There is one thing about weed and frequent smokers which doesn't seem to get a whole lot of attention: attitude. Which I am of the opinion is potentially more destructive than the addiction itself.

Primarily, in societies in which weed is criminalised, one thing I have noticed is that regular smokers tend to be, to put it blunt-ly (enjoy it), is that their habit is driven by a selfish conceptual framework. Every single person I have worked with who were regular smokers would punch a few cones regardless of whether or not they had work later (which effects the rest of the workplace- but if your selfish enough, you don't care about those it could effect, because all you want it to pleasure yourself in your habit), would hide it from their children, lie about their habits to family; generally engage in evasive habits surrounding their smoking and allow their enjoyment from getting high to be something which is more important than being upfront with people, and keeping it generally to themselves.

Ultimately, it is a habit which does effect others in many ways in which you have to make the choice to put your habit above them in order to continue. Pretty much the same as alcoholics (I know very much about this, given my track record with alcohol abuse) and other habits which focus on the pleasure of a single person at the cost of others.

If these habits were not taken to the often realms of secrecy and self-isolation, deception, and the oft spiral of lies surrounding in order to keep the habit as a personal enjoyment, then I would go as far to say that they would have a far lesser impact on the lives of those taking the drug.

Though that isn't taking into account many other real side effects of being openly indulgent, and it really depends on whether or not the person using is taking large volumes which effectively takes up most of their productive time. Though, then again, that also comes back to the issue of placing self-interest above others.

I've had very different experiences with cannabis use here in the UK (although it is practically decriminalised to the extent that small time/personal use growers won't recieve a criminal record, or be given enough mind to get raided in most cases), so I can't honestly say I understand completely.

As far as I know, people can very easily develop a psychological dependance on cannabis, but it's not a physically addictive drug. By that I mean there are no withdrawal symptoms waiting for a long term heavy user who goes cold turkey. Still, that doesn't mean there aren't people who put it above greater responsibilities.

The binge drinking culture is pretty high too. I'm not into the club scene but the majority of my old classmates are. It's the perfect environment for mutual self-indulgence lol. People get so hammered, a lot of them don't remember anything the next day, and it's considered the gold standard of having fun. I've been dragged along to clubs a couple of times in the past year and this article perfectly describes my feelings (although I don't tell my outgoing friends the same thing)...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/...on.comment

I suppose I'm less bias towards weed because of its medicinal qualities, which are currently denied to those who may benefit greatly from them.

It's interesting to note Portugal's drug policy, having decriminalised practically all drug use and possession. The entire social and economic floor of the region shot up (pun intended): http://www.scientificamerican.com/articl...nalization

I think a lot of it has to do with public perception, because if there's a social stigma, people will want to hide their drinking or smoking habits when they'd otherwise pay no mind to what other people think, and that alone could be enough to encourage moderation. I notice a fundamental difference in the kind of people who go clubbing (to get wasted) over those who like to chill in pubs or similar venues where you can actually have a conversation, even if they still get wasted. The former allow themselves to be influenced by public perception, the latter use it as a social lubricant.

Smoking weed every day isn't going to be healthy, whether emotionally, mentally or physically speaking. But then drinking more than 1-2 glasses of wine every day (less if you're a woman) is also definitely bad for you. Physically alcohol is almost certainly more harmful than cannabis. In fact most of the physical dangers of cannabis come from the unfortunate European practice of smoking weed mixed with tobacco.

With most drugs, very smart people can compensate for their detrimental effects, and may even gain unexpected new insights from occasionally using drugs, but people who are already emotionally troubled should stay away from them. That people who shouldn't use drugs in the first place self-select into overusing them seems far more important to me than the dangers of the drugs themselves. I have a few friends who have done all kinds of drugs and who are highly successful natural scientists, programmers, etc, and others who got into real difficulties. Almost anyone would have been able to predict who would have a "substance abuse problem" later if they had known them in their early teenage years.

Thora's story is interesting... as a musician myself I can say that trying to learn anything new when stoned is futile. Also, Canadian-grown weed is much too potent anyway for this kind of study.

Last point on this: stay away from any and all illegal drugs in Japan. Ending up in Fuchu Prison is no laughing matter.

I knew a brilliant, artistic girl a couple years older than I in high school. Rumor had it she scored exceptionally well on the SATs while tripping on acid.

I haven't really come across anything so, er, Leary since I took up studying this language, but I'm sure if I did I'd follow some lovely...associations. The 'altered state' so far discussed on this thread often leads me to spend 45 minutes watching the first 15 minutes of an eiga, pausing and writing down every new word manically, revelling in what feels like my newly discovered comprehension of the language or the jisho.

Animosophy Wrote:and the weed is free.

It is?

Irixmark Wrote:if they had known them in their early teenage years...

