View Full Version : Marijuana use and mental illness / psychosis: what have you seen IRL?
SomeOtherGuy
05-05-23, 16:34
OK, I don't use marijuana, never have, not planning on trying it. But it's now legal in my state and many other states, and I don't know how harmless or dangerous it is. How dangerous it really is affects how much I care about use by others.
Alex Berenson has been publishing a number of articles claiming that marijuana use causes psychosis. One just came out today, which derives from a study in Denmark that apparently found some strong correlations:
They found that cannabis use disorder was a stunningly powerful signal for a coming schizophrenia diagnosis; someone with the disorder had a 30-fold risk of being later diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Much of that increased risk could be explained by other factors, such as a family history of mental illness, which are also higher in people with cannabis use disorders. But even after they adjusted for all those factors, they found cannabis addiction was associated with a 2.3x risk of developing schizophrenia.
Cannabis addiction was most dangerous for younger men. Men 20 and under had nearly four times the risk of developing schizophrenia if they were heavy users.
Overall, about 15 percent of schizophrenia cases diagnosed in men in 2021 occurred as the result of cannabis addiction, the researchers found. For younger men the percentage was even higher.
Worth reading the whole article at:
https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/tell-your-children
It is partially derived from a Bloomberg News article, apparently.
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So on m4c we have lots of police, some other first responders, some doctors and nurses, and of course everyone has relatives and friends with relatives. From what you have seen, or private serious conversations with others who have first-hand knowledge, do you think the claims of marijuana leading to or causing mental illness has some basis? Or is it more just "reefer madness" and DEA propaganda?
NIH apparently is in on the study too, so what role do masks play and do they work or not?
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/young-men-highest-risk-schizophrenia-linked-cannabis-use-disorder
NIH apparently is in on the study too, so what role do masks play and do they work or not?
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/young-men-highest-risk-schizophrenia-linked-cannabis-use-disorder
Averageman
05-05-23, 17:36
Hmmm they must be trying to legalize weed again. Everytime they do, we get this fearmongering story.
StainlessSteelRat
05-05-23, 17:56
I would consider a Ouija board a far more credible source of information than Bloomberg and NIH combined.
ChattanoogaPhil
05-05-23, 18:16
It’s been my personal observation that those who began using marijuana on a regular basis at an early age (high school) tended to do poorly in school which generally affected the rest of their life. Whether marijuana use affected the young mind’s ability and/or desire to learn I’ll leave for others to argue, but I believe the impact on the young mind is the greatest.
Considering this one seems to have been ignored there is a decent chance it was accurate.
https://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/psycho.txt
Hmmm they must be trying to legalize weed again. Everytime they do, we get this fearmongering story.
Or trying to direct people toward a safe drug like Bud Light?
Dramatically increased incidents of psychosis, often permanent, and even schizophrenia, are very real amongst young people. Anecdotally, I know of 3 teenage boys affected to the point of requiring hospitalization. One of whom is the son of my oldest friend.
Cannabis isn't what it used to be even 15 or 20 years ago. Psychoactive compound percentages are multiple times higher for one. I further speculate that with the progression of instability our nation has seen over the past decade or two, the overall mental health of our population has suffered overall.
Our young men have been bombarded with gaslighting propaganda telling them they're racist, misogynist, and propably not even male... All the while going through a critical developmental stage/crisis on the cusp of adulthood. Add in the powerful psychoactive effects of concentrated THC, along with a little of this and a little of that, and is it really any wonder that we have an increase of psychosis?
I’ve had to fight more drunks than I care to remember from my cop days. One of the worst was a tiny, wiry female who just flat refused to go to jail peacefully. Initially she was being arrested for trespassing and criminal damage to property. By the time all was said and done she had two felony obstruction charges an assault charge and two more counts of criminal damage to property, and she had to be transported by EMS to the ER.
I’ve never had to go hands on with a pothead. Ever...
The Dumb Gun Collector
05-05-23, 20:00
It's definitely a "chicken or the egg" type of problem. My suspicion is that people who are prone to psychosis are much more likely to abuse mind-altering substances. I think they need them to sort of "break up" their misery. I've seen them abuse every type of drug including alcohol for relief. Of course, long term it just makes things worse. In my line of work, I deal with a lot of folks like this.
