
More Americans report near-constant cannabis use - TheBeardKing
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/08/americas-invisible-pot-addicts/567886/?single_page=true
======
insickness
In the past I was addicted to pot. I was addicted in the sense that pretty
much everything felt better when I was high. I was more relaxed and had less
anxiety. Sex was better. Food tasted better. I was more creative. I thought
about much deeper things. I spent less time online and in front of screens.

The biggest downside for me--and the reason I ended up quitting--was that my
sober life just sucked in comparison. I was just waiting until the end of the
day when I could go home and light up.

The other downsides were that I wasn't as sharp mentally when I was sober. I
wasn't as ambitious. I was less social. In other words, it made me feel fine
just hanging out in my apartment doing nothing. On the balance that made pot a
negative for me.

Quitting wasn't that hard. And I still think about how great I felt when I
smoked. I may smoke again in the future but for now, I appreciate operating in
the real world without any crutches.

~~~
nate_robo
I was always curious about the mental sharpness / memory portion. I know the
short-term memory impairment is well documented but in regards to mental
sharpness, that's a bit more nebulous and hard to hone in on. Is there any
evidence that the use of cannabis effects cognitive ability while not under
the effects or "high" of the drug?

~~~
heurist
I think the worst change I made after I began regularly smoking was ceasing my
regular workouts. I felt that I was making more intellectual and emotional
progress with regular meditation while high than I was with my body during
workouts, which I struggled with at the time for various reasons. My life has
become much busier since I began smoking (much of which I positively attribute
to the creativity I felt while smoking), and I haven't been able to get back
into a regular workout schedule, despite not smoking often anymore. I am
thinking now that the biggest detrimental impact on my memory and happiness
came from losing my exercise routine more than the marijuana itself.

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

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

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

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

------
yesdocs
I have been smoking pot since I was 14 years old, I am 51 now. I would stop
smoking from time to time, sometimes to prepare for football, sometimes
because society wanted me too. I am not a lazy person, I smoke a sativa strain
to get me motivated, it acts like a stimulant that can help me focus.. laser
like focus to drown out daily distractions. I'll smoke an indica strain to
sleep well at night. I have been a highly successful software developer,
approaching my later days of my career. I can unequivocally tell you that pot
has made a huge difference in my life. I am better on it, than when I am not.
I can function perfectly, pot does not make me veg- out and I am quite active
with many hobbies. Yes, I tend to be happier, more relaxed, and less stressed
out when on pot... but the same is true for Prozac recipients. Am I evil and a
loser because of this? F. No!

The reality is quite simple, different stains of pot affect people
differently. Everyone is affected differently with only a few common effects.
Pot can help some people while hindering others. I detest anybody who calls a
pot head a loser because they smoke pot. It's just a bad stereotype. Contrary
to what Jeff Sessions might believe, I am a good person, well respected,
extremely intelligent, and a contributor to society. Most everyone who meets
me or knows me wouldn't believe I smoke pot, but I smoke more than most pot
heads could even imagine. Pot has been a miracle drug to me, much like Prozac
is to others, without the liver damage. F those who diss pot smokers, there
are many more of us than you can imagine.

~~~
illegalsmile
This isn't directed at you but all heavy decade-plus smokers I know say
similar things. This makes me wonder, if you've smoked for 30+ years with
minor breaks due to football/society how do you really know what your baseline
is sober for a long period of time if you started as a young adult?

~~~
yesdocs
I have taken many jobs where I had to stop for long periods of time so that I
may pass a drug test. Do you really think that in 30 years I was never sober
enough to make this determination? This attitude stems from the 'you're a pot
smoker, you probably don't know what you're talking about' camp. If the
subject was about the effects of tea, we wouldn't see comments like this. For
the record, is a person who is on prozac sober?

~~~
handsomechad
A lot of people seem to be willing to kowtow to the current dogma of the
medical / psychiatric community with regards to mental illnesses (depression,
ADHD, etc.) Once you categorize these things as objective "chemical imbalances
/ medical issues", the next logical step is to treat these with "medicine",
like Prozac or other SSRIs, or amphetamines in the case of ADD.

Many people don't seem to have the same respect for self medication, however.
I personally think trying alternative treatment options, be it drug based or
experience based, is always a better option than slavishly following your
doctor who himself is often slavishly following some established medical dogma
du jour or his own financial incentives. That is not to say that standard
medication is not effective in some or many cases, moreso that there are very
many people who think they "need their medicine" because a doctor or
psychiatrist has diagnosed them with something that is at best an educated
guess (with high error margin) along a multidimensional space of possible
psychological profiles that we don't fully understand. My point is that by
breaking down psychological issues into various abstract "disorders", it makes
questioning a Prozac users choices tantamount to begrudging a diabetic for
taking his insulin.

~~~
some1else
I wouldn't describe those as "slavish". Unless we're in a negative feedback
loop, we should probably follow established principles and improve them
constructively. I have seen some conspiracy videos where authors refer to
psychiatry as an educated guess. I have never seen a lucid individual diminish
science like that. Can you elaborate on what you see as "dogma" in this
respect?

Disclosure: I smoke more than most.

~~~
nostrebored
Psychiatry is not robust. We don't know how the brain works. We're not even
close to understanding how parts of the brain interact, we rely on coarse
tools and irreplicable neuroscience to try to guess out the intersection of
biology, chemistry, neuroscience, etc.

When we consistently see that studies are designed poorly (in many cases by
selecting poor metrics, think self-assessed productivity on adderall or
amortizing results of SSRIs over multiple severity levels of depression) and
mechanisms are poorly understood, what do you think that it is?

Science is in many cases filled with perverse incentives that only complicate
this relationship -- do you want citations, a popular publication, tenure,
influence on policy decisions? Does your hypothesis align with the ideas which
are popular enough to get funding?

The fact of the matter is that science is political, psychiatry is in its
infancy, and results are not great in a lot of cases. We treat everything like
we couldn't possibly be developing our generations' version of phrenology and
it's hubris.

------
andbberger
Alternative headline: citizens of deeply broken society turn to least harmful
drug available to them to dull the pain of their shitty lives.

~~~
mjevans
Exactly that. I strongly believe that those who /do/ use drugs like this are
self-medicating to escape the seemingly/maybe actually intractable social
issues for which there is no single easy answer or method of escape.

Compared to /trying/ to get a good job somewhere and trying to find housing
that isn't outrageously over-priced and trying to more or less win the lottery
game that is presently life in western society... it's so much easier to
"treat" the issue with a "magic pill"/bottle (or other form of ingesting the
drugs).

I strongly feel that if this particular drug weren't an option they'd drink
alcohol or smoke...

~~~
dqpb
There is an easy answer though. You do what successful humans have done for
thousands of years: \- educate yourself \- join or form a community that
supports each other \- fight for your survival like every ancestor in your
genetic tree did before you.

Life isn't easy. But you also aren't naturally weak. Unfortunately, once you
start doing drugs, you risk corrupting the source code of the machine you rely
on.

