That's THE PROBLEM WITH CANNABIS and why SWIM absolutely hates the stuff. He got into that very thing and was totally addicted. It took a very strong bad acid trip to make SWIM realize just how screwed up he was getting from smoking cannabis habitually many times a day every day. He was so stuck in a rut it was horrifying.

For SWIM it was harder to quit smoking cannabis than tobacco. It was so much a part of his daily habit that his whole life wrapped around getting high with friends. It was sickening once SWIM saw it for what it was and he thanks God for letting him get a bad acid trip that allowed him to see just how fucked up he was getting because of that damn cannabis.

SWIM believes psychedelics can have great benefits, but cannabis is the one exception. Cannabis has the potential to make you seriously addicted and stupefied. It’s like psychedelic opium. It’s really something to stay away from. After suffering from severe cannabis addiction and quitting, SWIM now hates the stuff with a passion and will never touch the stuff again and won't allow it near his family, near his house, etc. For SWIM cannabis belongs in the same group as crack, cocaine, meth, opium, and heroin. It’s potential for abuse out ways any possible benefit it might have.

Isn't this just a tad bit absurd?
It's WEED. smoke it if you feel like it. people are getting addicted to everything nowadays.
weed = crack??????
sorry you got stuck in a rut...not everyone does...

I was in that rut for soooo long, and I will never ever eve go back to smoking like that again. I am glad that I feel I can smoke only once every week or so now and not want to keep on smoking..my life revolved around it for the last 5 years. It was the only drug that I would take every day, non stop..and it I wasted too much money..every paycheck was rent food and then pot pot pot..all that weed money can now be saved to go to south america

unfortunately, a good smoke costs most folks a lot of their money in the americas...how absurd...they then feel extreme guilt for smoking...makes me sad.
ganja saved my life.
I have a very hurt body. without cannabis I'd be in a lot of pain. I thank god for it every day.

glad you found a way to save for south america!

yeah, you are right about the costs of it being rediculous here..and I know it can help with illness. I guess I would smoke every day all day if I felt i needed to for my health.

I have seen it help others with worse addicitons, I had a friend who stopped smoking crack by smoking cannabis.

Yeah, I see it that way. It is up there with crack, cocaine, meth, opium, and heroin, as being very addictive. It's not the harmless non-addicting herb people try to say it is.

I know it bothers people when I say that, especially since SWIM loves psychedelics and totally hates cannabis and wants nothing to do with it ever. All it does is make you addicted and want more and more and more. Most people are addicted to it. Very few people who say they only smoke once a week actually do. Most are secretly addicted to it and smoke it all the time. I know because SWIM was one of those guys in the pot smoking circle and everyone wanted it all the time, and no one wanted to ever admit they were seriously hooked on the stuff. Everyone came up with excuses like, "I'm not hooked. I can quit any time I like. I just don't want to.", and other nonsense like that, or "I only smoked occasionally". I met so many people who said they "smoked occasionally" only to find that they really actually smoked it every single day many times a day, but didn't want anyone to know, and they would spend all their extra cash on it, every penny. I'll bet 90% of the people here who say they only smoke it occasionally are completely full of shit.

Sorry if I offended anyone, but that’s how I feel about the subject. Cannabis is not in the same class as DMT, mushrooms, LSD or mescaline. It’s very addictive. That’s where the nick name “chronic weed” came from. That means “habit forming weed” if you didn’t know. It’s used to describe good quality cannabis which people will smoke all day long, every day if they have the cash.

I think it’s a very detrimental hard core drug.

Yeah I agree, it is addicting..and I can tell already how many people really only hung around because of it..it's like as soon as I dont want to smoke, certain people are dropping out of my life, becasue the cannabis isn't involved..now I know who my real friends are at least.

