I know I'm late to the party with this reply but I have seen firsthand the effects of weed and what it does to you. I've had exes who smoked it, one of who got even more abusive and violent than already if he
had no money for weed and told me himself he couldn't calm down until he had a joint (and he didn't even smoke the stuff every day). We literally had to live off of that cheap corner shop 20 odd pence bag of pasta for a week or more as he used up all our money on getting weed. I've also lived in a student houseshare with friends and seen the effects it has had on them. Made them very snappy and aggressive if they had no weed, they would literally do anything to get some weed and one friend even threw something across the room narrowly hitting us in rage because they couldn't afford or tick any weed. In my experience it has made people very lazy, very grubby and unhygienic, very unmotivated, paranoid (extreme paranoia, especially in relationships when you have a slight disagreement and they explode at you and accuse you of all sorts) makes you bipolar, overreact, stupid (it's called 'dope' for a reason), made people drop out of jobs and get into risky situations like dealing to pay for their fix, so they will risk people robbing them and mixing into unpleasant crowds when drug dealing... I don't care what anyone says, weed is addictive. People who got paid spent all their money on weed in one go and were left with no money for food toiletries or other necessities.
Of course people will defend weed 'well it didn't do me no harm'. You can say that about anything. Some people on here snort coke every so often on a Saturday.. Doesn't mean they're a cokehead. Some people enjoy a cheeky Maccy D's every so often but it doesn't mean that they binge eat. Weed affects people differently as does alcohol.
To older people viewing this thread, you have to remember that weed these days is A) much much more stronger, and B) pumped full of all sorts of crap and mixed in with all sorts of bad stuff. If you have ever seen weed you will (obviously) know it has tons of little crystals on it which is the THC which makes you high. My friends have had a batch and glass was added to the weed that they got and disguised in with the crystals as when they were smoking the weed they felt sharp bits mixed in with it. The people who grow and reproduce the weed also pump it full of chemicals which makes people mentally unwell. If the government were in control of weed, they could control more what was going into the batches.
I think it should be legalized and the government can tax the weed, check what is going into the weed to cause less paranoia/schizo/manic/personality disorders.
But I've heard so many stories about weed and what it has done to people and I'm in my early 20's myself.
The thing is not all products with weed in it is bad. Cannabis oil has been proven to be useful, I've smoked cannabis and it has helped with muscle pain and it doesn't do much for me except the usual me which is giggly and hungry lol.
I also think that it is the background you come from. I don't mean to sound judgemental but some people smoke weed occasionally but they get decent weed off of a decent dealer and they smoke it on occasion, but still carry on with their lives and are successful, businessmen/women etc. And you have others who sit around all day on the dole chain smoking weed being so desperate and poor that they will get the potent crap stuff from the crappy dealers and usually people who smoke weed are the latter (I'm sorry if I offend, but let's be realistic here!). I stick to my point that cannabis is addictive and scientifically proven to cause long term mental health problems, but some people can use it in the right way and lead successful lives. It's impossible to tell what batch of weed you are really getting, it it is laced with anything and also every single bodies brain is different. Some can take weed and alcohol well and it not affect them, and others the weed can damage their head.. Especially if there are underlying issues going on before the weed.
I feel like many stoners act like they can't live without it and it is the be all and end all. They get very defensive about weed, deny that they have an addiction and make out it is a plant and natural so is harmless. It doesn't help that weed has been Bob Marlied into this innocent drug which makes everyone peace maaaan relaxed and creative. I find it very concerning how people defend weed so much because it's horses for courses as is alcohol. Like I said, some people can drink and handle it and others cannot.
Please nobody take my post to mean all stoners are bad people, I'm just putting across my personal experience with weed. I've met people who said that they quit because they knew that it wasn't doing them very good. This may be outing but a friend was smoking skunk and had a chronic skin condition.. They found that skunk aggravated their skin condition as well as other affects it caused them, so they cut down on skunk. That stuff is potent.