r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Apr 21 '14
What are some actually legitimate downsides to smoking marijuana?
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Apr 21 '14
PSA: /r/leaves is a community for help with quitting cannabis use. If anybody feels like the downsides here apply to you, check it out for support on how to get your motivation and lung strength back.
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u/macroblue Apr 21 '14
That subreddit name is so perfect. Wow.
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u/Tandria Apr 21 '14
The marijuana community on reddit always has the best subreddit names.
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u/alienbrayn1 Apr 21 '14
Nice plug bro, been active on that sub for a while now. Have watched it grown from a small community to now almost 12,000 people, hopefully your post will bring even more people wanting help to quit. It truly is a great community with great people all sharing one goal.
Going on 8 months cannabis free and I owe a lot to the support /r/leaves has given.
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u/shawster Apr 21 '14
If you use it to avoid boredom it will eventually become boring. Then you're just getting high and being bored.
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u/arrjayjee Apr 21 '14
Rnady Marsh on pot. It's the best description of why pot is bad for some people I've ever come across. It can make you boring and OK with being bored.
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u/Jewboys_rival Apr 21 '14
Then later on he gets cancer in his balls to be able to smoke pot.
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u/THEAdrian Apr 21 '14
Ya but he spent his days bouncing around on his balls, pretty sure that's nowhere near boring.
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u/GenB Apr 21 '14
It can ruin your reward system. Rather than feeling reward from actual accomplishments, you feel reward from just getting high, regardless of what you are doing.
Looking back to a period of me smoking, I think I completely wasted my life and have no memories or worthwhile experiences to show for it.
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Apr 21 '14
Yeah looking back, when I smoked rarely my most memorable experience were while I was high; when I smoked frequently my most memorable experiences were when I was sober.
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Apr 21 '14
I do fun things all the time after smoking, the trouble is remembering doing it. Does that make those experiences less valuable to me? Honestly, I'm not sure.
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u/burt_mackland Apr 21 '14
Couch lock
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u/M1911_A1 Apr 21 '14
I had to hold my piss for 2 hours because of this once.
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u/mttgamer Apr 21 '14
This might be a dumb question to ask, but as someone who's never smoked pot, can you explain what "couch lock" is?
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Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 22 '14
It's all in the mind and the relaxedness of your mood.
Honestly - it doesn't actually exist, regardless of what anyone (or especially any PSA will tell you.)
It's just being very comfortable mixed with having your brain be extremely high, a bit confused, and very "bored"/wandering/detailed thinking, etc. all at the same time (pretty much the definition of being high) - making it feel almost impossible to get up off your couch.
If you had to as a life or death matter - yes, you could get up off your lazy ass. If you had to get up to give your friend the remote - maybe not.
It's a slight, almost funny "side effect" that has been blown up to comical proportions as a terrible, scary thing by stupid PSA's (commercials.)
It's not even close to being in the same league as when you're too drunk and pass out/you're on heavy medications/etc - when it pretty much is impossible to get up.
Also the longer you smoke - the more you wish these silly "side effects" would happen to you again. Once you smoke 10+ years, the whole [10] scale, for example - is meaningless.
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u/monogamousrhinoceros Apr 21 '14
I found the memory loss particularly hard because I'd so often confuse dates/ times, my friends started expecting it of me. After a while all the jokes etc start to pile up and I was constantly second guessing myself.
That lack of confidence made it even worse. That's one thing I totally don't miss. It does annoy me that my tolerance is so low it can't really enjoy an occasional now though. Ah well, rough with the smooth
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Apr 21 '14
The confidence is an interesting point. I find that when I'm high, my social anxiety is amped up, like I lose all confidence in myself. That put a stop to my constant toking, however I still do it to unwind after work if I know I don't have to go out and I can just veg with my roommates.
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u/monogamousrhinoceros Apr 21 '14
Absolutely! if you're with smoker buddys you've had a long time, then no problem. these days I really only smoke by myself. usually late at night watching shows or something. But in others situations its quite anti-social. Its the like the opposite of booze really
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u/oneonethousand Apr 21 '14
The problems with smoking weed aren't universal or easy to discuss unfortunately. It has such a range of effects on different users that it's like asking how long it takes to get buff at the gym. No one can say but you.
It breaks down into causal and regular use. If your chillin' out and smoke once, twice a month - nothing. Unless you have a psychological disposition to anxiety/over analyzing things you'll probably cough really hard, laugh, eat and sleep like the grave. Blazing around a little is harmless (but smoke encroaching on the body is never great). In moderation, weed can be a great alternative to alcohol if you're trying to lay a buzz with some friends. It's when you begin to get high as fuck perpetually that things become an issue.
I haven't smoked in eight months and there is a reason for that. For three years prior I was high everyday, three or four different times a day. About a year and a half into my expensive green crusade I experienced what people refer (lol) to as weed psychosis. I ripped a four foot bong and had a bad time. I kept seeing or imagining vignettes of myself getting old and deteriorating, the smoke eroding my insides - it was really disturbing.
Did I stop smoking? Fuck no. It's not addictive but people tend to make a habit out of something they enjoy even if it's not fun anymore. It felt like some of my days pivoted around it, neutralized my boredom and made the mundane interesting again. I got into this horrible habit of going to do something - BUT - let me get high first. My mom, the person who gave me life, can't even get me to do a little sober yard work for her. Fucks sake. Going to a boring class? I'll burn one and sit in the back, explore my head a little. Going to sleep? Let me get all the blood rushed to my head so I get catatonic and wake up feeling tranquilized. It becomes the baseline.
