homarjr: The only thing I can't do at all when I smoke is play sports. Being "fully functional" is better because making split second decisions is more natural, and the half-second delay when I'm high is enough to make me suck at whatever I'm playing.

/Just like alcohol or any other drug, it's different for everyone

I was a pitcher in college and had a tradition of smoking before every home game I started. I found a lot easier to get into the "zone" when I was baked, not to mention it was just fun. I could really block everything out and focus on the catcher's glove. It was a fun 4 years. My sophomore year, I also ate 2 hits of acid about an hour before game time. Hardest I ever threw was that day (93mph). Weeeeee!

Depending on your definition of dependence/addiction, you could say it is indeed physically addictive. This is because you can administer cannabinoid recepter antagonists (marijuana is an agonist) and it will instantly put you into 'withdrawal'. This is a far cry from withdrawal from, say, heroin or morphine. But nevertheless it is a very minor physical withdrawal. The reason it is probably so minor is because of how long a half-life these cannabinoids have in the body, meaning it takes a long time for them to exit your body so it's gradual. This physical addiction is not seen with drugs like cocaine, which have no antagonist counterpart and will not put you into physical withdrawals, though the cessation will certainly make one believe they are physically withdrawing.

/just sayin' 
//if you're complaining about cessation from smoking marijuana you just need to stfu, or smoke some more.

"Bro I feel all weird since I stopped smoking weed."

"That's called sober. You're sober right now. That feeling is probably why you started smoking."

There's a major difference between psychological dependence and physical dependence.

Uh, what's the problem? Just start smoking again and everything goes back to normal. Duh.

jaylectricity: Stop blaming cannabis. You were in need of a life change and instead of doing it through positivity you chose drugs to fix it.

Yeah, pretty much this. Too often when anyone has problems with life and smokes pot, the pot gets blamed. If only they hadn't smoked pot their life would be peaches and cream (or unicorns and rainbows).

That's a crock of shiat. Pot doesn't screw up people's lives (and it doesn't lead to success either). There are a whole lot of other things which affect success or failure in life.

dready zim: Dirtybird971: Hey lady? It was pot, let it go. Sobriety is a hell of a drug. And it takes some getting used to.

What's worse than drugs? Having to talk to posers like the "author" of this article. On and on, writing a lot and saying nothing. She asked for advice, not a farking diatribe.

the "church of all of us who've been there" really?? STFU and drink this.

/10 years clean and I still hate ex-addicts. Stupid farking meetings and coffee and "truth" and feelings.
//great now I feel sick.

So much THIS. There are no people holier than thou than ex addicts who wont freakin shut up about it.

I remember being at an after party and these 2 ex heroin users were banging on about how hard it was when they were farking over everyone they knew to get high and how being straight was so hard so I told them about this one time I was peaking on mushrooms and got a phone call to say my father had died from a heart attack and I had to drive to the family home in torrential rain and look at the corpse of my father laid out in the living room whilst all the time tripping on mushrooms.

They stopped banging on about how hard it was stealing from people and getting high.

assholes.

I've got friends who are ex addicts. Having talked to them quite a bit about it in the past, it was a lot harder than you might think. I mean, imagine this.

You wake up and feel like hell. You've woken up and felt like hell every morning for a year now. Imagine (for you and I) waking up after a night of drinking, where you don't quite have a hangover, but you don't feel good either. The kind of 'blah' that isn't going to be solved by an Alka Seltzer and greasy breakfast. But you do know something that can fix it. Even though you're reaching for your kit, you still feel low just for doing so. No matter how you talk about it to your friends, you still feel that it is somehow wrong, but you still do it. But look, your kit is empty. You've used it all. Or maybe someone else used it. You've got a few hours before withdrawals start and you feel like absolute hell. No money, no drugs, and you can't even complain about either because no one (except other broke junkies) will have sympathy for you. Even if you went to the ER, they'd probably just turn you away.

