anyways…… i’m still alive. had a big bowl of gnocchi and a nice long sleep. feeling fine.

have smoked weed more ‘on’ than ‘off’ since i was 14, so about 12 years. never really smoked ciggies unless i’m drunk and there is no weed about.

for the last six years back in the uk i used to smoke daily 5-6 doobies, even whilst at work and although my productivity may have fallen off at times i always got the job done to a good standard (carpentry). my work mate was 35 and had been smoking since he was in his teens and managed to keep enough money coming in to look after his two kids, pay the mortgage etc.

i would go riding just for the sake of having a smoke – one reason i bought my lumis – and have a smoke before kiteboarding. now kiteboarding can be, no is, very dangerous but the smoke helped relax the mind and body. was a lot more ‘flowy’ after a smoke.

in my teens i imbibed lots of drugs. mostly E’s, a bit of coke – which i think is poss one of the worse ‘recreational’ drugs about, MDMA, acid, shrooms and at one silly point morphine because my mates nan had died and he found her old prescriptions.

i don’t know if i’m a better or worse person for all that. but drugs do allow the mind to see things differently.

i’ve had some great times whilst high on various substances. that said there are some drugs that i simply have no craving for anymore and would say that i have ‘grown out of it’. don’t know if i’ll ever stop smoking weed.

i’ve had trips where although what you are ‘seeing’ is complete bollocks you have an element of control over it – even if just telling yourself it really isn’t real. but last night was strange.

yeah, i rolled it. can’t stand watching people try and roll and ending up with something resembling a tampon. didn’t think i put that much in although tabbacco content is prob 20% as i don’t want to smoke the stuff. was at a party on sunday which involved lots of beer, lots of weed – you could smell it from the street below – and i felt fine during and after.

i can imagine that if that was someones first experience they would probably now be in the priory.

infact it is those that have no experience with drugs telling us of the dangers that really piss me off.

will i continue to smoke? yes. i’ve got several hundred €€’s worth sitting beside me. think it might just last a little longer than expected.

if i have the same reaction again in the near future than i’ll think about sticking it.

Chakaping, there are better sources to cite in opposition to drug use than a group whose founder member went on to record an album called “The Chronic”.

I have very little to do with illegal drugs because they seem to go hand in hand with twattishness. I’ve been cornered more times than I care to remeber by some stoner mong who is eager to tell me that the earth’s gravity reverses every 2000 years because of the machine aliens have built inside the earth. You get drunk people talking drivel at you too but at least they don’t pretend that they’re expanding their minds.

Chakaping, there are better sources to cite in opposition to drug use than a group whose founder member went on to record an album called “The Chronic”.

On the contrary, the voice of experience.

Anyway, they never said anything about brain damage off the mic.

Your gangsta rap timeline is waaaay out. “Straight Outta Compton” was, ooh, about 4 years before “The Chronic” was it not? So if there’s any lesson to be drawn from NWA’s stance, it’s “give illegal drugs a chance, you may come to find them very pleasant and relaxing”. 🙂

Another harmful aspect of prohibition is it is hard to test drugs and provide information on them. Better information and testing might lead to less harm to users.

The drugs do work

Mr Agreeable – Haha, I put the “Chronic misunderstanding” tag up before your last post, but now it’s even more apt.

I did know The Chronic was Dre’s first solo, post-NWA LP. But I wasn’t trying to claim NWA were anti-drugs (haha, have you listened to Eight Ball?).

I just love that lyric from Express Yourself.

Chronic misunderstanding

I see what you did there. 🙄

Alpin, if you’ve been smoking since you were 14 there’s a very good chance that you have altered the development of your brain. And not in a good way.

alpin sounds like it could be the start of mental health issues, especially if you have been smoking lots of weed since you were 14, so it might be worth speaking to someone who actually knows what they are talking about, rather than the internet experts on here. Especially considering your prolonged use of weed actually increases the chance of these issues getting worse over time.

Standard disclaimer, yes I have smoked weed, and a lot of other drugs, just like everyone else but after seeming a fair few friends lose the plot, there jobs, sanity and in at least one case life, I rarely do anymore.

might be worth speaking to someone who actually knows what they are talking about, rather than the internet experts on here

is not TJ a pschiatric nurse?

