...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.

I guess for some it can cause mental illness, just like smoking can cause cancer.

However both in a lot of cases change lives forever, and can cause death, either by dying of cancer or committing suicide.

maryz I'm not disagreeing with you and I understand how awful it can be. I'm only saying that its not all the same.
It doesn't matter what kind a kid is getting though, as they shouldn't be getting it at all.

All I'm saying is if you are against it doesnt help your argument to lump everything in together, it ruins your argument and distills your point.

Buzz - yes there are lots of different kinds out there, of course - but let's face it, most smokers in the UK have to settle for whatever their dealer can give them. Which usually either seems to hash, a strain of homegrown skunk, or something I was told was called Thai stick (looked more like crumbly weed and had red thread running through it)

They cannot pick and choose what to smoke unless they're somewhere like Amsterdam...

I think it's rude to say to people who have lived with and known heavy smokers that it's not addictive at all. So why the moodswings and irritability when running out or trying to give up?

It takes at least 30 days for PCP to leave their system entirely. That's a lot longer than most narcotics!

I also think it's addictive in a psychological sense - the ritual of skinning up, the happy glow of having a nice big bag of weed in, the way it relaxes them with a bottle of good red wine...

The thing is though, by their very "I am not a wuss" nature, if it was legalised and controlled, you would still get the bravado of teens thinking that "well, the legal stuff is shite and weak.. I want the hard stuff"... so they would STILL be looking for skunk and going to dealers... plus it wouldnt be legal for under 18's anyway, and most smokers start long before they reach that age.

Just to chuck another anecdote in here.

My ex-boyfriend was a heavy smoker. It contributed to me booting him out. He moved out of his parents' house (where he was forbidden to smoke, so didn't) into a flatshare with me (where he could do as he pleased) and went from a few joints a year to a few joints a night - every night.

To run down the tick-list of why weed made him a wanker:

• It diluted his motivation for work - always up late in the morning, as up late at night
• It made him paranoid and on-edge - very self-centred
• It made him want to sit about and be passive - he was boring as shite
• It stopped making him feel 'high' as he became accustomed to it, so he had to start smoking more and more
• He became depressed - really depressed
• He ate tons of shit food, and became revolting in his personal hygiene, as he couldn't be bothered with anything
• He would talk rubbish, about pointless things, for hours

(And yes - it was 'green', not skunk/hash, so piss off with your 'ner - some weed is ok' whingeing. It's not the weed - it's the person. And this whole argument is not about maintaining the rights to smoke for those people who can handle it - it's about protecting the weak-willed and vulnerable who can't. Really sorry if other people's mental health is ruining your little party... )

I can see your point there maryz, but skunk would never be legalized, it just wouldn't make sense to do so, in the same way you can't legally buy moonshine, but what would happen is, that the safer less stupidly strong & FAR less harmful & addictive stuff would become more easily obtainable, yes teens will still get their hands on it, but I wonder how many of us buying alcohol illegally when young, started off on hard core spirits???

I've never bought or smoked skunk in my life, I knew the difference at 16. I'm not saying everyone does or should, but not everyone is clueless.

You're not listening though. Some kinds might be addictive, but some are most certainly not. Some people have addictive personalities or chemistry and will get addicted to things that others won't. Addiction can be psychological as well as or instead of physical. Its rude to tell people its always addictive when they have never been an addict.

And who's talking about pcp?

Sorry to be dim, but genuine question here. What is the difference between weed or cannabis (which I'm guessing is the same thing) and skunk?

I think the majority of mental health issues brought about by smoking dope dont really surface for many years. So there will be an awful lot of complacent teens and twentysomethings saying it hasnt done them any harm, and all their peers are ok.

I am in an older age group, and many of my peers are the post-rave generation. And they are now beginning to suffer health issues which directly link to their drug use from 20 years ago.

I never did an E, it just did not appeal to me at all... I was no angel, I did dabble with other things.. but never a heavy or regular user.

I also think that cocaine is the big worry now, it has gone from being the drug for the rich, to accessible to anyone, and I am seeing many of my peers, and teenage children of my friends ending up in a lot of trouble due to drug use.

In my experience, it made me a lazy, apathetic layabout, I got really moody and edgy when I ran out and was a nightmare to be around. I was smoking hash, and about 6-7 joints a day.

I think occasional use is fine, but when you start needing a joint to get up in the morning (me 7 years ago) then you know you need to stop.

Cannabis as in the unprocessed leaves and flowers of the cannabis sativa plant is weed. Processed forms such as hash, skunk, kush, resin etc are stronger and more potent. Skunk is usually a cross between cannabis sativa and cannabis indica, and is a whole different bag of tricks.
Skunk is generally the stuff that will make your paranoid.

Sorry, I meant THC. But you are nitpicking, really!

Maryz....I see that here too, & IT IS AN AWFUL WASTE OF YOUNG LIVES & I really feel for you that you see it in your DS :(. but buzz is right, you CAN"T lump it all into together, because doing so isn't correct & IMHO does more harm than good

I was smoking weed everyday for 4 years including, I'm ashamed to say, through pregnancy with DS. I'm quite prone to low moods and depression anyway and weed exacerbates the problem, then on the flip side I was smoking it as my anxiety was so bad and it relaxed me.
I carried on smoking daily until I became pregnant again. This time round I knew I had to give up and did. I'm still struggling and miss it like crazy but in hindsight it made me lazy, boring and self-centered.
Between me and DP, in just the 4 years together have spent £25000 on weed. (£10 each per day). It makes me sick.
The first week off was horrendous, shaking, sweating, insomnia, agitation but these are all psychological...it's not addictive like fags and heroin but is defo a psychological addiction.
I'd have been a qualified nurse by now if it wasn't for that shit.

maryz - :( for you and your DS - hope he finds some way to kick the habit and regain his life.

Thanks for explaining Buzz.

Linzi, do you not think that the weed was creating your anxiety?

I cant smoke any dope because it gives me palpitations and panic attacks. I realised this when I did smoke it on an almost daily basis... when I stopped, the panic attacks stopped.

marijuana is addictive.