~~~
fzeroracer
Man who has never experienced extreme poverty or the absolute depths of
American society attempts to provide easy answer to something he's never been
through.

~~~
dqpb
I speak from experience

~~~
andbberger
You are being haplessly Bayesian.

Good for you, you made it.

Go ahead and draw your statistically insignificant conclusion if you must, but
keep it to yourself.

Do you also tell depressed people to just not be sad?

~~~
dqpb
lol. Just to recap, my advice was:

\- dont do drugs

\- educate yourself

\- find a support group

\- fight for yourself

How is this controversial?

> _keep it to yourself_

But then who would speak out against fools like you?

------
prolikewh0a
Prior to around a month ago, I was constantly high on cannabis. I'm talking
about nearly 24/7 except when at work. It took the terrible aspects of life
away, and made me think deeply about certain situations/relationships/work
issues. It kept me pretty sane and calm with panic disorder, and I was able to
create lasting good quality friendships while on it since it calmed down my
social anxiety. I took up biking (not while high, but I'd bike to places, get
high, and then chill) and did 1500 miles in a year, and lost a good amount of
weight. I got hired full time at a great corporate job, and secured my very
first brand new apartment that I would live in alone. It took me off of 3
years of prescribed Klonopin.

Last month I took a break for 2.5 weeks to lower my tolerance and get a feel
for sobriety again. I went through 2-3 days of feeling slightly sick, but
after that I was back to normal. I made it through the 2 weeks, but picked it
up more responsibly, only using it some nights after work, and only flower. I
rarely ever smoke it, only vaporize.

It's been about a month, everything is fine, but I've noticed how much it
really helped me cope with the realities of life, and allowed me to really
think things out and keep my brain less scattered. Three years of everyday
use, and I haven't really noticed any downsides to being high on cannabis
nearly 24/7 other than wanting to sit alone at home and do nothing.

I have never tried any other drugs, unless prescribed.

------
Chardok
I cannot help but think the Federal government is fully at fault for this one.
So much time and effort spent to misinform, lie, and skew the truth on the
consequences of cannabis (including extraordinarily disproportionate legal
consequences) that the _actual_ consequences in comparison seem much more
benign and subtle. Its sad that South Park had to properly describe the true
negative effects of cannabis before any reputable organization would touch it.

If there is a true concern for "public safety" then the only choice is to
remove it as a schedule I, educate the populace on the _true_ consequences,
regulate as any other consumable substance, and provide assistance and help
for those looking to quit.

------
Confiks
I think it's a mistake to legalize cannabis and continue to treat it like any
other consumer product, opening the floodgates to gratuitous advertisements
and dubious health claims. Instead, the sale of cannabis (and perhaps other
drugs) should be treated as a public health issue, where the sale is permitted
as long as it isn't advertised and proper information is given about the
product.

The Netherlands partly has this system, where cannabis sale is 'tolerated' for
shops with permits, and where advertisements are forbidden. The system is far
from ideal, but I think better than complete (de)criminalization.
Additionally, the discussion about drugs is very open thanks to a number of
publicly funded organizations. They do not hesitate to also note the positive
sides of certain drugs, which all the more encourages a conversation about the
responsible use of drugs.

Portugal has gone even further in decriminalizing other (more addictive)
substances [1] with fairly good results.

[1] [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-
radic...](https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/dec/05/portugals-radical-
drugs-policy-is-working-why-hasnt-the-world-copied-it)

~~~
tgb
Is advertising cannabis legal in anywhere in the US? I haven't spent much time
in the states where pot is legal but I certainly haven't seen any. Contrast
this to traveling in Germany where the cigarette ads shocked me as an American
- it felt so backwards.

~~~
justboxing
> Is advertising cannabis legal in anywhere in the US?

I see cannabis dispensery ads pretty much everywhere here in San Francisco, on
Buses, bus stands, billboards, even on the taxi cab top cone thingys....

------
sorrymate
The types of problems described in the article related to near-constant
cannabis use:

> Users or former users I spoke with described lost jobs, lost marriages, lost
> houses, lost money, lost time. Foreclosures and divorces. Weight gain and
> mental-health problems. And one other thing: the problem of convincing other
> people that what they were experiencing was real. A few mentioned jokes
> about Doritos, and comments implying that the real issue was that they were
> lazy stoners.

With users themselves describing problems that result from smoking marijuana
like impaired concentration, short-term memory, motivation, and neglecting
responsibilities. These are serious pit falls of failing to moderate. But I
also feel that legalizing marijuana is a better alternative than putting users
in jail. Incarceration seems like it would cause a lot of the problems
described by marijuana users (lost jobs, lost marriages, lost houses, lost
money, lost time).

------
mindgam3
For those seeking the anti-anxiety benefits of a daily dose of high grade
medicinal cannabis without the cognitive impairment associated with THC
(notably impairment of short term memory, which is crucial for maintaining
flow state while doing complex tasks like coding or chess) - may I recommend
looking into high CBD, low THC flower.

You want THC <1% and CBD > 10%. I recently switched over to a high CBD strain
and it has been a godsend for productivity. Another nice benefit of minimizing
daily THC intake is I have started dreaming and remembering dreams again. THC
tends to suppress dreaming activity.

In the Bay Area, you can find high CBD flower at most reputable dispensaries.
I’ve tried a few products and the best one by far I’ve experienced is a strain
called C3P0, sold under the Marley Naturals Red/Jellyfish brand.

(Shameless plug notwithstanding, I’m not affiliated with that brand in any
way, just a very happy customer wanting to share a quality product with others
who might appreciate it)

~~~
rhcom2
> Another nice benefit of minimizing daily THC intake is I have started
> dreaming and remembering dreams again. THC tends to suppress dreaming
> activity.

I had the same experience with increased dreams but they were just all anxiety
dreams for a month or so, it was very unpleasant.

~~~
prolikewh0a
I took a 2.5 week break about a month or more ago after 3 years of continuous
use, and my dreams are WILD in a good way.

~~~
mindgam3
I've also experienced this. Intense dreams are a common withdrawal symptom,
apparently.

------
citilife
I recall last year, I spent every evening eating something like 10mg - 30mg.
It was awesome at night to sit down, eat a little bit of cannabutter and
finally sleep.

I've had constant insomnia since I was probably 8. I only sleep 4 - 5 hours a
night. I feel rested typically and energetic mentally, but physically it would
flair up my allergies, eczema, etc. When I moved to california, it was the
first time in my life I consistently was getting 6 - 8 hours of sleep.

During that time, I held a full-time job, was promoted to tech lead, delivered
a major project, and was working on a side business. I honestly think it
helped me achieve those things to the extent it helped me sleep.

Then this year I moved to a new state (where it isn't legal). I stopped
smoking without any side effects, had a kid, and now I am sleeping 4 - 6 hours
again. Allergies are bad, eczema, etc. and I'd love to start smoking or eating
it again; as it definitely helped. However, here we are where it's not legal,
and I'm trying to abide by the societal rules (even if I disagree).

