For the same reason that as soon as a person makes a habit out of drinking by themselves they are on the path to becoming an alcoholic. Drinking only socially at least in part prevents this in certain ways.

Not sure why but i dont understand what is so hard about moderation. Why cant you just use cannabis every once in awhile. When i smoked daily it was because i wanted to and at the time there were no negative consequences for me.

Exhibit some self control

A cannabis hate thread yesssss

Really funny that this is one of the first threads in the cannabis sub forum.

Obviously I'm a canna hater to, just makes me sleepy and kills all initiative.

Nothing like the buzz of a Sativa to get the ironing done . I hate it

Ask a drug addict/sex addict/alcoholic/habitual smoker/habitual gambler/habitual masturbator/habitual what have you. Is it something neurochemical or is it purely psychological?

I just cant imagine, with marijuana, having negative come down effects and still smoking daily. I also have a hard time envisioning difficulty in exercising control over frequency of marijuana use. I admittedly have only ever had a true addiction with cigarettes, but i feel that is different in more than one way. Just my pov not trying to downplay your position.

Or Bio-chemical and or a mixture of all... Or electrical.


My interpritation of moderation is every day, yours is not perhaps.
My self-control is exhibited evry day as a consequence of my moderation (see above), and I lived happily ever after.

Regards G

I am with you on this....

...but please accept that different people have different attributes and what may sound a piece of cake for you might be a mountain for someone else. I have met (as I believe others too) absolutely brilliant people that cannot, for whatever reason, strike a good balance. I do not think that trivializing addiction serves much purpose at this discussion.

I think that its important to have the right attitude and respect (set and setting...) for cannabis to have a positive relationship with it.



Taken from this thread ( Cannabis was the hobby ???)
https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=58879

I addition i also think that its not a good idea to be obsessed with cannabis while beeing diagnosted with "so many psychiatric illnesses, I've lost count".
Link from the second CSF thread to the first:
https://www.dmt-nexus.me...aspx?g=posts&t=61012

I realy hope i do not come across rude or like i want to bash you Akasha , the "Cannabis-Lover" inside of me just could not contain himself this time.

That beeing said , i abselutely can understand the need to break free from cannabis after a longer period of abuse/binge smoking.For me those breaks(and the re-entry) where (and are) good reasons to optimize my relationship with the plant.Its not constant ,its changing and evolving.

Love

yeah, fuck. Its 11:58 AM and i am already stoned. Drunk some coffee too.
Coffeine, tobacco, weed and chocolate.... I am addicted to it.
In 3 hours i will hate myself for not doing anything with my time. Instead of modelling/texturing/drawing i will smoke some more.

Thank God,
Maryjane is the ONLY female entity who rrreally has power over me.


Look, i've rolled another blunt.

Its a tricky beast, my personality type seems to be best suited to a medium strength indica.I will have breaks where I wont smoke for weeks on end and sometime I'll just have a day or 3 out of a week where I just dont have any.
Ismoke it for a number of reasons, one for restless leg syndrome another to reduce the cigarettes I smoke each night, for fun , sometimes for deep introspection to explore my psyche to understand myself better Ive had some profound mental journeys, usually beginning uncomfortably while my sub-concious throws stuff out at me.
Theres the other side too, being in the midst of a paranoid delusion from too much sativa, or apathetic tired and unmotivated the next day from too much indica.

I looove Cannabis. It helps this Insomiac sleep. It helps this foggy headed ADD-mind calm down and focus on 1 thing or task fully. It helps me take the sharp edges off of overly intense emotional/psychological reactions to stressfull situations. It helps me remove barriers of fear and grief, allowing me objective introspection and clear, un-censored insight into my own psyche. It stimulates creativity & imagination as well.

What I DO hate sometimes is my OWN lack of discipline in it's use. My tendency to smoke it much more than really nececairy. My tendency to smoke it casually. However that is MY weakness and Cannabis is not to blame for this. I know alot of Cannabis users have this problem, but that's still no reason to blame Cannabis.


I now smoke Cannabis in joints together with TObacco. This way I got addicted to tobacco.
If I quit smoking Cannabis in Joints with Tobacco and instead vaporised Cannabis, I bet I
would use Cannabis alot less frequently and alot less casually. I guess my use of Cannabis
is currently interwoven with my Tobacco addiction and if I would start vaporising Cannabis I
would have an easier time to quit Tobacco too.