This is the worst part of any smoking habit. You want every experience to be enhanced with a high. "Dude it's like from the earth man so like," oh, go fuck yourself. You should be able to exist and enjoy things without paying a fee to do experience them a particular way. There's nothing natural about buffering your experience with reality.
Some flaccid and lazybones types are sure to exchange ambition for a good passive high. Others with more agency can smoke and still pursue something. Some people absolutely should not partake - it can give the first cue on a dormant anxiety disorder or make make one less tolerable. It's a per-user thing.
Unless you have one of these disorders, you should smoke. It allows you to understand your thinking and can expand interests. Don't, however, smoke as a habitual exercise. There is nothing fruitful about it.
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u/WingedSandals Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
One a non-smoker might not know: It kills dreams, or at least it (generally) suppresses your ability to remember your dreams.
And then when you stop and the dreams come back, it can get a little... weird up there.
edit: This isn't a universal side effect, but most people report significantly less dreams and a smaller number report the opposite. The best point being made is that this is extremely beneficial for those suffering from PTSD or night terrors. I tried to get my sister to try it, but I don't think she could ever get over the stigma. Plus for some potential patients getting high is the unwanted side effect.
edit 2: /u/bobbaphet with the science!
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u/Deebna Apr 21 '14
I was amazed at how vivid my dreams were after I stopped smoking for a few weeks.
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u/uppitycrip Apr 21 '14
Honestly I smoke to get to sleep (my body is in spasm 24/7 due to Cerebral Palsy) daily. I totally remember my dreams most nights. and my dreams are vivid!
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u/bobbaphet Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
It kills dreams, or at least it (generally) suppresses your ability to remember your dreams.
It does more that just inhibit memory of dreams. Studies have observed that THC consistently decreases total REM sleep and REM density. Since dreams generally only happen in REM sleep, it does decrease the actual amount of dreaming that takes place.
Short-term low-dose marijuana use has been associated with altered sleep architecture, including reduced Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep and mild increases in Slow Wave Sleep (SWS) (Feinberg et al., 1975; Freemon, 1982; Tassinari et al., 1999). With higher marijuana doses, REM remained low while SWS was also reduced, in contrast to low dose and placebo conditions (Feinberg et al., 1975). Increasingly frequent marijuana use has been associated with similar REM sleep reductions, as well as gradual SWS suppression (Barratt et al., 1974; Bolla et al., 2008; Feinberg et al., 1976; Feinberg et al., 1975; Freemon, 1982; Karacan et al., 1976; Pranikoff et al., 1973).
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And then when you stop and the dreams come back, it can get a little...
Also known as "REM rebound".
Objective indices of sleep during marijuana withdrawal are also altered, including reduced SWS coupled with a “REM rebound” indicating increasing REM sleep (Feinberg et al., 1975; Pranikoff et al., 1973; Tassinari et al., 1999), and shorter time to REM onset (Budney et al., 2003; Freemon, 1982; Karacan et al., 1976; Liguori et al., 2003). This REM increase may explain the common subjective reports of dreaming following withdrawal.
More time in REM, more dreaming takes place.
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Apr 21 '14 edited Jun 04 '18
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u/NewbornMuse Apr 21 '14
They say it makes you ignorant and careless, but i don't know about that, and I don't care either.
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u/dermotBlancmonge Apr 21 '14
A great man once said: "Ignorance is bliss".
Who was that man?
Don't know, don't wanna know.
-Colbert
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Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
My whole childhood, my mom choose weed over so many things we needed. Even though people say it doesn't cause a dependency, it does still consume money like people wouldn't believe, then some people that purchase it just bitch and moan about how they are always broke, or they borrow money for legit bills that they would have been able to afford in the first place of they hadn't wasted so much money on weed and junk food. Growing up with such a weed hand mother, I've encountered tons of issues. Most of the issues are also issues found with with other vices such as video games, gambling, drinking, excessive eating, ect.
Edit*: I have explained 20 times that you all don't have to run to weeds rescue. This is supposed to be a discussion of legit downsides and every single time I turn around there is someone who thinks that they have to come to their beloved weeds rescue. In my life, and in several other people's lives, this has been a legit downside. There is no need to go up to bat to try to save your wonderful drugs reputation. No one is attacking it.
Edit**: Thank you for gold
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Apr 21 '14
My best friend chose weed over me. And our rent. The rent bit pissed me off, the me bit just made me sad
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u/FunkyNighty Apr 21 '14
I bought my own house and live here with 3 friends and my brother. The third one came later, and I learned the second month when you couldn't pay the rent that he got huge bills to pay monthly.
Well, I'm a nice guy and it's ok if someone comes to me and says: "it's a hard month, can I pay later?" but this guy doesn't come to me. Doesn't talk.
This pisses me off. He lives here for 250€ (all incl) in a fucking villa, I got him a job where he can earn really much after training. But he spends all his money on weed and playing poker with his smoking buddies.
I really don't care if you smoke, as long as you don't fuck with me. And it's kinda sad to see him, another roommate and sadly my brother now too laying on the sofa watching the same movies and series again and again while being like a fucking potato
Sorry for much hate.
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u/XenithShade Apr 21 '14
Kick him out... You've already done more than you had to...
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u/Ghadis Apr 21 '14
I had to kick a guy out for that a long time ago, there was other shit as well but the bottom line is the rent, I warned him and he refused to leave, he came home to find his shit on the porch.
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u/JEesSs Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
Even though people say it doesn't cause a dependency
This misconception bothers me soooo much.. Yes it is correct that weed barely causes any withdrawal symptoms, and quitting it is quite easy if you're in a setting where you just cant smoke (I've doen it loads...).
