I regret smoking weed.

[WindirBear]

I did it as a teenager and I fucking hated it.

I would get anxiety, paranoia, even sadness.

 

I did it because the crowd I was with. sometimes it wouldn't be so bad, but most times it was.

Its legal in California, and next year it'll be sold legally in stores.

 

I personally think this a gateway drug, despite being an unpopular opinion.

 

I'm just ranting

[MrDynamicMan]

*thumbs up*

[captain_to_fire]

6 hours ago, WindirBear said:

I did it as a teenager and I fucking hated it.

I would get anxiety, paranoia, even sadness.

I think the weed had nothing to do with those. If you're experiencing anxiety, paranoia and sadness, please do yourself a favor and go for a consult with a therapist or a psychiatrist. 

 

While marijuana is being prescribed by doctors as treatment for those conditions you mentioned, I don't think you should be self medicating and get a consult from a credentialed therapist or psychiatrist. 

6 hours ago, WindirBear said:

I personally think this a gateway drug, despite being an unpopular opinion.

 

 

[Misanthrope]

24 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

I think the weed had nothing to do with those. If you're experiencing anxiety, paranoia and sadness, please do yourself a favor and go for a consult with a therapist or a psychiatrist. 

 

While marijuana is being prescribed by doctors as treatment for those conditions you mentioned, I don't think you should be self medicating and get a consult from a credentialed therapist or psychiatrist. 

Unfortunately there's still a lot of stigma: I have several friends that were huge smokers and at least 2 of them ended up giving it up and praising the decision claiming they were addicted and that it had negative effects.

 

Yet we don't have the same attitude towards alcohol: the same exact beer that would make most people cheery and lighthearted when done in moderation and in a good humor can turn people into violent, depressed assholes. The kind of drunk you end up being depends entirely on the kind of mood you are in when you start drinking that night. Most people seem to understand this but with weed not so much still.

[SCHISCHKA]

16 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

Unfortunately there's still a lot of stigma: I have several friends that were huge smokers and at least 2 of them ended up giving it up and praising the decision claiming they were addicted and that it had negative effects.

 

Yet we don't have the same attitude towards alcohol: the same exact beer that would make most people cheery and lighthearted when done in moderation and in a good humor can turn people into violent, depressed assholes. The kind of drunk you end up being depends entirely on the kind of mood you are in when you start drinking that night. Most people seem to understand this but with weed not so much still.

There are people allergic to alcohol and don't realise it. there's also a gene that triggers a bad response to alcohol. Back to weed. it really has such a small effect on me that I just can't be bothered getting high. Some people react badly and end up with bipolar or some other mental illness. Some people think it's the most wonderful thing in the world. Making it available like tobacco is going to repeat the mistake of allowing tobacco on every corner store, possibly worse. I'm not against decriminalisation I think possession should not be punished but should be treated as an illness not crime. Commercialising it is very wrong and will have the same or worse results on societal participation like all other legal drugs. I.e. An addiction will cost you your job

[SCHISCHKA]

53 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

I think the weed had nothing to do with those. If you're experiencing anxiety, paranoia and sadness, please do yourself a favor and go for a consult with a therapist or a psychiatrist. 

 

We don't really have those where I am. There are medical psychiatrists that deal with illnesses like schizophrenia that we know are actual treatable illnesses. Seeing a therapist I think is a North American thing, we have councillors and social workers which is less medical more social, cultural, community based and I think that works better than seeing someone who will prescribe drugs in pill form

[captain_to_fire]

8 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

Unfortunately there's still a lot of stigma: I have several friends that were huge smokers and at least 2 of them ended up giving it up and praising the decision claiming they were addicted and that it had negative effects.

 

Yet we don't have the same attitude towards alcohol: the same exact beer that would make most people cheery and lighthearted when done in moderation and in a good humor can turn people into violent, depressed assholes. The kind of drunk you end up being depends entirely on the kind of mood you are in when you start drinking that night. Most people seem to understand this but with weed not so much still.

