Does Anyone Have Positive Benefits From Smoking Cannabis?

Post Reply New Topic

I know some people don't smoke, or have ethical/moral views about cannabis, but please keep this thread on topic. This is a question to those that DO smoke cannabis.

I've had a love/hate relationship with cannabis all my life. When my mental issues were at their worst (anxiety and depression) cannabis would make the issues far worse and I didn't enjoy smoking it. But, since I've been diagnosed and I now know a lot more about myself, and since I've been on my anti depressants I now find smoking cannabis a pleasure.

I find it greatly improves my abilities. I was tasked with reverse engineering some malware (a computer virus basically). When I hadn't smoked I found it very difficult. I couldn't focus, the task seemed difficult and I was basically failing from the start. But I had a smoke, and viola. I could focus. It was like hyper focus on steroids. Everything was clear, and all my experience and knowledge was coming to the front of my mind. The boring tasks were no longer boring. In the end I solved it, written the report and completed the project.

It also helps with personal life. My partner says I become "nicer" and not moody or grumpy when I smoke cannabis. She says it's far easier to "tolerate" me. I also find I'm more playful with the child and seem to have "fun".

It's put my sleeping pattern back in check, I can now sleep at 10.30pm and rise early. Usually with a clearer head.

Just being able to relax without having thousands of thoughts bombarding my brain is awesome.

For me I'm finding it a great "self-medication" at the moment. I don't smoke tobacco, so I use a vaporiser to smoke cannabis, which basically turns the THC into vapour instead of burning the cannabis.

Does anyone else have positive benefits from smoking cannabis?

I smoke almost daily, sometimes multiple times a day. If I could describe it's effects on me, I would say; Sober my behavior is very ridged and asocial, intoxicated on cannabis I'm much more flexible, I have nearly no anxiety or depression, I can focus and task switch much easier, and it enhances enough reciprocity during conversations where I don't even mind talking to strangers, and It stops the agonizing rehearsal of conversations and makes staying on topic is much easier.

It's sometimes like that for certain tasks when taken in lower doses like a couple hits or so. In higher doses it'll often make routine tasks even more difficult for the user than when sober.




idk, but life-in-general is boring without weed in my opinion.

I've been self-medicating with marijuana since I was 18 years old, and I got on my state's medical marijuana program late last year, so I have some experience with using it regularly. Right now I am especially cognizant of its effects because I ran out a few days ago and am waiting for my new state ID to come in the mail so I can go to the distribution center D:

Medically, marijuana treats my depression and anxiety by making my heart feel less heavy (I do mean that in the literal, physical sense), keeping my thoughts from running wild with "what-ifs" and allowing me to relax (something I normally find extremely difficult). My autistic traits are also helped a lot by a slight dampening of my senses - I can still see, hear, smell, taste and feel perfectly well - but usually I sense everything TOO well - so much that it overwhelms me and lowers my functionality. By taking a low daily dose, I can keep my senses alert but not hypersensitive. My social anxiety is alleviated, and I think I behave more naturally without caring so much whether the things I'm saying make sense or whether it is appropriate for a female person such as myself to sit with legs wide open, which is a welcome relief for me, and doesn't seem to bother anyone else either. I don't act more NT; yet NTs seem more comfortable with my mannerisms. I have a lot of trouble with sleeping and eating, and marijuana makes it easy for me to fall asleep, and reminds me to get something to eat every few hours, which I otherwise always forget to do (my stomach doesn't "feel hungry" the way other peoples' seem to, and I don't notice I'm hungry until I get dizzy). I also have nausea much of the time, which marijuana basically cures completely. I also find that I behave more "sweetly" and find more kindness in my heart while I am using marijuana on a daily basis.

Recreationally, marijuana is relaxing and fun without usually being scary in any way the way other recreational drugs can be. It is also virtually harmless - smoking anything is not good for your lungs, but it is not known (or even suspected) to have any kind of carcinogenic effect, and there are no cases ever recorded of anyone overdosing on marijuana and dying. So that's nice. Plus it doesn't need to be smoked - it can be vaporized or eaten. Many people who choose to use drugs recreationally are looking for a certain effect - to feel out-of-control (like the way alcohol can make one feel) - and that is basically not achievable with marijuana. It is not a "hard" drug. If there is an emergency, the effects of marijuana can easily be dismissed. I was worried that I would gain a lot of weight because of the "munchies," but oddly I have found that that is not the case. I know several people who smoke regularly and are not overweight; in fact I don't even know anyone who smokes regularly and IS overweight. So that's unexpected. That being said, I do eat pretty healthy and I don't keep a lot of junk food around the house. So that's a factor too.