I’m an expert on psychology, come and talk to me:

‘You know what your problem is? Yer mad! Stark, staring mad!’

I am a general trained nurse.

I take TJ to be a bit like the security guard at the front gate of a building, in his opinion nothing would work/happen if he wasn’t there, where in reality, they would just get a card reader.

The 3 clinic psychiatrists I know (oddly all through mountain biking) who work for the prison service in the secure wards, all say they would have a lot less work if people understood just how much weed can **** up your mind.

hasn’t **** up my mind…. 25yrs and still waiting.

Keva, when did you start? There is pretty strong evidence that 14-16 are “vulnerable years” and that using it then can trigger mental health disorders. Of course it won’t apply to everyone, either. It’s a bit like the classic “my nan smoked and she died when she was 93” argument…

Nice and offensive richc. Dunno why tho. I am interested in the subject of drugs having worked in drug rehab and the criminal justice system myself.

There is no medical consensus on “cannabis psychosis” which I take it is what you are referring to. there are three hypotheses – trigger, cause or co-incidence. I personally believe its the “trigger” hypothesis which is more likely the truth but this awaits proving.

Folk like your psychiatrists only see the people where things have gone badly wrong – not the millions of regular cannabis users who hold down steady jobs and live regular lifestyles. Its bound to colour their opinion.

What Mr Agreeable says appears to be true.

also it seems from my experience (of me and mates who have finally stopped smoking after 20+ years) you think you are fine when you are smoking it, its just when you stop after a month or so you realise that you weren’t/aren’t quite right in the head.

its a bit like people who think they aren’t alcoholics, they just need a drink to relax, and they like to relax a lot.

i know of one fella that smoked for a bit when he was at college and ended up in the priory or such like. ended up being labelled schitszo

i think it was partly a knee-jerk reaction from his overly wealthy parents that he ended up in care. he is now very successful after his dad bought him a factory, set up a company and bought the rights to manufacture a mobile scissor lift.

i wouldn’t say that i’m border line schitszo. have normal relationships with everyone i know. am physically heatlhy and active. earn enough money to live a comfortable lifestyle.

weed doesn’t dominate my life. i don’t feel bad if i haven’t had a smoke. don’t feel i need a smoke to go out/face the world.
i was a heavy toker and gave up the daily habit about year and half ago. don’t know if i feel better for it but i’m sure i do.

don’t think i’ll stop right now, or ever. just a real eye-opener last night…..

Wun…

..undred!

Mr. Agreeable… 1984, 15 yrs old.

Cannabis does not make people mad, never has and never will. There are the odd few cases though where fragile youngsters whose mental health has already been compromised has been worsened through the use of cannabis.

taken from here :

The War on Consciousness

Kev

Keva- not quite true. There is a clear link between cannabis use and psychotic episodes but what that link is is unproven.

As I said above there are three hypothesis of which you describe one. Non of the hypothesis are proven.

There is real evidence that cannabis use before the brain has finished developing ie before 18 or so causes irreversible organic damage

There are more than the odd few cases. If you have any existing mental health issues it seems that, even more so than other drugs, cannabis is seriously bad news.

http://www.mentalhealthcare.org.uk/content/?id=30

Keva, for what it’s worth I’m glad you’re not a nut job. However I do get a bit annoyed with the way that “soft” drugs are made out to be harmless (usually via dimwitted comments like “weed’s not a drug, it’s a plant”) when they’re not.

gave it all up at 21 inc alcohol. by that tender age id spent many a season in the himalayas making my own and also frequenting opium houses of calcutta. this was all well and good but the drug culture in this country put me off. as much as i loved drugs in any form esp october mushroom rides….they were not for me. however, most things in moderation is not a bad thing, the main problem is control/moderation, as in all aspects of our lives.

Keva, you mean you started with 15 in 1984….?

much like then. i’m not overly worried about my mental health going off the scale because of weed. i do know of people who have reacted badly to it such as my ‘friend’ above. but what is to say that he wouldn’t have developed these syndromes at a laster date without having smoked canabis?

there is a link somewhere in the brain to loosing it and smoking weed. it is one good way of weeding out (‘cuse the pun) those with potential mental health problems.

