week did past since i started this thread. I've been thinking about this topic a lot during this period. I've been also thinking much (maybe too much) about PD in generally.

And yesterday i visited a friend and we smoked a joint. I didn't want to stay long at his place, i wanted to use this expirience like never before. So I said bie to him and went for a walk to my flat.
I was feeling so present while walking, like i've made a leap and finally figured it out what leap really is. Usually it takes me about 15 minutes from his place to my but that evening i felt i could walk for days. Like Forrest Gump when he started to run across the USA. With no particular reason. Just to clear my mind. When you're not high and walk down the street you probably don't think too much about strangers that are passing by. But when person is high he notices everything and has judgements over everything.

So i started to observe myself and my thoughts and try to explain them to myself on aware level.

1. I've noticed that is hard to walk towards people. Reason is that when not high and walking I always think about stuff and while being high i was present at that moment. I'm living in Now. So it is weird socializing with people who are not high. We're on different evels of awareness. And in my opinion that is the reason why many people noticed loosing social skills when they smoke weed. After explaining that to myself that walk became easier and relaxed, and passengers haven't been entering in my thoughts any more.

2. thing that i've noticed is that i was walking so fast. While other people were walking slowly (or normal speed) i was in some kind of hurry. But didn't have any reason to hurry up so it intrigued my mind. I've realized that i'm not running instead of walking only now. I'm doing that since i know that i'm alive, I was always just walking from point A to point B in a shortest possible time. And it is stupid to live like that, especially because i don't have a car and everywhere i go i walk. I was missing all that beautiful things that was happening on the streets, passengers chatting with each other, insecurities on their faces when you look them in the eyes. It was very sad thought. Thought about wasted oportunities. Then i've tried to walk slowly and it was weird in the begining but eventually i stared to enjoy and decided that this is my new tempo of living. There's no necessity for running through your life.

3. I was walking behind some young couple. They seemed to be in love, so i've decided to be a spy and listen what are they talking about. And guy was treating her like a little baby, he talked foolish acting like a 10 years old boy.
And she liked that. She liked that very much. It reminded me of David DeAngelo and Mystery and re-convinced me that is the way it should be. You must treat girls like...girls.
Do not expect them to become your friend, just play the game. Eventually one will become a firend but until then...

It was very productive evening to me and i'm sure now. I wouldn't trade ganja for anything.

[cloud]

A lot of people mentioned losing the ability to socialize when they were high, but what about socializing with other stoned people? Sharing a high is a great way to connect, if that's what you want.

What really matters when you smoke, or actually before you smoke, is your intention for smoking. What do you want to get out of the it?

I've had a lot of great realizations simply because I intended to before getting high. Maybe I would have had them anyway, but getting high makes it really easy (for me at least) to get into a flow state where ideas and realizations come quickly and easily. For example, I figured out my life purpose approximately 10 minutes after getting high, because that's what I intended to do.

But, as with most things, it is best in moderation. Many times I've gotten high and felt mentally cloudy, but that's usually because I set no intention beforehand.

I also want to add that while logical thinking may not work for you while high, that can be overcome with practice. I'm a programmer (which requires very clear, logical reasoning), and for a while I couldn't program high, but I practiced alot , and I think that made me a better programmer.

[King Of All Cosmos]

Is there really anything greater than ganja?

Let me try to address a few varying viewpoints of this topic.

• There are those who have no real experience with drugs, maybe becuase they're too young or maybe becuase they're afraid. Neutral for the most part, but probably influenced by the media and those around them.

• There are those who have dabbled in drug related things and might've tried it themselves. Against it or not, they aren't into it and don't strongly pick a side. Thus, they're probably open to either culture and are generally neutral.

• There are some who are very morally against drug use, maybe because of religion or bad personal experiences. Their beliefs are strong and they may then feel uncomfortable with those who disagree. They will advocate against drug use anytime and are unlikely to be persuaded otherwise.

• Oppositely, there are some who are self-proclaimed druggies who regularly use them. They probably are open about it, to a general social extent. To defend their own own way of life, they'll advocate drug use. They might think less of a person in the above category but, like them, are too stubborn to change their own beliefs about the subject.

