hmmm...first day on this forum has itself been kind of like a drug for me. I need to go to bed, but I can't seem to stop looking at all the threads and posts from people who, at least in parts of their posts, sound just like me.

Anyway, back in college, and even for several years afterward, I liked taking a few hits off a joint, not to get goofy or high, and only once in a "blue moon" (well, after college it was only during blue moons, occasionally more frequently my freshman year!) as a "thinking device". When I would get a little bit stoned, I could actually hyperfocus on my own thoughts and get my brain to "slow" down a little. I could trace each and every thought, what caused the thought, where it started, and could watch the thought jump from idea to idea. After my freshman year, I would only smoke about once every six months or so, or sometimes only once a year, in order to try to "figure out" what had been going on in my life, what was working, not working, and why. Again, I know this sounds really silly and unintelligent, but I really felt like I was able, for the couple hours that the buzz lasted, to really be able to sort out my brain and the reasons why I was acting the had been the previous months, why relationships might not have been working, jobs, friends, everything. I usually saw mostly my own deficiencies and things I needed to change during the bi-annual or annual "buzz", but I honestly thought it was helpful and the effect enlightening.

I haven't smoked in years, but since being on my Concerta recently, I guess I am starting to be a little more introspective, like the days when I first started studying psychology, and thus remembered my marijuana "clarity" sessions.

Anyone at all have anything even close to this? Or was I just stoned! LOL!

One time about 33 years ago I ingested a fair amount of hashish.
I distinctly heard voices saying, "You know who I am. You know I can see you."
Having suffered from a number of disorders all of my life, I don't see how adding schizotypal thinking would help.
Yet I was very much addicted to marijuana, and though it's been at least 25 years since I've used any, I know that if I smelled it right now it would be just as if I smelled chocolate (if you know what I mean by that).

Kokomo,

I absolutely relate to everything in your post. Hence my eventual "addiction" to the stuff when I started to flunk out of university. I'd feel way more rational when I was stoned, in the beginning at least. And the clarity of thought - the ability to hone in on remote associations between disparate ideas and pull them together in meaningful ways! And I know it's so typical for people when stoned to think everything they do or say is some kind of remarkable insight. My stoned pontificating was not all for naught - out of every 20th connection or so, one would stick out, and they've been the spark of some of my best research and writing at school. But those were the days when it was occasional, like yourself. Eventually I couldn't stop smoking, and I couldn't start writing. It also fueled my dysfunctional eating, which predated the smoking by well over a decade. Hence no more smoking, and all things being relative - a lot more writing! No more eating disorder, either. I also find that adderall slows it down thinking enough for me to follow things through - discard the ultimately irrelevant - and come out coherent on the other end. I think this is possibly the best quality about my ADHD - to be a cartographer of ideas and knowledge. Maybe we're more prone to feelings of epiphany? I've always had the propensity to deconstruct information (or I think I have) but the ability to reconstruct it - without massive angst and frustation - that's relatively new.

That was the long answer. The short one is yeah, I know what you mean!

I am glad you gave the long answer. I never really used MJ to excess cause it made me too paranoid and would effect my self-confidence. But that once every year or so was a neat experience. It's probably been five years of so since I stopped even doing the one a year smoke

I smoked pot through high school instead of ritalin and still got straight A's #7 in my class and although I don't smoke now I don't regret doing it in high school so maybe because i'm hyperactive and amphetamine act "opposite" with it's calming effect maybe pot makes me smarter??? I don't smoke pot now nor do i promote it (I don't want to get kicked out of the forum)

It really does help reduce sympptoms of ADHD. But pot is not very appropriate for adhd, since there are things far cheaper and more effective available by prescription.

There are also a ferw over the counter things (like sudafed) that are cheaper, more effective and won't get you tossed in jail. :p

ME :D

I smoked a fair bit in high school. I'm add so it did nothing for clarity. I'm daydreaming all the time anyways. It did open my mind to other "perspectives" and I once in a blue moon I'll try it again for that reason.

My brother in law uses it two or three times daily. I'm sure he is adhd. You can see the frustration build on his face as the day goes on, dope strips that away somewhat. I'm sure he is not doing it to get high anymore because of the tolerance.

It may help reduce some symptoms [perhaps 'test anxiety'], but it increases other symptoms (eg working memory/learning).

I am neutral in my opinion of the chemicals themselves. (I trained in a cannabis-receptor lab as an undergraduate, actually.)

#1. My first concern is that smoking is, well, _smoking_.
(e.g. Lungs are fragile membraneous organs, vulnerable to inhalation of burnt particulate matter, benzene, etc. And, yes, there are worse conditions than Lung Cancer -- such as Pulmonary Fibrosis and COPD. I cared for a patient once who could not even wipe her own bum due to Smoking damage/COPD -- the Elastic in her Lungs was -=that=- Destroyed.)

And, yes, i am a former smoker. :S

#2. I have seen cases of patients whose Psychosis (Schizophrenia or Bipolar or Schizo-Affective Disorder, or other psychotic state) was Triggered by using Marijuana.
They were probably genertically vulnerable and this "tripped the wire", or kindled the brain, as in LTP (long term potentiation).

