"Do you wanna get high?" Topic

Do you currently smoke or otherwise ingest Marijuana or Hash products on a regular basis?

If not, feel free to give a reason why if you choose.

I haven't smoked Marijuana in 29 years. I not only don't have a problem with it but I also voted for its legalization in my state.

Unfortunately my employer of 26 years chooses to follow the Federal Governments directives on Marijuana so I am subject to random testing.

I'm looking forward to the day the Federal Law is overturned or when I retire in 2 years (whichever comes first) to "rekindle" (sorry!) my long lost love.

I haven't in 24 years. My 24yo daughter does edibles as it's legal here in Colorado and it doesn't bother me but I've had no desire to revisit it. I have enough focus issues as it is :)

Never touched the stuff and never will

My father did a lot of early work in gas chromatography with Shell, Beckman, and others. He's very familiar with volatile organic compounds and how serious their health effects can be in both the long and short terms.

Because of the crazy federal research ban, no one has been able to do any serious studies on the long-term consequences of smoking marijuana (or edibles, etc.).

It may be that smoking marijuana is very low-risk, but the rule of thumb is: inhaling still-hot combustion gases is contra-indicated.

As for personal use, my mother had breast cancer when I was a child. Chemotherapy was extremely harsh back then and the side effects were severe. She smoked marijuana (at the tacit suggestion of the medical staff*) to deal with the absolute worst side effects and to try to keep weight on.

None the less, I associate the smell of marijuana smoke with violent retching and groans of agony. Pavlovian conditioning did its thing.

*"Some people say that marijuana will help with the nausea and may make you hungry enough to eat and keep it down, but we would never recommend anything like that. Nope, that would obviously be contrary to medical ethics and federal law, no matter how much anecdotal evidence there is the using marijuana might make the chemo bearable and maybe even increase your odds of survival. So, nope, we clearly couldn't give you any sort of recommendation to use marijuana."

I am with bandit

Seen a lot of misery and wasted potential because of it

I used in college, but gave it up when my oldest child was born. He's 41 now. I don't have a problem with it. I am 66 and have considered using. Some of my older friends are users. I don't think I will, but I live in Washington where it's been legal for a while.

The cannabis today is soooo much stronger than the pot of my youth. At the very least it would take some getting used to.

Not really a path that appears to lead anywhere useful.

Never have, it's not allowed in my religion.

Also, had some friends whose potential and ambition seemed to be adversely affected by marijuana.

I definitely wouldn't go back to smoking, for the obvious health reasons, but I'd not be above trying edibles.

Never have, never will. Since it's been legalized here I smell it all the time and find it disgusting. I too have seen friends lose their potential becoming addicted to it. Additionally, as a police officer I've worked quite a few fatal crashes where weed was a factor.

Never, I too have seen the devastation that is caused. They made "recreational" cannabis legal here in Michigan & now I see lots of fools driving smoking dope.

Never have, though I don't really care one way or the other if others do as long as they don't do it and then drive high.

To each his or her own.

No.

Marijuana is still illegal in the UK although some people can have it medically prescribed.

There is a substantial black market for it largely controlled by criminals.

No

No. That stuff stinks.

No, for various reasons, religion, damage seen, no desire, etc.

If I recall correctly, I didn't inhale. What?

No, I want no part of it. I've seen the individuals who use it, and don't desire to be one of them. I will say that there is an exception, for true medical purposes. I know some of my fellow vets use it because of PTSD, but other than that no.

nope. never have, never will

Not currently, tried it a few times after it was legalized but I have asthma so stopped for that reason. Don't really have an issue with smoking dope. I've seen many more lives wrecked by alcohol then by marijuana.

Haven't smoked it since 1989. I certainly wouldn't advocate smoking it whilst painting miniatures!

Used to listen to the "mind blowing" and "brilliant" conversations of those getting high – according to them. Not being high myself, all I heard was laughable idiocy. "Oh, man, that smoke rising from the fire is like, so, wonderful, man!" Uh, no. Smoke stung the eyes.

Never have. I never wanted to be out of control of myself when I was younger (and I tended to law-abiding, also). Now no need. I have given up on controlling anything.

