+1 420 all day

I think we could ask about almost all stuff we inhale and eat...is fast food good or bad?, is meat or milk good or bad?, it is and good and bad it depends on quantity and frequency, i guess

It does. Whoever said it brought it out what a joke. If it brings it out you'll be angry, depressed & prolly hang urself!

They only bring out emotions that lead to escapism.

If sativa, then

this

if indica, then this

followed by



++

There are various strains of herb and each can have vast psychological differences in effects, even among the same groups.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFdu3Pdb_Kw

+ 420 all day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlgE4xUoOxs

It doesn't sound like you have personal experience of what you really experience when you smoke weed. Just basing it on your colourfully painted uncle, who did weed for 10 years.

When you're medicated it puts your mind into a state of deep reflection and self contemplation. The voice in your "Me" centre gets very loud. Thats why people like using it for meditation, because you can be very objective when asking personal questions of yourself through reflection. We ask ourselves the same questions when sober just at a lower volume level and perspective.

Any anxiety or paranoia (which does happen) you experience is surfacing from your own buried fears/worries in your subconscious at the time from professional to private to completely unrelated. Thoughts are magnified by THC, the altered state of mind gives you a vastly different perception/perspective then you're use too.
THC passes through cannabinoid receptors forcing you continually fire neurons instead of stoping and starting as they would normally, which in return forces the user too explore an idea or thought to it's utter limits, leaving them completely mystified in the momentum of that particular thought. Thats why you notice potheads are known to be spaced the **** out. They are deep within a thought train - blocking everything else out.

The type of high you feel depends on the type of herb you smoke as well maybe more importantly your overall personal vibrational energy you embody, some people are naturally more positive or negative then others.

The people you are around can also amplify your mood in either direction. if you are feeling guilt and shame it could be stemming from an uncomfortable & unsettled influences around you & troubles lingering in your personal or professional life, ones that are resting deep in your thoughts. If your surrounded by a group of your closest friends that you absolutely trust and enjoy being with & they smoke with you, you'd probably feel much different then if you blazing up by yourself and surrounded by a bunch of sober people who don't touch weed.

Moderation is key, also listening and understanding your own personal body signs and cues is the key.

if i were you I would maybe just stop blazing if when you smoke you feel uncomfortable. Everyone is different, doesn't mean it wont stop at some point.

I know that weed affects everyone differently & that it amplifies your perception & ****.

My experience /w weed is hardly even tied to my comment.

My standpoint remains the same, your just doing it since you don't wanna face reality without the influence of some substance. Otherwise, just another form of escapism.

From my experience not everyone who smokes weed does it for escapism, and not everyone who smokes weed does it to expand their mind or relax. Whether weed or is good or bad should be considered on an individual basis. We can all tout are own experience, but to advocate it as good or bad for anyone in general is an immature attitude in my opinion.

We shouldn't crucify or put on a pedestal other people's experience, as erowid says, "Know Your Body, Know Your Mind, Know Your Substance, Know Your Source". Drugs effect us so personally.

I don't blame you for wanting to stick to the general consensus of this forum. (Some ppl on here can get very touchy on the subject.)

Anyhow, I don't think my opinion was immature. If anyone cannot fathom that suppressing your emotions /w substances isn't good then they're pretty much a hopeless cause to begin with.

It's like they prolly won't understand stuff like procrastination is bad for them as well..

I could write literally mountains upon mountains on this subject for various reasons. I'll leave it at this though: Weed, like most things that are enjoyable in life, is absolutely fine and even beneficial at times in moderation. Escalating and chronic use of marijuana is only going to bring about negative experiences and feelings for someone though. If you over indulge on anything it becomes less enjoyable and the negatives associated with that habit come to the forefront.

Smoking once a week or a few times a month can bring all sorts of good to someone's life. If it becomes daily usage and the amount used begins increasing, the user is going to experience a downward spiral such as with any other intoxicant. It's that simple.

^^^this for sure

I was a heavy smoker for ~4 years as an undergrad- and by heavy I mean u was never not high. I tricked myself into literally being able to enter any social situation after ripping the gravity bong several times by simply telling myself to just "act how you would act if you weren't stoned" I mean before work, before class, before my grandmothers funeral. Then, the enjoyment level truly stopped. Legit just smoked to feel normal. I quit cold turkey. I was incredibly anxious for a couple of months- things that happened in my life when I was in that four year fog that I did not necessarily process- death of family members, etc- hit me like a ton of bricks all at once.

I waited about a year and I smoke ~2 times a month now. When I go play live poker mostly is when I do, it just opens my mind. However, bc my tolerance is so low sometimes I have little internal paranoid bugouts like I did when I tried it in high school lol.

So yes- moderation is everything with anything, probably except for crack and dope.