Your average person can drink some Whisky or smoke a joint on Saturday and is completely fine---hell most people's lives are improved by it.
FromMyColdDeadHand
05-05-23, 20:24
We’ll, there was the guy who got so high he thought his wife was a space alien or something and blew her head off….
We’ll, there was the guy who got so high he thought his wife was a space alien or something and blew her head off….
Off of weed?
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I went to high school in San Diego. Weed was everywhere. I knew a lot of people that smoked multiple times a week and the vast majority of them were fairly high performers in school and sports. There was only one or two who fit the typical dumb pothead stereotype. I don’t know what any of them are like now but I do know several people from my time in CO that take edibles fairly regularly. Again, really good people in all ways.
While I don’t know anything about true long term usage, if I was allowed in the military, I bet that I’d almost never drink again.
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Off of weed?
Do you have any idea how strong modern “weed” can be?
That people then concentrate it into an oil using butane? (Sometimes blowing themselves and their house up)
Then smoke that in a kind of meth/crack pipe, called dabbing?
Theres studies showing it can trigger manic episodes in bipolar people. Ive seen it happen, apparently. Theres some question if the weed caused it or was a result of early manic that was undetectible at the time.
Doing anything chronicaly is bad but I dont think most people will have their life changed by smoking a little once in a while. Ive known people of all ranges that have partaken. It has real benefits for some, little effect for others, and detriments for others still.
If you have a propensity for mental illness or it doesnt really do much for you, stay away. Its a drug (goes for all including etoh.
Do you have any idea how strong modern “weed” can be?
That people then concentrate it into an oil using butane? (Sometimes blowing themselves and their house up)
Then smoke that in a kind of meth/crack pipe, called dabbing?
Well, all of my Colorado friends use modern weed so.
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We (OK) seem to have seen an increase in MH issues as well as encountering suspects who act and respond as though they’re wet on PCP but actually just super high THC weed or edibles.
On this issue, the country will reap what it sows.
It really depends on the person. Some people seem to be able to handle it fine, in others it can cause anything from paranoia to full on panic attacks. I know people who have reported that it worked well for them for the first few years before turning on them and only causing bad effects in later years to the point where they ended up quitting and not wanting to use it ever again. It's very powerful stuff. Nothing to be trifled with and should be taken seriously. Not that I ever tried it. Sometimes I wonder about just how many people are actually on it these days when it has become legal in so many places.
Sidneyious
05-06-23, 05:59
It’s been my personal observation that those who began using marijuana on a regular basis at an early age (high school) tended to do poorly in school which generally affected the rest of their life. Whether marijuana use affected the young mind’s ability and/or desire to learn I’ll leave for others to argue, but I believe the impact on the young mind is the greatest.For some like Ritalin it can help with focus, for many they get a head buzz and have issues doing normal tasks(high).
Some who on the regular use it as copium because they think life is shit and it gets them through the day.
Like a lot of day drinkers it's the same thing, just something to cope with life.
If someone honestly has a real issue with focus id rather they go take a couple hits than be pilled up because pills bad and don't really do what their supposed to do.
I knew a guy in school many years ago who when sober was an absolute moron.
Get him a little high and he's a certified genius, did a years worth of work in a couple days and the teacher was just dumbfounded.
Sadly now with the whole medical card being used for everything from arthritis and cancer to anxiety.
I have issues with people who say they have anxiety just to get legal pot because anxiety can be cured from just calming yourself down and slow down the information that's flooding their head.
There needs to be stronger regulations for so called CBD because the new thing now is that k2 stuff being labeled as CBD and is illegal in all states.
They get around it by changing the chemical formula just slightly so it goes around the law.
That shits dangerous and it was the USA government that paid a scientist to recreate the effects of THC on the brain and he said this is not good.
Averageman
05-06-23, 06:38
Do you have any idea how strong modern “weed” can be?
That people then concentrate it into an oil using butane? (Sometimes blowing themselves and their house up)
Then smoke that in a kind of meth/crack pipe, called dabbing?
If your "Modern Weed" makes you halucinate it's loaded. It's got some PCP or Fentynal in it. That happens now because , well generally people are dicks.