Nope – never have, never will

It's legal here in Canada but so are other dangerous addictive substances – and despite what social media says, in about 10% of people cannabis is addictive – plus as with Dn Jackson I work enough with the police to see lots and lots of bad outcomes from cannabis use

Back in university I can remember guys in the dorm smoking it with the statement, "let's get stupid" – truer words were never spoken

Nope. Never.

Why: I'm not a fool.

"Why: I'm not a fool"

Gosh, that seems a tad judgmental!

I don't think musicians like the Beatles would argue that Marijuana was detrimental to their creative process or frankly their lives in anyway.

Not my thing but in moderation, I would not begrudge others. I do note that it does not seem any less harmful than alcohol as the number of young healthy people begging on the streets in Denver and Colorado Springs, despite weather wholly unsuitable generally to outdoor living, is attributed in part to legalization. In addition, cannabinoid hyperemesis is a thing and points to at least a psychological addiction issue.

Never have, I just preferred to be normal.
When it was legalized here, there were some "discovery day" problems with edibles. I think they didn't take effect as quickly as smoking, so folks would say "I think I'll have another (or two)" and then they would end up much higher than they intended. So before trying it out, do a little research.
There has been a big push for medical marijuana here, and I can see how it might have value, but I don't suffer from any of the problems it is used for.

Grelber

I started using pot when I was the leader of an Italian gang in the streets of Chicago. The more I used the more I wanted. I progressed in its use and also added LSD to my list of things to do when I became president of the Illinois Chapter of the Hells Henchmen motorcycle gang. Eventually my brain was effected so badly I considered suicide or committing myself to an insane asylums. Finally at wits end I turned to Jesus Christ who completely delivered me and healed my mind. I am now an assistant Minister and have been for years helping other people with various problems. Pot was surely the gateway. I have been interviewed on a number of TV stations and a booklet was written about my story.

No. Zero interest. Your life, your choice.

I'm too allergic, if I'm near an unlit bag my eyes will water and I'll sneeze and my face will stop working.

Whatever they're growing now is way stinkier and worse than ever before.

It's not for me, though legal here in MA.

I believe that it has significant medical properties that are beneficial for some people. I think that legalization here helps to ensure a safer, regulated product. And I think that taking it away from street dealers is good.

I think that alchohol abuse is worse in its impact on society. More pervasive, has killed way more people.

But I am glad to feel mostly normal at my age.

Count me among the "Nevers--past, present, imaginable future."

Life is too short to waste time and self.

TVAG

"I just preferred to be normal"

Wow, yet another toxic judgemental post. I never imagined TMP was this uptight, out of touch and Conservative!

"That seems a tad judgmental."

So what. Doesn't make it less true.

Here's my basis: The biological purpose of the lung is to pull in and filter oxygen from the surrounding air, and then release the toxin carbon dioxide back into the air. Interfere with that at your own peril.

Here's a poser for you: How come so many of those who seem to love the idea of everyone smoking drugs are so opposed to anyone smoking tobacco? Tobacco kills, right? "Truth," right? Evil Big Tobacco, right? Yet these same people are more than willing to suck in smoke from entirely unregulated, unexamined, unmonitored sources largely controlled by criminal organizations and street gangs. Pretty damn foolish, if you ask me. And if breathing in tobacco smoke is unhealthy (and it is) and breathing in paper or wood smoke is unhealthy (it is), then how in the HELL is breathing in smoke of anything else EVER "healthy"?!?

Answer: It's NOT. And it is utterly foolish to think otherwise.

Again, I am not a fool. Whether you wish to be or not is entirely up to you.

Bought a large bag in 1974. Tried it every day for a week. Never felt a thing. Tried some that a few friends at the time had. Still never felt a thing. Maybe we all had oregano from the same source. Threw my bag into a corn field. Never done anything since.

"Wow, yet another toxic judgmental post. I never imagined TMP was this uptight, out of touch and Conservative!"
I guess that it is ok for in-touch Liberals to be judgmental.

Perris0707 +1

No, I would rather spend my money and time on books or miniatures, that's also why I don't drink.