The craving is kicking in. It is stronger than anything that most regular people have experienced. You'd walk barefoot through a mile of broken glass and those little legos strewn about a scorching blacktop parking lot for even a third of a hit. This part is the big disconnect. This is what people don't understand when they say, 'well just stop taking it!' To tell someone that is like telling a regular person, 'well just stop eating! no, really, altogether! forever!' as advice for how they can lose weight, and being completely serious about it. Opiates will be put up there along beside other basal drives, like the drive for food, drive for sex, drive for shelter, etc, only it is usually in front of the rest.

So yeah, it is harder than people think to be a junkie. I mean you or I could probably come up with a $20 in fairly short notice in an emergency, but what if you were tasked with coming up with one yourself and just didn't have the funds? You can't borrow it, junkies have no credit. Working for it will take at least a week or two. You could go do odd jobs, but people see your track marks and will turn you away. You don't have a choice. You need that $20. Your options are to rip someone off or to pawn possessions. Pawning possessions will only work for so long...

This is the day to day life of your average junkie. Every day the question is posed again, and every day the world adapts a little more to make it harder for you to get that $20 that you need or you're going to go downhill fast.

I'm not excusing junkie behavior, just telling it like it is. It isn't all just never paying friends back or hawking stolen wares while you live a life of drug-addled luxury in a cozy apartment with running water, heat, air conditioning, and a bed to sleep on. It isn't easy by any means, but it is easier than getting off the horse and onto the wagon.

SmellsLikePoo: speedycat: I smoked marijuana every day, several times a day, (up to 5 times) from age 17 to 22. One day I decided I was tired of being overweight from binge eating due to munchies and being sedentary. All I would do was smoke, eat a pint of ice cream and play video games. To be honest, it was great. But I can't do that for the rest of my life.

I quit cold turkey back in May of this year. I didn't suffer any adverse effects. Actually, every thing has been positive for me. I ended a bad relationship a girl who continues to smoke, I went from 205lbs to 171lbs and quit my dead end, minimum wage job and enlisted with the Air Force for 6 years. I plan to give them 20. I've been running and lifting every weekday too. But I need to cut this post short, I have to be at the gym in 26 minutes.

Can we all please move away from the cliche that pot = munchies = fat bodies ?

If you made all the changes you described and still kept smoking, you would have STILL lost the weight! Magic, i know, right?!

For real, this is the one thing that signals to me that the person talking ISN'T a pothead and doesn't know what they're talking about.

I smoke more than your average pothead and I'm in great shape (half marathon in under 2 hrs this weekend). Not to mention that beyond that my life isn't a warmed-up pile of crap... its pretty spiffy.

Also, Colorado is the thinnest state in the nation and we legalized weed.

When Im bored or depressed I like to can vegetables from my garden

After around 10-12 years of smoking chronic, I have lost any and all paranoia that comes from it. I just enjoy being high like anyone else.

The thing is, I actually like being a little high at work now. I have plenty of meetings (and am more vocal when I smoke), lots of paperwork, and have a generally similar job to 90% of the people who sit behind a desk for 8 hours a day. I honestly feel like I get much more done, and at a much more quality level, when I'm a little bit stoned. If I was going to be paranoid about anything, it would be being high at work and not working, and this actually makes me work harder. I don't get so high that my eyes are bloodshot and I can't even move. Just a little bit to make the day go by a little bit better. I even got a promotion the other day, so it's not like it's not working for me....

I really feel like I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it was true. I'm not an idiot. But I've told this to many of my friends, and none of them have felt the same way at all.

The only thing I can't do at all when I smoke is play sports. Being "fully functional" is better because making split second decisions is more natural, and the half-second delay when I'm high is enough to make me suck at whatever I'm playing.

/Just like alcohol or any other drug, it's different for everyone

Elandriel: I used to smoke a lot of pot, recreationally as I don't think I had anything really going wrong with my life. There is a period of depression when you quit, because the chemistry of your brain is altered slightly because of the mood elevation properties of THC

I've quit smoking pot a few times - supply problems....when you're not in college anymore and you move to a new town you don't have all those connections you used to have. I can honestly say it made very little difference. Other than wishing I could get high I felt absolutely no withdrawal symptoms.