Many people who have a bad time on marijuana are probably experiencing what I call the "Fear of God" - a sort of giant, overwhelming sense of dread that doesn't seem to be coming from anywhere, but can turn into paranoia of getting in trouble. This is actually only present in some strains, and if you live in a state where marijuana is legal, or can get on medical marijuana (my state offers it for autistic people now!), this can be avoided, both by discussing the issue with your marijuana provider and getting a different strain, and/or simply knowing that you are allowed to have it and will not get in trouble. I hate that feeling, so if I get a strain that has that effect on me, I will not use very much of it at a time. Yet it still helps me relax, sleep, eat, and focus like any marijuana does. Oddly.

Also, when I was 19, I had a bad winter when I was very depressed and in a bad relationship, and I smoked way too much marijuana for about a month. The effects I noticed were that my depression did not get worse, but the world sort of turned grey and uninteresting, and I kind of never wanted to do anything but smoke marijuana. It was not terrible, but it was not fun either :\ I didn't realize that this feeling was being caused by marijuana at the time, and when I finally ran out and sobered up, I found the world to still be dreary and grey, but at least it had a little flavor. After that I made sure to never use it all day long, and I have never had the problem since. I also recommend doing any paperwork, bill-paying, chores, etc first, then using marijuana after - this makes it easier to relax, and makes you feel more accomplished (which I think is really important for depression).

I've also experienced the ultimate level of marijuana-high - one time (in that same winter), I used so much that no matter how much more I used, the effects did not get any more intense. It was like I was not even smoking more at all. There is a ceiling to the marijuana-high, and it is oddly boring. You just get silllier and sillier and more and more lazy, then suddenly you just feel 100% sober again (if very clumsy), and no more marijuana will make you feel high again until you let it clear from your system. It is the weirdest thing. I don't recommend it, as it is a huge waste.

And that concludes my findings on regular marijuana usage.

I live in Colorado, even recreational use is legal here and the paranoia can still exist. It's not the legality that creates the paranoia it's the drug itself (low CBD + high THC strains to be exact).
I've been a marijuana user since I was 18, so about 15 years now and overall I'd say it's been a positive solution to some of my autistic problems, but it also has it's negatives.

Positives:
I have more self-esteem when I'm on it.
I lose my hyper-focus obsessive-compulsive need to systematically deconstruct things which allows me to see the big picture, which is relaxing.
I'm very sensitive to light, when I'm high I can actually walk in the sun without my eyes hurting.
I've never had a meltdown/breakdown while I've been high.
I feel like I "fit in" when I'm high (I probably don't actually fit in better, but I feel like it and the feeling itself is what's important).
I'm much more creative, which makes doing web design and music composition (two of my obsessions) much more productive.

Negatives:
I have executive function problems and being high makes them worse.
Smoking too much for too long makes me apathetic to the world.
It's way too easy to be lazy, and justify being lazy, when I'm high.
Before I grew my own I had to deal with skeezy people to get the product, and the product could be tainted (one bag I bought was spiced with opium).

I recommend if you're using it as medication to only use it when you need it, kind of like aspirin for a headache. I mean if you know you're going to have to be social, use it then to help you through the encounter. I have nothing against recreational use, but if you're using it to help with autistic symptoms it will quickly lose it's effectiveness if it's overused. If you use it too heavy for too long being high will just feel normal and you'll get less and less medical benefits from it.

I find that it helps mellow out my anxiety and PTSD symptoms like panic attacks, flashbacks, hypervigalence making me more mellow which is nice....also can help with depressive feelings when they get overwhelming. There are times I've felt suicidal and convince myself to smoke a bowl instead of harming myself and then I think about it in a more clear way and sometimes get past it...though there are still times i end up having to go to the ER. I also notice it sort of helps me focus on the task at hand more or less it can also help sensory issues or make me a bit less sensitive to them for a time.

I smoke it, and I got a vape pen so I use that sometimes...but trouble with most hash is its mostly THC smoking a bowl probably has more CBD which is probably more of what helps the anxiety...the hash does somewhat help it but not quite like a good indica strain for instance.

Provided I was told this beforehand, not so sure I'd mind that I had some hash mixed with opium once and that was quite enjoyable. Its curious though Id think opium would be more expensive than weed so spiking the weed with it without telling the person buying seems like a rather unprofitable choice...unless of course they harvested the opium themselves...