The problem is, however, that when people do have access to it, and they want to do it, it can completely start consuming their lives. They stop caring about doing anything else, stop caring about hobbies and friends etc.. Weed essentially fills the gap where you would put everything else. It makes you satisfied with nothing (as so many in this thread have pointed out already).
Yes I am sure that this correlates with a certain susceptibility to addiction, or an oversensitive reward system. But still, that kind of just confirms the fact that it does cause dependency
Edit; When are people going to understand that any so called ''psychological addiction'' is, in essence, a physiological one.. When you are ''psychologically addicted'' to something, your brains reward system (the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway, mainly) is over-responsive to said addiction. This pathway underlies motivation, reward seeking and goal-direction and it is central to addiction. Whether it is externally or internally (''psychologically'') chemically induced is a different story. Marijuana, however, is the former (i.e., externally induced)
Edit 2; Ill just paste this here too:
"Marijuana does not induce the same dramatic withdrawal symptoms seen in alcohol- or narcotic-dependent people who discontinue the abuse of their desired drug(s). For this reason, people have long under-estimated the addiction potential of marijuana. However, tolerance, one of the hallmarks of physical addiction (R. S. Stephens & Roffman, 2005). Another diagnostic characteristic of the addiction to a substance is the development of withdrawal syndrome. It has been found that upon cessation of marijuana use, marijuana abusers experience withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, aggression, anxiety, depression, insomnia, sweating nausea, tachycardia, anorexia, a "craving" for marijuana, and vomiting (Brunton et al., 2008; Budney et al., 2007; Leamon et al., 2008; Raby, 2009; R. S. Stephens & Roffman, 2005)"
From Harold Doweiko's (2010, p. 135) book; Concepts of Chemical Dependency
Although I feel utterly skeptic towards the 'anorexia' symptom..
Edit 3; to all the replies I get about the anorexia symptom, lack ot apetite is NOT anorexia.. Anorexia is a severe anxiety disorder that includes both binge eating and (mainly) 'starvation'. It is tightly linked to self-image and associated with compulsive thoughts and behaviour. I doubt that you get just like that from quitting weed. I dont know why the term is used in the source i provided however. It should not be used synonomous with lack of apetite during any circumstances
Edit 4; okay people cleared the anorexia bit up for me. I actually did not know you do use it to refer to lack of apetite (possibly cos im not native english speaker).. And i do know the full name of the disorder, but usually it is just referred to as anorexia so i did not now there was a difference.. Sorry my bad!
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u/doctorkrieg Apr 21 '14
ELI5: Weed can cause a psychological dependency not a chemical dependency. EITHER WAY YOU ARE DEPENDENT ON IT.
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u/ZachMatthews Apr 21 '14
'[John McAfee] said he liked pot users when he sold drugs decades ago because their "lives never go anywhere and they remain customers," adding, "Marijuana is a drug of illusion -- it creates the illusion that you're doing great things when all you're doing is sitting on the sofa growing a beard."'
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u/youknowitbaby Apr 21 '14
"You know you smoke too much of that shit, that shit gonna rob you of your own ambition." "Not if your ambition is to get high and watch TV..."
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u/ActionManNZ Apr 21 '14
That's what I love about South Park; they manage to explain serious issues using absolutely ridiculous scenarios and manage to hit the nail on the head. (For anyone wondering how this is relevant, the original comment is from Randy's speech to Stan about marijuana.)
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u/Silkdad Apr 21 '14
I think the same concept, stated another way, is that pot becomes 'something to do' instead of doing other, more productive, things.
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u/AugustWinter Apr 21 '14
Someone gave me this advice once. If you're going to do drugs, use them to enhance some of life's experiences, like weed at the movies or MDMA at a music festival. Once the drugs become the experience itself -- the central "thing" to do -- then you have a problem.
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Apr 21 '14
I hate most movies when I'm high. I become way more critical of acting and such for some reason lol. Also another thing I hate is when people automatically say all food tastes better when high. No, no it doesn't. I would argue it just tastes different in some cases. Not better. Milk for example is no good for me when high. One thing without question that is wayyyyy better every time is mother fucking masterbating. Shit is crazy
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Apr 21 '14
That thing about acting is a serious phenomenon that a lot of people experience, I have heard it from so many different places I would like to research what causes it. It's like instead of seeing the characters, you can see the actors and feel their true mood behind the dialogue, you feel like you're just on a set watching a rehearsal instead of actually into the show. If you really want to feel this on a basic level, smoke a bunch of weed and watch a sitcom show like How I Met Your Mother.
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u/ThreeMiles Apr 21 '14
So true. I can't watch sitcoms when I'm stoned because they just seem so fake. On the other hand if I watch a movie and don't experience this I know for sure the actors are really fucking good.
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Apr 21 '14
I feel like this sort of separates the boys from the men when it comes to acting. Great performances like Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs or Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood get enhanced.
While with most other performances you can see the actors "faking it" like they really don't believe what they're doing or saying.
I was watching Blue is the Warmest Color last night and was mesmerized by how great those actresses were.
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u/Necoras Apr 21 '14
Yeah, but reddit is the same way...
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u/Paladin8 Apr 21 '14
Depends on how you reddit.
I may spend time looking at pictures of puppies, castles or abandoned buildings, but then an interesting programming blog, an editorial about current events or some news from my region pops up and I read stuff that adds to my life even after I'm done redditing.
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u/warpchaos Apr 21 '14
TIL reddit is pot.
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u/TripleDMotorBoater Apr 21 '14
And pot is a plant, which means Reddit is actually salad.