I could get pot right now - well, not right now, but I could get pot today if I really wanted (or "needed") it that bad (the people I could get it from have jobs and are at work right now), but I don't. It's not a miracle drug and I don't want to spend the money on it. It's not that I think pot is evil, I just don't see any benefit from me using it.

Well, not any benefit other than getting high for a couple of hours. If someone handed me a joint I'd gladly partake but I'm not going to go out of my way to get any pot.

One last thing, Ex-Pothead:

Nobody likes a quitter.

untaken_name: Uh, what's the problem? Just start smoking again and everything goes back to normal. Duh.

God, no shiat. The solution is right there in front of you. On the table. No, not the remote. The bong. All these problems and they're all fixed by that one little device. That one wonderful, maaaaagical device.

How can people be so blind to the most obvious solution?

Clemkadidlefark: Which is why marijuana used to be known as Dope

Only moms called it dope. Everyone else knew dope was heroin.

Hrist: dready zim: Dirtybird971: Hey lady? It was pot, let it go. Sobriety is a hell of a drug. And it takes some getting used to.

What's worse than drugs? Having to talk to posers like the "author" of this article. On and on, writing a lot and saying nothing. She asked for advice, not a farking diatribe.

the "church of all of us who've been there" really?? STFU and drink this.

/10 years clean and I still hate ex-addicts. Stupid farking meetings and coffee and "truth" and feelings.
//great now I feel sick.

So much THIS. There are no people holier than thou than ex addicts who wont freakin shut up about it.

I remember being at an after party and these 2 ex heroin users were banging on about how hard it was when they were farking over everyone they knew to get high and how being straight was so hard so I told them about this one time I was peaking on mushrooms and got a phone call to say my father had died from a heart attack and I had to drive to the family home in torrential rain and look at the corpse of my father laid out in the living room whilst all the time tripping on mushrooms.

They stopped banging on about how hard it was stealing from people and getting high.

assholes.

I've got friends who are ex addicts. Having talked to them quite a bit about it in the past, it was a lot harder than you might think. I mean, imagine this.

You wake up and feel like hell. You've woken up and felt like hell every morning for a year now. Imagine (for you and I) waking up after a night of drinking, where you don't quite have a hangover, but you don't feel good either. The kind of 'blah' that isn't going to be solved by an Alka Seltzer and greasy breakfast. But you do know something that can fix it. Even though you're reaching for your kit, you still feel low just for doing so. No matter how you talk about it to your friends, you still feel that it is somehow wrong, but you still do it. But look, your kit is empty. You've used it all. Or maybe someone else used it ...

What does heroin feel like -Reddit. Sorry it's in video form, I couldn't find the original post. I'll add that, yes ex-drug users can be annoyingly sanctimonious, but quitting drugs is the hardest thing ever, harder than the seven surgeries that led to me being on drugs in the first place. Ex-drug users deserve every same shred of respect for besting their addictions that you would bestow upon a cancer survivor. I've managed to beat two illnesses in my life, one a serious physical illness, and one the mental illness of addiction (I still haven't beaten depression/anxiety though): the addiction was far far harder, but guess what, society doesn't feel that way, and while I've often been called a "hero" for beating my physical illness, rarely do I get the same response for the mental illness (outside of 12-step groups, I guess). (By the way, I personally don't consider myself a hero for ether victory, because neither was my choice, and heroism implies choice; I merely did what I had to do. Bottom line: have some compassion for ex-druggies; they had many many chances to take the easy way out, and they did not.

http://www.sickchirpse.com/2012/07/29/heroin-addiction/

dryknife: REO-Weedwagon: If you wanna be a happy stoner, you have to exercise. Actually, if you want to be a happy anything you have to exercise. I'm about to hike this canyon in 10 minutes. Will legally light up my homegrown during the hike since I'm in Colorado. That's right b*tches, biggest toker state in the Union is also the healthiest.