It's totally avoidable tragedy. The families are devastated. The person has to spend their life on a disability pension.

Why do those harmful things to yourself? Really...

If I'd known then all that I know now, I might not have done drugs when i was younger. (However, I think i used them due to severe anxiety and trauma disorders; and that was hard to get help for, pre-SSRI Era. Therefore, hello self-medication.)

You know, It could be that your ADD is getting worse after the Cannabinoid usage (there are many sub-types).

It can take a while for damage and subtle neurological deficits to show. (eg soft signs?)

We already know from research that Smoking Damages DNA. (That would include smokin' dope.)



Hmmm.

I know exacly what you are talking about Joe. I used to smoke it every once in a while just to get my thoughts straight. I have been around people that were totally addicted to it and they would have no idea what I was talking about. I would not smoke it for months and then I would smoke just a little for meditation type purposes. But, if I was around it then I would like the smell of it and I would want to smoke it. If I smoked it in certain settings then it seemed that everything made no since. (Like, for instance if I went to a bar high, I would look around at people and wonder why we act the way we do. Then I would be like above myself and wonder the same thing.)
I definetely wasn't a party animal when I got high. I was more phylisophical, introverted, and would rather be by myself. I also haven't smoked in years and I wouldn't condone it because I have seen too many lives ruined by addiction.
I used to be a big advacate for it and I thought it was actually much better than alcohol which is legal. I believed all the hype and conspiracy theory on the subject. But conspiracy or not, the side effects are far worse than the benefits. It is definetelly better to never have tried it at all and not know the difference then to think that you can possibly control the substance. It still haunts me in my dreams and like I said, I was never a big time smoker.
Thanks for reading. Lol and *** bless all of us ex-pot-smokers, and the ones that still do too.

Great posts everyone. And I hope my first post didn't suggest I am a continuing advocate for pot use, I just really enjoy the "shared" experiences so many of us have been able to share and relate to on these boards. It was just a strange experience from my youth that I wondered if others had experienced. I have a client that is a friend of mine from my pre-lawyer days who always teases that he could get my some pot if I ever wanted any...I don't....but I guess it's nice to know I could get some but choose not to. I also agree that the potential addiction, side effects and potentiation issues far outweigh the benefit for a small minority of ADD'ers. Again, thanks to all for sharing.

I have a lot of knowledge about this subject but I don't want to write something irresponsible. Exactly what may I not say?
I read the rules on advocacy, but are there any 'unwritten' ones? I obviously would never advocate something that is deadly, but I think you guys would find my story interesting.

My advice is to "Never smoke anything!!" This is something I tell all children, pre-teens, teens, ect. This is something I would do differently if given the chance to do over.

There has been some info that MJ helps those with racing thoughts recently. Which was my chief complaint for many years, and I loved that stuff. The side effects were were worth it sometimes and depending on me and my ADD brain I would weigh the good and bad and make a decision based on that :D

i've struggled with various addictions, but my biggest weekness has been pot...
i smoked all day everyday from the age of 14 up. i first gave up when i was 18, and just did again 2 months ago, (dependency in all its forms is something i won't out of my life totaly, i think i'm almost there) although last saturday night had an amazing experience on ecstasy, nitrous oxide and smoking...
the whole question which i see as one of either aestheticsim or hedonism is a difficult one.
when i was younger smoking often made me paranoid as did other drugs... speaking to parents on the phone would freak me out etc.... and what if the police pulled us over.. which they often did and all that!!
in the uk now possesion and smoking is pretty much fine legaly, recently i had to spend a few months living with my mum.. five months in total. in a very small village... no car... no money.. no friends.....
smoking saved me... and i've learned not to beat myself up about it.. and i know my mum loves me... etc etc... no paranoia at all... and it helped me sit still long enough to start an online business...
i've learned to listen to my body and i've goten good at it...
i party very rarely now days and when i do.. i only do if i want to and its to celebrate. I've beaten myself up so much about having fun, and i refuse to do it anymore... i'm with aldous huxley in believing that its and inate drive in humans to want to get out of it..... everyone does it one way or another unless ur an aesthetic person. i'm still not certain about my path but i think its one of balance... and i certainly am not going to do something just because the state says its ok and not do something cause it says its not.
it is impossible to say weather the person that developed schizophrenia after smoking did so as a result of smoking or if people that are going to develope schizophrenia are more likely to smoke, i personaly believe it is more likely the latter. something that does increase the chances of developing mental illness is being labeled as deviant.. like us naughty folks who talked to much in class.. or who liked other things... maybe if society was more accepting of people being into different things there would be less mental illness.
one thing is for sure and thats speed psychosis... stimulants definitely can cause psychosis.. they have there own special nasty kind... i'd try and avoid them if at all possible!!..
i hope i'm being balanced enough, sorry if not, the most important thing is for people to be informed and make up there own minds.. listen to there intuition... and something i've really learned the hard way.. especialy with drugs and sex, is, if not sure then don't do it!