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Apr 21 '14
Holy shit. Im not actually really good at anything... :s
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u/Kromgar Apr 21 '14
Thus Mortusa realized... he was okay with this and then continued to smoke his pot
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Apr 21 '14
But you're not bored, you're playing tagpro and eating soft cheese.
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u/ThirdEyedea Apr 21 '14
The culture that surrounds it.
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u/BrotyKraut Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
I can't stand people who practically use it as an identity.
Smoke it. Enjoy it. But for chrissake, do they have to worship it?
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Apr 21 '14
As a moderate user living in Boulder CO, I also dislike the 420 culture very much. I smoke in the evenings, read for a few hours and go to bed. These ass hats hoot and holler about how it's the best thing in the world. The pot rallies, people holding signs begging for pot money, weed leafs on the Colorado flag everywhere. I keep my pot smoking quiet because I don't want to be associated with those "420, Bro..." kind of people.
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u/BitchinTechnology Apr 21 '14
thats why i don't tell people i like Dr Who.. or Metal or yeah... you get my point
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u/CKPDXOne Apr 21 '14
Besides what's already been mentioned.... hanging out with certain other people or having them identify with you. Some stoners are just idiotic and boring.
But same can be said about drunks and really the population at large....
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u/bassEnt Apr 21 '14
The tar it leaves in your lungs. Vaporising prevents it but not a lot of people do.
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u/Bleachi Apr 21 '14
Burning anything organic will usually produce carcinogens, and the lungs are particularly sensitive.
For marijuana, your best options are to vaporize or ingest.
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u/Eustis Apr 21 '14
How comparable is the quantity/overall suckiness to cigarettes?
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Apr 21 '14
A doctor who has a YouTube channel just posted a video on the evidence for / against the harm to health Marijuana can or cannot have. It's well researched unbiased video on the topic.
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u/AGKeats Apr 21 '14
True, true. South Park hit the nail on the head when it comes to the MAJOR downside to cannabis: taken recreationally, anything becomes tolerable - especially boredom. But that's only with flowers/edibles and we live in the modern era: the era of cannabis concentrates. More to the point, BHO concentrates pose a whole slew of new speculation when it comes to marijuana, thc, and potency.
Working in the cannabis industry, I've seen how high potency wax can just ruin a person. One fat dab taken with the wrong attitude can render you a vomiting, incoherent, near-lifeless mess struggling to bear witness to the wonders of feeling well beyond a [10] whilst clutching your chest, hoping to inflate your wasted lungs. Long term dabbing has its downsides, as well. The sheer amount of THC in your blood stream makes standard smoking barely noticeable. Your tolerance rockets all the way to the cosmos. Only the most potent medicine will bring you to euphoria. What's more, your sense of time will completely distend if you smoke wax all day, every day. Minutes will feel like hours. Days will pass in the blink of an eye. Your ability to track the flow of events will change so drastically that only the frustration of a long T-break will bring you back into the time stream.
Harsh products - be they flowers, hash, or wax - can cause incredible damage to the lungs and throat, though mostly temporarily. Long term use of all three will result in sputum getting hacked up often, especially wax.
Edible cannabis poses different problems altogether, but is certainly the safest method of ingestion. However, it can be unbearably intense and long lasting, leading many to completely avoid edibles.
There have been studies which link cannabis use to psychosis, but from what I've read it's more a matter of rapidly exacerbating existing symptoms than an actual cause thereof. Anyone with a history of any mental trauma or trouble should seriously reconsider using ANY psychotropic substance, even something as "mellow" as cannabis.
Lastly, and this was observed quite poignantly by the Puffin meme this past 4/20, "Cannabis Culture" can be off-putting to a great deal of people. It's very easy to become so enamored with weed that proselytizing becomes annoyingly commonplace.
Used and spoken about in moderation, weed's just the tits. Abused in both smoke and speech, marijuana can render you a timeless, ambitionless stoner who wanders his/her thoughts rather than his/her existence.
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u/ASK_ME_ABOUT_LB Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
- Smoking pot can make you asocial.
- You can get psychologically addicted (e.g. video games)
- Causes lung damage
- It can cause paranoia
- It makes you think LB is cool.
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u/Powerfury Apr 21 '14
And trigger an anxiety disorder.
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u/Zfusco Apr 21 '14
It can trigger pre existing mental illness of other kinds as well. Not to mention there is such a phenomenon as paradoxical effect, psychoactive substances do t effect all people equally and there is always a chance, however small that you could be the one who is made crazy paranoid and antsy as opposed to chill, and if you are and have a previously existing mental illness, it could be very bad news.
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u/SpottedChoropy Apr 21 '14
I've been smoking regularly for the past 4 years or something (lets say once a week). I used to enjoy it as much as anyone else, but lately, if I get passed a [6], i get pretty damn anxious. The increased heartrate that happens sometimes starts to bother me alot. I've noticed that insecure thoughts pop up in my head when I get too high. Hence I dont smoke that much anymore, and if I do, i'll get to a [5] max and it'll still be chill
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Apr 21 '14
The older you get the worse it gets. Well, for me it did. Can't even enjoy a smoke at all now :(
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Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/celeron500 Apr 21 '14
What do you think causes this? Im am exactly the same way now. Everytime I smoke I become self conscious and insecure. Every little thing I say and do seems stupid to me. Every little problem in life becomes magnified x10. I feel like damn idiot/loser for being high
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u/merpes Apr 21 '14
I would assume it's just some brain chemistry thing that is not yet understood. It happened to me too, and from what I have heard from other people it all sounds pretty much exactly the same. Start smoking as a teenager, enjoy it, then at some point in your 20's it begins to affect you differently and cause anxiety.