Often, society doesn't really know what's best.

~~~
anon08142018
Honestly, try CBD pills. They have done wonders for my anxiety and you can
order them online since they are made from Hemp. There is a sub reddit with
lots of helpful information on Vendors.

------
sonnyblarney
It's unconventional given the liberal/libertarian aspects of the current
movement, but this is a problem. I know at least two people very well, and a
few more less well who smoke - all - the - time. They vape it like tobacco.
They are basically permanently 'kind of high' \- completely functional, you'd
never really know it to meet them ... but this is more than a little
distressing. One is in finance, the other a healthcare practitioner, the
others stay at home parents.

It's a kind of new phenom that we need to grapple with because the 'bad
effects' are not going to be so much chemical etc., they're going to be
psychological and we're in kind of new territory.

~~~
peterwwillis
One in six Americans takes psychiatric prescription drugs, mostly
antidepressants. Weed is basically an antidepressant and pain killer.

I think the bigger question is, why are Americans self-medicating so much?

~~~
WhompingWindows
Chemically, cannabinoids are not really antidepressants (which mostly affect
the serotonin system) or pain killers (opioids affect the opioid receptors).
Cannabinoids have a variety of effects due to the endocannabinoid system,
which is naturally occurring in the human physiology and does affect mood,
memory, etc. However, it's simply not chemically accurate to call them pain
killers or antidepressants, cannabis lies in a separate category.

~~~
int_19h
The point is that it is how many people use it (and alcohol, and other drugs).

------
Simulacra
When things got stressful at work I started smoking cannabis daily. It was
really detrimental to my overall productivity. It was great for the stress,
and made me feel wonderful, but it’s severely dulled the sharp edges of my
mind.

~~~
mmanfrin
When things got stressful at work I started smoking cannabis occasionally. It
was really helpful to my overall mental well-being. It was great for stress,
and made me feel wonderful, and it severely enhanced the creative part of my
mind.

~~~
willbw
You realise this type of parroting only works for logical arguments right?
It's pretty pointless to flip the meaning of everything in an anecdote, you
can't refute an anecdote by disproving it logically.

~~~
stephengillie
When things got stressful at college, I started smoking cannabis occasionally.
It was really liberating to my overall mental well-being. It was great for
stress, and made me feel wonderful, and it severely dulled the anxiety I felt
in creatively expressing large technical concepts - both in class assignments
and at a college job.

Then I went to the mall high with a sober friend - and had to keep him from
getting distracted in stores and keep him on track to buy the item we needed.
That's when I realized I was High-functioning. (True stories.)

------
saturdaysaint
I'll take these "findings" seriously when they show that pot smokers are
getting divorced and fired at statistically significantly greater rates than
the general population. In a country where a huge percentage of marriages end
in divorce and many fields are grinds with high turnover, it's naive to just
nod our heads and accept self reports of "ruined marriages" at face value.

In our highly regimented, low paid holiday, socially isolated, pedestrian
hostile society, doesn't every leisurely outlet result in a fairly large
percentage of heavy/habitual users? And yet some will never stop looking for a
convenient bogeyman to pin all of our ills on, whether it's addictive
videogames or internet porn or pinball machines or weed.

~~~
WhompingWindows
Isn't it still a problem if people identify as users with a problem, users who
would like to quit but struggle to do so? I believe it's the same with video
games or porn or other "non-toxic" addictions. Even if it's healthy and useful
for some, and not dangerous to anyone, if it's a negative habit that's hard to
shake, public health should pay attention and study, and perhaps employ a
policy nudge.

~~~
failrate
A personality type exists that can be addicted to literally anything. I have
this type. It feels like an OCD and is triggered by high stress. My theory is
that for some people, it will manifest as pharmaceutical addiction, others sex
or videogame addiction. This doesn't imply that sex, drugs, or videogames are
bad.

~~~
opportune
Is this personality / propensity towards addiction well studied enough that
you can test for it, or are you just relying on your previous experiences?
Previous experiences would suggest that I have this but I’d be interested in a
test or DSM-like diagnostic assessment

~~~
failrate
Anecdotal. History of alcoholism and other fun stuff in the family, so maybe
I'm trying to gussy up the truth.

------
superfamicom
I use marijuana every single day, either via a vape pen, a dab pen, or
drinking it. I don't really count topical use but you can if you like.

Something I see many people fall into is expecting the high to be something,
or, to do something for them. This expectation will lead to resentment and
feeling let down by the high (possibly much worse when you go seeking a
"stronger" high) when the user really went in with no intention in mind. With
no intention in mind you will end up doing nothing, much like having no
intention in mind and going into a social network only to emerge 2 hours later
not feeling satisfied.

Unlike several of the comments here I found that I was more social, more
active, and more willing to take risks in all aspects of life than I would
when I was sober. It has led to a sustained and growing yoga practice, which
also led to something of a "spiritual" side I had never noticed. Projects I
had dropped over the years have been picked up and completed without the fear
or failure or ridicule that comes from an incredibly high anxiety while sober.

------
nitwit005
Why can't they be drunk all the time like normal people?

Or constantly drink coffee, or smoke tobacco, or chew tobacco.

~~~
magic_beans
Is this sarcasm? I sure hope so...

------
throwaway493948
Posting with a throwaway for obvious reasons.

I started smoking weed in College. Since then, I've developed a habit of
smoking almost daily. Not all day, but usually a few tokes from a vape at the
end of the night.

When people ask, I usually reflect that weed has been a very positive addition
in my life.

I became VP of Eng. for a well known software company within 3 years of
graduating. We did a lot of things right and the company eventually exited
with unicorn status. I then left, bootstrapped my own startup w/ a small team,
and after 2 years were acquired by a major software company which cemented
financial independence. These days, I spent most of my time doing
advisory/consulting/investing roles.

I achieved all of this within 10 years after graduating, AND essentially
consuming weed daily(usually took breaks when traveling, etc.).

For me, it helps with relaxing as well as creative thinking. The way I
describe it is that it removes mental filters and allows you to appreciate
something in a new way (that "mind blown" feeling). Sometimes the insights can
be superficial, but sometimes they are not.

Nowadays, I am generally pretty open about my use when people ask. What I've
found is that it is a lot more common then I used to think. So many founders,
executives and otherwise "smart" people use it frequently for mostly the same
reasons. I'd have never guessed.