(Generalizations, of course, are meant to be broken) People in the above categories are probably comfortable with their beliefs; it's what they think is right. So, what is really right? No one and everyone is right: it's purely subjective. Instead of trying to be right, why not try to pursue what's best? This is a personal development forum, after all.

[Slight topic change]

For this threads sake, let's all agree that marijuana is not dangerous for your body and does indeed provide a wonderful feeling of calm bliss/high. So marijuana can alter your brain and put you in a higher consciousness for a time being. As I ask with everything, "what's the best someone can make of this"? The answer isn't to be high every waking moment of your life and I don't think I really have to argue that point much. The truth is, that feeling doesn't last. Intellectually, people may discover things while high (some of these discoveries might also seem significant when high, then turn out to be meaningless and pointless afterwards) but these insights aren't internalized and become fleeting memories of feelings. I don't think this is at good as it gets.

I believe that a state better than the state of 'high' is naturally achieveable, which I believe to be an empowering belief. The oppositely limiting belief is that the wonderful feeling that being 'high' brings you is only achieveable through drugs, limiting effort otherwise. I think that drugs do force you into a higher consciousness but you don't go through the effective steps to get there. Consequently, you will feel different when you 'come down'. Also, being forced into a different consciousness, you will not have complete control over your thoughts or actions (I don't think truly high-conscious people always act high). Losing control over yourself in any way is an undesireable side effect, good or bad. Some might like to 'lose control' but I'd argue that real self mastery in all things means you can feel how you want, when you want. This would include the feeling of 'losing control' but intentially so, with the ability to snap out of it at will. I'm just saying that something greater can be achieved: a permanent state of consciousness with all the insight, happiness and calmness marijuana can naturally bring. This controlled and conscious state of being is a greater goal than what temporary boosts in consciousness can bring.

You could think of the drug marijuana as being to consciousness, what prozac is to general happiness. Meds like prozac can help people find hope and know that they can be happier in life. People who've been on prozac or the like will probably look back on it and say that it felt good, but not normal. Prozac is a crutch if anything becuase you can't just keep taking it forever, else you will never learn to be happy on your own. Happiness takes the development of internal skills that let you feel happy (to put it unconventionally). Prozac is a reward without the deservingness, and thus you don't learn. In the end, you can only help yourself.

Now let's flip it to consciousness and marijuana. Marijuana can make you realize that there is a higher level of consciousness out there but it won't help you learn to get there. You can't literally try to be 'high' all the time; it wouldn't be balanced to do so. Like prozac, you can't take it forever becuase I believe it won't allow you to learn to get that feeling without the drug. Ultimately, I think, a consciousness of complete personal control is a higher goal/consciousness than a consciousness with imcomplete control.

That said, and this being the forum of stevepavlina.com, I think that we should all aim for the highest level of consciousness we can. You may or may not use marijuana in your journey there, but it really should be a crutch to get there, not the preferred end result. With high conscious control, you could gain the universal love, positive calmness and profound insight of marijuana, subtract the lack of complete control and in addition to living this state all day, everyday.

(I'll admit that the flood of chemicals in your brain brought by drugs can't be naturally matched, but the feeling, though unforced, can be naturally imitated) I'd love your opinions on this idea (that means you, reader). Thrash it to bits or add to it, your choice. Maybe there's an even greater ideal?

[placebo]

Great writing King. I think that you widely described my expirience written above. Of course that permanent use can't do no good cause another subjective reality will be created. On the other side, it is interesting to know that there is actually the other side. So drug usage should be used in a way of jumping to your subconscoius. If you feel fear when high then you should know that drug isn't that who created that fear. It is you, that fear is in you but drug helped it to manifest. Important is to aknowledge that fear but not let it go with it. And then, get sober and try to kill fear.

[SuperStar]

Originally Posted by King Of All Cosmos

That said, and this being the forum of stevepavlina.com, I think that we should all aim for the highest level of consciousness we can. You may or may not use marijuana in your journey there, but it really should be a crutch to get there, not the preferred end result. With high conscious control, you could gain the universal love, positive calmness and profound insight of marijuana, subtract the lack of complete control and in addition to living this state all day, everyday.