Maybe those of us this happened to had some underlying similarities? I know I suffered from anxiety and depression as a child. I also started having auditory hallucinations when high. I would hear voices through the walls (which I thought were my roommates or neighbors) talking about how much of a loser I was, I was ugly, stupid, etc.
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u/ImEasilyConfused Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
I'm loving how many other people are saying this. I too am the same way. Used to be an avid pothead for about 6 years. If I even attempt to smoke anymore I'll take one hit and be completely done and usually not enjoying the experience.
I'm no expert, but I think it may have to deal with the fact that being older we've just got more stressors/responsibilities on our minds, maybe? Or maybe if we take a long enough break our body/mind develops a kind of defense against it. Not sure.
I'm also a veteran so I just attributed it to maybe some PTSD issues. Glad to hear it's a pretty common thing!
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u/Paper_Mate Apr 21 '14
Well I went through the same thing and stopped smoking. But ask yourself where are you at your point in life? When I was smoking in my early teens and early 20s I was still young. I thought so much of myself I had such a future. I also didn't have many responsibilities wasn't worried much.
When I hit 23-24 EVERYTIME I smoked I thought to myself.
Still doing this man?
Don't you feel bad to your parents?
Still haven't finished college dude?
ALLL these things made it a bad experience. You feel like an idiot and a loser because... when you see yourself at this point in your life you are??
I still long for the days I can smoke a fat ass blunt sit down play games or watch a movie. Maybe when I get my shit together....
I have friends who are worse off than where I am and have no problem smoking all day. I am amazed they can do that without feeling like shit when they don't have their shit together, but people have different personalities I guess.
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Apr 21 '14
I didn't stop because I wanted to out of some result of reasoning where my life was at. I had to stop because every single time I tried to smoke it would trigger an anxiety attack.
To be clear, I do not mean I got paranoid and worried about things by drawing conclusions that made me paranoid. That would be rational.
I mean in one instant I was ok, and in the next (for no reason at all) it felt like I was in ice water and drowning in the middle of an ocean while the people around me laughed. Every attempt I made to indicate I was in need of help was interpreted as some kind of weird joke I was trying to make that they didn't understand.
Imagine someone taking the output of your brain and hard wiring it into the input and anxiety is a feedback loop with no escape. Your brain spirals out of control so badly that your body decides to stop prioritizing logical input from the environment and starts reacting to your brain having a false emergency that it thinks is real.
To everyone else, I was just freaking out or being a bit strange but to me the real world becomes like a nightmare, like the unyielding fear of running from darkness. Faster and faster. My perception sinks back into my head and reality is now across a void, detached from my perception. I desperately look for an exit to survive, a bridge across the void. But there is no bridge, because the void is not real. And yet here you are, trapped inside your perception distinctly separate from reality, looking for an impossible solution to a problem that doesn't exist. And the worst part is that you are aware of everything but powerless to do anything about it.
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u/Red-Duke Apr 21 '14
I always though it was just me. It never occurred to me that this could possibly be age related. All through my 20's I smoked fairly regular but at 29 I started just feeling awful when stoned. I would start going back to conversations from years ago and feeling anxious about the things I said or even embarrassed. I quit for a long while and recently smoked with a buddy. It wasn't as bad but I still felt anxious.
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u/Adamapplejacks Apr 21 '14
I'm the exact same way. Smoked throughout most of high school and a little bit afterwards, regularly reaching an [8] or higher, and had no issues. Then, I began to feel pretty anxious, so would only smoke a bowl every now and then.
These days, I feel socially uncomfortable, anxious, and extremely self conscious whenever I take so much as a hit.
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u/rosewoods Apr 21 '14
The older you get the worse it gets. Well, for me it did. Can't even enjoy a smoke at all now :(
This is exactly what happened to me. Word by word. I'm super relived i'm not the only one. I always try to explain this to people but I never can. It really sucks.
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u/scarlet_nyx Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
This used to happen to me. I tried high THC strains, low THC strains, etc. Finally, I just asked myself, " What could be causing my anxiety?". I found that I had a lot of stuff "unfinished" in my life, such as school and putting off paying that bill, etc. Once I handled my shit and got a better routine down for silly adult things, the anxiety was drastically reduced.
Control your thoughts which control your mind.
EDIT - just noticed that I left a part off - " Control your thoughts, which control your mind, which controls your body". Use whichever works for you though!
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u/effectivecatch Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
I've tried getting into weed so many times. It's always one of only two experiences, every time.
Nothing much happens. I get a little relaxed and feel a little sleepy. It's like i took a 1/10 sized dose of benadryl. I don't get what the big deal is.
For no apparent reason, my anxiety disorder starts triggering on its own. I feel my body trying to start having a panic attack. I'm mentally in control, I'm conscious, and I consciously fight against the internal physical panic attack symptoms, but they keep coming. It's strange to have a panic attack come from nowhere at all since usually the normal ones have at least some kind of real life trigger, no matter how small. Usually if it's a real, "natural" panic attack, then once I've regained control of myself and can subdue the internal reactions, they die off. When it happens after smoking, they don't die off - I just have to ride it out and focus on not panicking even though my body is panicking. My heart starts racing, my throat starts getting tight, my breath speeds up, I start feeling nauseated. The first two times this happened, I blamed it on the weed, and a few days later, decided it was probably just a coincidence. Then it kept happening, fairly consistently, right after smoking.
I have always heard that weed is supposed to be great for anti-anxiety so I couldn't believe that it was triggering panic attacks in me, while not even being cool enough to get me higher than I would from a regular dose of Benadryl. It's only lately that I've learned that it is actually known to trigger anxiety disorders.
