Smoking pot into your 30's, or even 40's.

[cronxeh]

Ah. Well, I didn't go to med school. I went to grad school.
I'd naively guess that smoking marijuana carries some of the same risks as smoking cigarettes. I'd also heard that it can "stunt growth" or "interfere with sexual function."
I'm sure it enhances altered states of consciousness.
I'd personally think "moderation in all things" and that if you look at other drugs - like alcohol - you can make a a case that they are as bad or worse. I doubt pot is a worse health risk than cigarettes, and as you are (i believe?) in the UK, I'd recommend that you cut down on that habit first.

I live in NYC and I don't smoke marijuana or any other "illegal" drug/substance/etc or tobacco.

Ive smoked Salvia divinorum a few times, however.

 

[wasteofo2]

Never interested, costs money.
May I ask the people who have smoked pot why they smoke/d it?

It seemed like it should be fun, and has proved to be so.

I haven't messed around with anything other than pot and alcohol out of fear of dangerous side-effects associated with drugs. Synthetic ones can be poorly made and dangerous, and natural things like Heroin and Coaine are just way too extreme for me. Maybe shrooms one day, when I have like 8 hours or whatever in which I have no responsibilities at all.

 

[wasteofo2]

I live in NYC and I don't smoke marijuana or any other "illegal" drug/substance/etc or tobacco.
Ive smoked Salvia divinorum a few times, however.

Oh man, that stuff is still around? I remember a few years a buncha people I knew were doing that. It trips you out extremely for a pretty short amount of time, right?

 

[Math Is Hard]

Ive smoked Salvia divinorum a few times, however.

What was that like? I've never even heard of it until today, and I had to go look up what it was.

 

[cronxeh]

What was that like? I've never even heard of it until today, and I had to go look up what it was.

Mind bending. And let's not turn this into drug discussion thread

 

[wasteofo2]

Mind bending. And let's not turn this into drug discussion thread

I think it's inevitable that any thread relating to drugs will just become a drug talk thread.

 

[loseyourname]

my parents both smoke pot. my father is nearly 50 and my mum is 45. They smoke more than i do, cause i don't often. and mostly when i do smoke, its for free with friends, or i steal theirs. i even believe they're probably growing it out my property somewhere. 6 acres is a lot of room to be growing pot.

Yeah, my dad is a regular marijuana smoker, but he does it to relieve his back pain without having to take the addictive, stomach-lining destroying vicodin that is prescribed to him.

 

[wasteofo2]

Yeah, my dad is a regular marijuana smoker, but he does it to relieve his back pain without having to take the addictive, stomach-lining destroying vicodin that is prescribed to him.

Would you care to elaborate on that? I've always been curious about things like this.

For instance, from my experience, highs usually last around 2 hours. Do the pain-relieving properties of marijuana just last for the 2 hours you feel high, or do they linger for longer than that? Does marijuana have something that can relieve pain over the long-term, or is it just that when your dad feels particularly strong pain he'll smoke marijuana? Also, where does an adult get marijuana from? Is it just like some random dude who sells pot to whover wants to buy it, or in CA is there some way to get it through the state medical system?

 

[motai]

What is the medical consensus (if any) on marijuana? I've never been interested in drugs or alcohol of any kind, as I don't need anything to alter/distort my perception of reality. That and since I run every so often, all smoke is bad .

But I remember in the DARE programs a long time ago we are all fed the line that all drugs are bad (except for pharmaceuticals which are specifically prescribed to you) and that smoking marijuana is equivalent to getting high on a powerful narcotic like heroin or cocaine.

While the efforts to keep students drug-free have been rather noteworthy, in retrospect I'm wondering whether they exaggerated things a bit too much (like the notion that all drugged-up people commit violent crime).

 

[matthyaouw]

To the people who have never smoked pot, might I ask why? Never interested you, health reasons, breaking the law?

Mostly due to health reasons. I can't stand smoking as it is (never smoked anything) so I just don't think I'd enjoy it. Plus there are the alleged links with psychosis etc.
Another thing is that I'm not sure how I'd deal with it. I've seen people f**k themselves up with too much pot, and if I started I'd worry that I wouldn't be able to stop myself and I'd go the same way as them.

 

[Smurf]

I tried it once when I was 14. Felt nothing. Tried it again at 26. Felt nothing.
Never did it again.

You know you probably didn't do it properly.


edit: There's no "I'm in college and had a joint last night" option.