[www.nps.gov image 556x200]


Wow. You are stoned
Because Monument Valley is in Utah.
http://www.nps.gov/colm/photosmultimedia/images/monument_valley_556 x200.jpg

I'm only jumping in because I already commented on the photo... that file name should be Monument Canyon as in Colorado National Monument. Googling a file name can be misleading. Might want to check yourself before calling others out.

If you wanna be a happy stoner, you have to exercise. Actually, if you want to be a happy anything you have to exercise. I'm about to hike this canyon in 10 minutes. Will legally light up my homegrown during the hike since I'm in Colorado. That's right b*tches, biggest toker state in the Union is also the healthiest.

Okay folks, this is actually in my area of expertise...my research is more stimulant-focused (cocaine, methamphetamine), but the mechanisms of addiction key components of my day-to-day. Here are a few things:

1. Anyone claiming that cannabis cannot or does not cause dependence, shut up. You're wrong. Just like with any human-drug combination, the magnitude of the dependence is going to vary widely based on genetics, exposure levels & patterns, co-abuse, and co-morbid psychological conditions.

1a. Likewise, the manner in which one enters the abstinence phase of quitting will dramatically affect withdrawal symptoms. Long-term heavy users will often needs weeks to months for highly lipophilic cannabinoids to clear their systems--this long taper tends to ease the transition to abstinence, but I assure you, an administered CB1 antagonist (e.g., Rimonabant) will make these people feel like complete shiat, not unlike long-time tobacco smokers 36-hours post last cigarette.

2. It is very common for people to "self-medicate" for clinical and sub-clinical psychological disorders using drugs like THC, alcohol, nicotine, and things much harder. This is almost always to the detriment of treating the underlying condition(s) as it merely applies a band-aid to some of the symptoms while creating newer problems, psychologically and medically. If you suspect you are one of these people, you should seek some professional help. You might find that treating the underlying problem actually feels better than the high.

3. While dependence is a quasi-objective measure of the physiological effects of chronic drug-taking, the term addiction is a sociological construct. Simply put, a compulsive behavior becomes an addiction when it starts to interfere with your life. When cannabis use contributes to inadequate or unhealthy relationships or slows the setting and attainment of personal goals (be it work, school, or whatever), you don't need a DSM-IV to identify that it's a problem. Unfortunately, psychological disorders and drugs of abuse can often make it near-impossible for the type of self-reflection necessary to seek such help.

4. Reefer Madness and a lot of the anti-drug hype machine is fear-mongering bullshiat. The gateway hypothesis is pretty much dead as a serious academic topic. That said, don't buy the hype that cannabis is fun & harmless or a panacea for all your medical ailments. Actual effects of cannabis in humans are still woefully understudied and there's minimal good science behind most of the positive non-euphoric claims. As with alcohol and nicotine, treat it like the mixed bag it is.

Dirtybird971: I don't have to imagine it. I lived it for nearly a decade. And it's still just an excuse. nearly everyday during that time I KNEW IT WAS ME DOING IT TO MYSELF. I'm not saying it wasn't tough, most people don't live through it, but EVERYDAY there was a moment of clarity when I said, "you know you don't have to do this" but i did anyway. I was forsaking all other things to the point of losing 45 lbs, being homeless for 2 years and living in a bathroom of a gas station. I still had a job waitering, so I didn't have to resort to crime or prostitution, but it wasn't easy. However, I choose to continue and everyone has a choice. Had i been there when they started to whine I'd say the same to them. Like my mom used to say "you made your bed, now lie in it."

I didn't. Know. Your brain can rationalize to an amazing degree, especially if you're drunk all the time. I'd been on the streets for a couple of years before I suddenly realized, "You know, no matter where you go and what you do, your problem isn't your location. It's that you're a drunk."