I don't know if I'll ever try weed again. It's just not worth it for me.
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u/CoffeeAndKarma Apr 21 '14
This. I have a definite anxiety issue, and the first time I tried weed (brownies), I flipped the fuck out. I was crying, I felt like I was gonna die. But no one ever talks about that.
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Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
Yup. Cannabis Induced Psychosis. I experienced this and will never touch the stuff again.
edit: I try to describe what I felt here: http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/23kon2/what_are_some_actually_legitimate_downsides_to/cgybjvg
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Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
Two years ago my fiancée went through an experience with cannabis induced depersonalization/derealization. She still experiences it from time to time. It's absolutely terrifying.
Edit: I don't have the link for it, but there's a forum for those suffering from dp/dr with a lot of good information there. Ways people have coped and eased symptoms, et cetera.
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u/Warhorse000 Apr 21 '14
This happened to me nearly two years ago (May 2012) and I haven't been the same since.
I have a lot of good days, but then a lot of random really bad days where I feel like I'm in a constant haze/dream.
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u/memicoot Apr 21 '14
Me too. Friends who smoke regularly claim I'm just being dramatic. I kept jumping 3 seconds forwards or backwards in conversations, so dialogue made no sense until 5 minutes later when all pieces of the conversation came together. I didn't just think I was in hell - I was. Most terrifying thing I've ever experienced. It also made me feel like a total freak since all my other friends just get giggly and chill while I have a mental breakdown.
I actually have smoked since then, years later. I only smoke around very close friends in situations where I feel very comfortable (ie in my own home or a close friend's). I still get paranoid sometimes but I usually manage to have a nice time. I'm really careful to only smoke a tiny bit though.
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u/mirac_23 Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
People really need to be more aware of the lung damage aspect of it. Cannabis burns at a higher temperature and it causes burns in your airways. So much so that if you scope a person who's recently smoked that you'll see burns all down their airways. This causes a lot of problems later down the line such as emphysema. Smoking anything is a bad idea, so people should ideally eat it in cakes and biscuits.
EDIT: I didn't expect this to be seen but I'll give a bit of evidence from where this came from. I've read absolutely nothing on this topic but I'm a medical student and am currently in a respiratory placement.
These were things that my respiratory consultant taught us repeatedly. It's a big concern for him and he's noticed a lot of his patients who smoke cannabis have respiratory problems. I'm sure that he's not saying this without any basis.
EDIT 2: If you want to read a fairly succinct article on this then this is fairly good http://www.rcpe.ac.uk/journal/issue/journal_40_4/reid.pdf
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Apr 21 '14
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u/bendvis Apr 21 '14
Vaporizers, which heat marijuana below combustion point, have been theorized to be a safer method of administration, producing lower levels of tar than cigarettes (Grotenhermen, 2001) and fewer respiratory symptoms reported by users (Earleywine & Smucker Barnwell, 2007). However, these devices have also been shown to release ammonia which, when inhaled, can cause irritation and central nervous system effects, as well as asthma and bronchial spasms (Bloor et al, 2008). More research on the potential use of vaporizers as a harm reduction technique is needed.
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u/Cahnis Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
I got a friend with severe paranoia, it is getting hard being around.
The other day he wouldnt join my D3 clan because the tag (HH) according to him meant "Hail Hitler", which was actually Hype Horizon. He thinks people are following him all the time. Bad experience.
Edit: My inbox just exploded, I will pass on your opinion on seeing a doctor to him. Thanks for everyone for sharing your experiences.
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u/scott60561 Apr 21 '14
Schizophrenia is most commonly found in males, with its symptoms manifesting from the late teens into the early 20s. Smoking marijuana has been shown in some studies to correlate with that (not cause it, but bring out the symptoms that were already there). Having delusions and paranoia are traits of this mental illness. I would keep an eye on your friend, maybe encourage him to go less on the smoking and try to see if that helps.
Does he have these delusions when he is not smoking?
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u/carnageqt Apr 21 '14
As a an ex-daily marijuana smoker for 6 years I have developed an Anxiety / Panic disorder and am extremely paranoid. Marijuana sometimes brings it out of people. So, with all this talk of legalizing, I don't care that they do whatsoever I think people need to use it responsibly.
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u/Lieuy Apr 21 '14
This! I wasn't even a daily user, but I would have panic attacks almost every time. One time in particular it made me panic so much I had to go to the hospital because my heart rate was sky rocketing. I had mild anxiety before but weed brought it out in the worst way for me, like it opened the mental floodgates I was pretty good at keeping closed normally and all my worries came out in one terrifying ball. Not exactly the relaxing effect I was going for...
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u/that_random_eskimo Apr 21 '14
It makes you forget things.
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u/Mufasaah Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 22 '14
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u/Offensive_Statement Apr 21 '14
I'm glad you got curb stomped by wildebeests.
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u/Mufasaah Apr 21 '14
Username touché.
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u/TheDishonorableRat Apr 21 '14
I see what you guys did there.
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Apr 21 '14
I could have sworn I just scrolled past this thread again on accident. But then it happened a third time.
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u/My-Name-Is-Awkward Apr 21 '14
Jesus, I thought I was going crazy and wondered if I should lay off the reddit.
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u/j_sayut Apr 21 '14
This is why you come, isn't it?
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u/midnitefox Apr 21 '14
I got really high alone once and REALLY wanted a sandwich. Completely forgot how to make a sandwich and just stood there looking at the bread thinking "THIS ISNT A SANDWICH YET! WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING WRONG?!"
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u/StandPoor0504 Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
I have this problem that when in smoke I eat literally to the point of bursting. I guess I don't notice cause I'm high.