I'm actually disappointed that in a lot of countries, the use of marijuana for recreational purposes are punishable by incarceration but not alcoholism, so much for double standards. I think drug problems should be treated like an illness and not as a heinous crime. The δ9-THC in marijuana is actually way less addictive than alcohol and because alcohol alters the function of at least 7 receptors in the brain whereas alcohol only alters one. Not to mention, excessive alcohol intake can lead to seizures, liver cirrhosis and wernicke encephalopathy and others. [1]

 

 

[1] Lüscher, C. (2012). Drugs of Abuse. In B. G. Katzung, S. B. Masters, & A. T. Trevor (Eds.), Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (12th ed., pp. 569-575). New York City, NY: McGraw Hill Companies, Inc.

 

 

[Misanthrope]

20 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

There are people allergic to alcohol and don't realise it. there's also a gene that triggers a bad response to alcohol. Back to weed. it really has such a small effect on me that I just can't be bothered getting high. Some people react badly and end up with bipolar or some other mental illness. Some people think it's the most wonderful thing in the world. Making it available like tobacco is going to repeat the mistake of allowing tobacco on every corner store, possibly worse. I'm not against decriminalisation I think possession should not be punished but should be treated as an illness not crime. Commercialising it is very wrong and will have the same or worse results on societal participation like all other legal drugs. I.e. An addiction will cost you your job

"Some people react badly and end up with bipolar or some other mental illness"

 

Sorry but I need a citation on that. 

[captain_to_fire]

9 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

There are people allergic to alcohol and don't realise it. there's also a gene that triggers a bad response to alcohol.

There's a difference between alcohol allergy and alcohol intolerance. Just like any allergy, alcohol allergy is characterized by wheezing, shortness of breath and a drop in blood pressure. While alcohol allergy exists, it's actually quite rare. Alcohol intolerance is a genetic defect that causes deficiency in alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme together with NAD+, catalyzes oxidation of alcohols into aldehydes or ketones. 

11 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

We don't really have those where I am. There are medical psychiatrists that deal with illnesses like schizophrenia that we know are actual treatable illnesses. Seeing a therapist I think is a North American thing, we have councillors and social workers which is less medical more social, cultural, community based and I think that works better than seeing someone who will prescribe drugs in pill form

I don't think seeing those people are bad at alll. Just to clarify, not all mental problems require medications. A lot of times, it's just psychotherapy. 

19 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

Commercialising it is very wrong and will have the same or worse results on societal participation like all other legal drugs. I.e. An addiction will cost you your job

This is I actually agree. While I am against to any drug war similar to what Philippines or Richard Nixon did, I don't think drugs should be advertised like skittles. And yes, war on drugs is as silly as diabetics declaring war on sugar or obese people declaring war on cooking oil or butter. 

[SCHISCHKA]

Just now, Misanthrope said:

"Some people react badly and end up with bipolar or some other mental illness"

 

Sorry but I need a citation on that. 

Here's one .there will be more if you look on google scholar https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2811144/

in nz people with bipolar are told by doctors to stay away from cannibus. I personally know one kid who was diagnosed after a couple of months of heavy use

[SCHISCHKA]

3 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

There's a difference between alcohol allergy and alcohol intolerance. Just like any allergy, alcohol allergy is characterized by wheezing, shortness of breath and a drop in blood pressure. While alcohol allergy exists, it's actually quite rare. Alcohol intolerance is a genetic defect that causes deficiency in alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme together with NAD+, catalyzes oxidation of alcohols into aldehydes or ketones. 

I don't think seeing those people are bad at alll. Just to clarify, not all mental problems require medications. A lot of times, it's just psychotherapy. 

This is I actually agree. While I am against to any drug war similar to what Philippines or Richard Nixon did, I don't think drugs should be advertised like skittles. And yes, war on drugs is as silly as diabetics declaring war on sugar or obese people declaring war on cooking oil or butter. 