And after that it was no fun anymore, and I did quit. Still took me a couple more years, a trip to rehab, another DUI, and feeling like shiat most of the time, but I did finally quit. But for most of my time drinking, I didn't really "know" that the alcohol was causing my problems. And there are plenty of addicts just like i was. Sometimes support groups can help them come to grips with the fact that they're the problem--whatever's going on in their heads. it's not just life has dealt them a shiat hand, like I thought for a long time.

You aren't the only clean addict in the world, you know.  AA probably helped save my life.

Hopefully legalization will erode away the stoner stigma, and make the average person realize we aren't all shiatlocked trustafarians with poorly groomed facial hair, red eyes and a penchant for lazily accentuating our vowels (duuuude, brooooo)
Everyday people who don't happen to revolve their lives around marijuana still enjoy marijuana

SuperDuper28: Im sure Fark will be completely unbiased with it's large age16-24 male pot smoker penised high-IQ studmuffin demographic.

wildcardjack: There's a major difference between psychological dependence and physical dependence.

Marijuana causes neurons to dump serotonin; this is a significant part of the high. (SSRI anti-depressants work by preventing serotonin from being taken back into the neurons.)

When you change the chemical balance like that through an external factor, the neurons do their best to adapt to the new environment. Which is to say if you are a heavy smoker and quit cold turkey, your serotonin levels will be screwed up for some time.

This is pretty much the definition of physical dependence.

Hrist: homarjr: After around 10-12 years of smoking chronic, I have lost any and all paranoia that comes from it. I just enjoy being high like anyone else.

The thing is, I actually like being a little high at work now. I have plenty of meetings (and am more vocal when I smoke), lots of paperwork, and have a generally similar job to 90% of the people who sit behind a desk for 8 hours a day. I honestly feel like I get much more done, and at a much more quality level, when I'm a little bit stoned. If I was going to be paranoid about anything, it would be being high at work and not working, and this actually makes me work harder. I don't get so high that my eyes are bloodshot and I can't even move. Just a little bit to make the day go by a little bit better. I even got a promotion the other day, so it's not like it's not working for me....

I really feel like I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it was true. I'm not an idiot. But I've told this to many of my friends, and none of them have felt the same way at all.

The only thing I can't do at all when I smoke is play sports. Being "fully functional" is better because making split second decisions is more natural, and the half-second delay when I'm high is enough to make me suck at whatever I'm playing.

/Just like alcohol or any other drug, it's different for everyone

This is called self medication. People with ADD/ADHD were much more likely than regular people to be addicted to some kind of stimulant. Namely, caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine, etc. They found a lot more benefit than the average person did...in that it helped with their ADD/ADHD. People with depression tend to self medicate with alcohol, benzos (like Xanax), and opiates (like heroin). You sound like you might have some kind of slight anxiety problem....a lot of people with the same kind of problem will self medicate with benzos or pot.

Self medication is all fine and dandy, but you might be able to get the same benefit with a prescribed medication if you ever have to stop smoking for whatever reason. Isn't so much the case when talking about weed, but often times the prescribed medication is a lot safer for you...drinking a couple of energy drinks a day is a lot worse on your body than some Adderall (taken when needed, not three times a day every day for the rest of your life). Anti-depressant pharms are a lot better for people than chronic alcoholism or benzo or opiate addiction.

My ADHD medicine worked but would irritate my stomach, dehydrate me faster, and make me irritable....a few hits of pot would give similar results without the previously mentioned side effects

Hrist: This is called self medication. People with ADD/ADHD were much more likely than regular people to be addicted to some kind of stimulant. Namely, caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine, etc. They found a lot more benefit than the average person did...in that it helped with their ADD/ADHD. People with depression tend to self medicate with alcohol, benzos (like Xanax), and opiates (like heroin). You sound like you might have some kind of slight anxiety problem....a lot of people with the same kind of problem will self medicate with benzos or pot.

Met plenty of ADD people self-medicating with depressants. Went to private school where most kids had either that or some sort of discipline issues. Many self-medicated, but I don't recall it being nearly so... "well-planned".

