Marijuana... does it help you?

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anandamide

Johnnie


I don't think the average young person that reads this forum will be hanging out with those type of people. They will get a name for themselves around school or town as somebody who hangs out with the wrong type of people.

That might be so where you live. In the UK (probably much of the EU) soft drug use doesnt have particulaly strong connotations. Its so commonplace thesedays its hard for to envisage 'getting a reputation' to be much of an issue, even in a smallish town. Besides - cannabis use doesnt necessitate hanging around with anyone. Ive used it alone often as not.

In any case, i think you can worry too much about what other people think. Lifes too short, and too precious to be lived in a repressive box made up of someone elses values.

Life's too short to be burning your lungs and brains out with pot. You're smart Johnnie. Stay that way and keep encouraging others while they still have their brain intact.

Since being diagnosed with Asperger's I have made the personal decision to abstain from smoking pot even though I did at one time in life enjoy it immensely; I also decided to stop drinking alcohol.

I don't want to turn into Counsellor Mackey here...mmmkay...but while I don't believe pot is inherently evil, I can't see how it can help anyone with Asperger's or any other ASD. If anything, my experience of it was of withdrawing further into myself and my weird thoughts and obsessions, and coming across as more of a confused blabbering idiot when I tried to communicate what I was thinking or feeling. I ended up getting to a point where I just bummed out every time I got stoned, worrying about anything and everything, just flaking out on the couch and not being able to hold a conversation with anyone about anything. Now I can't speak for any other Aspie but my social skills are bad enough already without tuning myself out further.

I've come across some illicit drugs in my time that have helped me come out of my shell socially...however I'm sure I'd get a sternly worded response from the forum moderators if I were to elaborate on that.

If you dont smoke it theres no risk of 'lung-burn' & the studies of 1982 showing a link to brain damage have long since been discredited.

I prefer the indica strains myself. I find that sativas often increase my anxiety. The indicas tend to unlock my thought process and enhance my ability to communicate my thoughts with other people.

I am a very anxious, controlling type of personality. I am very sensitive to all medication. I even get a "high" from taking aspirin! When I first began smoking, at the age of 39 years old, I felt anxious because of my uncertainty at being in a slightly altered state. However, I refused to allow that anxiety to stand in my way of the "experience" because I knew by then that cannabis has much to offer in terms of its therapeutic value. As with many medicines, the initial side effect of increased anxiety went away once I changed my "dosage" and also the strain.

Personally what works for me is one or two puffs of an indica based strain.

I fail to see how cigarette, pipe tobacco and chew is bad for you but amazingly, pot smoke is only beneficial.

My position on drugs is that they create a false reality. I want the real thing. I don't like anything phony. it's one of my pet peeves. When I realized that drug use is a false, forced attempt at manipulating your moods and attitudes, I quit! I don't even take prescription drugs unless I am on the brink of death. I refuse to be medicated instead of getting well or learning to live a healthy lifestyle. If some of you want to do drugs, that's fine (with you) but I don't think you should try to defend it because it's a stupid decision that you will probably one day regret. I also hope that the young people who may look at this thread, think very seriously and intelligently before they decide to try any drugs. Drugs, ALL drugs, are potentially very dangerous and should only be used under the care of an excellent physician.

disclaimer: These are just my opinions and I do not condemn those who are on particular medicines under the guidance of a liscenced physician.

I also do not dislike anyone for doing drugs, but I wouldn't hang with you; you might get me arrested because of your lifestyle choices.

That's why I've been smoking it for over a quarter-century!

Ac5tually, I just got back from a concert, and I'm pretty sure I got contact high because of some dude smoking MJ in front of me.

And actaully, I feel freakin' good right now. I feel calm in an odd, I can't blink my eyes sort of way. My arms feel weird. Man.

When I was a depressed teenager, marijuana gave me just enough to look forward to each day to keep myself from duct-taping my head inside a bag of nitrous-oxide. I did not notice any paranoia, but I already had one foot out the door, so to speak, and paranoia requires concern for events to come. I stopped using it for the time I was in the army (where my depression and I parted), and when I got out and started using again, I found that I was paranoid. This was totally unacceptable, so I searched my feelings and found that I believed marijuana to be morally correct. I spent some time contemplating various aspects of this until I was sure, for a certainty, that marijuana is good and those that say otherwise are either manipulators or those deceived by the manipulators. And with that my paranoia was gone. The laziness aspect was in full force in my teens, but I wanted no part of this world back then, and marijuana only helped me crawl further into my mind and away from the world, it did not cause it. I know this is true because now I have found a path of light and righteousness in the pursuit of scientific advancement, and marijuana only strengthens my drive, my desire, and my ability in this. Bottom line is that I believe marijuana does exactly what you either want or expect it to do. If you listen to the mainstream media propaganda, then you will be paranoid, and that in itself can lead to lack of motivation.