(I'll admit that the flood of chemicals in your brain brought by drugs can't be naturally matched, but the feeling, though unforced, can be naturally imitated) I'd love your opinions on this idea (that means you, reader). Thrash it to bits or add to it, your choice. Maybe there's an even greater ideal?

For anyone reading this who has seen the Woodstock movie, I love the part where the dude is teaching Kundalini Yoga and says something to the effect of "you know how when you take a hit of DMT and you get this (insert spaz sound and posture) in your spine? Well they say that if you practice this enough you can get it without the drug - you can create it yourself" I've had mild "natural highs" from meditating, so I'm open to the possibility of more intense "natural" surges of chemicals in my brain.

Originally Posted by placebo

If you feel fear when high then you should know that drug isn't that who created that fear. It is you, that fear is in you but drug helped it to manifest. Important is to aknowledge that fear but not let it go with it. And then, get sober and try to kill fear.

I'd like to agree because I do sometimes feel that drugs/alcohol get me more in touch with my subconscious, but sometimes and with some drugs, they actually DO create the delusional fear and the delusion only exists under the influence of the drug.

[cloud]

Good post King. Marijuana (and other drugs) can give you temporary access to other states of being. If you like those states, you can learn to consciously access them to induce a more permanent change. For me, that's been one of the major benefits of getting high: the experiencing of altered states that have aspects I want to consciously induce. Obviously I don't want to continuously have short term memory loss , but I do like feeling happy and seeing the funny side of everything . Once you get a glimpse of a better state of being, all it takes is conscious practice to make it permanent.

[scottyp]

Smoking messes me up emotionally for at least a few days afterwards, and when stoned I generally am useless and very anxious and paranoid...

It just doesn't work well with me

[Nelson]

King - I think you just made a great post there. I'm sorry if I have been jugemenal of any of you here on the boards as we can have our tendencies to get defensive.

Now I'm not sure if its true that the flood of chemicals cannot be matched - when in my flow state I have experienced feelings of euphoria more powerful than any I have tried (which is saying a lot )

It is my opinon that as you said, the highest ideal is to have a conciousnes that is in a constant state of control and happiness through unlimited love, peace and joy. I believe that this sate is actually the main goal of alll religions - possibly because having any person in this state will automatically manifest more peace, love and joy.

[Mitalp]

Canibus has lot of positive effects on the mind, body and soul. It raises your levels of awareness. A few puffs and you feel an instant calm overcome your whole being. The noise level of your mind drops down a notch, or sometimes completely out. Your focus becomes intense. For these reasons it has helped me greatly in meditation. I smoke everyday and have done so for the last 3 yrs. I'm physically, mentally and spiritual at my peak. I'm not saying this is because of the marijuana, but I bring this up to demonstrate, if used properly it is helpful. Marijuana has never had a negative effect on me.
Many people speak of paranoia or having bad trips. What marijuana does is intensify what already is. If your having negative thoughts, those negative thoughts are going to be intensified. Most people are convinced that they are doing something wrong when they smoke marijuana, because it's is illegal. If thoughts of fear are going through the person mind, because they feel some sort of guilt, this fear is going to be intensified and they are going to have a bad high.
The upside is that marijuana intensifys positive feels as well. When you focus on positive feels of peace, joy, love and harmony they take over your being. Now I know people will argue that the feels are "fake" because you are high. Though you may not feel these feelings as intensly once you come off the high, the subtle effects do linger. Overtime of feeling these intense emotions, the will become a part of you, whether high or not.

[John Stegin]

I am 21 years of age, and for the past 5 years I have been a regular marijuana user. I would smoke on average one joint a day.

Initially when I began to use the drug my mental state began to degrade emotionally, socially, and most certainly intellectually. In my opinion this was certainly brought on by marijuana.
It was a catch 22, I was becoming socially inept due to using the substance, which encouraged me to use it more to detach from "reality".

These days though the substance has a radically different effect on me. I honestly think the substance brought to surface problems I had deeply buried and had honest fear of confronting, and in a lot of other respects make me realize strengths in my personality which I had somehow overlooked. I can not even come close to articulating how this happened, thus I will stay away from doing so so as not to unintentionally misrepresent it.