If there's studies that have been done proving this notion, I'd love to see them. If not, I think this is just wishful thinking.

Hrist: Self medication is all fine and dandy

Not really. In part because-unlike what you just said above- most people aren't doctors (though I've heard that pill-popping is probably most prevalent among medical professionals- largely due to access), often don't have the faintest clue what chemicals do what , what they themselves need, and very often just end up "self-medicating" on whatever tickles them the best.

Fun: still a valid reason for doing drugs, even if you do have some sort of disorder or other chemical deficiency.

Sometimes it might be the "right" choice, and sometimes it might not be. In the latter case, there's my wife's half-brother who has chosen pot as his "self-medication" of preference.

Problem: he very likely suffers from an as-yet-undiagnosed form of schizophrenia, and most medical studies done on this topic will agree that pot smoking exacerbates this particular condition.

I can't say it's done him a lot of good, in any case. Moral of the story being: while doctors are certainly far from perfect, and may not be doing the best things for you at all times, you aren't a doctor either, and they know a hell of a lot more than you. Don't try and be your own doctor.

Clemkadidlefark: Which is why marijuana used to be known as Dope

It never was, actually

homarjr: After around 10-12 years of smoking chronic, I have lost any and all paranoia that comes from it. I just enjoy being high like anyone else.

The thing is, I actually like being a little high at work now. I have plenty of meetings (and am more vocal when I smoke), lots of paperwork, and have a generally similar job to 90% of the people who sit behind a desk for 8 hours a day. I honestly feel like I get much more done, and at a much more quality level, when I'm a little bit stoned. If I was going to be paranoid about anything, it would be being high at work and not working, and this actually makes me work harder. I don't get so high that my eyes are bloodshot and I can't even move. Just a little bit to make the day go by a little bit better. I even got a promotion the other day, so it's not like it's not working for me....

I really feel like I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it was true. I'm not an idiot. But I've told this to many of my friends, and none of them have felt the same way at all.

The only thing I can't do at all when I smoke is play sports. Being "fully functional" is better because making split second decisions is more natural, and the half-second delay when I'm high is enough to make me suck at whatever I'm playing.

/Just like alcohol or any other drug, it's different for everyone

This is called self medication. People with ADD/ADHD were much more likely than regular people to be addicted to some kind of stimulant. Namely, caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine, etc. They found a lot more benefit than the average person did...in that it helped with their ADD/ADHD. People with depression tend to self medicate with alcohol, benzos (like Xanax), and opiates (like heroin). You sound like you might have some kind of slight anxiety problem....a lot of people with the same kind of problem will self medicate with benzos or pot.

Self medication is all fine and dandy, but you might be able to get the same benefit with a prescribed medication if you ever have to stop smoking for whatever reason. Isn't so much the case when talking about weed, but often times the prescribed medication is a lot safer for you...drinking a couple of energy drinks a day is a lot worse on your body than some Adderall (taken when needed, not three times a day every day for the rest of your life). Anti-depressant pharms are a lot better for people than chronic alcoholism or benzo or opiate addiction.

I was a fairly regular smoker, as were a lot of my co- workers. I think the whole " pot makes you lazy" thing is on over generalization...I would like to smoke before any task which would require large amounts of physical exertion, it seemed to give me a useable nervous energy and quiet the mind a bit allowing me to focus on breathing/moving efficiently....was putting in 10 to 12 hour days at 8000 to 11000 feet, moving 5 plus miles through snow. The slight paranoia also would help make for generally safer calls on route finding.
Now that I've stopped I've gained weight, and gotten a bit lazy......CSB out!

See, when women complain about weird feelings, and people tell them it's all in their head, and nobody takes them seriously, it's totally unfair, because this is a legitimate medical problem with a simple solution. It doesn't help to tell women to just change their attitude and act right. That's totally insensitive!

