...to think that weed can and does ruin lives and isn't 'harmless'?

[madonnawhore]

I know there are people who maintain that cannabis is harmless and they smoke it and they're fine blah blah blah.

I used to smoke it, all my friends used to smoke it, but none of us do any more because, you know what? it doesn't half make you a boring, lazy bastard.

Never mind the whole 'it causes psychosis' debate (my brother and a really good friend of mine both had to receive mental health treatment as a result of smoking weed), but there's a thread over on relationships at the moment about some woman's husband who spends all his salary on weed within the first 3 days of payday and who has actually cut his hours so that he can stay home and play more computer games.

AIBU in presuming that if he wasn't such a pot head, he'd be more inclined to get of his arse and go to work?

Sitting on your backside playing COD all day cos you can't be fucked to do anything else is not harmless.

*off

(not on drugs btw)

I really want to add a long post here but have to get DS from playschool.

But I utterly agree with you. I think most of the people who spout the 'oh its not harmless ra ra ra' are people who have smoked occasionally or for a short period of time. I know long term heavy smokers and the physical and mental addiction is no joke.

Totally agree. It's so unattractive, apart from all the much more worthy reasons to avoid it. "boring, lazy bastard" pretty much sums it up perfectly!

Have you thought for a moment that your own experience may not be representative? I've smoked a lot of weed in my time and have never played COD in my life.

You do not know that anyone needed mental health treatment solely due to cannabis use. You also don't know that a man who is a lazy cunt smoking a lot of pot wouldn't be a lazy cunt on cans of stella, or indeed anything or nothing at all.

Its not harmless, and the newer strains of canabis are very strong indeed.
And you are right about that bloke.
It does make people lazy and anti social.

I agree it is not harmless at all, long term use does cause mental health problems, those mental health issues are irreversible.

That comes from abusing/using any drugs not just weed.

Buzz, my experience may not be representative either, but most of the regular cannabis smokers I know are boring, lazy bastards and many of them are depressive these days too.

also cannabis can be a positive thing for some people. My old man has smoked it for a decade for pain relief from a terminal but slow illness. Should be legal for him.

I have a friend who ruined her life and is now a depressed paranoid wreck from smoking too much cannabis.

She also did it throuh both her pregnancies and I suppose we'll never know how much that contributed to her DCs poor health and low performance in school

but maybe they smoke pot because they are boring lazy bastards and not the other way around. Its not so simple.

i used it medically and it was very helpful

It is though Buzz. I have a number of friends who were once motivated, interesting, driven and sparkly but since becoming involved in cannabis have become boring, lazy bastards. Very, very self-centred in many cases too.

Anyway, just my experience - the plural of anecdote isn't data :)

Helpful for pain control, not helpful if there's a risk you could develop schizophrenia or depression. 'No victim, no crime' my arse.

You do not know that anyone needed mental health treatment solely due to cannabis use. You also don't know that a man who is a lazy cunt smoking a lot of pot wouldn't be a lazy cunt on cans of stella, or indeed anything or nothing at all.

Agreed, it's imposisble to say a mental health issue is 100% down to canabis use. I think people who become suseptable to mental health issues may find that canabis increases their issues, but it's not proven to cause issues that don't already exist.

I think canabis in moderation is harmless, the same as alcohol in moderation is harmless - some people aren't able to moderate the amount they have and then it becomes an issue.

Just quickly whilst I still have time. My DH is a very heavy smoker and has been for 12 years.

He works 50hrs+ a week, has more hobbies than I do and runs 5k 6 days a week. So I don't believe that it is always the cannabis making people lazy/unmotivated. He never smokes in the house and none of his gear ever comes in the house.

But this week he tried again to stop smoking. I would love to invite anyone who thinks it is harmless to come to our house and witness him sleeping on 2 towels on the bed because he is in cold, shaky sweats all night. He hasn't slept for nearly 2 days, when he does he has awful vivid dreams. He can't sit still and is ridiculously on edge. This is apart from the headaches, sickness, no appetite and muscle aches.

It is addictive there are no two ways about it.

I think it depends on the person. Xh was an alcoholic & would get 'addicted' to anything and was the only person I have met who would go to such major extremes for one joint. I also know a lot of people who have the occasional joint to chill out & they are normal.

I have 3 male friends who smoke it all day long but each of them are very hard working :) I will say that all 3 suffer from paranoia (sp) though which I'm not surprised about. One seem to have recently got depressed about his life (I don't know if it's linked)

When I tried it all I did was laugh at nothing and then fell asleep lol

There is a mahooosive difference between weed of the old fashioned variety, and the skunk that is more and more commonplace these days.

Anyone smoking skunk on a regular basis is very likely to have mental problems, whereas someone who smokes the mild grass/green is most likely going to be fine and healthier than someone who sinks a few pints or a bottle of wine every night.

Its really not a simple statement to say that all weed is the same and has the same effects because it doesnt. Its like comparing drinking a pint of weak lager to drinking a pint of whiskey..

Disclaimer this is just my experience of it, I am not trying to say it's like this for everyone.

We all smoked weed before we had kids. Every weekend would be drinking cans, smoking weed and occasionally snorting coke. If we were going clubbing, we would have ecstasy.

Those of our group of friends that carried on with the drug taking cant keep a job. They stay in all day communicating in grunts via XBox Live. Those of us that grew up and decided that families and jobs are more important, actually have own homes, stable jobs, can hold conversations that are not just about local dealers and whether anyone has 20 quid so they can go halves.

Completely agree and definiately DON'T think YABU. I was with a bloke for nearly 5 years who would smoke 8 joints a day, it made him pathetic, usless, a liar and a thief. I've seen it ruin lives and intellects and I've seen people who don't want to partake really abused and mocked and made miserable for not wanting to indulge.

While it might not be as immediately dangerous as drugs like crack and heroin, I do think that over a long period of time it's just as destructive.

An ex colleague of mine went from intelligent, funny, articulate and hard working to intelligent but you'd never know it, paranoid, dazed, half-asleep, lying on the couch all day waste of oxygen in about 8 years of smoking it every day. Such a waste and a shame.

I can see it is very useful medicinally but thinking it is harmless is delusional, which is another thing he has become.

YANBU. in some ways it is like alcohol in that many people can enjoy it socially from time to time while others are hard core alcoholics/potheads.

I have been the latter and I can attest it is very addictive.

I have also had an uncle who was a heavy user, who only sorted out his career and family after he finally quit, and a dear friend who is still living the life of a 20 year old though he is pushing 40.

it can really stall out your life.

I did hold down my career, jogged every day, etc. and no one was the wiser, but i definitely delayed important decisions i should have been making to move forward in those years.

There are a lot more than 2 ways about it. Its so simplistic to say it is this or it does that, when none of it is true for everyone, or indeed most of people.

Some people get addicted. Some people may have mental health issues that are worsened by it. It might actually cause mental problems in others. It might do any number of things for some people.
But you could say any of those things about alcohol.

Anecdotally I do think that cannabis smoking is harmful.

We're seeing a big increase at work in young people with mental health problems that co-incide with cannabis use. (I work in primary care). Also a rise in premature COPD (chronic lung disease) linked to smoking cannabis. COPD was traditionally the preserve of the over 45s, now it's being diagnosed in people in their 20s and 30s, largely linked to smoking cannabis.

I'm with Buzz on this one.