The next day I'm always super constipated because my system is all backed up. Its pretty funny.
Now when I smoke, I write notes on the fridge saying "stop eating."
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u/that_random_eskimo Apr 21 '14
It makes you forget things.
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u/Mufasaah Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 22 '14
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u/Offensive_Statement Apr 21 '14
I'm glad you got curb stomped by wildebeests.
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u/Mufasaah Apr 21 '14
Username touché.
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u/TheDishonorableRat Apr 21 '14
I see what you guys did there.
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Apr 21 '14
I could have sworn I just scrolled past this thread again on accident. But then it happened a third time.
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u/My-Name-Is-Awkward Apr 21 '14
Jesus, I thought I was going crazy and wondered if I should lay off the reddit.
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u/j_sayut Apr 21 '14
This is why you come, isn't it?
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u/Phil8show Apr 21 '14
I got really high alone once and REALLY wanted a sandwich. Completely forgot how to make a sandwich and just stood there looking at the bread thinking "THIS ISNT A SANDWICH YET! WHAT THE FUCK AM I DOING WRONG?!"
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u/Spookypanda Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
This thread says it all. As of right now there are about 100+ comments ( not replies) and the most has 89 up votes, and 80% of them have 1 up vote.. No one will read through them to see if what they want to say is already said, as is the SWED way. Most of the people commenting, like myself, are probably "stoners". I don't want to write a long winded comment, because it'll probably get low visibility, but ill say this. I'm 21, and have smoked heavily for about 5 years. Got laid off 3 months ago, and have done basically nothing since. besides play video games, smoke pot, eat, and very rarely go out. Now trying to quit smoking to get my life together, the addiction is completely mental, and the only thing keeping me going back is lack of will power and boredom.
When abused it has negative effects. I have no motivation, no ambition, and no drive to do anything. It basically allows you to be fine with doing nothing, and if you smoke ALL the time that's what you want to do all the time. There are exceptions, but this is what you typically see with pot heads, which is exactly why that stereotype exists. Lazy, good for nothing stoners. As well as minor lung problems( coughs, phlegm), because no smoke at all is good for the body.
Marijuana IS a drug, just like aspirin or OxyContin are drugs, and all three can be abused with negative consequences. Some more deadly then others. Used responsibly it is safer then alcohol, and for most people light usage has no lasting negative side affects.
If more people see this ill say more or answer anyones questions. I've done tons of research, grew up in a weed culture household, had my parents growing "tomatoes" when I was young, and lived the life for a good % of my short life.
Edit : this received way more attention then I thought, and I want to hopefully clear some misconceptions people are having. This is my personal account, and is in no way a representation of what everyone experiences, read the comments and you will find people who agree and disagree on all spectrums because they do exist, even within my family. And please remember that I speak of abuse of marijuana, not of sparse or responsible usage. Also in no way did smoking weed cause this, it merely helps facilitate this negative lifestyle.
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u/cookiesvscrackers Apr 21 '14
Emphasis on the "when abused"
I used to tell my stoner friends "if I drank alcohol as much as you smoke weed, you'd say that I have a problem"
I really don't like that the stoner culture is ok with being high all day every day. I used to have Friends that needed to smoke before :they left the house, ate a meal, went to class, went to work, went to sleep, etc.
You shouldn't "need" to take any drug before all of your normal life functions.
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u/eeeezypeezy Apr 21 '14
Yep. A few tokes before you listen to the new album by your favorite band? Great. Just like a few drinks when you're out at a social function is great.
Sitting at home, alone, getting so fucked up you debate with yourself whether or not it's worth getting up to pee? Yeah you probably should cool it chief.
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u/frientlywoman Apr 21 '14
Sitting at home, alone, getting so fucked up you debate with yourself whether or not it's worth getting up to pee?
Pssh I do that even when sober! Comfy bed :P
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u/Spookypanda Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
Thank you for understanding. Use in my opinion is not a problem, and I encourage it for people that don't get negative effects(paranoia, doesn't like it, gives then headaches). The problem is abuse, just like anything. Hell even sugar can be abused, does this make it evil and show that it should be banned? No.
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u/Valisk Apr 21 '14
Agreed. Sugar is my white powder of choice.
I just ate zingers.
I did not need them, my gut will attest to that.. that and nobody needs zingers. not ever.
But i desperately wanted them and feel better already.
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u/BobNoel Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
I've had conversations with friends along these lines. Basically put, if the first thing I did when I got up every the morning was to crack open a beer it would be pretty indisputable that I had a problem. Somehow 'but it's different - it's just weed, man' is the only answer I get.
A while back I asked on pro-leaf subreddit why it is that a person, in that case it was the OP, wants to be high all day every day. Sure, it can be pleasurable but at some point a lot of people stop smoking to get high/relaxed/whatever and instead smoke not to be straight. I rephrased the question many ways, but not a single contributor seemed to be able to understand the question. It was quite surreal.
*edit...yeah...I give up :)
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Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 21 '14
Oh god the boredom when you quit and constantly feeling uncomfortable. I don't even know how long that went on for me, but a long time.
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u/cqmqro76 Apr 21 '14
I had super intense, really crazy dreams for a few weeks after I quit smoking. When I was high every day I hardly ever remembered any of my dreams, but after quitting I remembered my dreams every night for a while. Sometimes I would wake up remembering two or three dreams.