If your smoking a concentrait your a lot more suseptable to getting something that isn't marijuana.
It's definitely a "chicken or the egg" type of problem. My suspicion is that people who are prone to psychosis are much more likely to abuse mind-altering substances. I think they need them to sort of "break up" their misery. I've seen them abuse every type of drug including alcohol for relief. Of course, long term it just makes things worse. In my line of work, I deal with a lot of folks like this.
Your average person can drink some Whisky or smoke a joint on Saturday and is completely fine---hell most people's lives are improved by it.
I agree with this, but...
I know alcohol addiction can destroy good people, seen it with my own eyes. I also have 2 nephews (brothers) who are/were clinically schizophrenic and they definitely used copious amounts of drugs, including alcohol and pot, when they were pre-teens. Hard to say if all the chemicals contributed or if the cause was environment, trauma, or genetic. It may have been all of the above.
Andy
Andy
FromMyColdDeadHand
05-06-23, 07:52
Off of weed?
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Do you have any idea how strong modern “weed” can be?
That people then concentrate it into an oil using butane? (Sometimes blowing themselves and their house up)
Then smoke that in a kind of meth/crack pipe, called dabbing?
Theres studies showing it can trigger manic episodes in bipolar people. Ive seen it happen, apparently. Theres some question if the weed caused it or was a result of early manic that was undetectible at the time.
Doing anything chronicaly is bad but I dont think most people will have their life changed by smoking a little once in a while. Ive known people of all ranges that have partaken. It has real benefits for some, little effect for others, and detriments for others still.
If you have a propensity for mental illness or it doesnt really do much for you, stay away. Its a drug (goes for all including etoh.
If your "Modern Weed" makes you halucinate it's loaded. It's got some PCP or Fentynal in it. That happens now because , well generally people are dicks.
If your smoking a concentrait your a lot more suseptable to getting something that isn't marijuana.
Maybe that happens too, but I don't see that happening in the highly regulated legal weed.
because he did not know he was at high risk for marijuana psychosis due to schizophrenia in his extended family.
I just get tired of the argument that pot is like 'mother's-milk'. Maybe it isn't as 'bad' as alchohol, but I can't see it better than smoking. Plus once you legalize it, you will smell it for the rest of your life.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/denver-man-who-said-marijuana-made-him-kill-his-wife-n744056
FromMyColdDeadHand
05-06-23, 07:52
Double
SomeOtherGuy
05-06-23, 08:15
On this issue, the country will reap what it sows.
Sometimes I wonder about just how many people are actually on it these days when it has become legal in so many places.
Michigan legalized recreational marijuana at the end of 2018 and it became widespread mid-2019, shortly before Covid, and flourished ridiculously during the "pandemic."
Michigan has had lots of bad drivers since the dawn of time, but they are noticeably much worse now than four years ago. I have seen enough bad driving up close to see that some of it is marijuana use. (Of course there's also alcohol, cell phones, general stupidity and general jerk personality.)
Honestly I'm pretty sheltered from street drug users. I've seen all the movie portrayals of course, but brushed it off until I saw four perfectly stereotypical potheads in Santa Cruz, CA in 2015, who could have walked off the set of Cheech n'Chong or something. Then when it started showing up full force in Michigan in 2019 it was blatantly obvious.
What I've seen in Michigan is that legalization caused a MASSIVE increase in drug use. Whether it made the social problems worse or not I don't know and would have to ask a bunch of the people on the front line with drug users. Maybe it's not overall worse. But the amount of use is up a HUGE amount, and the problems that I personally can see are far more common.
Maybe that happens too, but I don't see that happening in the highly regulated legal weed.
I remember a news story in Michigan from a few months ago where a "legal" and tested batch of weed was recalled because it was over some concentration limit. Not a claim of other drug adulteration, just too strong. (This isn't my focus so I may not have the facts 100%.)
If your "Modern Weed" makes you halucinate it's loaded. It's got some PCP or Fentynal in it. That happens now because , well generally people are dicks.
If your smoking a concentrait your a lot more suseptable to getting something that isn't marijuana.
That’s not as common here in growland as it may be elsewhere.