Well after smoking said bag (this was over a decade ago before they even had med shops here) a friend who knew the dealer told me the dealer was doing it to generate business. We had a really competitive street market then, so he thought that by putting opium in a few of his bags word would spread that he had the best sh1t in town and that would draw in new customers. Before medical marijuana and full legalization last year this place was like the true wild west for drugs, you never knew what you were gonna get. Same reason I used to grow my own mushrooms, I didn't trust the numb-skull street dealers in this area to know the different between actual psilocybin mushies and poisonous varieties. Street dealers do skeezy things, things that are even bad for their own business but they're too stupid to know it most of the time.

It helps me, my doctor gave me a referral to a doctor that would give me my "green card". As soon as I have the cash I'm taking him up on the offer. There are no other pharmaceutical meds that I can tolerate due to sensitivity and side effects. Marijuana, when smoking the correct strain for your condition, has very minimal side effects, the most annoying of which to me are dry eyes and mouth which I just deal with by drinking more fluids and using eye drops. There isn't anything I can do for tardive dyskinesia, for example.

Wow, tardive dyskinesia...you're like talking to like pot smokers here and that's like an awful big word to be like throwing around and stuff, like, wow, like dude....what were we talking about again?
On a serious note you pointed out the largest hurdle to medical marijuana: the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmaceutical industry is the largest anti-marijuana campaign financier in the United States at the moment, having recently overtaken the prison lobby in dollars spent. Marijuana is cheaper than most pharmaceutical drugs by dose and in many cases alleviates symptoms better. I find it ironic that side effects you mention are merely dry mouth and dry eyes, perhaps throw in a case of the "munchies" for good measure; meanwhile look at the side effects on a bottle of over-the-counter aspirin: constipation, stomach-bleeding, nausea, and blood pressure changes. It's quite ridiculous. To the OP: sorry for the mini thread-jacking.

I find it very beneficial when used as a medicine but it can go back when over done just like everything else

I smoke around .3 grams a day. it seems like an easy way to make friends, before I smoked I have zero friends. after people found out I smoked they wanted to talk to me and invited me to do stuff

I also waited till after I was 18 to start smoking

my cousin who was moderately functioning started smoking his dads weed at around 13 and has become almost nt with lots of friends

I also live in Colorado. My son was the second minor in the state to receive the red card [at least that is what I was told.yes, I became very familiar with social services during the early years, thankfully everyone I dealt with was pretty awesome] He did not receive it because of being Autistic but because of neurological pains that caused him unimaginable pain [he was passing out hundreds of times a day from the pain] The mmj he used, [ specially created, and clones smuggled to Colorado from California] did not cure, but have helped him keep what he refers to as "the burns" somewhat under control.

During the worst of times, we were not thinking at all about his autism OR his profound tourettes. After a while, though, when the pains had lessened, we noticed that his tourettes had lessened significantly. Shortly after that we noticed that his anxieties, his phobias, and his sensory issues had all diminished significantly. Also, he stopped pulling his hair out of his scalp. I have no doubt that if it were not for mmj that my son would not be alive right now.

Wow, that's quite an experience there. Thank for sharing that Is your son continuing to do much better? Is he still using MMJ? How old is he if you don't mind me asking.

I always wondered what it was that caused the "Fear of God" feeling - I figured it was the balance of cannabanoids, but I didn't know how to look up WHICH ones were causing it.

I'm on marijuana medically, but I still do it recreationally sometimes too, like when everyone else is drinking (I hate alcohol, it has an awful effect on me and makes me sick). But I don't use large quantities of it at all anymore, not even recreationally, because it's just a waste imo. I don't really even like being "high" - a soft buzz is good for me. "Getting really high" is a thing that I did ages 18-21, and it wasn't even actually all that great. I should draw a graph of how marijuana effects me in different quantities - just imagine a graph, right? and the x axis is feelings, from bad (0) to good (10), and the y axis is amount of marijuana consumption. The line would make a bell-shaped curve, opening down, with the peak (best feeling) scewed down toward the lower amount of marijuana range. That's how I would describe it. haha. I do not find that occasional, responsible recreational use disrupts or lowers the effect medicinally at all. But I also think that every person is likely to respond to it differently, and everyone is going to have to experiment for a while before they figure out how (or even whether) medical marijuana can work for them.

EDIT: vickyg, that is an amazing story! :O

It works wonders for me. Helps me focus. Helps with making hard decisions. http://cannabisnowmagazine.com/cannabis ... s-syndrome