I'm not offended I agree in some parts and disagree in some parts. I do agree it could get you into a rut lifestyle if done very often.
It's not as addicting as stimulants from the first time SWIM ever did illegal stims he wanted more everyday until he realized how angry and crazy he got staying up for days etc. he could've caused himself psychosis if he didn't realize this.
Marijuana can supposedly cause schizophrenia although I don't think that's proven I believe it. SWIM likes cannabis rarely maybe once a month,or less it's great for sex,sleep,synergies with other psychedelics and relaxing sometimes.

seriousily this is sooo true..everyone around here smokes all day..and barely anyone trips.
Even though I really have only smoked 2 times in the last 10 days..it's only becasue it was fucking me up soo much, it took anxiety attacks for me to stop, and even then I didnt stop for months until I felt so low and shitty, and seriousily, I got the vibe every time i drank aya that I needed to quit.

All the people around here (most anyway), that smoke all day long are not enlightened people at all like the ones on this forum. They sit around all day thinking about themsleves and not giving a shit about the envirmonment or the state of this society one bit. They are all afraid of real entheogens and like to sit around and drink and smoke, sit around playign nintendo and are all real slef concious people who only follow the crowd..walking around treating women like shit and trying tobe the next 50 cent..

I know few psychedelic people around here who dont smoke pot at all, and they are productive people who do give a shit and they dont just only have other "stoner friends"..Vancouver is rediculous is this way, it's like a big stoner city, but none of them are really "psychedelic" at all..unless they actually use psychedelic like mushrooms or ayahuasca etc..

Fractal: concerning the leaf extract you made. From what SWIM has read the leaves contain higher ratios of other cannabinoids to THC. But again its tough to say if these cannabinoids have any effect on the overall high but its possible.



Yes you are right cannabis is addicting. For you personally you can associate it with crack cocaine meth whatever. But that really is a dogmatic fear mongering statement. Its not even close to as addictive as any of those substances and not nearly as devastating for the individual or family. Sure there can be exceptions with people who are stoned and depressed and stuck in a rut versus some heroin addict who makes a six figure salary has a family and overall is happy but still an addict.

I smoke weed almost everyday. I am addicted in much the same way a tobacco smoker is, just less overall mass of plant material is smoked when compared to tobacco smoker. It would take effort to quit but whatever. I am not afraid to admit that. I don't really see it as a problem either except my lungs aren't in the best shape. But I really don't care its the same with drinking. Getting drunk once or twice a week isn't the most healthy thing but its fun. Not all my friends sit around getting stoned all day I have a very active and productive life.

You also are completely ignoring all the medical benefits cannabis provides for individuals and needlessly judging cannabis smokers based on your own biased experience. Cannabis is medicine its also an addictive drug. No big deal, so don't make it one.

Using psychedelics but critisizing marijuana smokers is completely hippocritical. People can do whatever the fuck they want with whatever substance they want. What are you going to say to your kids when you catch them smoking a joint while your high on some psychedelic? It amazes me how people who should be more open minded about drug use really are not open minded but biased. I call it the "my drug is better then your drug" syndrome. Its why we have a war on drugs and the war on drugs is the real problem. Addiction would be no different then being hooked on cigerretes if it wasn't for the war on drugs and the "my drugs are better then your drugs" mentality.

People who sit around doing nothing smoking weed would probably be sitting around doing nothing regardless of whether or not they had weed. They would just substitute with something else. I'd rather have those kinds of people smoking weed then doing more powerful drugs.

In the past I have had prolonged time periods of sobriety where I had gotten myself into some train of thoughts that were either obsessive or harmful/out of focus. One hit on of some weed and I am tossed into an objective state of mind where I'm able to view those personality traits and train of thoughts as a "third person" and then to delete them as If my playground of a mind becomes a computer.

Pot is perfect for sucking me out of dangerous mental space and recovering the direction of my intentions back to neutral.

It can't do that if its being used often though.

^^Exactly a medicinal benefit coming from moderate cannabis use. There are thousands of people all over the world using it for this purpose but they can't do so legally because of dogmatic bias towards pot smoking. Some people are really sick too like with cancer, AIDS, MS, the list goes on.

Burnt, to me, you sound exactly like SWIM did when he was in denial and totally addicted to cannabis.

I know a lot of people who claim to have a “medical” need for marijuana who in reality just want to get high legally. There are so many of these dope heads around that it is laughable.

When you go to one of the pot “pharmacies”, what you see are a bunch of stoned pot heads, not normal people going to get their “medicine”. It’s a joke and I know all of you guys know it is.