We all need escapes at time, escapes in moderation are healthy. Whether it's video games, movies, cheat day with food, non-fiction book or substance, it can be part of a healthy pysche depending on the invidual. For myself, weed is a no no, but I'll indulge in a good video marathon once in a while, and if someone wants to get high for a day, it maybe the best for them, I can't judge that, only they can.

But to say suppressing emotion is always bad would make me wonder if the person is the pot calling the kettle black, just because you choose not to use substance, doesn't mean you don't at times suppress your emotions in another form of escape.

i'd agree, oldschool_vegas, that sounds pretty accurate.

Well, when I said suppressing emotions I did mean that in a prolonged fashion over a particular habit/lifestyle. (What did you think I meant?)

If done in moderation however, ofc I wouldn't consider that much as suppressing your emotions but merely a distraction.

The question is, how many actually do substances/drugs in moderation? They're addictive. Even weed can be addictive & most people don't know that until it's too late. Just like when you smoke for years, you don't notice you smell until someone tells you right in your face.

But if you can do it in moderation, good for you then. I'm not indicating it is bad for you as longest your doing it in moderation. (I honestly wouldn't know, it isn't like crack/heroin just as you said!)

As longest you can quit anytime & not be dependent on it,then I guess almost anything would be ok.

A very interesting discussion! I have not read it whole yet, but I think I have to share my POV with weed and how it affected my life. I started smoking when I was around 18 (7 years back) and did so with my 3 friends whom we've been running a PC gaming café at the time. At first I enjoyed it so much, we usually gathered in the evening, smoked pot, listened to some crazy music and then spent half of the night playing dota or something. So much fun, can't even describe how much.

About 2 years later I started to enjoy the weed more when I smoked alone at home and did something that involved me to think a lot and I've always been kind of a PC guy, so - watching psychological movies, playing difficult or sandbox pc games, reading, etc. I enjoyed those kind of things mainly because, thanks to the weed, I was able to see many different unrestrained perspectives to a lot of things which I normally wouldn't be able if sober. I believe these creative thoughts were the main reason I smoked in the first place but I was also becoming more introverted and socially distanced.

It was this period of my life I started to play online poker and had several relatively big hits on MTT's and even today I trust it was partially thanks to weed that gave me the right focus and a different perspective view on what was happening on the table + being creative (also the fact I enjoyed the game much more I guess). I also started playing live poker which I wouldn't recommend combining with weed, at least for people that tend to be more introverted and overly thoughtful while playing stoned like myself.

Anyway around 2 years from that point I started to notice different effects than I was used to // After getting high I was feeling very anxious, wanted not to get involved with other people at all and just sit at home, play some pc games and don't care about the outside world too much. I didn't even take up phone calls or answer door bell rings. My self-confidence went quickly downhill and so did my poker performance and I felt really alone at times and started to think about downsides of the weed for the first time.

I have to say I never smoked a lot, usually 1 gram could last for a week, the effects were pretty strong on me even with really small joints. I also never felt any kind of addiction, I believe what people think might be psychological addiction on weed is in fact just a routine you get used to over time. I quit smoking about a year ago when I got a real job and never looked back. It was really easy too, never felt any kind of need for it since. Sure, I don't reject a joint on a occasional party or something but I swore to myself to NEVER again smoke alone. Weed gives a lot of positive and creative thinking in the beginning if you're the right kind of a person who can accept it but over time it starts to diminish and the downside negatives take over, at least that's how it worked for me. I used to judge people a lot, make assumptions based on looks, now I treat environment around me with respect no matter what they appear to be. So I am very grateful for this experience it gave to me but even more glad I realized when was the right time to stop and move on. I believe weed has the power to change your personality permanently in a good way if you know when to stop because you might end too isolated from reality. At certain point you're not getting any benefit from it anymore and you smoke it just to feel "normal" - that's a good sign to stop.

TL;DR - smoke weed, be happy, but don't let it take control of your life.

Good post. Without giving you my life story, I will say that you're by no means alone in how your smoking escalated over time. I smoked for the first time at 16 years old and it remained a totally once in a while thing until about 18/19 when it started to pick up in pace. I was a three sport athlete my whole life and as sports/school started to wind down (as I was by no means serious about college at the time) and I was only playing baseball and lifting weights at that point, it allowed more free time and more down time. I started smoking while playing video games more and more and smoking started to become synonymous with having fun.

When I was just about to turn 21 I lost someone unbelievably close to me, suddenly, and he was only 29. It wasn't the first time I lost someone like this but this one ...really hurt my core. Bad. I changed a lot as a person over the next 12-24 months and eventually wound up working a couple of decent jobs (I'm very entrepreneurial), making some good money, and feeling more well rounded than ever. The thing was that I was smoking daily at this point and about 3+ grams a day. I had a run there for a few years where I was playing MMORPG's a LOT. I played FFXI online and WoW pretty much as heavily as you could for a good 30 month period at one point. There were times I would be up, playing and smoking, for 2-3 days at a clip.

