Weed smoking as a regular habit

[lechatnoir]

Talking to a group of old uni mates today and we got talking about the parties, weed smoking etc and I was really that a lot of them still smoked (weed) regularly and a couple had a joint or 2 pretty much every night & didn't see it as any different to those that crack open a bottle of wine once the kids are in bed!
AIBU to think this group were unsual & most 30/40 somethings with jobs & kids aren't doing drugs or am I out of touch with reality?
LCN

I would class needing to have a joint or two every night the same as needing to have a glass or two of wine every night. If you need to have it then i would think you had a problem.

YANBU. Most adults aren't getting stoned every night.

I really don't see the point of getting stoned. Have had the odd joint at parties just to be sociable but it seemed a poor substitute for being wide awake. It think it`s only for people who need to escape from RL.

I think it's rather sad that grown adults think they need recreational drugs to have a good time. What a waste of life and time.

Did anyone see the report today about recreational weed smoking permanently lowering IQ?

It's illegal. End of.
DH has never touched it; neither have I. We don't know people who do in our personal lives. I come into contact with a lot of young people through work. It is part of the UK/London drug culture and afaiac it is a large part of what is responsible for London gang culture and the associated gun and knife crime which is becoming ever more rife.

I think it's pathetic

Most of the gun and knife crime I've witnessed and come into contact with is about crack cocaine, turf wars and male egos. My DH is from SE London, grew up on a rough estate and his brother was stabbed when he was in a gang. Any influence on gang crime at all I would put down to dealing it rather than smoking it. Anyone who is in a gang and deals it, does not JUST deal weed either. I've never known anyone to get stabbed or shot over it anyway (Obviously that's anecdotal evidence, but my DH has grown up knowing people involved...luckily he's not involved himself, but has lost many friends).

I don't have an issue with it. It may be illegal but in my opinion it should not be. I haven't touched it about 7 years as it was making me paranoid, but I know many people who smoke it, hold down jobs and are great parents and people. There are also people who it doesn't agree with and it causes them no end of problems. Everyone is different. Not every person who drinks has a drinking problem and I think it's the same with weed. The main problems these days are caused by the new strains that are being bred. Cross fertilisation and hybrids are being created and as people try to increase the amount of THC, there are in effect breeding out the natural anti-psychotics that are contained in the plant. WE are making it worse.

ScarletLady02 if people didn't buy it, the dealers would lose their market. They are praying on the vulnerable whom they have hooked in for whom it is a way of life. I appreciate there are far worse drugs but if one thinks weed is OK then the path to try the next thing is paved a little more softly.

Just because people's parents smoke it doesn't make it OK. It is illegal. It remains illegal and to bring up children thinking it is OK to do something is illegal is not OK. It merely normalises what is wrong.

Most of my friends do a good bit.

It has ended one friendship - the person thought nothing of lighting a joint when my kids were around, skinning up in very public places and being very obvious. She also left it in my house more than once.

And she was super moody, paranoid, aggressive, you could really tell when she "needed" a smoke. First smoke first thing in the morning! Not addictive my arse.

Stoned people are as dull as pissed people.

My OH has just given up weed and his short term memory is all but gone . It was like living with 2 people and it was pure hell . Without weed he couldn't sleep, he didn't eat, he was always shaking and his moods were ridiculous . Weed has been the major factor in a lot of our problems but he will never see it . I would say occassional use if fine but the weed being supplied these days is so strong it must be easy to get addicted to it on a more regular basis.

I've never done drugs, I don't see the point personally.

The people who say they don't know anyone who smokes it...

I'd say you simply don't know whether they smoke it or not.

For all you know your Doctor/Dentist/Child's teacher/Postman/Milkman could smoke it but it's their private business so they're unlikely to wear a badge advertising it.

marriedinwhite - I appreciate that, and I'm not disputing it, I was just saying that, in my experience, it wasn't a large part of gang related gun and knife crime. BIL was stabbed over a mobile phone. DH's cousin was killed in jail over a stupid argument, male egos trying to impress how "hard" they are on the other inmates. DH knows many people (and I'm really not exaggerating, unfortunately) who have been killed over crack cocaine, arguments over territory (postcode wars), money, women etc. Not one has been because of weed. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I don't consider it a major factor. That's just my opinion based on my experience.

Anything that you become dependant on is bad - cigarettes (hold my hand up there), alcohol, drugs. Weed does affect you after a long period of smoking it - makes you paranoid, unmotivated and irritable.

OK Worra - those in our social circle comrising old and trusted friends do not.

On the subject of child's teacher if that came out and if the teacher ever said to a child of mine they did or thought it was OK there would be a formal letter of complaint to the head without delay and I would expect the school to put on PSHE session about the illegality of drugs and consequences of using them. Actually DS was friendly with a little boy whose parents were teachers and who did smoke it. The night I found out they had at a barbecue when DS was sleeping over was the day I ensured the friendship was diluted.

I thought this was going to be about the news report today on the 20 year study in New Zealand that showed a reduction in intelligence.