For anyone who might be interested, I'd suggest reading Carl Sagan's essay on
it in which he talks about his experiences and insights while high. He
actually wrote it under a pseudonym (Mr. X) but revealed his identity through
a friend after he passed. [http://marijuana-uses.com/mr-x/](http://marijuana-
uses.com/mr-x/)

This is also just my own opinion - but from my own experience what I've found
is that people tend to want to blame someone (or something) else for their
problems in life. And generally, marijuana is a pretty good scapegoat to point
a finger at.

~~~
nandemo
> Posting with a throwaway for obvious reasons.

Not obvious to me at all. Weed is already legal in several states in the US;
weed use is far from taboo on HN; you have FU money. So why the throwaway? (Of
course you have right to your privacy, I just wonder what are the "obvious"
reasons ...)

------
clankfan
I knew a lot of people that were addicted to weed because they were bored
without it and because their social lives are completely dependant on smoking
weed -- without weed they would just sit awkwardly. Some of them went more
than a decade like this and didn't develop many important areas of their mind
because of it.

------
lrg
If you manage to utilize cannabis to enhance your life, hats off to you. We
can all admit to pursuing that, regardless of the substance of choice (mine
being coffee and occasionally, nicotine). That being said, while cannabis use
is more or less one of the safer addictions a person can develop, I think it
is important to note its potential as a 'reverse gateway' drug. It normalizes
smoking and has been found to increase the risk of future nicotine dependency
in young adults who had not been exposed to either beforehand.
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16185213](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16185213)
Contradictory to this, some people claim that cannabis has helped them quit
nicotine by providing a somewhat safer alternative. The studies investigating
this are mostly looking into the motives for smoking cigarettes and pot. A
friend of mine has been smoking cigarettes for over a decade and has been
slowly replacing the tobacco with weed, now only smoking joints rather than
spliffs.

------
bobbyi_settv
I don't like that the article conflates "nearly daily" use with "constant"
use.

I'm not endorsing "nearly daily" use, but there is a huge difference between
someone getting high several times a week in the evening after a full day
sober and someone spending all of their waking life high.

------
lvspiff
After legalizing it in Vegas I've noticed a constant lingering smell from a
couple neighbors in my neighborhood. Its gotten to the point where its getting
to be annoying cause most of them don't want to make their own house smell bad
so they smoke outside. I'm for pot legalization and thought it was a fair
idea, but like with regular smoking if your doing it within 20 ft of someone
who's not and doesn't want to smell your acrid smoke your just being an
asshole.Kids don't want to swim cause it smells gross outside all the time. I
can't even grill in my backyard anymore cause the smoke from my bbq mixes with
the pot smoke and just ruins it.

~~~
robocat
I wonder if your neighbours think the same about your grilling habits? ;-)

------
40acres
I've been a pretty consistent pot smoker since 2014-15, which was when Oregon
legalized it. Prices have dropped considerably so it's not uncommon to get a
pre-roll of pretty strong stuff (20+ % THC) for $5. I have not noticed any
health effects although I have built up a slight tolerance. Using a vape pen
got me the biggest high but I decided to get rid of it.

I find that when I'm high I can really think deeply about things, smoking once
in a while kinds of recharges my mental state. More than once I've realized
"Damn, I'm human, I can do whatever I want.. that's kind of crazy". Seems kind
of loosey goosey but its a cool feeling.

------
dfsegoat
I know people that have kicked opiates and tobacco cold turkey - but who could
not give up using cannabis if their lives depended on it. This is a legitimate
concern in the current tide of de-criminalization / legalization.

~~~
sv123
That's more than a little bit anecdotal, physical and psychological dependence
on cannabis ranks well below opiates, tobacco, even alcohol. Not to mention
the fact that people's lives literally do depend on quitting opiates and
tobacco, while cannabis not at all.

~~~
dfsegoat
Totally anecdotal. My point is that I think that addiction in general runs
deeper than we currently understand and that we shouldn't underestimate the
potential for people to become dependent on something newly available just
because it is broadly conceived as harmless.

------
Simulacra
IMO: Cannabis rewards you for doing nothing.

~~~
grawprog
I don't understand this. Me and everyone I know that smoke pot regularly don't
sit around doing nothing. The people I know who do nothing don't smoke pot.
They finish their days and sit around in front of the TV drinking booze until
they passout. Or wake up when they don't work and start drinking.

The people I know who regularly smoke pot are motivated, usually have good
jobs or run successful businesses, have hobbies and good social lives that
don't revolve around smoking pot.

Don't get me wrong I've certainly met the 'lazy unmotivated stoner' types. But
at least in my experience, those tend to be more rare than the 'smokes weed
and does pretty well at life' people.

I smoke a lot of weed regularly and have no problem maintaining a job I work
six days a week, several productive hobbies, a long term relationship, and
friendships even with people that don't smoke weed or who are even opposed to
it. Honestly, if you met me and you don't smoke weed there's a good chance
you'd never know. I don't talk about it with people that aren't interested, I
don't sit around smoking in public, I don't go around wearing or buying weed
leaf clothes and paraphernalia and things like that. I've surprised more than
one person when they find out I smoke weed after knowing me for a long time.

~~~
magic_beans
But do you smoke very day? Do you look forward to pot more than anything else?
If not, then good for you! Like alcohol, some people take weed to extremes,
and others are able to drink one glass every now and again without going
overboard.

~~~
grawprog
I do smoke weed every day. I don't necessarily wake up in the morning and look
forward to only that. Ya if I finish work after a hard stressful day sometimes
I do look forward to it. But, I look forward to getting home, showering and
eating dinner too. If I'm busy doing things where I can't I don't really mind
and I don't really think about it or anything.

I would say my usage would qualify as habitual but in the end if I can't get
some weed or smoke or whatever in a day or for a bit it's all good. Ya I know
I rely on it for stress relief, helping with sleep and I honestly just find it
enjoyable. I mean I also rely on coffee to wake me up in the morning, food and
water to survive and generally many other things that either make my life
better or act as a crutch.

But in the end, compared to other crutches people rely on, the impact of weed
in my life is fairly minimal.

I know a guy last year who was addicted to coke who's mom ended up dying in
the night because instead of taking her to the hospital when she asked him he
wanted to get high and jerk off.

I've got a 25 year old cousin with pancreatitis because of his alcohol
problem.

My brother's just finished rehab for his drinking.

I have a friend who came close to death last year.because.of her coke and
crack addiction and basically fucked her life. She lost her job, her home for
a while, didn't see her kid for months and it basically took ending up in the
hospital for close to the tenth time last year, near death with the threat of
permanently losing custody of her kid to finally quit after years.

I've got another friend who was recently prescribed seroquil and a couple
anti-depressants for his anxiety over maybe one day having thoughts about
walking into traffic. Last time I seen him he was bragging about the thousands
of dollars he was making by double or triple depositing his disability cheques
into multiple banks, both his short and long term memory seemed totally messed
up he couldn't keep the flow of a conversation, had no idea what had happened
only 10-15 minutes previous and he stayed at my house and spent all night
awake staring at a wall hallucinating that he'd been watching tron 2 all
night. When I got up the TV was off, the internet had been unplugged sometime
hours before and he didn't have the TV remote. He had a job interview that day
he did not make it to.

I dunno i've seen a lot of people abuse substances or even just need something
to get by. In the course of my life, pot is pretty much the most harmless
thing i've seen. I've watched people going crazy over lack of coffee,
cigarettes and booze plenty. Never once seen someone doing that over weed.

~~~
drooogs
i don't mean to condescend (i smoke weed often myself), but please be careful
when you compare your habit to others'. if you know a lot of unhealthy people,
it can be hard to recognize your own issues.

~~~
anon08142018
I don't mean to condescend, but I would be careful about making assumptions
about other people's health, or your understanding of it unless you are
willing to list some kind of qualifications that enable you to make that
judgement.

------
jeremy7600
It was strange how the article kept talking about the downsides, and the
downsides were just anecdotes, and nothing else. Did I miss something in the
article, or was I just supposed to know the downsides before I read this?
Risks like "budtenders providing medical advice" have zero to do with near-
constant cannabis use.