Friends have brought to my attention I smoke a little too much, but I do understand their concern. I am not living under some naive delusion that this will not have any long term effects on the state of my mind, I do acknowledge and discuss their concerns openly. Though, I do point out to them when it begins to control me I can stop. Having had serious arguments with some of my close friends over this I stopped for 3 months as a demonstration. I did not need any crutch (such as alcohol or smoking), I could 'survive' fine.

So why am I still smoking it?
As somebody pointed out in an earlier post you feel like you are having the most profound thoughts, but when you look back later they seem silly. The thing is a lot of my ideas don't seem so silly afterwards.
I get high and I code, I am a computer programmer by trade. I have a shelf of scrapbooks that I use and have used to document and outline ideas I have or have had while high. Looking at these in a 'sober' state of mind I will admit a large proportion of the ideas are generally useless to me and often not all that feasible, but a certain percentage can have and have shown to have potential.

Somebody made this very point earlier; you get to look at the problem from two different aspects, and having these two aspects allow you to understand it better.



Now after saying all that, I do not agree marijuana use is for everybody. It certainly had a negative effect on me, which out of some 'luck' took an upside. And being honest, I think I am just one of the lucky few.
Out of the group I began smoking with, some have found themselves in prison having moved onto 'harder' drugs, some remained stable, and some just became lazy stoners.


After saying all that, marijuana has most certainly negatively affected some of my mental facilities. I find it quite difficult to articulate concepts like I once could, sometimes to sustain any command over the English language, and other things like that.

One last thing to finish up,
Would I not be able to think better without the marijuana?
I am unsure. When I did give up for 3 months I found my concentration was affected by my lack of enthusiasm in what I was doing. I did notice some improvements, I became less impulsive and a little better mentally balanced.
However, certain simple tasks which I completed daily became difficult, like being able to "spot" the next key step in a sudoku puzzle, being able to program without having to stop to think(fluency), being able to pick up a guitar and play effortlessly and that sudden spark of insight to problems disappeared.

For the moment I feel this drug benefits me, but I hope I know when to get out before I become too 'cocky'. Otherwise in reality, I will have not gained anything but merely wasted my life.

[Mitalp]

http://www.benefitsofmarijuana.com/benefits.html

Marijuana and Consciousness:

http://www.eoni.com/%7evisionquest/library/TheHigh-1.html
http://www.eoni.com/%7evisionquest/library/TheHigh-2.html
http://www.eoni.com/%7evisionquest/library/TheHigh-3.html
http://www.eoni.com/%7evisionquest/library/TheHigh-4.html
http://www.eoni.com/%7evisionquest/library/TheHigh-5.html
http://www.eoni.com/%7evisionquest/library/TheHigh-6.html

[rohnin]

Hi!
I started smoking when I was 14 years old. Now I am 19, and I quit smoking this autumn.
I didn't smoke that much; maybe one time/ week.

I feel distached (from the universe) when I smoke pot, and the days afterwards my intuition and emotional state are all messed up. And this was BEFORE I got interested in personal development. One of the most serious side-effect is that the motivation to change your situation may drop to zero. I have many friends who only cares abot their smoking, it's really tragic, they used to be very good friends. Also during my smoking periods, and begun to recognise that I connected different things in a very very stupid way.

Like, have you seen the movie 'A scanner darkly'? If not, you should. I feel like it's really like that. You mess up your head, thoughts connecting very differently than they should, lying to you about the state of sober reality.

Positive effects exist, really they do. You will feel a great relaxness and experience some new thoughts (maybe).

I'm not saying that this will happen to everyone, and there is definetly no science in what I'm writing, only my own very subjective explanation of my experience.

"some people who were punished entirely too much for what they did” and that “drug misuse is not a disease, it is a decision, like the decision to move out in front of a moving car." - Philip K. Dick

[axis]

This was an interesting thread, one I have always wanted to see on this site, remembering a comment that was shot down by Steve himself saying he wouldn't put a drug in his system. Well, I have never believed in that to be honest, anything you take into your body does something to you. I have had quite a few chemicals in my body. Marijuana, pscilocybin, LSD, alcohol, codeine, vicodin, valium and some other things contained in over the counter medicines. The only one I was ever addicted to was codeine and that was when I was 11.