Too bad most decent vaporisers are so expensive :/

This was the reason I had to completely stop smoking Tobacco before I could get a better relationship with Cannabis (this and making occasional breaks...)

Would you agree that addiction to sex/pornography/masturbation is a legitimate addiction? In the same way that you can't imagine me having difficulty with Cannabis moderation, I can't imagine having difficulty with moderation of these things. I am not a sexual person. I don't think about sex 24/7 and walk around with an erection all day like "most men" do, at least according to popular culture/popular belief. I can sit in front of a computer for an hour and watch porn with no interest, and I have tried this before when I went through a phase where I believed I was legitimately asexual because my sex drive seems absurdly low compared to the "norm." This may seem like it's coming out of left field and is off-topic, but I feel like this thread has become more about addiction itself, both in physiological and psychological forms, rather than addition to one specific substance or action.

Another example is opiates - every time I've taken one, I end up throwing up after twenty minutes and then falling asleep for a few hours. I have no interest in painkillers, not recreationally, nor medicinally - I'd rather just take a couple Motrin. However, some people will carefully orchestrate stories, exaggerating their pain to their doctors and dismissing any other solutions as ineffective so that they have a steady prescription of these drugs. What one person cannot go a single day, or a single hour, without indulging in, another person may find repulsive.

As far as having negative comedowns and still smoking daily: one of my other points in the original post is that my perception of Cannabis was one of the major things clouding my interpretation of the matter, ie., the fact that I viewed it as being benign, being just a friendly plant, not being addictive, having no negative effects, and any negative effects, either mental or physical, that I felt while under its influence couldn't possibly be caused by it.

I feel as if some of our interactions in this thread may appear to be hostile, as emotion is difficult to translate through text, but hostility towards you or anyone else is not my intention at all; clearly we are in disagreement on the matter - I am simply just trying to get my point across.



You're not coming across as rude at all, and I agree that obsession/overuse with any substance while having psychiatric illnesses is not necessarily a good idea - but at the same time, people who are not necessarily right in the head tend to self-medicate more than a "normal" person.

As far as the first topic of mine that you linked to, no, Cannabis, was not the hobby in question. It was music.

Let me give a bit o background regarding my relationship with various substances. I am an addict. Prolly started with sugar as a kid. When i smoked my first cigarette at 13, i felt like i was going to die. And then had to try it a few more times just to see what the fuss is about. I'm 45 now and have one between my lips as i type with my nicotine stained nubs. I sought out marijuana in middle school, earning myself the nick name Cheech. I also tried injecting cocaine at 16 out of curiosity and the time i was 22, fully addicted to heroin, with which i stayed for decades destroying relationships, opportunities, my health, and nearly myself completely. I can say that while i still am a poly substance USER, I'm no longer addicted to anything but nicotine. (The root of addiction, imo.)

There was a time in my20s where i smoked an 8th of high quality west coast weed daily and relied on it far to heavily. But even then i can't say i was addicted, since even though i over used, i did not do so despite negative consequences. I've been in a detox facility kicking heroin with a person claiming to need the same facility for mj withdrawal and frankly that pissed me off . I understand being overly dependant on the stuff but don't see needing a medical detox ever necessary.

White other drugs and my need for them has dissipated in my old age, mj has stayed constant. I use it now as a tool; for anxiety, for path relief, for fun. I am grateful for it, for without I'd be on a plethora of prescriptions. I wish i had advice for someone feeling difficulty with it and their dependence on it but all i can say from my experience is grow up. You'll get tired if being tired and the negatives should outweigh the positive and when it gets to much, you'll chill out.

Or not.

Oh, I definitely agree that it's more beneficial when used responsibly alone. Eating a higher dose or smoking a good amount when you have no tolerance can almost be like a mushroom trip in intensity if you sit in the dark alone Just when you have issues with abuse it can be much more beneficial to smoke it with friends socially so you may not do it as often, also you're sharing it with a few people usually.

I won't keep beating this dead horse but yeah, much easier said than done. People like null and myself who have dealt with serious addiction issues can find it difficult to moderate usage of any psychoactive substance, especially one so benign and pleasant as cannabis. I think my addiction issues did actually stem from childhood as well (sugar). I also was very heavily addicted to cigarettes from about 13 until I was 22 or so. Having those 'base' addictions makes it much easier to graduate to more detrimental ones.