I stopped playing video games at 26 and I haven't played a computer game other than Chess or Poker in about 4 years. I'm 32 now. What I haven't mentioned is my history with alcohol...which is a totally on and off thing over the years but I've really, really cut it back over time. At this point I hardly ever drink at all. I have always, always preferred weed to alcohol. To be totally honest, alcohol is just something I've used to substitute or enhance weed since I started smoking. If weed was legal and sold in the store like beer and liquor, I doubt I would ever buy liquor. I don't as it is now and weed's still not legal.

I still smoke all the time. I've stopped for a month here or there but always find my way back to it. I just can't sit around for weeks at a clip, stone cold sober. I'm playing poker at a 30,000 hand per month clip right now and it's difficult to not smoke before sessions and on breaks. I'm working on it. It bothers me whenever I buy weed because if I buy a dub it's $20 and that's 5 BI's at 4NL. Thinking about it like this has started to really make me desire to buy weed less, but it's a really old, strong habit at this point and it's not the easiest to just stop. I'm trying to take a t-break right now and it's difficult...especially since my girlfriend smokes too and her will power is pathetically non existent lol.

My advice for others is this: If you're going to start enhancing experiences with marijuana...be very careful. You do not want the experience to become about the marijuana itself, but instead remain about the activity primarily. Don't always smoke before you partake in this activity. Try to do it afterwards, just a half a gram or a gram, as a sort of reward and celebration as you reflect back on what you've just experienced. If you begin always smoking before things you enjoy, smoking on breaks throughout enjoying them, and associating marijuana with this activity, eventually you will be more interested in smoking pot than any activity on it's own and you will have a very difficult time finding enjoyment in things without getting high first. No matter what's going on in your evening, you're going to keep drawing comparisons and saying to yourself "this is great but it would be so much better if I was high". Once this has started, it's time to back away from the bowl and lighter and give yourself a break. If you keep going down this road, your smoking will increase, it will replace other activities entirely (instead of simply supplementing them), and you will smoke just out of habit and not even to get high anymore. Once this happens, you are passed the enjoyable point of smoking and now basically "drug using" habitually. Guys - this has never worked out well for one person in the history of humanity. I doubt you'll break that streak.

Keep your smoking to a minimum, as an end of night routine or something you do mildly to supplement the other things you enjoy in life, but leave it at that. Do not be smoking when you get up. Do not make smoking such a part of the activities you enjoy that you can't enjoy them without being high anymore. Do NOT smoke more when you're tolerance starts to escalate. You will simply raise your tolerance even higher and eventually barely even get high anymore. Trust me...I know what I'm talking about through vast experience. This can be a great, harmless, enjoyable recreational drug for most people. It can also be another costly, disruptive, counterproductive habit that you wake up and realize you need to remove from your life. By staying disciplined and not letting weed control YOU, you will enjoy both smoking and the rest of your life far, far more in both the short and long term.

Actually....

"procrastination good for you when done right"

http://www.fastcompany.com/3025930/w...rocrastination

I smoke weed to flesh out reality, not to make a break. I don’t use cannabis because I hate my job or my life. I don’t smoke weed because I can’t pay my bills. I definitely don’t smoke weed to avoid working on my relationship. As a matter of fact, cannabis has done a lot to help my relationship. I am depressed about the state of the world and Donald Trump being the president, but smoking weed doesn’t help me escape those facts. It does make those things easier to process, but I don’t forget them. In fact, this site is one of the sources of my weeds https://www.greenmed.io/blog/smoke-w...ty-not-escape/. I smoke weed because I’m bipolar and I have a social anxiety disorder, and it helps me deal with it without taking pills. I smoke weed because it helps make me a better person.

I'll chime in with my opinion.

I would be interested if people agree / disagree with me.

I think it helps & hurts.

I believe it lowers your IQ or your ability to solve complex problems. I can't imagine smoking weed & trying to play chess for example. So it hurts in that respect.

I believe it helps with tilt control though, makes you calmer and more relaxed. Not completely immune to tilt still, but I personally taking losing better smoking weed.

I think it also helps boredom for longtime players. Makes things more interesting.

There's times I feel I play better on it, because I'm steamed up from a recent downswing and it helps me stay calmer. So if I'm happy & winning, I'm probably better not smoking, but on a tough day, I think it keeps me calmer.
And tilt for me can be very detrimental to my game.

With (or any other kind of substance) you're externalising your issues. In effect you're saying "I can't deal with X so I have to artificially put me in a state of mind with substance Y to deal with it"

Now, it could be that this actually seems to work (e.g. maybe weed makes you more calm and suppresses your rash impulses that otherwise hurt your play), but that just means you're never going to advance by learning to control (or even use) those rash impulses.

As the previous poster says "it makes...it makes...it makes"...but you don't make.

Like any drug it's a fix to cope where you should learn to cope yourself - it's just holding you back in the long run.