~~~
Chardok
I get that the article is supposed to be a counter-point to the rapid
legalization, but you are absolutely right.

Being almost impossible to overdose on means they can't use scary death
statistics, and it might be too early to have any meaningful studies done on
productivity/motivation/etc. That being said, this article is really as useful
as your anti-cannabis family member at Thanksgiving telling you stories about
the consequences of cannabis.

------
dgzl
I have been smoking marijuana for just over a decade straight (about 2/5 of my
life), withholding various times of abstinence due to lack of access or
finances, looking for a new job, or trying to lower my tolerance. I grew up in
a very poor and dysfunctional household, and narrowly managed to a) get into
college, b) successfully pursue a STEM degree, and c) find a job that's well
above anything the rest of my family has done.

AMA, if you'd like.

~~~
Diederich
Sure!

Why smoke, with the known health impact? Why not edibles? They last a lot
longer, and it doesn't harm your lungs.

~~~
dgzl
> Why smoke, with the known health impact? Why not edibles? They last a lot
> longer, and it doesn't harm your lungs.

I'm aware of a handful of reasonable significant health impacts due to
smoking, and as you say, the harm against the lungs is something I'm concerned
about, along with the harm against my teeth/gums.

I've recently (last few weeks) decided to cut back on smoking flower, in favor
of using an oil pen. It's still not ideal, but I believe it will help in this
regard.

I actually don't really like edibles, to be honest. The potency is too
unpredictable for me, and they last way too long. At the same time, the come-
up takes longer than I like to wait for the effects. I'd appreciate an edible
more if there was an extended period of time that I was intending on being
high, but my life isn't usually that available. At the same time, edibles are
much more difficult to come by, and also more expensive. Also, it's difficult
finding an edible that isn't produced with something highly suggary/fatty, of
which I don't usually eat.

------
fakeuser767676
Prozac and related make me violent, and it's been prescribed to me.

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

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

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

------
zkomp
I think when it comes to marijuana there is a real difference between using it
every day and being truly addicted.

I think the difference comes down to if you use it as medicine and thus
medicate each and every day or if you use it as a drug and just want to get
high and party every day.

In any way - there is no use of punishing addicts, and even less use in
preventing people from medicating - legalize!

------
aldoushuxley001
Has anyone else taken notes while they were high?

I started taking notes when smoking around 10 years ago and it's probably the
single thing that's most dramatically increased my intellectual development.
The simple act of writing down my ideas helped solidify them and turned them
into a foundation for future evolution of the idea. I now have 5500 notes on
my computer and 2000 on my phone and you could effectively trace my
intellectual history with them.

Just curious if other people have similar success with smoking weed and taking
notes?

~~~
RichardCA
You're in good company.

[http://marijuana-uses.com/mr-x/](http://marijuana-uses.com/mr-x/)

~~~
aldoushuxley001
wow, thanks for the link! Found this incredible quote from Carl Sagan that
describes it perfectly:

> "There is a myth about such highs: the user has an illusion of great
> insight, but it does not survive scrutiny in the morning. I am convinced
> that this is an error, and that the devastating insights achieved when high
> are real insights; the main problem is putting these insights in a form
> acceptable to the quite different self that we are when we’re down the next
> day. Some of the hardest work I’ve ever done has been to put such insights
> down on tape or in writing. The problem is that ten even more interesting
> ideas or images have to be lost in the effort of recording one. It is easy
> to understand why someone might think it’s a waste of effort going to all
> that trouble to set the thought down, a kind of intrusion of the Protestant
> Ethic. But since I live almost all my life down I’ve made the effort –
> successfully, I think. Incidentally, I find that reasonably good insights
> can be remembered the next day, but only if some effort has been made to set
> them down another way. If I write the insight down or tell it to someone,
> then I can remember it with no assistance the following morning; but if I
> merely say to myself that I must make an effort to remember, I never do."

------
rgrieselhuber
Soma is a key component in keeping people happy when they shouldn’t be.

~~~
akvadrako
soma ?

~~~
lev99
It's a Brave New World (by Aldous Huxley) reference. It's worth reading if you
haven't.

EDIT: In the book Huxley imagines a new society. One of the hallmarks of the
society is there is no pain or suffering. This is accomplished in part by
Soma, a fictional drug perhaps best described as a no negative side effect
tranquilizer or opiate.

EDIT EDIT: The society also removes almost all major sources of pain. A person
is chemically engineered (was written before the discovery of DNA) to be happy
with their job and position in life since conception. There are no parents.
There is sex but no romantic love. In avoiding pain almost all the happiness
in the society is superficial, coming from sex, drugs and movies. They might
be happy, in the most shallow meaning of the word, but there is clearly no
joy.

------
evancox100
Best quote in the story: "Nine percent of anybody will do something stupid."

------
markbnj
This is probably overall a healthy counter reaction to the counter reaction to
the ridiculous decades-long federal position on the stuff. Marijuana is an
intoxicant of sorts, although I use the word loosely here, not the cure for
all ills. Like the other primary intoxicant it can sometimes have health and
wellness benefits, but it is also easily abused. Like anything that changes
your mental state in a way that you find pleasurable it can easily become a
psychological dependence, whether or not it's physically addictive. Back in
the day, when my friends and I discussed the possibility of marijuana
legalization (and this was the 70's when it was not at all possible) the
concept in our minds involved treating it like liquor: something adults have
the right to enjoy, but which is treated with cautious suspicion and care by
society at large. I still think that's where we'll end up, and it's been
somewhat fascinating to watch the whole system trying to digest this change.

------
sxp62000
I know three people from a previous job that was stressful, boring and
mechanical. They are all from great schools, in good health and well paid.
They smoke regularly and I’ve known them for at least 4-7 years now.
Initially, they treated it as a ritual of sorts, but ever since vapes become a
thing, I think they’ve become extremely addicted to it. It seems to me like
they plan their day around smoking pot now. Everything they read and share on
social media is also only about pot. On multiple occasions i’ve noticed they
tell me the same story over n over. It’s a bit worrisome to see this.

I also have a neighbor who’s 20 something and used to be in the army 4 years
ago. He’s been smoking regularly for medical reasons. He’s completely
different and actually seems more focused than my bored friends.

------
skate22
The number of users reporting regular use doesn't necessarily mean more people
are using

I feel much more comfortable talking about useage now that it's legal & more
socially accepted, but legality did not influence the frequency of useage for
me or the friends i knew who smoke weed

------
pnathan
Rather than criminalizing a _relatively_ harmless substance, the US should
look into treating marijuana like alcohol. Carefully regulated quality for the
stuff in stores; home brew is your problem and your friends' problem.

WA has this song and dance to buy legal pot and heavily regulates the entire
sector with taxes on top: that should be substantially simplified, in my
opinion.

Medical research _should_ be freely doable without any more grief than other
substances.

I have rather the same opinion about other, less harmful, drugs (MDMA, LSD,
etc). The paranoia from the 70s and 80s hasn't done much for us - the drugs
are still with us, and prohibition has produced enormous violence and
organized crime. Time to practically equate these drugs with alcohol.