I don’t care if it’s legal or illegal or what. It’s a bad for you mentally and it’s addictive and you should stay away from it.

SWIM is SO GLAD he quit smoking cannabis. It was like living life with half your brain turned off. Once you quit, you can think so much clearer and see things clearer, it’s like coming out of a long sickness.

It’s addictive, detrimental to mankind, and that’s the truth. Sure, it might not be as bad as crack, but it’s still addictive and detrimental to mankind, and that’s why I see it in the same light as crack, cocaine, meth, opium and heroin. They are all addictive and they are all detrimental to mankind. Cannabis isn’t as badly harmful, but it is still harmful in the same way as the others are and for that reason people should stay away from it.

You have no idea how stupefied long term cannabis use makes you until you quit smoking it for many months. It took SWIM 1 whole year to get back to normal after quitting. 1 WHOLE YEAR! That’s a long time.

SWIM wasted many years in a cannabis stupor and he’s so upset about it. He never would have even touched the stuff had he known how addictive and detrimental it really was.

So now, I feel obligated to warn other people out there about it. I wish someone warned SWIM not to get involved with cannabis. He wasted too many years on that stuff, precious years of life that can never be recovered. He can barely remember much form that part of his life. It’s all foggy.

SWIM gets mad, and irritated at others who say how harmless cannabis is. Sure it’s not as bad as some other drugs (heroin), but it’s STILL HARMFUL and still something to stay away from.

This whole subject has me pissed. Not at anyone here, but at SWIM for being so stupid, so irresponsible with his own brain, his own life, and wasting so many years in a cannabis cloud. Of all the things SWIM had to get interested in, smoking cannabis was the WORST decision SWIM ever made in his life. It made him stupid, made him stay at home all day smoking, and looking for friends to smoke with, his whole life became a big cloud of stupidity smoke. That stuff makes you lose site of what’s important in life, it makes you think everything is fine even though things are not fine. It warps your intellect. It ruins your short term memory. There’s not one positive it does other than make you feel good while it’s ruining you.

Sure it doesn’t damage you in the same way crack and meth do, it’s more subtle. From the outside, from other people’s point of view, you look ok, but on the inside, you’re forgetting to do important tasks, your thoughts are impaired, your memory is impaired, your ability to plan ahead and calculate out your next moves are impaired. Oh God, it’s a horrible drug. The fact that it isn’t as bad as heroin is not saying much for it. It’s still bad in it's own unique way. Heroin is actually not as detrimental to your brain as cannabis is. If you had enough money to use heroin all the time, you can still function pretty well mentally. But if you smoked cannabis all the time, everyone else can run circles around you. You're slowed down, almost like you have a minor mental disability.

69ron - do you not think it may still be used in a medicinal / entheogenic way if used only occasionally and with respect? I think its the daily smoking habit that many fall into that is when it becomes damaging, like many other substances.

I agree with you though - if it werent for ganja I would definitely have done way better at school and university, and I have damaged relationships and made stupid decisions and made silly mistakes all because I was stoned, either being unaware or getting paranoid. I have not smoked now for a week (big thing for me) and I hope I wont fall into it again for a while. Its hard when so many of your friends smoke, the smell is just so inviting... Occasional smoking just dont work for me, the old habit kicks in too strong.

yeah I never got in that big cause I don't like the hangover/glow feeling I get the next day usually although if it's pure sativa varieites they don't seem to cause this as much and are actually somewhat stimulating.

I think long term use can make you stupid, but I don't think low doses make a big difference. I've noticed sometimes performance increase sometimes. It does seem to increase focus in a different way while making you stupid in another way.
Some say certain strains helps ADHD which I think could be true I wouldn't wanna take it everyday if I had ADHD though nor would I want to take stimulants commonly prescribed either ritalin/adderall etc.

Gotta agree with balaganist here. The dose makes the poison.

SWIM used to be a regular cannabis user (basically massive abuser and very proud of it!) but he quit because he wanted a change. And change was (and still is) nice. The fact that change from "stoner" to "non-stoner" was nice does not mean that the "stoner" phase was bad!!!!