"And they blame it on Marilyn" ~Eminem

I am at work so I have only read the thread. I'm excited to read these articles when I have more time.

tashippy Wrote:I knew a brilliant, artistic girl a couple years older than I in high school. Rumor had it she scored exceptionally well on the SATs while tripping on acid.

I'll never be prepared to take a hallucinogen, owing to the time I watched a damn shock video in high school. The guys who sat next to me in the computer room had no idea what I experienced (had my headphones in). Moments later they told me my face was white, like I'd just seen a ghost lol. I'm more or less guaranteed a bad trip.

tashippy Wrote:The 'altered state' so far discussed on this thread often leads me to spend 45 minutes watching the first 15 minutes of an eiga, pausing and writing down every new word manically, revelling in what feels like my newly discovered comprehension of the language or the jisho.

Sounds about right.

Quote:

Animosophy Wrote:and the weed is free.

It is?

EDIT: It was, not anymore.

Changed my mind, no story time.

http://[video=youtube]http://www.youtube...04[/video]

I stopped smoking pot because my memory became so freaking crappy.

Animosophy Wrote:Changed my mind, no story time.

Good Idea.

Animosophy Wrote:I'll never be prepared to take a hallucinogen, owing to the time I watched a damn shock video in high school. The guys who sat next to me in the computer room had no idea what I experienced (had my headphones in). Moments later they told me my face was white, like I'd just seen a ghost lol. I'm more or less guaranteed a bad trip.

It's been a while since you posted, so I don't know if you still frequent the forums. But for posterity's sake, I'll mention two things.

1. Frightening hallucinations or emotions != bad trip. What makes a bad trip is your reaction to those phenomena. A bad trip happens when you react negatively, e.g. when you panic, sob, scream, etc.

2. Bad trip != bad. This requires some explanation. Psychedelic hallucinations and emotions tend to be based on deeply embedded patterns of thought. But so what? Sober perception and emotions are also based on deeply embedded patterns of thought. However, what makes psychedelic perception and emotions different is that those patterns of thought become incredibly tangible. Indeed, you can even see or feel them. For instance, if you have trust issues, you're likely to slip into a paranoid loop or hallucinate devious faces on everyone. Although it's easy to label such experiences as "bad", having certain patterns of thought made so clear and obvious can be beneficial. I suspect that's why LSD was initially used in a psychoanalytic setting, but I digress.

Anyway, I'm not trying to encourage you to take psychedelics. They have plenty of potent for abuse, and should therefore be treated with great caution. If you react badly to scary images or disturbing thoughts, I recommend avoiding psychedelics entirely. At any rate, my purpose in writing this post is to correct some common misconceptions.

On a separate note, the relation between creativity, disposition to theoretical thinking, and psychedelics would be an interesting hypothesis to explore. In my experience with academic-types, when it comes to illegal drugs, they're most drawn to psychedelics. It's worth noting that I haven't met any who show signs of serious addiction. They've all been rare users, i.e. once a month or less. Eminent scientists who've admitted to using psychedelics and who extol their benefits, like Kary Mullis or Carl Sagan, further motivate the hypothesis. I'm sure someone skeptical of the hypothesis would reply that "it's the drugs talking" or something along those lines. However, that's a poor, speculative argument. Mullis and Sagan made their pronouncements in sober, reflective mind states. To say "it's the drugs talking" is comparable to saying "it's the anger talking" when someone makes a remark in a calm, reflective mind state weeks after an episode of anger. Since it's a weak objection, the hypothesis remains worthy of investigation.

Thanks for your post. I'm sure a lot of people share a similar caution to mine towards psychedelics for the kinds of reasons you mention. By the same token I wouldn't completely reject the idea of trying/experiencing one. Some deeply embedded thought patterns like the ones that came from my experiences evoke irrational fear and I don't like that these fears exist, so in the same way that people might overcome their fears through gradual exposure to phobias, I like the idea that I can trivialise something that can and has affected me to an extent I'm not very willing to admit.

Of course, the opposite could happen and I could have a bad trip, which I'd imagine can only intensify these unwanted thought patterns. I'd argue the limitations of rational thinking and the ability to adjust my 'perspective' when tripping, not that I have any experience to make a subjective case, though. Ultimately, I'd prefer the opposite to be true and relinquish any deeply embedded fears that I associate with past experiences or thought patterns. Right now I'm not that optimistic. And who's to say sober reflection can't achieve the same task? Irrational fear isn't usually debilitating or intellectually stunting.

I've read a few things about psychedelics' potential to uncover hidden creativity and problem solving, I definitely don't argue that point. I find Sam Harris' writings on his experiences with psychadelics interesting, having experienced several "extremes". I don't like the simplicity of 'it's worth experiencing the bad to experience the good', and his experience makes that point clear. I'm confident that a psychadelic experience has huge potential to be profound and (for some people) life-changing, so while I don't think I'll be munching on shrooms any time soon, I take the prospect seriously and something worth doing at least once.