------
some1else
I find a little pot "here and there" is great, but I've seen horrific results
of near-constant use. Strains differ in effect, and being hooked on smoking
weed instead of aiming for a desired outcome can get the majority of people in
a tight spot. It doesn't help that cannabis comes in so many different
flavours, particularly where it's is illegal, and any kind of weed will do.
While last week's package made everything click, next week's shipment can help
a person end up neglecting their self-interests.

------
losvedir
I've tried pot a few times and my subjective experience was vastly different
from all the comments here. It must affect people very differently, because I
couldn't fathom being high "near constantly". I had trouble doing basic things
like remembering to keep chewing the snack that I was eating or keeping track
of the sentence I was in the process of speaking.

Each time I come away thinking, "well, that was an awful experience". I've
thought I was getting too high, but I've either under shot and felt nothing,
or had the same high experience, never managing to just "be relaxed" or "think
more deeply" or be "more creative" or all these things in the comments here.
I'm not sure there _is_ such a state for me on marijuana, so I just don't try
anymore.

I've always felt a little duped by the pro-pot messaging I hear, which makes
it sound like no big deal and tons safer and better than, say, alcohol or
cigarettes. Alcohol impairs me with a noticeable dose effect, so it's fairly
easy to moderate, and the _way_ it impairs me kind of twists or stretches my
reality, while I haven't noticed a dose effect with marijuana and it just
utterly breaks my reality.

~~~
prolikewh0a
You eventually learn how to control and mold your high, how to be productive
and creative on it, and live a normal life. You need to experiment with what
your dose should be and how it effects you, and then you have a baseline. If
you're forgetting how to chew and 'breaking your reality', you're getting way
too high. I always recommend beginners start with a cannabis vaporizer and
stay under 370F/188C.

It's not for everyone though, and that's perfectly fine.

------
ilove_banh_mi
The few times I've tried it I experienced paranoia lasting several hours, and
when I became aware of it I additionally experienced anxiety because I
couldn't tell whether I was voicing these thoughts about people around me or
keeping them inside my mind. I would then proceed to develop violent scenarios
in which I had to attack and fight the people who were making me feel
paranoid; the anxiety increased because I suspected they could hear me
muttering such thoughts, so I was trying to clamp my mouth shut, deliberately
painfully so I could remain aware of it being shut. Last time, I thought I was
being very clever and quick to see all these paranoid connections, but when I
happened to pay attention to a clock I realized that each sentence/proposition
took me about 2 minutes to "think", examine word by word, and self-approvingly
re-think.

Further, when someone was speaking near me or to me, I felt that I could catch
at best one word per sentence; relatedly, their motions appeared disjointed,
jumping from position to position in space, a hand would be open then closed
without intermediary steps.

So, no thanks.

------
mirimir
The title is clickbait bullshit. Here's the money quote:

> Public-health experts worry about the increasingly potent options available,
> and the striking number of constant users. “Cannabis is potentially a real
> public-health problem,” said Mark A. R. Kleiman, a professor of public
> policy at New York University. “It wasn’t obvious to me 25 years ago, when 9
> percent of self-reported cannabis users over the last month reported daily
> or near-daily use. I always was prepared to say, ‘No, it’s not a very
> abusable drug. Nine percent of anybody will do something stupid.’ But that
> number is now [something like] 40 percent.”

I mean, "daily" is not "constant". And the quote only claims "daily or near-
daily use". I have, on occasion in Mexico or Amsterdam, smoked constantly,
except while asleep. And that's a very different trip than a few hits before
sex and sleep.

And perhaps worse, there's not much to the article than anecdotes, which have
obviously been selected for negative experiences.

------
throwaway413
Surprised I haven't seen this yet, so I'll leave my experience.

Daily (ab)user for ~4 years. No (observed) adverse mental, social effects.

Yesterday was 1 month clean, and I quit for mainly 1 reason: my mucus buildup
was becoming near unbearable. I'd wake up every single morning and pretty much
vomit straight mucus first thing after getting out of bed. When I would smoke,
it would clear the mucus right out (by blowing my nose, etc), but it's almost
like mucus drained down my throat while I was sleeping and would fill my
stomach to the point of becoming sick in the morning.

Within 2 weeks of quitting the mucus issue was completely gone and my body
back to normal - no more morning vomiting.

I have had other friends mention intensified mucus building from smoking
cannabis, but it is not discussed often. Wondering if others have experienced
something similar.

Anyways I much prefer cannabis to alcohol for evening relaxation, so my goal
is to quit a bit longer and then form a more healthy, casual relationship with
weed as I have with drinking.

~~~
PhoenixReborn
I concur, and had almost this exact same problem. I'd be congested all the
time and it caused me a lot of problems. Out of curiosity, have you ever tried
edibles instead of smoking? That solved my mucus issue almost instantly.

~~~
throwaway413
Definitely, I figure the mucus issue had less to do with cannabis itself and
more to do with smoking/inhaling/etc and the throat lining itself in a
defensive response to the heat.

My personal issue w/ edibles is that I was unable to control dosage, timing,
level of my high as well as w/ smoking in my experience. To get to a level of
satisfactory stoned, I would have to ingest 75-100mg of THC at one time, but
then that is lasting several hours, coming in waves, etc.

------
sbmthakur
Slightly off topic: Do cannabis have any significant advantage to health?

~~~
phillc73
There have been very positive studies regarding cannabis use to treat
epilepsy.[1][2]

[1] [https://www.newscientist.com/article/2172683-first-
cannabis-...](https://www.newscientist.com/article/2172683-first-cannabis-
based-drug-approved-in-the-us-to-treat-epilepsy/)

[2]
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4157067/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4157067/)

~~~
MFLoon
It turns out these are basically the only conditions for which medicinal use
is roundly supported by the data. Everything else is basically "Well, weed
makes lots of people feel good, couldn't hurt to use it for
[pain/nausea/anxiety/whatedver]."

~~~
drewmol
True as it is, the limited data is mostly due to criminalization in the US
preventing comprehensive analysis. This is especially true for the less severe
conditions (of which you mentioned several) where well studied alternative
remedies are effective and plentiful. The severity of suffering assosiated
with epilepsy, the limited effectiveness and heavy side effects of previously
available treatments and the peculiar effectiveness of cannibus eventually
resulted in conscientious objection and civil disobedience which resulted in
much more of that data becoming available.

I'm not disagreeing, just noting that opium made lots of people feel good long
before the why was well understood (and well capitalized...). I look forward
to reading more about it years from now, once we get past the Rumspringa phase
of gummy bear concentrates at the gas station and drizzled over you're
starbucks latte :-<

------
chefandy
I think the headline should probably read "More Americans admit near-constant
cannabis use"

------
Taylor_OD
I think a lot of people get too heavy into cannabis when they first start. I
did. It took me a while of over indulging to look at my life and realize that
there are lot's of things I wanted to be doing and accomplishing that I wasnt
because I was spending too much time high on my sofa watching TV. I'm sure
there are people who can be productive on weed but I am certainly not one of
them.