I’m saying it’s possible to get an enormous amount of THC from dabbing, way beyond anyone’s experience with or around people smoking joints in college.
sandsunsurf
05-06-23, 10:46
I have unquestionably seen marijuana-caused psychosis. Two times I had conversations with people suffering from significant mental health episodes to include paranoia, hearing voices, and panic. In both of those conversations the subjects were able to convince me that 1) they only used mj, no hard drugs in the past even, and 2) that they were seeking help during/despite their crazy actions that led to me contacting them. One hadn’t even used MJ in several days, allegedly. These two people were acting out similarly to meth-induced schizophrenia or being under the influence of “bath salts.”
It may not be common, but my anecdotal experience leads me to believe, without any doubt, that marijuana can and does cause significant damage to the brain in some people.
Averageman
05-06-23, 11:46
Let me explain to you where we went wrong with legal weed.
We allowed greedy politicans to write the way it would be taxed, so some weed has as much as a 21% tax added on to it. I don't think the people growing are seeing any profit, as a matter of fact the price of legal weed is falling.
We also had no legal way test potency and then when we did , only the growers, not the folks taxing it were testing it. So now add in a hundred different ways to partake and no real regulatory authority and here's where we are.
So, two guys buy an edible labled 25 mg and have remarkablly different experiances.
So you've got little political interest in doing this right and lots of interest in keeping the money train rolling.
So you're a small scale California Grower and trying hard to obey the law, your business is being highly taxed and weakly regulated, someone shows up with $20,000 and wants to sell five pounds out of State.
They should have said you can have 12 plants, you can grow at home and that's it.
8 years ago I was diagnosed during an encounter with a neuro with ALS; which obviously since im posting was incorrect after much testing. Turns out I developed something called benign fasciculation cramp syndrome. My muscles just twitch all over like there is something living under my skin. Overactive nervous system.
They tried to Rx me all kinds of crazy crap. Increased physical activity didnt help and I already work out 5 days a week so the addition of cardio trying to burn myself out only caused me to start dropping weight. I tried CBD oils, didnt work. I tried Delta8 gummies (from a company that has transparent lab reports and doesnt use harmful chemicals in the production) and its been great.
Now, they are tiny amounts.. like 1 gummy is 40MG and I cut those into 10ths. Ive been doing this for 3 years now and can report zero residual side effects. I do worry that its causing brain plaque due to some studies showing such for long term smokers..so I keep an eye on that. I did see a recent study where Delta9 gummies are causing colon polyps to reduce in size which is a nice bonus.
TLDR - to me who has never smoked, wasnt a high school pot head, it has its use and its far better than the whiskey I used to drink a couple times a week.
Weed is bad for your brain function.
It is very well documented by honest science and my personal experience confirms this truth.
If we want to legalize weed we should be making every last MFer who wants to use it sign off on ever receiving government benefits. This is yet another reason the GD government shouldn’t be involved in providing healthcare.
If you want to ruin your brain with weed, I really couldn’t care less, up to the point where you want to steal my money to fix yourself.
Weed is bad for your brain function.
It is very well documented by honest science and my personal experience confirms this truth.
If we want to legalize weed we should be making every last MFer who wants to use it sign off on ever receiving government benefits. This is yet another reason the GD government shouldn’t be involved in providing healthcare.
If you want to ruin your brain with weed, I really couldn’t care less, up to the point where you want to steal my money to fix yourself.
Not IME.
And if it’s done for weed, it should be done for alcohol and cigarettes too.
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And if it’s done for weed, it should be done for alcohol and cigarettes too.
I’d be good with this. But of course it would be a hollow regulation, so a bad idea.
Unless we eliminate government benefits, which I am also good with.
I’m unsure how if someone smoked pot and got schizophrenia, you would know that they would not have gotten it if they did not smoke pot?
From what I remember of my science classes, that’s bad science.
With out going back in time and stopping those individuals from smoking and seeing what happens is the only scientific way to see if it was the pot.
We don’t have a time machine…
How many wives have husbands who smoke a joint and then beat their ass? Yeah, never heard of one either. Alcohol? Everyone knows someone who gets drunk and beats thier whole family.
How many wives have husbands who smoke a joint and then beat their ass? Yeah, never heard of one either. Alcohol? Everyone knows someone who gets drunk and beats thier whole family.