Estrogen fluctuations make you feel weird. It can make your skin crawl. It affects your energy levels. It affects your thoughts and dreams. It affects a whole bunch of things. Fluctuating hormone levels can make your life miserable.

Long-term marijuana use means your hormones have stabilized at one level, and when you go off the marijuana, it takes a while for things to stabilize again. In between, you have all these crazy fluctuations that can make your life miserable. I'm speaking from personal experience. This is a problem that is easily solved, if you take the right approach.

I think this woman is not getting the help she needs.

jfivealive: Am i the only one that thinks the salon just got trolled by someone bored and stoned?

You mean the original letter writer, or the response, which I think read like a guy really ripped. Read like one of my essays in college when I was ripped to the bejesus belt...

Some people get high and DO things, some get high and do nothing, depends on the person and the weed it seems.

speedycat: I smoked marijuana every day, several times a day, (up to 5 times) from age 17 to 22. One day I decided I was tired of being overweight from binge eating due to munchies and being sedentary. All I would do was smoke, eat a pint of ice cream and play video games. To be honest, it was great. But I can't do that for the rest of my life.

I quit cold turkey back in May of this year. I didn't suffer any adverse effects. Actually, every thing has been positive for me. I ended a bad relationship a girl who continues to smoke, I went from 205lbs to 171lbs and quit my dead end, minimum wage job and enlisted with the Air Force for 6 years. I plan to give them 20. I've been running and lifting every weekday too. But I need to cut this post short, I have to be at the gym in 26 minutes.

Can we all please move away from the cliche that pot = munchies = fat bodies ?

If you made all the changes you described and still kept smoking, you would have STILL lost the weight! Magic, i know, right?!

For real, this is the one thing that signals to me that the person talking ISN'T a pothead and doesn't know what they're talking about.

I smoke more than your average pothead and I'm in great shape (half marathon in under 2 hrs this weekend). Not to mention that beyond that my life isn't a warmed-up pile of crap... its pretty spiffy.

Porous Horace: Remembering dreams ... yeah the novelty's all fun at first but then it becomes a nightmare.

/has awful dreams

I suffer from a general lack of melatonin in my brain at times of sleep and often experience night terrors. I often like to smoke on nights when my brain is too "active" before sleep because while my exhausted body may rest no one told my head it's pass out o'clock. When i was much heavier and unhappier i had lots of freak outs at night, and i never remembered them or my dreams in the first place (i remember a few here and there now).

When i started smoking (started at age 22, late bloomer) i discovered that actually helps me relax enough to slip peacefully into a deep REM . This is not always the case for people, sometimes it can make you too "aware" of being in bed and unable to slip to sleep, others go the opposite direction and it makes them more paranoid and unable to truly relax. Weed affects everyone differently - and is not the solution, but i would rather smoke than take a sleeping pill which has put me in 16 hour catatonic sleeps in the past.

kindms: Well we are certainly seeing a major uptick on the "Evils of Pot" stories and TV spots since election day.

CNN had a spot, the local Fox affiliate has done "reports"

I guess the anti-pot crowd still has some propaganda to spread and some money to burn.

That federal funding isn't going to spend itself now is it?

Well we are certainly seeing a major uptick on the "Evils of Pot" stories and TV spots since election day.

CNN had a spot, the local Fox affiliate has done "reports"

I guess the anti-pot crowd still has some propaganda to spread and some money to burn.

during the 10 years that I was a pothead, I lost all of my friends because I would rather smoke than hang out with them. 

Wait. What? Why the hell weren't you smoking it up with your friends? You didn't have any friends that smoked weed? Well, there's your problem.

Dirtybird971: Hey lady? It was pot, let it go. Sobriety is a hell of a drug. And it takes some getting used to.

What's worse than drugs? Having to talk to posers like the "author" of this article. On and on, writing a lot and saying nothing. She asked for advice, not a farking diatribe.

the "church of all of us who've been there" really?? STFU and drink this.

/10 years clean and I still hate ex-addicts. Stupid farking meetings and coffee and "truth" and feelings.
//great now I feel sick.