I still use cannabis but I treat it like alcohol and only indulge once or
twice a week. It's really helped a lot with my motivation and getting rid of
the, "mental fog" that I felt.

------
instaheat
Great article. I’ve struggled with the good vs. bad when it comes to cannabis.

I’m usually wildly productive, I’ll clean my entire house and get a bunch of
other things done when I smoke cannabis. I’m much more balanced and my wife
says I’m friendlier and more considerate. Otherwise, I tend to have a negative
outlook on things and am apt to have emotional outbursts such as anger. I
don’t know. I want it to be the miracle drug so I hate to think of it in a
negative light even though I am a firm believer in scientific findings and
would be disappointed if it were anything less.

------
shanemlk
I smoked a lot in college and it caused a lot of personal issues. I think it
stunted my early career development. I was sober for about 1.5 years, but I've
gone back to it recently. It's probably not a good idea, because I feel the
grips of addiction after just one use. But I've had my partner lock up my
supply for only occasional use, and I limit my habit when I do light up. This
feels extreme, and I might have to go back to abstinence, but so far I haven't
experienced depression or strong insomnia like I have withdrawing in the past.

------
awaythrow69
Is there anyone else here for whom cannabis does zilch? I have tried smoking
pot on two different occasions and it did not have any effect on me aside from
disgusting smell. To answer usual questions: it was real pot - everyone else
was high as a kite, and I followed the advice on proper inhaling technique.

Similar things with opioids. I have been prescribed percocet and hydromorphone
for strong (but non-chronic) pain. Pills took away the pain, but I never got a
sense of high or euphoria that would make me want to take them again.

Alcohol works just fine though.

~~~
reducesuffering
Usually it's temporary to a users first few times. Very common. Keep taking a
few hits on different occasions. If you don't feel anything past the 8th
attempt I would be very surprised.

------
octosphere
Article mentions the availability of more potent strains. What people fail to
realize is that skunk has more THC than CBD, and the ratio is way out of
whack. If more people chose hash there would be less mental health issues as
CBD is a known, well researched anti-psychotic, and counteracts the often
frenzied high of skunk (or the leafy high-potency plant material known as
skunk).

The hashish high is very different, as the CBD gives you a body high and as I
said, can ease the nerves and frenzied energy of a skunk high.

------
throwaway0255
Overdosing on marijuana was probably the worst thing I've ever experienced in
my life. Certainly by far the worst experience I've ever had on a recreational
drug.

People always frame the discussion of drug overdoses around lethality, and on
that scale marijuana compares very favorably to every other drug, and
advocates tend to end the discussion there.

But on the scale of how horrific the experience is as the person overdosing, I
don't think there's anything worse than marijuana. A large overdose on
marijuana causes an absolutely torturous and sanity-questioning 12-hour
episode where you feel like your insides are dying and like your brain's basic
function has been impaired on a fundamental level, and those 12 hours feel
like 3 days and it feels like it's never going to end.

It's like Being John Malkovich, but you've transported into the brain of a
severely afflicted mental patient.

Enjoy your marijuana and all, but this current popular narrative that it's
like skittles or something is taking things a little too far. It's safe in
moderation, but it's also true that using it to excess is mentally and
socially harmful and you can have a truly horrific time on it.

~~~
kaoD
Dude. What? The worst case I've had to assist was a couple that ate a huge
space cake (oblivious to its cannabis content) and, even if they got high by
mistake (which is the worst case of bad trip) it was nowhere near close to
your experience. Lots of fainting involved, but not much John Malkovich. And
it didn't last 12h.

How much did you eat/smoke? Maybe you're especially sensitive to cannabis?
(Genuinely curious here, not trying to discredit your story).

Your case sounds closer to a panic attack than cannabis overdose. Maybe the
bad trip triggered a panic attack, which in turn fed the bad trip back.

> But on the scale of how horrific the experience is as the person overdosing,
> I don't think there's anything worse than marijuana.

Psylocibin bad trips beg to disagree. Or any psychedelic, for that matter.

~~~
throwaway0255
> How much did you eat/smoke? Maybe you're especially sensitive to cannabis?
> (Genuinely curious here, not trying to discredit your story).

Yeah of course, no worries.

It wasn't with edibles, it was smoking. I was doing a form of inhaling that
I've never done before, where I exhale very deeply until my lungs are
completely empty, and then do a deep inhale. I repeated that many times.

This was about the third time I smoked, and I was doing that because I hadn't
really felt much of an effect the first two times, so I was trying to correct
that. I guess I overcompensated.

It was absolutely horrific. One thing I remember is I started having really
intense auditory pseudohallucinations that kept repeating themselves over and
over again. And I kept compulsively repeating them myself in my head over and
over again. And I couldn't make either of those things stop no matter how hard
I tried. They weren't words, they were just a bunch of different noises
stacked on top of each other, like how playing 10 songs at the same time it
just gets very noisy, and you can listen to 1 of the songs but only if you
focus on it and ignore the other 9. But I wasn't hearing songs, just stacked
noises like a glass breaking or a videogame sound or a car horn or a chair
sliding etc.

Ten of those sounds all stacked on top of each other, rhythmically like a
beat, while feeling an unwavering compulsion to reproduce the sound with my
voice in my own head, over and over again for hours, wanting to stop and sleep
the entire time and being completely unable to.

I felt like I was descending into psychosis or becoming schizophrenic like
Howard Hughes.

And yeah I do tend to be more sensitive to alcohol/drugs than others. My
doctors have said so with prescription doses, and I always feel tipsy halfway
through my first drink.

I've used it a little bit since and not had the same problem (though at much
lower doses of course). Mostly though I don't do anything, other than maybe
one drink if I'm around other people who happen to be drinking.

And yeah I imagine bad trips on psychedelics have much more potential to be
horrible. I've never done one though.

~~~
kaoD
Amazing (and terrifying at the same time).

That sounds an awful lot like a bad trip on psychedelics. Never had one, but
the sound stacking seems to be a common occurrence (along with time
dilation/loops, feeling of uncontrollable descent into psychosis, etc.)

Glad you survived the experience with no long-term damage. Sounds scary.

------
ncrmro
Been hit on the freeway on my motercycle and was a long time smoker before.

Legitimately wake up with pain, especially now that I’ve had to stop for a
job..

Just my anecdote.. as other people has said i am less social but that also
lets me be less distracted feeling like I’m not missing out.

Tomuch and obviously you can get distracted etc

------
wazza1234567
Everything we consume, we need to consume in moderation. Just like other foods
if you can control your self and not be carried away by anything you can feel
happiness. We shouldnt blame some of our problems on pot. But pot makes us
become aware of our problem.

------
S_A_P
Here is my take on cannabis. I live in a state that is still under
prohibition. I mostly stopped smoking cannabis after I got out of college in
the early 2000s. I would occasionally smoke here and there, but I didn't
really know anyone who sold it and wasn't interested in finding a weed house
to risk arrest. I have social anxiety, and general anxiety at night where I
cannot shut my mind off. Normally I can control this with exercise, and
occasional alcohol or melatonin use. Ive tried other things like ambien,
lunesta, or ativan for severe bouts. I don't really like benzos, and I feel
groggy and pushed towards depression when I take them.