I'm pro pot, but I won't argue with anyone against it, mainly for the reason that nearly all the above objections are true.

For me personally I regret my tobacco smoking far more, like 1000 x more.

don't think musicians like the Beatles would argue that Marijuana was detrimental to their creative process or frankly their lives in anyway.

I love this argument. It is the quintessential of the False Comparison logical fallacy. This is a false comparision because you don't have any information on what the Beatles would have done if they hadn't smoked marijuana. Thereforce, logically, you can't separate out the effects of using it.

It also overlaps the Outlier fallacy (the performance of exceptional cases does not generalize to the total population) and the Overemphasis fallacy (attributing the outcome of a complex system of systems to a single factor).

There are about a half a dozen other logical problems with it, which are often called colectively "cherry picking syndrome". It's just such a rich example for teaching poor logic.

I never smoked cigarettes, so I never quite got the hang of the ….stuff.

However, the brownies. They were quite tasty. Which means that the next morning I found out that I had proposed marriage to someone whose face I couldn't quite place.
When a friend gave me her number, she just laughed at me.
After that…

Hey. It was the 70s. Or was it the 80s?

Am I the only honest person on this thread?

YouTube link

I love and miss him. Damn you Covid.
She's adorable.
Win win.

I stopped smoking about twenty years ago when I realised that I didn't need any help to become more introverted, paranoid and lazy.

However the true danger of Marijuana is that you become boring. In extreme cases one turns into a hippie in which case it's kindest to just shoot you. :-)

Never tried it, don't care to, I've got enough problems to deal with as is…

Tried it in high school. Didn't like it and have no desire to retry.

Any money we save on policing will be spent on handling the negative side effects of it's use. Moonshiners will do well undercutting the overtaxed legal product.

I didn't smoke the stuff then at one of my duty stations I was suspected of being a narc. The last narc had been killed after busting some guys. So I went out a few times and got high. It made my head feel like a block of wood but I was "accepted" as one of the cool guys and could sleep at night.

I have two nephews in SF in their late 20's who have their pot card. One said it sometimes makes him hallucinate. The new stuff is way powerful and expensive.

In 1975 one of my friends in Miami wanted me to go in with him bringing pot in from Colombian. I thought about it but declined. He did pretty well before he ended up doing Federal time. I lived in Miami during the Cocaine Cowboy Days, never a dull moment.

During that time in Miami I was a bouncer at a strip club (the Aquarius) and we were the only place in Dade County open after 2am, we closed at 5am. The place was a zoo with all of the dealers and scumbags but they spent a lot of money and I stayed out of their way. Ah, the good old days.

Wolfhag

Never have; never will. Nor have I ever smoked tobacco – as a child the idea of sticking something in my mouth and setting fire to the other end seemed rather stupid. I do drink the odd glass of wine or spirits, but only occasionally and always in modest quantities.

IMHO the big mistake was criminalising drug taking, thus providing a blackmarket for criminals and giving them an incentive to encourage others to take drugs. Back in the early 19th century, when one could legally buy opiates in the form of laudanum in any pharmacy there doesn't seem to have been a drug 'problem'. Some people, such as Thomas de Quincy and Wilkie Collins became laudanum addicts, but there were no laudanum pushers or criminal gangs fighting turf wars to control the supply of the stuff.

What happened during Prohibition should have served as a warning, but politicians seem not to learn from history…

Not in a very long time. My work requires focused logical thinking all day. THC tends to demotivate me from that kind of mental work, and its effects last for a long time, so a weekend of getting high can result in a work week or more of not getting much done.

On the other hand, THC enhances vision (along with the other senses) and creativity, and I've done some very nice miniatures painting while high.

Maybe after I retire I'll see if it still works.

I used it in my early 20s some 40+ years ago. One day I asked myself why I was messing with my brain chemistry and flushed what I had left down the toilet. I would then do a rare toke with a buddy, but the last one was over 33 years ago. I feel that not enough research has been done on long term effects of constant use so who really knows what they might be. I don't begrudge those who use it and those that don't. I do begrudge those who insist I should use it or not use it because their belief is people should use or not use it.