Alpin, theres nothing to say he wouldnt have become that way without, but likewise by doing it he increased his likelyhood. Why would anyone want to increase the likelyhood of such problems? You don’t drink and drive because you increase the likelyhood of your own death or prosecution, you dont swig from the bottle, clobber a wall and then say “well I could have crashed if I were sober anyway”.

Im 38, weed since I was 15 daily, 5 years at Uni and I tried absolutely everything cos I wanted to know what it was like. Lived through the dance scene (student in Stoke when Shellys and Entropy were the place to be)and never had such a good time in my life for 10 years popping pills every single weekend and making weekends last until tuesday. I dont drink too much mind!! That was then and I dont regret a single thing about it, opened my eyes and made me realise there’s more to life than ‘normality’, a great side to life.

Would do it all again if I could but two teenage kids and trends put halt to that – garys (gary ablet= tablet) arent like they were when they were £15 a go in the late 80’s but were worth every penny!

Coke and alcohol have taken over these days to produce too many chavs, scallies and Mr & Mrs Invincibles who are up their own arses. I never saw the attraction of coke and never bothered with it again after a dozen or so times, why spend 30-50 on beek when you can get an e for a couple of pounds and have better ‘fun’.

Recreational drugs never did me or my friends any harm, we’re all now respectable parents with good jobs, mortgages etc…….but we’re all still toking from school days.

No time for smackheads or cokeheads.

Each to their own, let people get on with what they wana try. If it affects others then its not good

Is it so bad if you grow your own and nobody else is involved (no dealers or lords)?

Now if my two teenage daughters started smoking weed it might be a different story!!

risk evaluation, prehaps.

alpin – might be risk evaluation, but you’re basing it on unknown risks and unknown variables – so ultimately its just hit and hope, no evaluation involved.

Now if my two teenage daughters started smoking weed it might be a different story!!

Says it all really doesnt it.

I know this much: don’t fall in love with raven-haired, er, ravers.

It affects us all differently – however I did me no good at all, the psycho ward is where it all ended. 10 years since I had a smoke and don’t miss it at all, its nice to view the world without looking through a haze.

We all have to make our own decisions on these things, it is perhaps wise to make an informed decision as it’s really quite an important one.

like Sib and myself, our worlds are not seen through a smoke filled haze.

i would rather have dabbled with drugs by the time i have kids so that i can talk to them about it from a position of experience, not what the drug saftey officer told us at school or what wa read in the daily mail.

i too, based on my experience, would not want them smoking at a young age as it did **** up my college A-level results.

and don’t do charlie. expensive. makes you talk like a **** about nothing as though it all meant something. pills are better value for money in that respect although you will still talk crap and feel like it a day or afterwards…. mid-week blues, or moody wednesdays….

Peregrine – Member

It affects us all differently – however I did me no good at all, the psycho ward is where it all ended.

Although i’m not sure we ever called them psycho wards, I long ago lost count of the number of otherwise fairly normal folk brought in to us wearing nothing but underpants and handcuffs and talking about needing to meet Osiris in the fountain in town. Of course, drug induced psychosis wears off after a couple of days for most people but what takes a lot longer to wear off is:
1) what you might have said or done while out of your box,
2) the unpleasant experience of hospitalisation, and
3) the implications of an acute psychiatric admission (not infrequently under section 136 then section 2 of the mental health act) on your insurance, driving licence, occupational health/job (depends how sympathetic your employer is), and visa status. Even if you could get travel insurance after that sort of episode, the States and and Austrailia wouldn’t let you in for love nor money.

Most people are lucky enough to be able to regularly have a big old smoke and just really enjoy themselves. But when you start having really odd ones like Alpin’s I really think its time to re-evaluate what else you could be doing to relax or have fun.

And I am a mental health nurse. And usually the things that come up here are a bit too wooly or undefined to firmly plant my flag in the sand but in this case this is definitely my professional advice.

anyone care to give any odds on alpin ignoring his minds warning shot across the bows? I reckon 100/1.

<tongue in cheek>
Might be worth ensuring you wear clean underwear when you go for a big smoke from now on alpin as you don’t want to embrass yourself by putting dirty ones on your head if you lose the plot 😉
</tongue in cheek>

Alpin as seen earlier

…yeah i think we might have actually had someone in like that! ^

I think he drew on his face instead of putting the pencils in his nose though…

he must have been drinking though surely? as everyone knows weed hasn’t got any side effects and is completely safe! 😉