Why are you trying to compare smoking “A” joint, to getting drunk?
Why do MJ advocates always have to come in off topic with “but alcohol” arguments?
Correlation is not definitive, but it’s not “bad science” to notice it either.
FromMyColdDeadHand
05-07-23, 08:20
I’m unsure how if someone smoked pot and got schizophrenia, you would know that they would not have gotten it if they did not smoke pot?
From what I remember of my science classes, that’s bad science.
With out going back in time and stopping those individuals from smoking and seeing what happens is the only scientific way to see if it was the pot.
We don’t have a time machine…
How many wives have husbands who smoke a joint and then beat their ass? Yeah, never heard of one either. Alcohol? Everyone knows someone who gets drunk and beats thier whole family.
We are running a big enough experiment now that we'll be able to find out. If you can find out. With out Weed, I don't think that it is straightforward as to what causes mental illness.
Averageman
05-07-23, 09:57
Is there perhaps a genetic reason why some people are Schizophrenic?
I'm just guessing in brain development there is.
The Dumb Gun Collector
05-07-23, 10:21
I think people bring up alcohol because it is the a reasonably close analog to weed and how it is consumed in America. Alcohol, like weed, is a drug that people take casually that most have no problem with. Unfortunately, there are a significant number of people that will see their lives destroyed by alcohol. By any rational metric alcohol is far more dangerous (upwards of 140,000 deaths per year). Cannabis deaths are very hard to pin down because both sides like to play with the numbers. For example, the studies attempting to show more deaths will often include "synthetic cannabis" to run up the numbers (which is ironic since the consumption of synthetic cannabis is a by-product of prohibition). For example, the newest study from Florida Atlantic University got the number of deaths related to cannabis use from 2014-2020 (this includes DUI, etc) up to 386 in Fla. Which is a pretty small number, but is actually inflated because the number of cases where actual cannabis was used was actually 128. And those numbers were further padded because they include any fatality that showed the presence of THC metabolites---which can remain in the fat for 30 days on average---long after they ceased being psychoactive. You will also notice these studies almost always like to express their results in percentages rather than in raw numbers--because the numbers are typically fairly low. For example, there were more than 400 fatalities in FLA from DUI alcohol last year alone. That doesn't even include the nearly 2000 additional deaths in Fla from alcohol induced liver disease, overdose, etc. Anyone familiar with the gun control lobby will recognize the tricks that the rhetorical techniques prohibitionists employ.
And we should also be real here. Alcohol induced psychosis is also a real problem, and I suspect a lot more people here know people destroyed by drink than weed. Is that because alcohol is worse? Possibly, but it really doesn't matter. The real reason people have a problem with weed rather than booze is wrapped up more in politics and cultural baggage than logic or evidence.
SomeOtherGuy
05-07-23, 10:41
I’m unsure how if someone smoked pot and got schizophrenia, you would know that they would not have gotten it if they did not smoke pot?
For any single individual you probably won't. But the study cited in the article used statistical methods to account for all other known variables that contribute to mental illness. It's a statistical correlation and not a complete proof by itself, but when you control for other known variables and find a correlation remaining, it's worth looking at whether there is other evidence of cause and effect.
Is there perhaps a genetic reason why some people are Schizophrenic?
I'm just guessing in brain development there is.
There are lots of reasons. It definitely runs in some families and has some sort of genetic factor. There is also an epigenetic factor, that the father's age at the child's conception seems to be correlated with higher risk of schizophrenia (older father = higher risk).
Apart from that, I believe some hallucinogenic drugs have some correlation (LSD, PCP) and that extreme trauma may have a correlation (violent child abuse in particular).
Going back to the first point, some of these known variables may have their own cause-effect relationships (e.g. drug use more common among those abused as children). I think the root study may look at this.
I’m unsure how if someone smoked pot and got schizophrenia, you would know that they would not have gotten it if they did not smoke pot?
From what I remember of my science classes, that’s bad science.
This is true individually but not ask a group, just like the correlation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.
Averageman
05-07-23, 12:37
Going back to the first point, some of these known variables may have their own cause-effect relationships (e.g. drug use more common among those abused as children). I think the root study may look at this.
Which came first the Chicken or the Egg?