There is a massive practical difference between smoking and wine, which is that cannabis is usually smoked with tobacco, thus leading to nicotine addiction and all the health and passive smoking problems associated. Certainly that was the case when I was a student and did smoke, or has grass become prevalent now?

I stopped in my final year at university as I was too busy and, as people have said, realised how boring smokers become. You have to be stoned yourself to tolerate the sheer inanity.

Some friends still do it sometimes but they're the same people who have been on off cigarette smokers.

Well of course

I wouldn't expect a teacher to tell their pupils about their smoking, drinking or anything else personal to them.

I wouldn't have an issue if I found out a teacher smoked. I would have an issue if they told the children or encouraged them in any way. I see it as a subject I will talk to my children about, so I wouldn't appreciate anyone else doing so, and I would see it as very unprofessional. What a teacher gets up to in their spare time, as long as it didn't affect their work or my child (or anyone else's obviously), is none of my business.

Weed split me and my partner up. He wants to smoke it all day, everyday despite having warnings from work. He couldn't understand why I didn't want to go on family days out with him being moody and irritable. And the worse bit for me was he thought I was being precious, not wanting drugs around our 1 year old.
From that experience of it, to me, weed smokers are very selfish and don't understand the impact their habit has on other people.

The problem though Scarlett Lady is the liberal attitude in the management teams of many schools in difficult areas. When I was governor of one the deputy head was adamant the children couldn't be told smoking weed or taking other drugs was wrong because their parents did it and therefore to say it was wrong was to undermine the parents. The children therefore received no guidance or help with boundaries from anywhere. There is a small minority in schools (and other parts of the public sector) imo that is responsible for the dilution of standards and the deterioration of behaviour in the most vulnerable parts of society. This has helped fuel the culture on some of the estates and contributed to post code crime and gangs and their activities.

I have a colleague who freely acknowledges being a very regular smoker. They have an intellectually challenging job but they are unable to motivate themselves to meet deadlines and organise workload. No idea if this is a result of the smoking, but I suspect it has an influence.

Worra that is very true. I've heard of 1 guy who was a suited and booted professional with a high end job who was a heroin addict . These days a lot of people smoke weed behind closed doors, people who you would NEVER expect !!!

I think there are two separate issues with regular weed smoking.

The first is what it does to the person. IME people who smoke weed regularly (i.e. most nights) adopt a lifestyle that goes with it. This invariably seems to involve doing absolutely nothing other than getting stoned after about 8.30pm. Regular weed smokers seem to have no get up and go IME. However, this varies according to the individual and the strength of the weed. And in terms of the effect on people's personalities like many others I'd rather deal with someone who is stoned than someone who is drunk. Most habitual weed smokers aren't aggressive or throwing up in the street. There's also the matter of what it does to your health of course. It massively increases the risk of lung cancer, and other smoking-related diseases, such as vascular disease that can result in amputation, etc.

The second issue is that it remains an illegal substance and can result in a criminal record. Not something to be taken lightly. It's also worth considering - as is the case with all drugs - that they do not exist in a vacuum. With the exception of the home-grown stuff, cannabis is part of an illegal trade that is tied up with human trafficking, prostitution and gun running. If that doesn't bother you, fine, but you should be aware that by buying and smoking cannabis you are contributing to that trade and thus condoning it.

marriedinwhite - my experience is obviously in a very different area. I'm not undermining your experience at all, and I can see the point you're making, I was just relaying my view on it from what I have seen. It seems mad to me that they wouldn't teach about the dangers of drugs because it would be seen as undermining the parents. I think quite a few drugs can be used in a responsible way but children NEED to know the dangers and risks. Whilst I wouldn't be happy with teachers telling my children that they take drugs and drugs are great...I'd have no issue with them telling students that drugs can be REALLY bad (weed included, I know the dangers and know people negatively effected).

I just personally will not judge someone on whether they smoke weed alone, as I know many lovely, successful intelligent people who do it. If they're thieves, anti-social idiots or involved in other crimes...then that is a different matter, but the two don't always go hand in hand.

I smoke dope quite regularly and so does dh. I suffer from insomnia and it definitely helps me get to sleep.

I definitely prefer it to alcohol as my dad was and my sister is an alcoholic. I drink socially but if at home I would prefer to get stoned instead.

Dh has a very successful job and I am a sahm to three dc. Very few people know we smoke and I wouldn't advertise it as it is illegal and I feel I would be judged more harshly than if I mentioned I liked to have a glass of wine at the weekends.

I do think it should be legalised, just so there is some control over it. The New Zealand study shows regular use in those under 18 reduces IQ, and if supply is in the hands of dealers they are unlikely to impose any age limits, whereas the state could. Government control would also enable more regulation to prevent super strong strains being developed, which would help reduce the problems associated with skunk, such as mental health and dependency, and would stop cannabis acting as a gateway drug as people would no longer have contact with dealers looking to push harder drugs.

Dahlen - I agree in part with your second point. However home-growing is becoming more and more popular these days as a counter to that. Most people I now how smoke it now, buy it from friends of theirs who have grown it. I'm not denying it's still a massive problem but not ALL weed comes from sources like that now. It is possible to get it fair trade