There's a difference in North American psychiatry and the rest of the world. You can be a registered medical psychiatrist or a counciler. Councilers don't prescribe drugs. Psychiatrists deal with the truly medically ill and work in hospitals. You don't just walk into a psychiatrists office like you would a dentist. I think America and asia is different with everything privatised.

i actually live in a country where we have a large population of people who have the alcohol intolerance gene. Iv seen people go bright red and get drunk on one beer, they can also get violent and emotional. I have a friend that talks like he's high on some a class drug after a few drinks, it gets him into some trouble coz he appears more wasted than he really is

[Misanthrope]

9 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

Here's one .there will be more if you look on google scholar https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2811144/

in nz people with bipolar are told by doctors to stay away from cannibus. I personally know one kid who was diagnosed after a couple of months of heavy use

Wait, Bipolar people being told to abstain or a bipolar patient not realizing about their undiagnosed condition prior to smoking weed doesn't means weed users "end up with bipolar or some other mental illness" you grossly misrepresented that. Your study presents no direct causation, we know some substances can have adverse interaction with people predisposed to those conditions but your implication that it outright causes them is unfair and unsupported by the quoted study.

[Centurius]

39 minutes ago, Kumaresh said:

Alcohol and drugs like Marijuana, cocaine and heroin are bad for your body and have numerous negative long term health implications, damaging both your body and mental condition. I can't say for certain which is objectively worse, but both are bad. Better to avoid them entirely....

You know what else has numerous negative long term health implications that are damaging to both your body and mental condition? Oxygen.

[SCHISCHKA]

Just now, Misanthrope said:

Wait, Bipolar people being told to abstain or a bipolar patient not realizing about their undiagnosed condition prior to smoking weed doesn't means weed users "end up with bipolar or some other mental illness" you grossly misrepresented that. Your study presents no direct causation, we know some substances can have adverse interaction with people predisposed to those conditions but your implication that it outright causes them is unfair and unsupported by the quoted study.

I'm on my phone that's why I said you will find more on google scholar. Yes in my country doctors tell people with bipolar to stay off weed. Yes heavy users do get diagnosed with bipolar and other mental illnesses, we don't know if it's the cause or if it's pre-existing and the weed triggers it. Look it up there's a bit of research but not a lot of concrete conclusions due to the illegal status of the drug it can't go through trials like other drugs

[Misanthrope]

2 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

I'm on my phone that's why I said you will find more on google scholar. Yes in my country doctors tell people with bipolar to stay off weed. Yes heavy users do get diagnosed with bipolar and other mental illnesses, we don't know if it's the cause or if it's pre-existing and the weed triggers it. Look it up there's a bit of research but not a lot of concrete conclusions due to the illegal status of the drug it can't go through trials like other drugs

Street legal doesn't means unregulated. In fact it means far more regulation and far better opportunities at studying this effects and possible side effects vs throwing people in jail for 20 years like stupid fucking Republicans advocate.

[SCHISCHKA]

Just now, Misanthrope said:

Street legal doesn't means unregulated. In fact it means far more regulation and far better opportunities at studying this effects and possible side effects vs throwing people in jail for 20 years like stupid fucking Republicans advocate.

I don't know where you got street legal from. Every country has different laws. In mine its is illegal to grow or posses and there is no legal way to conduct a medical trial, the only exception is sworn police officers and dog trainers. I don't know anything about Mexican law but street legal is slang to me

[Misanthrope]

3 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

I don't know where you got street legal from. Every country has different laws. In mine its is illegal to grow or posses and there is no legal way to conduct a medical trial, the only exception is sworn police officers and dog trainers. I don't know anything about Mexican law but street legal is slang to me

Don't you think there should be a way to conduct legal medical trials? Otherwise you basically asserted that the study you posted earlier is incredibly flawed and for better or worst we just don't know if the effects are a direct causation or not or maybe a worst one that we would assume.

[captain_to_fire]

27 minutes ago, SCHISCHKA said:

Here's one .there will be more if you look on google scholar https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2811144/

in nz people with bipolar are told by doctors to stay away from cannibus. I personally know one kid who was diagnosed after a couple of months of heavy use

Here are my comments 

1. A single anecdotal record isn't an evidence in itself. 
2. If you read the patient history, his psychosis is more likely linked to alcohol. 

Quote

Substance use/abuse history. Mr. X started using cannabis when he was 16-years old. He only used it rarely in the past, but started using it on a daily basis in the past few months and in greater quantities. He began using alcohol when he was 14-years old. He typically drank (“a few beers”) on the weekends. He did not report passing out or withdrawal seizures. He denied any other illicit drug use.

3. The article is not a clinical study with a fair number of subjects. 

4. Slippery slope argument 

Quote

One would argue that someone who had a first episode psychosis with cannabis use is itself a risk factor for having a subsequent psychotic or mood disorder. These are the patients we should follow closely to help prevent from having long-term consequences secondary to cannabis abuse.