 

[Huckleberry]

Much like MIH I've tried pot only a few times. The first few times I really didn't feel any sensation at all from it. I tried it a few times while I was in Mexico too. I definitely felt it there. The last time I tried pot my mouth was so dry I felt like I was going to choke. I could barely talk and my voice was very raspy. I felt very ill and couldn't keep track of time. 5 minutes could have been an hour or vice versa and I had no temporal reference. What was most disorienting about that was that I could feel my heart beat and with the distortion in time it felt like it was beating either WAY to fast or WAY too slow. So I got worried that my heart was going to stop. Seeing as how I was living at a church at the time I didn't want to ask anyone for help, so I went to my room and laid down on my bed. I was staring at the cieling and watching amorphous blobs of color shift on the cieling. They had a general circus them, clowns and elephants and tents and stuff like that. The whole time I thought my heart would stop and I had to concentrate all I could to make sure it wasn't beating too fast or too slow. It seemed like more than two hours to me. It seemed like I was waiting days. It was a horrible experience and that was the last time I smoked pot. I have no interest in smoking it again, but I'm not opposed to it either.

 

[loseyourname]

For instance, from my experience, highs usually last around 2 hours. Do the pain-relieving properties of marijuana just last for the 2 hours you feel high, or do they linger for longer than that? Does marijuana have something that can relieve pain over the long-term, or is it just that when your dad feels particularly strong pain he'll smoke marijuana?

To be honest, I've never asked.

Also, where does an adult get marijuana from? Is it just like some random dude who sells pot to whover wants to buy it, or in CA is there some way to get it through the state medical system?

I'm probably being paranoid, but I'd rather not talk about this online. To answer your latter question, though, there are legal means of obtaining the drug through your doctor, but you generally only get a prescription if you are terminally ill or are on high-dose chemotherapy or something. Chronic pain isn't enough.* I'm not sure how many doctors are still willing to do this, though, since the Feds regularly come in and arrest both doctors and prescribers since it is still against federal law (so much for states' rights).

*Sorry, but I have to rant about this. The fact that people are so concerned about the effects of marijuana but then prescribe vicodin for chronic pain really pisses me off. My ex-wife was addicted to vicodin, an addiction she first succumbed to after hip surgery, and the crap that it can do to you is far worse than anything that marijuana can do. There is no reason for the ridiculousness of legislation. The best I can tell is that Nixon scheduled marijuana because it was the drug of choice for hippies and he hated hippies. Nothing more.

 

[Moonbear]

To the people who have never smoked pot, might I ask why? Never interested you, health reasons, breaking the law?

All of the above. Never smoked a cigarette either and go out of my way to avoid second-hand smoke as well (even if I wasn't concerned about the health effects, it just smells bad).

 

[Moonbear]

*Sorry, but I have to rant about this. The fact that people are so concerned about the effects of marijuana but then prescribe vicodin for chronic pain really pisses me off. My ex-wife was addicted to vicodin, an addiction she first succumbed to after hip surgery, and the crap that it can do to you is far worse than anything that marijuana can do. There is no reason for the ridiculousness of legislation. The best I can tell is that Nixon scheduled marijuana because it was the drug of choice for hippies and he hated hippies. Nothing more.

My only real issue with marijuana as a pharmaceutical (as opposed to being used recreationally) is that if it's being smoked, then others around you can be "dosed" with it too, rather than just the patient getting it. If someone is terminally ill, and it works, I don't see how it is very different from any of the other highly addictive narcotic painkillers that can be prescribed...I think it's even less addictive than those even. The problematic side would be someone who has chronic pain and treats it to maintain a "normal" long life, in which case I'd be concerned about the lung cancer risk somewhat outweighing any benefits.

If someone uses marijuana for chronic pain, how long does it work? The problem with most painkillers is that tolerance (accompanying addiction) develops and higher and higher doses are needed to block the pain, or a different class of drugs needs to be used. Is marijuana any different?

 

[zanazzi78]

The pole is incomplete, There is no option for "i kept smoking pot in my 20`s after college and haven`t stopped yet!". Since most poeple leave college at 21, that's 9 years up until your 30!

I however, kept smoking pot up until a couple of years ago and i`m in my late twenties.

 

[JasonRox]

I tried it once when I was 14. Felt nothing. Tried it again at 26. Felt nothing.
Never did it again.

I don't think you smoked it right.

I have only done it half a dozen time. On occasion I felt nothing, but then I realized I wasn't quite doing it right.