Marijuana has brought me to the place I am today, it has made my life 100x better. I never really smoked a lot of it, it was just a couple bowls with my friends during the week after work. We would have the greatest conversations about life.

Marijuana and any other substances are only what you take them to be. If you want to be a ************ing loser, then go ahead and do that. Some people said it made them feel depressed, they saw what their friends were and how they saw themselves. Yea, exactly! Just because you were too lazy or unmotivated or depressed or didn't give a damn does not mean that marijuana made it worse. The fact that you noticed the problems and trends and did nothing about it, that is your fault. Steve talks about his awakening moments, he came to his conclusions differently. That is great for him, he has different experiences then all of us. Marijuana is often called a gateway drug. I think that is so true, but most people take the wrong gateway. You can either grow up with it or continue to be some stoner who does nothing but work to get high.

Anti-drug people make me sick, especially the ones who know absolutely nothing about them. I remember Steve Jobs saying one of his LSD trips was one of the three most important events in his life. I have taken acid 3 times and I would the best one up their too. Completely different, positive, outlook on everything life has to offer. The point for drugs like this is to take them, see what is out there and try to attain that level again without the drugs. That is my take at least.

[LillyoftheValley]

I know 60 yr-olds who smoke every day.
I know 17 yr-olds who got bored with it.
Not only it's subjective, it's a catalyst for what's inside you.

And I know the only ones truly enjoying it are those who don't expect wonders of it. Those who are not looking for a way to numb themselves, but a way to experience new things, to have a good laugh, to change their views for a short time.

I know I will get bored with it. I already stopped mystifying it. I know it serves me, not the other way round. And I know it wouldn't be like that if I haven't worked on my personal improvement.

[placebo]

I created this thread to see your opinions about weed and this is the most viewed thread in Spirituality, Consciousness, & Awareness. I'm glad to see all these positive thoughts about it and important other part, bad sides and effects. Like everything else there are "pros" and "antis".

We didn't create marijuana like other synthetic drugs. And we are using every single resource on Earth to improve our lives, so there must be some reason why this plant developed on our planet. We don't use oil or water carefully like we should. With ganja is all the same. My conclusion is : If you think that it is helping you or making you happy keep rolling but set limits too. If you are sceptic about it don't use it ever because you won't get anything out of it.

Peace

[CeciL]

lol, I'm just waiting for Steve to break, Although he says he never touched the stuff some of the things he comes up with...

It is not legal because of a bad mix of greedy politics. For starters taxation, it is way easy to grow yourself, easy as a tomato plant. if everyone is growing it themselves then they can't collect tax like they do from the pharmaceutical companies. With alcohol and tobacco, they are hard to manufacture by hand making it very easy to tax. However, you cannot just manufacture these without a tax stamp. There is actually a marijuana tax stamp, but one has never been issued. You can basically blame Dupont for this. You know the synthetic fiber manufacturer their biggest competitor being hemp. Dupont and the pharmaceutical companies helped lobby and spread bad propaganda (such as Refer Madness) about marijuana. The sad part is a lot of people actually still have refer madness type beliefs.

Just my 2 cents from previous research...

With that said I've never touched the stuff

[ballhit]

Nothing beats smoking a bowl and reading Steven Pavlina's blog and living vicariously through/with/as him.

[Andrew Brunelle]

I have never smoked marijuana nor have I ever used any illegal drugs. I don't feel marijuana should be illegal, as it is definitely less dangerous than alcohol or tobacco. But I do not feel that it is necessary for me to live a higher state of consciousness. If I want to get away from society, I imagine my ideal place on the beach, relaxing, taking in the sun in a lounge chair. I meditate, thinking about this, all my thoughts dissipating as I sit there on an imaginary beach, watching the seagulls look for food, watching the waves come in. I do this for fifteen minutes and I feel on top of the world, amazing, joyful. No drugs required. I'm not saying marijuana is bad, just that I personally choose not to use it. I don't discriminate those who do, and I find it to be absolutely acceptable. Hope it does something profound for you.

[TimDineen]

It has been my experience that drugs can grant you opportunities into experiences that may lie outside your current realm of thinking, but that they do not grant continuous access to these realms.

Taking a drug will have an effect and the effect may be enjoyable for a time, but most drugs have built in consequences.