Then I went to colorado this summer. I went to a dispensary, and I told them
what is going on with me and they suggested a few things.(and I also learned a
few things) I initially thought that I needed a strain of indica to make me
sleep and calm my mind. I found that to be a bad call and it really made me go
into a nasty head trip where I would analyze every bad decision Ive made in my
life in great detail, then get a mild panic attack. I adjusted dose and it
still made me feel that way, or didn't have enough of an affect to help.

I tried a hybrid strain of sativa/indica and found that a bit better, but the
indica high is not fun for me. soooo.

I know sativa is the "wide awake and nootropic" high, but for me, it works
perfectly. I can dose to ~2 hits from a vape pen and Im in the perfect mental
state to sleep. I don't feel hung over or groggy. I sleep better and wake up
refreshed.

As for motivation and pot. Im sure my experience is somewhat personal to me,
but If you want to be unmotivated and lazy, pot can help you get there.
However, if you just want to take the edge off, and still go about your
business pot can facilitate that as long as you manage your dosage and strain.

I almost hate to invoke the name of Joe Rogan, but I think he has it about
right when he says that its a problem of discipline. I think cannabis is
unique (compared to benzo, opiates, and some other drugs at least) in this
area because there is not a huge physical addiction with cannabis. This really
puts the problem squarely on your mental state. If you are smoking pot every
day, and not accomplishing much, you're probably depressed or want to be in
that state.

That said, its not a magic bullet drug, and I don't advocate for everyone to
consume cannabis all the time. I also would like to advise caution to those
new to or long removed from cannabis. These crazy weed scientists have made it
crazy potent. MIND YOUR DOSAGE!

------
fithisux
The new business model of the big tobacco and a ground breaking solution to
poverty and unemployment, the handicapped junkie citizen willing to throw away
liberty for pot or smokes. I smell a new Nobel in economics.

~~~
frockington
Pretty soon we'll get a Jule (sounds like jewel, not sure on spelling)
combined with weed and we can get the handicapped junkie citizen on pot AND
smokes.

~~~
coev
PAX (maker of the juul) already makes the Era line of pods for weed, too late.

------
ephemeral-999
As someone who doesn't like smoking but would like to try pot, is the end
effect of smoking pot the same as eating pot cookies? I dont seen cookies
mentioned any of the comments so far. Why is that?

~~~
reducesuffering
End result can be very different. I feel many more people have bad experiences
with edibles. Recommend smoking or vaping

------
tonydiv
As someone who is running a cannabis company [1], this is concerning, but it
ignores the fact that a majority of the members we service (we operate like
Costco with a membership model) are in severe chronic pain. They use it as an
alternative to opioids and that cannot be overlooked. Having lost multiple
people close to me due to opioids, that needs to be dealt with first before we
roll back the progress we've made with cannabis.

That's not to say we should be aware of the potential downsides, but there
seems to be plenty of higher priorities that we should be focusing efforts
first.

[https://flowercompany.com](https://flowercompany.com)

------
dawhizkid
I don't know what it is but I rarely have a good experience with weed when I
use it (which is very rarely). I usually just get very paranoid and/or sick.

------
eternalban
It is a very seductive but also very aggressive looking plant. (Nature puts
the warning signs on all the creatures and leaves the choice to you.)

------
hans
Unfortunately this discussion is full of pot cliche and neo liberal bias that
only leads to “sobriety” and fear of taint on your “career” .. marijuana is
just like coffee and really you can vilify that but honestly the sidewalk
leads to other things like more/less vice its up to you and you’re self
knowing. mj can be had by the smartest/dumbest but its not a thing in itself
that has a direct correlation to you’re “success” so lets all pull our pants
up.

~~~
fellellor
Wot?

------
openloop
I have found CBD with terpenes helps to ease the edge.

------
crimsonalucard
Not to long ago, back when cannabis was illegal... you couldn't even say
negative things about it. Now this whole thread is negative.

------
code_duck
Definitely an interesting article. I feel that some of the criticism about the
negatives of the emerging market and effects of cannabis use is valid, but a
lot of it sounds left over from the 80s and 90s. The drug treatment/law
enforcement complex (DARE and rehab) acted as if cannabis was a major public
health and addiction threat and a truly dangerous drug for decades. Witness
Jeff Sessions saying, in 2018, with no supporting evidence, that cannabis is
as dangerous as heroin - such claims went almost unquestioned in the past.
People who built a trade on that sort of thinking now need to redefine their
businesses.

I have operated socially and professionally in circles with rather high
cannabis consumption and have certainly seen people over consume to he point
that it is pointless or unenjoyable. Those times are certainly far less
harmful than such instances are with alcohol, to a degree where comparison
seems absurd. Nobody fights, gets violent, spills anything (maybe breaks a
piece of glass), vomits, falls, passes out, wrecks their car, or engages in
unhealthy sexual activity. We simply grow quiet and awkward and don’t
effectively conduct our social or commercial business.

I haven’t witnessed anyone have a great struggle quitting cannabis. I do know
many people who have moved on from daily usage as they reached their 30s and
40s, and many who have not.

Most of the negatives I’ve seen and experienced come from attitudes and
beliefs of others, including the law and police. Often parents or non-
consuming wives/girlfriends have a belief that cannabis consumption is
harmful, probably from decades of continuing propaganda and lack of firsthand
experience and accurate information. By trying to pressure people to stop a
habit that is enjoyable, possibly beneficial and probably not harmful, they
create interpersonal problems. Imagine if your spouse became convinced that
all of your personal problems were because you drank 3 beers a week, or a
daily coffee, and wanted you to seek counseling. It would seem absurd and sort
of intrusive.

As far as the emerging legal market, it is an odd mishmash of recreational,
fake medical-recreational and least of all now, legitimate medical. Places
that specialize in helping ill people who can especially benefit from symptom
relief and antioxidants found in cannabis have been overshadowed by
recreational use. I have a medical cannabis card in New Mexico, suffer from
various ailments that qualify in various states, and I don’t feel like the
stores that sell cannabis in NM are medical facilities, or the employees are
qualified to dispense medical advice. The system seems like a bizarre
compromise between recreational stores and medical facilities and it is poor
for both groups. It would be nice if they were medically aware, because as
I’ve been rather ill for 1-2 years cannabis is the only medication I have for
symptom relief and quality of life. Aspirin is way too little, anything
swallowed is a bad idea, and any opiates are out of the question.

In the emerging market there are certainly companies who I don’t trust to make
good decisions. I feel like the processes and semi-synthetic products created
from cannabis are likely to be less healthy than current whole plant
preparations. There seems to be an emerging disparity between cannabis sold
like coffee or tea as a whole plant, natural extracts, chemical extracts, and
prefilled vaporizer cartridges.

There is a bewildering profusion of products on the marketplace now, both
consumables and hardware, that have not been evaluated for any sort of safety
with the rigor most consumer products would be. Whenever government regulatory
officials take an eye to this, it will be a tremendous upheaval for the
industry.