Everyone I know has an excuse to use some form of mind altering substance or another. Life is full of tragedy, it's simply about how you deal with it.
Some folks have a drink, some folks smoke a joint, and some do Heroin. Some do it once, some for months and others take it with them to their graves.
Some folks are sane, some are crazy, some come back and a few never do.
The real discussion isn't drugs (alcohol being a drug) it's mental health.
Sample size if two, so take it for what it’s worth, I know two individuals who are both around 60, both are big time pot heads,and have been since the early 80s, one also heavily imbibes in wine. The one who drinks the wine is extremely successful in his career and is extremely sharp and intelligent. The other has a good career as well but is more child like and seems more like the stereotypical burnt out stoner. Genetics if I had to guess.
SomeOtherGuy
05-07-23, 17:51
Sample size if two, so take it for what it’s worth, I know two individuals **** Genetics if I had to guess.
I'm also struggling to make sense of all this, but reading the responses here and thinking about my IRL experiences, and the comments from IRL friends with far more experience dealing with druggies than I have (in particular, a retired paramedic I know), I have to wonder if some people are really messed up by marijuana due to some biological/genetic susceptibility, and others are not. Much like some people become alcoholics and others don't.
Averageman
05-07-23, 18:28
I'm also struggling to make sense of all this, but reading the responses here and thinking about my IRL experiences, and the comments from IRL friends with far more experience dealing with druggies than I have (in particular, a retired paramedic I know), I have to wonder if some people are really messed up by marijuana due to some biological/genetic susceptibility, and others are not. Much like some people become alcoholics and others don't.
I believe you are on to something there.
titsonritz
05-07-23, 18:28
Crazies are going to crazy, I don't think weed makes much difference they just happen to include it their repertoire. I know several professional types that partake and have zero issue running successful businesses. On the other end of the spectrum I know some complete nutbags and they're nutbags with or without weed.
Worked in a State Forensic Psychiatric Facility (aka, Asylum for the Criminally Insane) for about 20 years. The paranoid schizophrenia criminal cases I saw that were directly related to drug abuse involved LSD, not weed. Several of whom were reportedly the subject of governmental experiments with the hallucinogen back in the 60s. We had several killers there adjudicated "NGRI" (Not guilty by reason of Insanity) whose sickness was related to LSD use.
Prior to my employment there Gary Heidnik was involuntarily committed there in the early 1980s. Heidnick would go on to become a notorious serial killer (" Heidnick's House of Horrors") and his defence attorney claimed he was also a subject of governmental LSD experimentation.
Heidnick was the last inmate executed in Pa. back in 1999, incidentally.
Sorry if I deviated to far from the original OP here but the subject brought back some memories. ;}
Worked in a State Forensic Psychiatric Facility (aka, Asylum for the Criminally Insane) for about 20 years.
That makes your avatar even more creepy.
I'm also struggling to make sense of all this, but reading the responses here and thinking about my IRL experiences, and the comments from IRL friends with far more experience dealing with druggies than I have (in particular, a retired paramedic I know), I have to wonder if some people are really messed up by marijuana due to some biological/genetic susceptibility, and others are not. Much like some people become alcoholics and others don't.
I agree, both guys went to the same school, got the same degree, electrical engineering.
Averageman
05-08-23, 09:03
doubled.
AGAIN
Averageman
05-08-23, 09:03
I'm also struggling to make sense of all this, but reading the responses here and thinking about my IRL experiences, and the comments from IRL friends with far more experience dealing with druggies than I have (in particular, a retired paramedic I know), I have to wonder if some people are really messed up by marijuana due to some biological/genetic susceptibility, and others are not. Much like some people become alcoholics and others don't.
Makes perfect sense and it is the exact same thing with alcohol. There was a wedding back home where the best Man stabbed the Groom over a beer.
My thinking is that stone sober, we are all about a quarter bubble off of plumb.
Mix in your drug of choice, be that alcohol, drugs, marijuana, whatever, it changes us a bit. Because it changes our perception we seek it out.
Now just like anything else, it can have a wide variety of effects, some good and some horrible and you may not believe it, but the efects will be different everytime. That's why we do it.