The researchers disregarded the patient history and automatically assumed that the patient's psychosis is due to weed. 

 

5. No-true Scotsman fallacy

Quote

Clinicians agree that cannabis use can cause acute adverse mental effects that mimic psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Although there is good evidence to support this, the connections are complex and not fully understood.

Not every clinician. This notion isn't as universal as Mycobacterium species causing TB and leprosy. 

Hence, the arguments presented by the researchers are standing on thin ice. 

[SCHISCHKA]

7 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

Don't you think there should be a way to conduct legal medical trials? Otherwise you basically asserted that the study you posted earlier is incredibly flawed and for better or worst we just don't know if the effects are a direct causation or not or maybe a worst one that we would assume.

Yes but at the same time I will not say there is no correlation between mental illness and weed

[SCHISCHKA]

7 minutes ago, hey_yo_ said:

The article is not a clinical study with a fair number of subjects. 

Iv outlined this earlier. There are no concrete clinical trials because of its legal status. again look it up on google scholar. We don't know how the brain works. We don't know much about mental illness. We do know that weed has a lot of different variations of psychoactive chemicals. We do know there is a relationship between mental illness and weed. We have seen the effects of synthetic cannibus as this was sold legally and did send a lot of kids to hospital. I'm not going through medical journals on my phone, I do not carry medical journals about weed with me in case I run into a pro pot hippy. you can do your own research through google scholar.

[KuJoe]

I regret smoking it as a teenager also, it really messed up my brain and I literally lost a good portion of my vocabulary. Come to find out marijuana can have adverse effects on the brain for people under 23 years old.

[Monkey Dust]

Everything is fine in moderation, including weed, and most of the harder stuff too. The link between mental illness and cannabis isn't that clear, how much does cannabis cause versus now much is it the mentally ill person attempting to self medicate. Obviously if you don't respond well to it, you shouldn't persist with it. And anything mind altering, that isn't perscribed by a doctor, if you have metal health issues isn't a great idea, including alcohol.

 

Also it's only a gateway drug because it's illegal, if you bought it from the same place you bought your alcohol it would be.

[TacticlTwinkie]

It just sounds like marijuana isn't for you. There's no shame in that. Some people can't handle alcohol. If it doesn't respond well to your body, don't partake. 

 

Also, the argument that it is a "gateway drug" has been proven demonstrably false. That's lingering anti-pot propaganda from the Nixon administration. But that is a topic for another day.

[Guest Kloaked]

11 hours ago, WindirBear said:

I personally think this a gateway drug, despite being an unpopular opinion.

Even though I disagree with recreational (not medicinal) drug use, this "gateway drug" narrative is bollocks. It's just a convincing argument to people who don't think about what that actually means.

 

They're basically making the argument that if you smoke weed, you'll want to eventually move on to more "serious" drugs. That's ridiculous. Nobody makes that argument for alcohol, food, anything, because it has no backing. "Gateway drug" is a political narrative and anyone who works for the government says that should be voted out of office, because it shows how manipulative they want to be over the lowly peasants citizens.

[Centurius]

1 hour ago, Kumaresh said:

You forgot to include the /s at the end of your statement. In case you were being serious, the average person is not exposed to anywhere near enough oxygen to have negative effects on their body. The partial pressure of oxygen would have to be several times the normal atmospheric level which would only occur under exceptional circumstances like when diving or undergoing some sort of neo natal therapy ( there are also oxygen rich hyperbaric chambers to treat burn victims, but I recall several accidents occurring due to a potential energy buildup within the chamber acting as a capacitor and building up enough charge to induce sparking and start a fire, not good for a patient with burns and especially in an oxygen rich tank ) . On the other hand, slightly higher levels of oxygen have won't do much. Scientific studies into the long term effects of certain drugs are still in their infancy due to medico-legal issues, but the preliminary results seem to be that there are at least some negative effects, especially regarding developmental issues faced by young people taking drugs.

No /s needed, it is proven that oxygen itself is a major factor in the decay of the human body and eventually death(thus why antioxidants are so important). It's a slow process, but it's still happening.