You get to ride for free now, but you always have to pay at the end.

[Lauxa]

Thanks for this thread, it has a lot of good perspectives to consider. I was going to share my experience with marijuana, but I guess I'm just not ready to right now. Special thanks to King and KittyG.

[mtrimpe]

Let me add the Dutch perspective, where there is no added incentive for smoking weed. We don't rebel if we do it, nobody cares.

In my experience tons of people in the Netherlands smoke weed, for a while. There's a pretty much clear-cut scenario that everyone that starts smoking weed goes through.

1. You feel bored with life, you worry a lot about stuff you don't really believe is worth worrying about.
2. You smoke a joint and you stop feeling bored, you stop worrying.
3. You slowly adopt the habit of smoking whenever you're bored or worrying.
4. You eventually get to the stage where pretty much everything you do is considered boring or worrisome.
5. You start smoking weed full-time, you are stoned 24/7 and can still function well enough to get by in society.
6. You do this for about three months until for whatever reason you accidentally sober up for a day or two.
7. You look back at the past three months and realize you probably only have a few minutes or so of memories worth remembering.
8. You realize that you hardly worry anymore about the things you used to worry about.
9. You realize that you do want to have the ability to care about things you actually want to care about
10. You find a new and better calling in life, you start smoking less and less until you quit it completely.

In my experience the duration of your habit is largely dependent on how long you wait with going through step 5/6/7. Therefore I advise anyone to get there as quickly as possible.
If you are a parent and want to get your kid off of weed, give them pocket-money to live on, as much weed as they could possibly want, a room where they can always smoke, lots of snacks, allow them to drop out of school and smoke weed with friends and within half a year you'll have a healthy, motivated young man far less susceptible to drug addictions because he realizes he's just wasted half a year or so of his life and is determined never to make that mistake again.

That's why I love weed, it's the safest drug for being permanently high on and experiencing what means to be permanently high is the best antidote to addiction.

[shanlstrick]

Hi all,
I had refrained from speaking about weed or other drugs in this forum because I was not sure how it would be received. But since the thread is started…

I am 43 years old right now and up till a few weeks ago I smoked daily. To go back a couple of decades - I was dead against all drugs when I was 17 years old. I joined the Army, went to Germany and got a “Dear John” letter from my supposed fiancée back in the states.

One evening I was at the local bar when a friend of mine asked me if I would like to go the castle (a little place in Budingen) and smoke some hash (that’s the variety you get over there). I was a bit depressed and had a couple of German beers in me, so I said what the hell.

That night I smoked many bowls of hash and dropped a hit of acid (LSD). I had never done drugs in my life before that. You have to understand; I did not care about anything that night. To make a long story short, it became the usual weekend routine while I was there (the LSD part was not so frequent as the hash).

When I got back to the states, I bought my first sack of smoke from my sister and for the most part I have been smoking daily ever since. There were occasional dry periods (random drug tests for employers, etc.). I actually got a raise one time for coming up positive, the boss said “If I give you a dollar more on the hour – will you come up clean on the next test?” – I remember leaving his office shaking my head in disbelief – I did pass the next one.

Anyway pot was all I was doing for the most part until about 1988 when a friend of mine obtained an entire sheet of LSD. But instead of partying with it – we did our own form of research at a lake, we were exploring reality, and listening to a lot of Blue Oyster Cult (I was not aware of Enigma then - that would have been great). After that sheet was gone, we stopped (that lasted several months). I have not touched LSD since 1994. I credit it with waking me up to possibilities, that’s when I first got interested in quantum physics and the nature of reality. I was also suffering from a complete lack of faith in religion and the meaning of life prior to that time.

Now I am not religious at all, but I am spiritual, I just don’t get into the current dogmas of organized religion. Sorry for the label – I think they all have their benefits (community, fellowship – very positive things), I just seek my own path.

In the last few years I have been doing personal research into brainwave entrainment (using binaural beats to cause your brain to go into certain states of awareness; delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma, etc). I even built a cranial electro-stimulator (that was not so good). Anyway, for me smoking weed seems to always be a detriment to this kind of work. For instance, when I initially smoke after a long period of not smoking, I have very vivid dreams. But soon they disappear all together and I never recall them any more. Conversely, when I stop, the same thing happens, vivid dreams that eventually diminish. But I find that for brainwave training or biofeedback training, being clean has always been the best for me. And now that I have been clean for a few weeks again – I am much more alert.