Everytime you take a sip of Scotch, a toke of that joint or three grams of magic mushrooms you're gambling a bit. Perhaps too that is why we seek it out, the vicarious thrill of danger?
That stew of legal prescription drugs, illict drugs and alcohol doesn't go away when we stop and sober up either. You might carry some brain chemical changes for quite some time, perhaps forever.
There are so many varibles, it's frightening. Perhaps that why we love to do it so much.
Anything with psycho active effects has risk/benefits, no exceptions. Each has it's risk/benefit, and it's well supported heavy THC use associated with schizophrenia in susceptible people. Meanwhile there's various benefits to some and the three D's always applies: Drug, Dose, Duration.
Crazies are going to crazy, I don't think weed makes much difference they just happen to include it their repertoire. I know several professional types that partake and have zero issue running successful businesses. On the other end of the spectrum I know some complete nutbags and they're nutbags with or without weed.
It always blows my mind when I find out a "grown up" gets high. In my mind, weed is such a high school... maybe college thing that you SHOULD outgrow.
StainlessSteelRat
05-08-23, 13:50
Makes perfect sense and it is the exact same thing with alcohol. There was a wedding back home where the best Man stabbed the Groom over a beer.
My thinking is that stone sober, we are all about a quarter bubble off of plumb.
Mix in your drug of choice, be that alcohol, drugs, marijuana, whatever, it changes us a bit. Because it changes our perception we seek it out.
Now just like anything else, it can have a wide variety of effects, some good and some horrible and you may not believe it, but the efects will be different everytime. That's why we do it.
Everytime you take a sip of Scotch, a toke of that joint or three grams of magic mushrooms you're gambling a bit. Perhaps too that is why we seek it out, the vicarious thrill of danger?
That stew of legal prescription drugs, illict drugs and alcohol doesn't go away when we stop and sober up either. You might carry some brain chemical changes for quite some time, perhaps forever.
There are so many varibles, it's frightening. Perhaps that why we love to do it so much.
I pretty much agree with all that. I've known some straight up crazy MFers who never touched booze or drugs, and I've known folks who won't get out of bed until they've had a couple tokes who were some of the smartest, most successful people I've known.
Now stuff like fentanyl, heroin, meth, etc are just agents of Natural Selection.
I think people bring up alcohol because it is the a reasonably close analog to weed and how it is consumed in America…
Once again, overall safety or misuse has nothing to do with the topic at hand. A specific potential side effect of marijuana use is the topic.
You could start a whole new thread about how alcohol use/abuse kills people and I guarantee no drinker will jump in with “but, but, smoking weed is also bad for your lungs just like smoking cigarettes…”
Once again, overall safety or misuse has nothing to do with the topic at hand. A specific potential side effect of marijuana use is the topic.
You could start a whole new thread about how alcohol use/abuse kills people and I guarantee no drinker will jump in with “but, but, smoking weed is also bad for your lungs just like smoking cigarettes…”
What?
People use alcohol and weed for the same reasons. They’re mind and/or mood altering in some form so they’re just different means to a similar end.
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What?
People use alcohol and weed for the same reasons…
Did you somehow miss the title of the thread? I don’t think this is intended to be the alcohol vs marijuana thread.
Marijuana use and mental illness / psychosis: what have you seen IRL?
Did you somehow miss the title of the thread? I don’t think this is intended to be the alcohol vs marijuana thread.
Marijuana use and mental illness / psychosis: what have you seen IRL?
You were the one asking why people bring up cigarettes and alcohol. I gave you the most basic explanation I could some up with.
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The Dumb Gun Collector
05-08-23, 20:20
I was just answering the question about why people bring up booze in weed discussions.
It seems like every discussion of marijuana has someone deflecting to the alcohol subject. I’m probably a little too salty about it, because my State did such a bad job legalizing it.
Averageman
05-08-23, 22:03
It seems like every discussion of marijuana has someone deflecting to the alcohol subject. I’m probably a little too salty about it, because my State did such a bad job legalizing it.
I said earlier that I thought that the Politicans screwed it all up by overtaxing it and therefore making an illicit Black Market for legal weed.
I also said the better way to go about it is to simply regulate 12 plants per Adult Household Members, no exceptions, no mass marketing.
So what's your opinion?
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