I think I love growing the plant more then actually using it. Cannabis for me is just a tool and it depends how you use it. To get the most out of cannabis use I personally find using it outdoors in nature gives me the best effects, it allows me to open up to nature in ways I simply cannot when I am sober. I also find certain strains great for different things, some help me sleep others motivate me to do calculus . Also I find cannabis amazing in conjunction with exercise, in order for that to work you have to be committed to following through with it, once you begin exercising with cannabis it is like a whole other level of physical ability opens up. At least for me.

I have a brother with cerebral palsy and he can be overcome with seizures and muscle spasms that make him scream in pain without cannabis. We tried over 30 different medications for him and they all had awful side effects and there was no way he could use them as a long term treatment without some serious physical effects (we did encounter some near death situations with him on these medications, very scary). Now we give him a little dime sized dose of cannabis oil once daily sometimes twice and he smiles and laughs all day long, and gives us all hugs and kisses. Not sure how you can beat that as medicine. Side effects include munchies and euphoria.

I really do love cannabis. For those of you who "hate" it or are indifferent I ask you to consider the circumstances of your use with it. Are you using to to just kill time? Are you using it because you are bored? Are you smoking a blunt and then going to socialize with people who aren't high? Ime a little bit of planning goes a long way with cannabis if you know how it effects you, plan accordingly.

I personally like to use it alone if I am going to smoke alot of something potent, otherwise I can be overcome with anxiety if I am surrounded by the wrong people.

Lately I have been smoking only hash, and a little bit goes a long way and it feels like a much more clear high.

Anyhow I could go on for days about cannabis and my experience with. I have to say though that not all drugs are for all people, as we all know. Many times I will go months without cannabis just because I don't feel like using it, and I am happy without it.

Cannabis should not be taken lightly as many people would probably like you to believe, it can be very strong and if used incorrectly can lead to very bad experiences. I think the take away message from my post is just to cultivate your own relationship with it and find your sweet spot.

Okay done rambling now

So you trade your mental well being for more money in the short term... If you watch interviews with really successful people, they always say : follow your passion. What's holding you from moving to Colorado and grow Cannabis professionally? You can help a lot of people with the right intention and probably make a fortune, too. Who wants to be a depressed Coating Lab Analyst?

Good points. I like it where I live (& have aging parents around here), and am hoping to get a decent paying job around here; however, I did try to contact Troy Dayton, ArcView Venture Capitalist Group CEO & tried to arrange a private conversation with him - I also told him vaguely that I had some experience in the field. He ignored me at every opportunity. Where I live, although Cannabis is prohibited for any reason, I have a 15% share in a small growhouse (1 room, 16 plants). Conversations of expansion are occurring, but that will require probably 1.5 - 2 years; for me, the opportunity at 15% of a medium-large operation is very alluring, but I need a regular job in the time prior to expansion. My mental well being & physical health have certainly been compromised, but hopefully I'll get a good paying job soon, so that I'll be able to utilize Cannabis again; also hopefully expansion won't be that far away and I won't be in such dire straits financially, so I could either wait on a job that doesn't force me to compromise my well-being, or just cultivate Cannabis as my regular activity.

I understand and hope that everything plays out well for you. Compromising your mental well being & physical health for a job is a bad idea imo, as it is the only asset we really have. With declining health comes poverty. I'd try to find an employer that has a type B personality and a job that really suits you well.

...but then, with poverty also comes declining health. I totally understand the sacrifice. Still, drug tests at work are in many cases highly, highly problematic. For security type job i can understand it, but otherwise - no. Wouldn't be something i'd be ok with.

Yeah, it's a viscous circle. So I'd ask myself the question:

* work "drugfree" in a shitty job to have money, but then be constantly depressed and spend all my money on bling, antidepressants and doctors

or

* work high in a fun job that doesn't pay so well, but be happy, content and healthy.

In the long term, I'd chose the latter option. With fun comes stamina and with stamina success. Success normally leads to money. Problem solved.

Ive started smoking leaf again as I felt like I had too much THC (and probably other terpenes/cannabinoids) in my system making me anxious. Its good for slowing my mind and softening my muscles, anyway I put a sprinkle of bud in one and wow there was some strong synergy going on! If you were to smoke them individually they wouldnt have that strong effect but together were strong but also without the negative side effects. A good way to stretch the stash and achieve the effects Im after without any of the negative side effects that would normally arise from such a strong experience. No cloudy mind or sedation the next morning.
It will be interesting to see more studies on the terpenes and terpenoids as our understanding of them develops.

I can say for sure I wont be smoking bud without leaf again, to me they clearly are supposed to be ingested together.
Apparently the leaves dont have terpines/terpinoids in, low THC and higher CBD/CBN.
Smoking leaves as a bed for the bud in a joint is such a smooth smoke too I usually add a bit of tobacco to help it burn but its not neccessary and its a much nicer feeling without the tobacco intoxication.
I found smoking leaves in large amounts to have a pyschedelic element to it too, like the come up of a mescaline trip. Very tranquil and a feeling of 'one-ness'.
I love cannabis

We loooove cannabis - yet we stopped completely and with iron dicipline after 35+ years everyday bhang, charras, gardah, ganjah.... (this happened 6 years ago) We also ceased being a musican. The reason: Unknown! But we suspect General Madness was/is/continues to be the culprit. We now get up two hrs before sunrise or earlier (in winter). It's what the bird people demand.

weed makes me and sometimes but mostly

I keep asking myself what I take from it.

I don't think I love cannabis because it's fun/pleasant. I think I'm drawn to it because of its "truth"... like, it propulses me in such a vivid introspection, I can feel so much of what a psychic is made of (I'd say layers folded), feelings are intensified in a way that makes me think "I can't lie to myself right now". It makes me feel very weak psychologically (I also know that I'm stronger than what I feel when I'm high), but in a way, I think I value how humbling it is.

Cannabis is like a really good friend who just hangs out with you to kick back relax amd experience joy and laugther, reverence and gratefulness. You become such good friends that you have a really hard time being apart. Its hard to imagine a life without his presence and constant encouragment for one to go into oneself and feel warmth. But at the end of the day you know you gotta part ways. One has to learn to do what cannabis does for one for oneself, thus the lesson would be integrated, and one is richer because of it

Yes!