If you mean stimulants, then I would say that they are truly life diminishing, evil substances. If you mean other psychotropics, part of me still thinks the one answer we seek might be found there, but I can no longer look for it myself.

OK well since I am not actually endorsing any drug that I have used, I will say that I am referring to amphetamines and MDMA which I have only ever used in the utmost moderation, and in particular circumstances.

As for whether speed is evil and/or life diminishing, I couldn't tell you because I don't do it any more. I only ever had the odd line before going out and, truth be known, I realised that I was in too much danger of becoming psychologically hooked on it so I stopped even that. So maybe you do have a point although I resolutely do not believe in "evil" and feel strongly that psychotropics are potentially every bit as dangerous.

Ultimately my belief regarding drugs is that you choose your own poison and take responsibility for how far you go. Just because I don't drink or take drugs, doesn't mean that I moralise against anyone else's choices, just stay TF away from me when you're doing it. In fact I would say that, more than any other drug, I'm sick of being confronted with the anti-social behaviour of heavy drinkers, and even though it never affected me that way, I just decided that I wanted no part of it.

Main vices right now...caffeine and occasional nicotine.

I was put on all kinds of extremely unhealthy chemicals in my early 20's trying to control my ADHD. Nothing worked and actually some of those nasty chemicals made me so terribly unstable I almost killed myself in a suicide attempt. Thank GOODNESS for my POT-SMOKING FRIENDS! They alone showed support for my plight. While the pharmaceutical companies claim their products are safe when used as prescribed, I can still find reports of people DIEING from complications from the same pills they say are harmless. why don't they list "DEATH" at the top of the list of "possible" side effects? NO ONE has EVER died from smoking or eating marijuana. Maybe from irresponsible behavior when "under the influence", but NEVER DIRECTLY FROM IT. I realize that smoking weed or eating special brownies is not addressing the root of the "problem" but who is to say that I am the one who has the problem? At the same time I some so people can deal with me easier, I am smoking to be able to deal with them. If I die in 20 years from cancer caused by smoking weed but I lived a somewhat happy life-- that is more desirable than living 500 years as a miserable old eccentric coot isolated in his own mind. The social stigma's of what's "right" and "wrong" are screwy. 500 years ago marijuana was an accepted medicine of MANY cultures, treated as a gift from the gods, and as a spiritual aid. Only with modern society and the minority's ability to control the majority has this natural medicine received it's bad reputation. While I myself was given marijuana by my mother when I was eight years of age, I do not recommend or agree with the giving of the medicine to minors any more than alcohol should be. If what I do in my own privacy does not harm or affect another, no one has the right to dictate what i do as right OR wrong. It's MY mind, MY body, and MY life. Deal with it.....

I've tried it once and I was sick for a week. It didn't help me, so I didn't do it again.

I think it is dependent upon the person. But someone here mentioned that pot-smoking groups aren't a good influence- I agree. I used to smoke sometimes recreationally, and in my late teens I did it with people, and they are basically losers. Its hard to find decent people to hang out with in general, but most of the pot crowd I know are really stupid low lives. That being said, I smoke for medical purposes (migraines) every once in a while and it helps a lot. I don't see it as a good social thing though. I never smoke around other people any more. The rare time I do smoke just for the hell of it is a night where I feel like doing some amateur astronomy with my telescope or staying in and playing Civilization IV or something. Been a few months since I've done that. Keep any substance to a minimum. But at least its less harmful on your body than alcohol

Marijuana helped ruin my family. I am not open to seeing its benefits.

I personally find it extremely helpful, but I imagine it would vary person to person.
I believe that marijuana is a wonder drug. It actually give my life quality. With pot, I can ride in a car without panicking. With pot, I can eat, sleep, and interact with others. It helps me with decision making, slows down my thinking, and there is nothing else that can calm my rage.

I feel offended that I would be labelled a criminal, just for trying to feel "normal".

I've been doing research on this topic. One of the more interesting points I found was about the locations of the cannabinoid recepters in the brain. The highest densities of the receptors (CB1) are located in the hypothalamus, hippocampus, cerebellum and amygdala (a few others I can't remember right now). Those areas of the brain have been shown to be structurally different in NT and AS individuals.

Perhaps they will find a link?!