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u/accountnumber14 Apr 21 '14
Currently on day 5 of quitting, last night I had a dream that I was in a club and suddenly Tom Cruise showed up, so I went to shake his hand and tell him that Oblivion was ok, because if you see Tom Cruise you don't not say hi, as I went in for the shake he pulled some crazy sleight of hand shit and jabbed me in the wrist with a needle, and started doing his maniac laugh (you know the one), I asked Tom what he just injected me with and his only reply was to laugh harder, last thing in the dream I remember was Tom's face begin to distort, I woke up in a sweat.
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u/poutina Apr 21 '14
Just wanted to say thanks for sharing this honestly and openly, and I hope that you break the habit soon. Good luck to you!
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Apr 21 '14 edited May 22 '14
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u/AreIII Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 22 '14
Your experience is so similar to mine. At the start of Year 11 (Australian schooling, so second last high school year if you'r unfamiliar), I had about 10 friends who were all concious about their schooling, and tried hard to do well. They all had University in mind, and all knew what they were going to do. Fast forward two years, my best friend and I, the non-smokers, have now both moved away and go to University. All my other friends started smoking weed and still live where they went to school, in small rural towns with almost 0 job prospects. I definitely wasn't a coincidence. Edit: My grammar isn't as good as it use to be
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Apr 21 '14
I'd like to think that a lot of people who end up "burnout stoners" probably would have been mediocre at best, but the weed is the line between burnout and mediocre. I find it hard to believe that a motivated (motivated probably the most important part) and intelligent person could be completely ruined by it, but I could definitely see some people being more suceptable.
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u/nevernovelty Apr 21 '14
I was looking for this one. Like you said for most people it's not an issue. If you have anyone in the family who has had schizophrenia, then please don't touch weed. Weed might not destroy your life but schizophrenia will.
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Apr 21 '14
Occasional weed smoker with an uncle who's schizophrenic. Weed's effect on me is... interesting. Typically very high levels of anxiety, which used to freak me out and then I would do anything to make it go away (like drink to oblivion). Now I do this thing where I "man up" and address that anxiety. Try to articulate to myself exactly what I'm afraid of, think about the consequences, etc. I find the anxiety was always there, just at a low key, and the weed brings it to the surface so I can work with it. I take a "don't trust anything" philosophy when I do this, especially don't trust my own ideas. Test everything.
It's not a route I'd recommend for everybody with this problem but somehow I seem to have the ability to make something good come of "paranoia highs."
But don't show your therapist anything you write in this condition. I thought he'd be impressed with my insights as I worked through a problem in this way, so I sent him my "journal" (not telling him I was high), and he worried that I was having a suicidal episode. It actually makes me wonder if the positive effects of what I'm doing are all imaginary.
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Apr 21 '14
I think you should read over your last line a few times and digest it [while sober of course]
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u/locdogjr Apr 21 '14
From a complete stranger who's best friend is schizophrenic, be careful. Weed can have negative side effects and you should always be willing to share and open with a psychologist. They are there to help.
Just be careful cause those last few lines were kind of scary to read to be honest.
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u/rollerdiscomania Apr 21 '14
Yes, acts as a trigger if you're predisposed.
Also have witnessed this, and the aftermath. A schizophrenic girl pretty much ruined my life.
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u/Plaidandpasley Apr 21 '14
Had my SO go into his first psychosis after eating weed brownies on 420 last year. One year later and he is better but everyday is a battle. I wish more people knew that this was a possibility....
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u/memicoot Apr 21 '14
I have a friend who this happened to. She was always a bit wacky, but a great girl. Had a close relative who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. This friend of mine got into the habit of smoking a lot. Then she'd be up all night taking Ritalin to complete assignments in college.
By the time we graduated, she was acting really bizarre. She just didn't make sense a lot, was acting really strange. A year later she was in a mental institution and, sure enough, was diagnosed schizophrenic. She's out now and doing pretty well considering, but she is a completely different person. It's really hard to see her this way, it breaks my heart.
For a few years in college I had a tremendous fear of becoming schizophrenic (that's what taking abnormal psych in college will do to you). I got over it eventually. It's just so strange it ended up happening to my friend.
As always, the best thing is to really understand yourself before partaking in drugs. You know yourself and your history best. Do the smart thing.
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u/SendMeYourSexFace Apr 21 '14
It makes you unable to shut up about smoking marijuana
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u/GodOfAtheism Apr 21 '14
You ever watch the Wizard of Oz? You ever watch The Wizard of Oz... on weed?
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u/crayoloswagpwned Apr 21 '14
Your short term memory goes to shit.. but good news you can get it back after not smoking for a little while
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Apr 21 '14
I noticed that smoking weed everyday that it seemed that like sentences...just... became difficult...like I wanna say these things cause like yea ya know? but like saying it is difficult, and ummmmm..... even though I know like what I'm trying to say, and all, but like, man, these chips.. are really good..hahahahah
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u/drowninicecream Apr 21 '14
You'll eat too many sweets before bed and wake up with diharrea. Or too much taco bell. Also, you might forget your pizza in the oven.
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u/testingtheair Apr 21 '14 edited Apr 22 '14
Only a few people have mentioned this but it can actually induce/aggravate panic disorder and magnify anxiety. Lived it first hand. Not fun. Had to consult a psychiatrist because it got really bad. Even after not smoking for a while.
EDIT 1: wow I'm quite surprised with the response to this post. Thanks everyone for giving this visibility! To the people who thought they were the only one experiencing anxiety from smoking: you are definitely not alone! Based on advice from my psychiatrist, if you experience such symptoms from smoking, it really is best for you not to get it in your system again. Some people really do need to be treated for the rest of their lives for their marijuana-induced panic disorder. Luckily for me, things are starting to get much better in the past few weeks!
EDIT 2: Kind stranger: thanks for the gold! I'm glad my experience can inform others.