Inhale until you can't inhale no more, and hold it in as long as you could. That seemed to work for me.

Note: I haven't done it since like 2-3 years ago.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Didn't smoke it right? How could I smoke it wrong?
You guys make it sound like I was sticking the joint in my ear!

 

[Moonbear]

Inhale until you can't inhale no more, and hold it in as long as you could. That seemed to work for me.

Are you sure you weren't just suffering oxygen deprivation? You can get quite a loopy feeling just holding your breath too long too, especially if you've just replaced all the oxygen in your lungs with carbon monoxide!

 

[JasonRox]

Are you sure you weren't just suffering oxygen deprivation? You can get quite a loopy feeling just holding your breath too long too, especially if you've just replaced all the oxygen in your lungs with carbon monoxide!

Well, it wasn't any longer than like 5 seconds. I see a lot of "new" people, like me, who inhale and exhale right away. That won't do anything at all.

So, if you inhale and exhale quickly, you are not smoking properly, hence that is how you smoke improperly.

 

[loseyourname]

Just like an albuterol hit. If you want it to work, you have to hold it in long enough for the drug to be absorbed. The only thing you don't want to hold in is crystal meth (which I am proud to say I do not know from experience).

 

[El Hombre Invisible]

May I ask the people who have smoked pot why they smoke/d it?

I once did three buckets in a row and sat on the floor. Then my friend jumped into the room wearing a gas mask and waving a teddy bear at us. I laughed for ten solid minutes. That is, if anything, an underestimate. No BS. That's a good reason for doing it.

Note: the above should be taken in the context of all arguments for and against the smoking or consumption otherwise of any part or refined extract of the hemp plant. In no way am I endorsing the recreational use of this miracle of a plant.

i like feeling my body...

Seconded.

I'd also heard that it can "stunt growth"...

I don't think anyone's condoning giving it to kids.

... or "interfere with sexual function."

True enough, it can, and in more than one way. It can make sex difficult for men if you're incredibly stoned, much like alcohol can. It can also make sex really, really, really good. I mean... REALLY good.

Maybe shrooms one day, when I have like 8 hours or whatever in which I have no responsibilities at all.

It's acid that lasts 8-10 hours. Shrooms last but a few.

Oh man, that stuff is still around? I remember a few years a buncha people I knew were doing that. It trips you out extremely for a pretty short amount of time, right?

That sounds like amyls?

But I remember in the DARE programs a long time ago we are all fed the line that all drugs are bad (except for pharmaceuticals which are specifically prescribed to you) and that smoking marijuana is equivalent to getting high on a powerful narcotic like heroin or cocaine.

Bollox.

Never smoked a cigarette either and go out of my way to avoid second-hand smoke as well (even if I wasn't concerned about the health effects, it just smells bad).

As a stupid cigarette smoker (but down to two a day \o/), I agree - tobacco smoke smells terrible and is one of the four mains I want to quite (the others being money, health and self-loathing at being addicted to something).

BUT... grass smells absolutely divine.

 

[Anttech]

The first few times it really got to me (and in post-high ruminations), there was also just the pure fascination with an altered state of consciousness in itself. Most people don't know, or don't really realize in any appreciable sense, that there are many, many more modes of consciousness than just 'normal' waking consciousness and dreaming, nor the extent to which, and manner in which, these alternate modes of consciousness are different from normal consciousness. Unfortunately, though, I do not think it is possible to communicate these points in anything more than a very hollow, surface scratching kind of way to one who has never experienced the effects of psychoactives. Langauge can only go so far in describing subjective experience, and even then it's only effective to the extent that speaker and listener share a common base of conscious experiences.

Hmm very true.. I take it from your responce that you have taken mind altering drugs before then?

 

[Kerrie]

And most adults I know who smoke a lot of pot have a lot of problems.

Can you elaborate on "problems"? That's a vague term. It would seem to me that marijuana was the cause of these problems rather then the problems causing the marijuana smoking.

Prior to full time parenthood, I smoked quite frequently. I enjoyed it mostly when I went into creative mode (I do a lot of arts and crafts) because it really did help me create some beautiful stuff. I agree with Hyp's theory of giving you altered states of consciousness, THC did that for me when I wanted to be creative.

But don't let anyone tell you that marijuana is not addictive. Physically it can be if you use it for pain relief, and especially mentally it can be as well. In my experience, I have found those who smoke on a frequent regular basis are oblivious and have no connection to those around them. There's a reason why they are referred to as potheads.