So much THIS. There are no people holier than thou than ex addicts who wont freakin shut up about it.

I remember being at an after party and these 2 ex heroin users were banging on about how hard it was when they were farking over everyone they knew to get high and how being straight was so hard so I told them about this one time I was peaking on mushrooms and got a phone call to say my father had died from a heart attack and I had to drive to the family home in torrential rain and look at the corpse of my father laid out in the living room whilst all the time tripping on mushrooms.

They stopped banging on about how hard it was stealing from people and getting high.

assholes.

The problem with you young people is, you've never gone through menopause, so you don't know the symptoms of estrogen fluctuation. I'm completely serious about this. That weird feeling you feel is your hormones re-adjusting. It can take several months for them level out. Try the progesterone cream. It fixes the problem right away. (women only.)

Hogwash.

Marijuana is not physically addictive in the biochemical sense. Extremely heavy users may suffer some irratibility when it is withdrawn, but nothing like the sdymptoms which accompany withdrawal from narcotics, alcohol or niccotine.

What he is saying is, he is an attention whore, and so totally wrapped up in himself that he expects others to take him as seriously as he takes himself.

Fat chance.

When one ages, he has a little less need for cannabis. Withdrawal from any substance one has come to be dependent upon is going to be a little bit rough, in ways one will be aware of, and ones one may not. The retentivity of the substance is a factor. A long-term puffer will be able to get a little buzz by going for a long hike by getting some residue from his fat tissues. So withdrawal will be a little less difficult than from something polar-soluble. Cannabis is pretty warm stuff, so, yeah, someone who quits is gonna feel depersonalized and bereft. The brain tries to equilibrate from whatever suite of substances our imbiber chooses. When he quits, the pendulum is gonna swing the other way for awhile.

Yeah, I'm addicted to relaxing and having fun to.

/moderation is key

My opinion -- it's hormonal. Pot screws around with your estrogen levels. Look it up. Then go to a health food store and get some progesterone cream. Works like a charm.

I smoked marijuana every day, several times a day, (up to 5 times) from age 17 to 22. One day I decided I was tired of being overweight from binge eating due to munchies and being sedentary. All I would do was smoke, eat a pint of ice cream and play video games. To be honest, it was great. But I can't do that for the rest of my life.

I quit cold turkey back in May of this year. I didn't suffer any adverse effects. Actually, every thing has been positive for me. I ended a bad relationship a girl who continues to smoke, I went from 205lbs to 171lbs and quit my dead end, minimum wage job and enlisted with the Air Force for 6 years. I plan to give them 20. I've been running and lifting every weekday too. But I need to cut this post short, I have to be at the gym in 26 minutes.

jaylectricity: I feel depressed and am not sure what to do with myself.

You were already depressed and you were escaping through drugs.

I used to work part time and would spend the rest of the time getting high and watching TV. Now that I am not getting high, I feel like my husband and I don't relate any more.

Maybe that's because after a year or two of marriage you both tuned each other out and began getting high and watching TV. Now that you're not getting high, you're noticing the deficiencies in your relationship. Again...you already had a problem that you were escaping through drugs.

during the 10 years that I was a pothead, I lost all of my friends because I would rather smoke than hang out with them.

In your times of trouble, instead of leaning on your friends, you turned to drugs.

Any advice would be welcome.

Stop blaming cannabis. You were in need of a life change and instead of doing it through positivity you chose drugs to fix it.



i've blamed Weed, WoW, and my Weight for my loneliness in the past. When i realized that real change comes from within, even if that change is admitting your old ways are hurting you and that you need help. 

Smoking significantly less since i have someone in my life instead of wasting my life trying to stay in the top 100,000s in Modern Warfare 3 (8 long angry months of unemployment) Now me and the lady friend enjoy a weekend of wine and weed every now and then.

Am i the only one that thinks the salon just got trolled by someone bored and stoned?

She should take up drinking, then.

I bet he remembers his dreams now which is cool