I use Cannabis daily, but I love this thread!! haha.
I recently had a deep Ayahuasca experience that showed me what weed was doing to me. It happened close to the end of the experience, I saw a black mandala that was very beautiful, but completely black. It was inspiring in a way. I had the impression that the black mandala was my Cannabis addiction. Behind it were wildly saturated colours and designs of deep complexity. The black mandala was holding it all back. My impression then, was that I could attain inspiration through my cannabis use but it would not equate to my natural potential, should I learn to tap into that instead. It felt like a warning almost. Since then, i switched to vaporizing only and way less frequently. I also only use BHO now, which is WAY stronger and therefore I can only use it at the end of a day, as an introspective tool. And in very small amounts. I have been suffering from a back injury for the last little while too, so it is monumental to pain levels. I'm not much for pills, so anything that can minimize that amount I take is welcomed. Sleeping without it would be very difficult. Plus I've been an everyday user for over a decade, so the addiction is very there. I feel that the Ayahuasca experience prepped me for my big bow from this medicine. I've already made big steps towards that goal, smoking only at night, usually before bed as opposed to constant all day toking.. BHO offers a different experience too. It's powerful, so small amounts are all that is required. I save a ton of money in it's use. Funny that for me, using a stronger form of the plant has helped me to wean down. Now that I am out of the habit of smoking joints and bongs, The rest should be fairly easy to kick. At the same time, the use of such a potent version of the plant has given me a completely different relationship with it. A heavy dose of BHO can be VERY psychedelic even for a daily joint smoker.

Anyhow, hate away my friends! There is an ugly side to this stuff that is not addressed enough.
Respect for having shed some light on it.

What is BHO?

Butane Honey Oil.

Yes. Thanks. The process yields a very potent finally product.

butane honey oil is made by placing Cannabis in some type of holding container, and pushing butane through the container in a manner that doesn’t allow the plant material to escape, yet allows the butane to escape. The plant inside the container is stripped of it’s cannabinoids by the butane. The butane/marijuana liquid mixture that escaped is then evaporated, getting rid of as much foreign substances (mainly butane) as possible and keeping as much of the good stuff as possible. The end result can look like honey, or wax, etc. BHO can be as high as 90% cannabinoids.

Akasha, thanks for making this thread. Your story resonated strongly with me, and there was much in it that I could relate to. However, the path I've walked with cannabis has been a little different, in the following way.

My relationship with cannabis has gone through a few distinct phases. When first started smoking marijuana, back in 2006, I instantly fell deeply in love. Every time I smoked, I felt relief from anxiety and depression, increased creativity and imagination, and more often than not had intense spiritual experiences. I could see no downside to such a practice. In time, however I entered a phase similar to the state you described: I felt great when I was high, but afterwards felt awful. By this time I was smoking cannabis habitually every day.

From there, however, my relationship with cannabis continued to change. After a while, it really just became a habit, with no real benefit at all. I would smoke, get high, but the high had become a shell of what it formerly was, an empty pleasure with no real value.

At some point, probably around early 2012, my relationship changed yet again. I can't remember how exactly this began, but after a certain point every time I ingested cannabis, the high itself became excruciatingly unpleasant. Every time I smoked, I would feel incredibly mentally unwell. I was overcome with fear, anxiety, and extreme dysphoria, and would be forced to ride out the horror, using prayer and meditation to get me through until it was over. I was also presented with a troubling phenomenon - every time I smoked, I had the distinct sensation that I had opened myself up to some sort of external, malevolent spiritual force, and would have to use all of my willpower to fight off demonic possession. This might sound ridiculous, but it was my experience.

It was at this point that I made the conscious decision to stop consuming cannabis. I gave in and smoked again a handful of times, but every time I had the above-mentioned awful effects. It's as though cannabis itself was conditioning me to recognize the negative effects it had on my life. At this point, I haven't smoked in over a year, and have absolutely no desire to smoke again. Now, even if a friend happens to be smoking right in front of me (something I'm cool with - to each his own), I feel no temptation whatsoever to join in. The smell, something I once cherished, has become repulsive to me. This change in conditioning really had nothing to do with some great feat of willpower on my part. It was more like a child touching a hot flame. The first few times the child may keep touching the flame, expecting it not to burn him, but after enough times, he'll get it.

Like the OP, I refrain from making a judgement call on the plant/drug itself, much less on the user. I have no doubt that some people benefit from it. For me though, while I can look back fondly on the time in my life when I truly loved cannabis, at this point in my life I have no desire to ever study under that teacher ever again.