Now, I disagree with 69rons opinions basically because they seem to stem from personal experiences (or experiences of a closed circle of friends). SWIM has always enjoyed the his cannabis "stupor" days. Sure he doesn't remember much but is that really a problem? What he keeps from his stoner days is a distilled feeling of awesomeness, carefree behaviour, amazing time with friends, and a halo of mellow sweetness.

Were there bad things brought to his life from smoking weed? Sure there must have been some but he doesn't remember....

"A little warms the heart, too much burns the soul."

Of course it can be very hard for many of us to just have a little...but it IS possible to control the amount you smoke, particularly if you only smoke that which you grow...I refuse to buy ganja anymore, I think it is far too expensive for what it is. Cannabis is a very different plant when used seldom, and take you much deeper and be a lot more rewading than when smoked daily.

Cannabis for me was a bit of a gateway drug, but in a good way...I didn't smoke, and wasn't that interested in drinking back when I was younger, but my first few times smoking marijuana were an exciting time of personal change.

Ron I completely agree that cannabis is not harmless. There are also differences between drugs we all know that. Your also right that medical marijuana is an abused term and most people using it in california are not in medical need, it is very much a loophole. But cannabinoids have tremendous medical value. That CANNOT be denied. There are hundreds of clinical tests demonstrating there effectiveness in a host of conditions.

But its your choice to view your years of cannabis use with regret. I am happy that you quit and others here have quit and feel good about themselves. That's great. Maybe I would feel better after a long term quit too who knows?

Gotta go but will get back.

I just think its important to not forget your roots and to not regret your portions of your life.

69ron, to be honest with you I've been heading down this line of this thinking for a while now... and it was your post on this that really solidified it, I now think MJ has a lot of potential dangers and they do out way the good, I mean most people don't stop once they start... I appreciate your frankness, honesty and it's great that you were able to reflect upon it because like you said most people are caught up in it... some argue it makes everything better, but I don't agree any more, I think it's effects are insidious and so subtle it robs you of something and it's hard to put your finger on it...

That being said, it's a very complicated subject.... for example, most of my friends smoke everyday, I'm proud I only vape now, but there's the other fact that I really like potheads and their company, actually I cant stand squares (nobody ask me for a definition).... it's very hard to find a group of responsible drug users, because it's a very difficult discipline to enjoy chemicals/plants responsibly.... maybe legalisation would help?? I mean my big problem with it is that it's done in secret and makes you withdraw, also I was so stressed out before I started smoking I have a much nicer easier going personality on the substance, somehow I'm going to have to either deal with that or replace this substance with another (valium works well on me for example).. I know you shouldn't replace one habit with another, but I actually believe in better living through chemistry, you just need to be really up on your sideeffects (especially the long term ones)..

Any tips for quitting??? I'm badly hooked... though I have completely cut out nicotine (6 months now)... it's the sense of loss and hard-done-by-ness that I struggle with most...

Weed is detrimental to mankind? This is where I have to draw the line. I'll give you everything else, as far as the addictive aspect and what not. However, I hardly believe that weed is detrimental to mankind. Perhaps it was simply detrimental to your reality. That does not make it so for every person who uses it.

Had it not been for cannabis, I would be an entirely different person- and not in a good way. Cannabis awoke my kundalini. It helped me establish what I truly believe is right and wrong. It helped me to become a non-violent person in the external world, as well as in my own thoughts. It has aided me in understanding complexities. It has aided me in numerous creative endeavors. When I get high I want to go out into the world and DO SOMETHING. How can you tell me that it is detrimental to mankind, when it has quite clearly helped me so many times?

I agree with you that it CAN BE harmful. And it is very easy to get into a rut, as you put it. I too have experienced this. However, that does not discount all the times cannabis has truly done something positive for me.

I think that you placing all the blame in cannabis is simply wrong. Take some damn responsibility for your actions! When it comes down to it, YOU always made the choice to smoke. When you fell into this rut, you must have had no self control! (speaking from experience here)

Have you ever experienced a coke, heroin, or crack addiction? The addictive properties of cannabis are NO WHERE NEAR the addictive properties of heroin. That's absurd. Cannabis can be used in moderation, it takes some damn strong will power, but it truly can be. Heroin can't. To classify them the same for their addictive properties is simply insane.