I have also acquired an amount of a substance that is NOT illegal called Salvia Divinorum (aka Diviners Sage), that stuff scares me to death. I have had about an ounce of it for 3 years, tried it 3 times, I always end up not remembering anything about my experience at all – total amnesia. I have been told that I was over doing it. 4 puffs are too much at one sitting. I may have a go at it again, but every time I go to get it, I stop and put it back in the closet. Plus the stuff tastes like total crap.

For me, I plan to be clean for a while. I want to get back to proper dreaming and exploring brainwave entrainment, I feel smoking inhibits these activities. I want to expand my possibilities, and create more success in my everyday life. I am tired of being an electronics engineer at the mercy of a big corporation. It’s time to live life on my own terms. Thanks for letting me rant.

[Marko]

Guys,you don't have a clue what weed can do to you,I've experienced it on my own skin.I've done the whole lot-from pot to smack,and trust me I can't take another puff.It's OK for most of people,but I'm not alone.You can completley lose your mind.It's safer for my psyche to shoot smack or drop an E,than to smoke even a bit.I'm a bit extreme with reaction to pot,but I'm not the only one.Of course,haluciogenic drugs are also finished for me.Pot isn't psychodelic,but it can litteraly drive you insane if you've got a predisposition for it.I quit completley with all dope couple of years ago,and now I'm tottaly in New Age way of thinking-thanks to the infinite Lordo pot,but you also gamble like with the rest of the ****.

[Old Soul]

I am trying to fly all naturelle`

I have not smoked pot since highschool... (shhh! ) lol


check this out..


YouTube - Spiders On Drugs

[torilink]

of course I tried it many a time while in my teens, but never really had a great experience while high. It just wasn't my thing. Haven't smoked pot since I was about 17 or so.

To each his own, everyone should be allowed to make this choice for themselves.

[ztephen]

Originally Posted by Old Soul

I am trying to fly all naturelle`

I have not smoked pot since highschool... (shhh! ) lol


check this out..


YouTube - Spiders On Drugs

thats a good video.

Me personally have not had any good intellectual experiences with mj. But I'm pretty new to it. I'll start keeping a journal of my ideas and such.

[Chado2423]

My journey goes far deeper than any medication or lucid dream entails... I even use meditation minimally, because all these things can be short term solutions to long term problems, to help you feel better in the moment, but not to help in the long haul...

I seek to find aid in my situation, and to find a way out of my situation back into a state where life is going well for me and my friends. Can smoking weed do this for me? I sincerely doubt it.

[Terumoto]

I'm a fairly regular weed smoker. It can make you depressed sometimes, but that isn't something that would motivate me to quit. The depression is something that came from my mind, not from the drug, the drug merely brought it to the surface. It helps shed light on things that I need to address in my life. After I see the problems, I can figure out how to fix them.

In general, drugs are like anything else. They should not be indulged in, but used skillfully. It's similar to sex. Sex can cause many problems if it is filling a gaping hole in a relationship. Attachment to it, need for it, indulgence in that need, these are all things that make a relationship weaker. When approached skillfully, sex acts as an expression of love and brings the people in the relationship closer. It is the result of the love, not the cause of it.

So, to bring the analogy back to drugs... They can cause many problems when they are filling a gaping hole in a person's life. Attachment to it, need for it, indulgence in it, these are all things that make a person weaker. When approached skillfully, drugs act as a tool that can be used to improve your life. However, improvement in your life is only the result of the drug being used skillfully. Drugs in themselves do not cause the improvement.

Originally Posted by Chado2423

My journey goes far deeper than any medication or lucid dream entails... I even use meditation minimally, because all these things can be short term solutions to long term problems, to help you feel better in the moment, but not to help in the long haul...

I seek to find aid in my situation, and to find a way out of my situation back into a state where life is going well for me and my friends. Can smoking weed do this for me? I sincerely doubt it.

What exactly are you looking for? A long term solution? Learning to feel better in the moment is the only way to feel better in the long haul.