Marijuana... does it help you?

Post Reply New Topic

Just wanted to pick all of your brains...
For those of us with asperger's, what is your impression of the mary jane? Does it affect our brains the same as NTs? Are there any studies on the subject?
Personally, as a young lad I was completely against it... to me it looked like it made you lazy and all one would do is surf the couch which was not appealing to me.
Now that I am older, I find that it can be very therapeutic for those with a mind that runs a mile a minute. Sometimes I feel more natural and comfortable when I am high which can be a nice feeling for one who has never felt comfortable in their own skin and mind.

Please understand that I am not endorsing the use of illegal drugs as a solution to anyone’s problems but I am interested in hearing what other aspies have experienced and their thoughts on the subject... good, bad, therapeutic value or not, etc.

Cheers!

I despise illegal drugs, and some legal ones awell.

They are a con.

I found marijuana to be very beneficial. yes I did feel rather vivacious while high, but at the same time rather lethargic as well. Everything sometimes feels like a dream.I started having that stoner/surfer accent where they also speak real slowly. I was totally relaxed and carefree.

However I don't use it anymore because of it's long term effects, such as impairment of memory (thats one of our strengths as aspies, why would we want to lose it) and its legality.

Different types of cannabis have completely different effects. Often people say 'dont like - made me paranoid/lethargic/amotivated/crazy etc' But for every one of those outcomes a different strain would liely have had the exact opposite result.

I think overall its had a great effect on me. When i started using it i started socializing a lot more, the analytical and therapeutic effects seem to have helped hone & improve my psyche.

all drugs are short term solutions. Even prescriptions. They all have metabolic and physiological effects that change your body chemistry. Marijuana usage while less harmful than tobacco can be dangerous to anyone with a blood sugar or hormon related illness. And since Aspies and othe PDD disorders can be neurochemical as well as neurobiologic I recommend steering clear. There are other herbal and nutritional aids that are safer as well as acupuncture and acupressure. But on the moral plane, whatever gets you through the night. [shrug]

I'm 46 and smoked during my teens and 20's and wouldn't recomend it as a solution to anything,it just turns you into a vegtable. Plus the legal problems involved with it can make life worse if somebody gets caught with it and in general the people involved in drug use aren't the best people to be involved with. Than the money that is wasted on it is another reason to not bother with it.

For the teenagers here don't believe for a second your new pot heads buddies are your friends,they are only your friends as long as you got some weed to donate to the party,as long as you are geting them high more than they get you high,they will be your friends. Nothing but leaches is what the party crowd turns into.

Find better activities to get involved with and you are more likely to find true friends. Get labeled a druggie and most good people will steer clear of you.

Oh that is nonsense, Johnnie. People from all walks of life smoke marijuana, including university professors, judges, lawyers, and even police officers. It is really unfair of you to make unsupported statements that depict "potheads" as bad people. Marijuana has many life saving properties. It is an amazing plant that is really important to the environment, not to mention that it also saves lives with its medicinal value.

Henry Ford designed the first car to run on fuel derived from the plant cannabis sativa. This plant, otherwise known as marijuana, is a source of fuel like no other that is known to humankind. The world's most effective biomass fuel can be derived from this plant. As well, it has great medicinal properties. This plant was banned because it is a threat to the US oil, textile and pharmaceutical industries.

I am sorry I don't have more time to debate this with the detailed argument that the subject deserves, but I am tired of arguing with fools. I get very frustrated with people like you. Is really not fair to post an opinion about something without first educating yourself about all sides of the issue. Your ignorance makes it harder for people who need marijuana to live, people with MS, cancer and aids, as well as AUTISM, to get their medicine because your ignorance works to support the ridiculous ban imposed by the US government.

And if you do want to bother to educate yourself about all sides of this debate you might want to find links such as this:

http://www.jackherer.com/

And then you would have access to some simple information that could help you to be better informed.

Johnnie wrote: For the teenagers here don't believe for a second your new pot heads buddies are your friends,they are only your friends as long as you got some weed to donate to the party,as long as you are geting them high more than they get you high,they will be your friends. Nothing but leaches is what the party crowd turns into.


Pot makes you slow and stupid. Jman's 'long-term effects' statement is true and it's a real demotivator. I speak from experience, not research. Johnnie hit the relational problem right on the head. It's a real let-down when you realize that you're friends will desert you for a joint.
Marijuana impaired my mental abilities for a time. (of course I have to wonder about my mental abilities for trying pot in the first place)

Yes, I believe that smoking on occasion can have some very relaxing effects on your personality. Back when I smoked, it gave me a very intrapersonal view on life and basically helped me to see and accept myself for who I really was. I was relaxed and my nerves were calmed for at least a week afterwords. However, from personal experience I have noticed some short-term memory problems so I think i'd keep it to weekends if using it at all. I'm not saying that you should rely on pot to get you through your problems, i'm just saying that there's nothing wrong with smoking a little every now and then.

My memory isnt what it used to be. I think to a some degree lifestyle is a factor - the minds like a muscle and if you dont use it by reading, studying, doing new and challenging activities then it gets weaker. Ive also come to suspect that gluten and/or casien are responsible for fluctuations in my cognitive ability. Im currently experimenting with my gluten/casien intake to evaluate whether i should adopt a special 'autistic' diet long term.

Memory isnt a fixed thing either, you can learn techniques from self-help books that improve your recall capacity significantly. Ive tried one of these out myself and the results within 10mins were astounding.

Imo cannabis doesnt make a person amotivated. PEOPLE make themselves amotivated. However, it may cause a gradual and subtle paradign shift in which the value of everyday goals and activities are questioned and reevaluated.


To summarise: i think cannabis may well be related to changes in recall ability, but that doesnt necessarily indicate a causal relationship of irreversible brain damage. To paraphrase Terrence McKenna; people have spent more money trying to find something harmful about this plant than any other vegetable product in existence. And what theyve managed to find is so pathetically thin, as to give it a clean bill of health.

Psych: And what theyve managed to find is so pathetically thin, as to give it a clean bill of health.

Yeah, most pot smokers are healthy, wealthy and smart! (facetious)

I would have to wipe out all that I've observed and experienced, which is a lot, in order to believe that there weren't many negetive effects from smoking pot. And I think it can be proven that it is terrible for your health and destroys brain cells. Call me crazy but I would have to say that pot-smoking is illogical, illegal and unhealthy.
Also, using pot does tend to be a substitution for working out your problems. Just because it gives a 'feeling' of calmness or temporarily makes you feel good, doesn't mean that it is actually aiding in or truly enriching your life. I don't trust 'feelings' that are drug-induced.

Very well said, Psych.