I don't believe though it's a drug that causes violence. Alcohol causes much more violence and death and it's legal. Just like anything, use of it in moderation is not harmful so long as you are considerate of those around you.

 

[revelator]

I'm smoking my bong right now! :shy:

 

[El Hombre Invisible]

But don't let anyone tell you that marijuana is not addictive.

It's not addictive in the strictest sense. It can be addictive in the "oh, I just must have chocolate" sense.

In my experience, I have found those who smoke on a frequent regular basis are oblivious and have no connection to those around them.

Could that be because people who smoke on a frequent regular basis are frequently, regularly stoned and so frequently and regularly observed to be stoned? The effects of a joint can last hours. People who smoke a lot feel the effects of it less, but nonetheless are still affected. It's no more true to say that smoking a joint makes you oblivious and disconnected than it is to say drinking scotch makes you clumsy and disorientated.

The other point to make here is that anyone who is frequently stoned has problems anyway, in the same way that people who drink too much have problems. A huge argument against the legalisation of cannabis is the statistical 'evidence' that people who smoke a lot of pot have problems in life, so cannabis is bad. The fact that normal people don't waste their lives away smoking pot doesn't seem to occur to them.

 

[Kerrie]

It's not addictive in the strictest sense. It can be addictive in the "oh, I just must have chocolate" sense.

As a former pothead myself of 10+ years, I can guarantee that marijuana can be addictive in the mental sense-maybe not for you personally, but I have seen it grip people who feel they need it.

A huge argument against the legalisation of cannabis is the statistical 'evidence' that people who smoke a lot of pot have problems in life, so cannabis is bad. The fact that normal people don't waste their lives away smoking pot doesn't seem to occur to them.

I think the biggest argument of why cannabis is illegal is because of the threat that hemp-the non THC relative of cannabis-has on major corporate industries such as lumber, cotton, and the big one-oil.

 

[hypnagogue]

Hmm very true.. I take it from your responce that you have taken mind altering drugs before then?

Yes, I thought that was obvious from my previous post.

 

[hypnagogue]

If someone uses marijuana for chronic pain, how long does it work? The problem with most painkillers is that tolerance (accompanying addiction) develops and higher and higher doses are needed to block the pain, or a different class of drugs needs to be used. Is marijuana any different?

It's most certainly the case that with frequent smoking, the user will gradually need higher and higher doses to achieve the same subjective effect. I don't know how that relates to the issue of pain relief though. It seems somewhat plausible that any pain relieving properties of using marijuana might last longer than the ~2 hour subjective high itself.

Are you sure you weren't just suffering oxygen deprivation? You can get quite a loopy feeling just holding your breath too long too, especially if you've just replaced all the oxygen in your lungs with carbon monoxide!

Holding one's breath for 30 seconds, or even holding in cigarette smoke (carbon monoxide) for 30 seconds, certainly does not have any effect that can be confused for holding in marijuana smoke for 30 seconds. My own experience and experience observing others agrees with Jason's explanation.

 

[Anttech]

Could that be because people who smoke on a frequent regular basis are frequently, regularly stoned and so frequently and regularly observed to be stoned? The effects of a joint can last hours. People who smoke a lot feel the effects of it less, but nonetheless are still affected. It's no more true to say that smoking a joint makes you oblivious and disconnected than it is to say drinking scotch makes you clumsy and disorientated.

Yep

IMO The reason with Marjauana is illegal in some countries is because of the perceived "lifestlye" associated with people who smoke it. Which maybe true in some cases, but in my experience no where near as much as it is perceived

When it is legallised you will find that normal people will come out of the woodwork who were smoking maruajana before it was made legal...

The real reason why it is illegal is because of the Dutch (ironically). They (Royal family) implemented the opium laws to make great wealth, and in turn the domino effect was legislations against Marajuana

I can guarantee that marijuana can be addictive in the mental sense-maybe not for you personally

yes it can be, but just the same as someone can be a workaholic..

I don't smoke Marajuana anymore, I used to but I don't like it now.. I also don't take LSD anymore, for anyone who has taken this drug in enough quantiy will understand, its not the kind of thing a 'mature' adult can do every weekend, if they want to stay saine... But I am not against these things.. And I think the laws are out of date and unworkable, especially for Marajuana. Which can be seen in the UK now. Police won't even arrest you for possesion, only dealing. They just don't have the man power, and need to be concentrating on real crimes...