12 Oct 2015 03:29:49
Hi everyone. Not conspiracy related but I wanted to share anyway in case this testimony can help someone else who has been going through what I have recently. I have been a weed smoker for 12 years, and thought I would never quit. I even used to joke about how I would be an old man with a spliff hanging out my mouth. Anyway the last few weeks I have managed to do something I never thought I could never do and that is to quit smoking it.

I honestly think its the best decision I ever made. I am so much more clear headed, I can get up earlier without the need for 3 alarms, and I feel so much healthier and happier for it. The first week is admittedly very tough, but it gets easier. Anyway, if this is OK to be posted on here Eds I would appreciate it, as all people (myself included) tend to go on about these days is the positive side of smoking cannabis, and the negatives are rarely mentioned. Cheers, Jase


 
12 Oct 2015 09:08:12
Well done jase!

I myself used to smoke weed and stopped because I started to work in oil and gas and you get tested! It was the best thing I ever did and I'm not anti weed it's horses for courses. The thing most people don't realise is that contrary to most idiots opinions on supper skunk etc and that people say that mind altering chems get put in weed, the real truth is that the chemical that does the damage is cbd which is higher in content in indica strains. What has been happening is that there is no commercial value in growing sativa strains because they take 12 weeks plus to flower and have small yields but they grow dead talk and indicas are short and bushy and can grow in 8 weeks with a heavy yield. So they got cross bred and hey ho you get tell bushey fast growing heavy yielding plants that are very cbd heavy which produced couch lock. Plants that are high in thc and no cbd are very uplifting .

For me as I got older and started getting responsibility so found it best to stay away and like yourself I'm happier for it 😀


 
12 Oct 2015 09:18:21
I stopped years ago along with other substances. My most severe bouts of psychosis were whilst I was smoking cannabis in my late teens, early twenties. Doing a lot of cocaine nearly everyday for a few years in my mid twenties after my mother died (although not a reason to justify my use) was also my lowest and darkest period. You have no way of knowing what you are taking these days either as all is virtually chemically tampered with. What gets my goat now is the legal highs. I don't understand why any chemical substance is not illegal to begin with. Some of the legal highs have the similar make up to crystal meth for instance. My children are growing up fast and it does start to worry me what they might come across as there will always be a friend at some point who dabbles eventually. All I can do is try and educate them as best I can.


 
12 Oct 2015 11:03:25
Lads that's great that ye moved on from it. i smoked a bit in my younger years when I was out in the clubbing scene and doing a few parties, now I wasn't hooked or anything, but now I have 3 daughters heading for their teen years I worry about them as drugs are everywhere even in schools,it would be great for any young posters on here if ye lads could tell them about the dark side of things, like not been able to get up for work, not able to function properly.

i know a few lads that say they were depressed, paranoid. I know another bloke who lost his job and now stays indoors most of the time, they should have ex-users going round to schools sharing their bad experiences. I grew up with a lad who was a gifted footballer, had trials at a few big clubs,but he couldn't get away from drink and drugs, he is just after hitting 40 now and says it was the biggest regret of his life, cheers boys thanks for sharing.


 
12 Oct 2015 11:49:50
Thanks for this thread and well done Jase.

I've smoked daily for around 15 years and have loved the majority of my experiences. But although I'm quite liberal in terms of my views on decriminalization and the benefits etc I have to admit that its become more than a habit over the years. Like any substance it can be damaging if the user struggles to control it. The negatives for me are a lack of energy and desire to get out of the house as well as getting up groggy and of course the health issues linked with smoking in general.

I've wanted to cut down or quit for a while now. time for another shot I think using this thread as my inspiration.


 
12 Oct 2015 12:46:27
for 15 years I was smoking every day. Pretty much knockewhen my first child was born. now maybe have a Joint a month as still enjoy being high from time to time. its all about moderation and in my heyday I just couldn't stop myself. I was an addict! I've done a lot of other drugs but Weed wae only one I was badly addicted to. used to grow the odd plan and send home loads in the post to myself on visits to Dam. now I look back and think what an idiot. I have a pretty successful career and could of blown it all for a small bit of green!


 
12 Oct 2015 19:17:32
I have been a smoker for around 30 years and have grown my own for around the same time
I don't smoke every day. Mainly at the weekends
Just like drinking it effects people in different ways, but alcohol is not banned
If it was legal to grow small amounts of grass it would cut out the dealers

 

{Ed033's Note - The mighty malaga gooner has graced us with a post. Why does it not surprise me you grow it. The plants are probably your 'sauce' for your 100% dead cert Arsenal rumours.


 
12 Oct 2015 19:52:53
Hey chaps, nicely done Jase, I've been an on and off smoker for most of my life. Started as most do having a toke from a few mates and then wanted to hang around the group so carried on.

Then, as I was growing up, I was playing for Stella, a football team here in Durban and heard I (with a group of course ) was going for trials at amaZulu the local S.A prem team here and they required a drug test so on short notice I got scared and didn't go. Now that was the biggest regret of my life so far and wish I had made better choices, regardless of thinking I was going to play for a top side which was probably not going to happen but we can all dream lol.

But now as a successful designer (which I like to think I am) I tend to find it's the norm in this industry. A lot of my mates take it to concentrate and draw or find inspiration, it also helps in breaking down barriers with meeting new people I suppose, because here in S.A it almost seems every second person is smoking!

I dabble in it once in a while and do find that it helps me concentrate while I paint or draw, and find it fun. But in the end for me its hard to weigh out the positives and negatives. so I say every person to their own. and again Jase enjoy it and well done


 
12 Oct 2015 20:02:14
I love a good smoke, with my kids it helps me unwind when they finally go off to sleep lol.

I agree with what HB has said, it can become addictive but I think u become more addicted to the stuff u do when high than the actual weed it's self.

I have cut down loads over the last few years, I still have a few friends that go through copious amounts a week where as mine lasts ages now :)

I figured out ages ago after the first one u don't really need much more, I smoke smaller smokes and spread them out now.


 
12 Oct 2015 20:28:14
Haha, never had you down as a stoner Chris.


 
12 Oct 2015 20:36:28
There's a lot about me you don't know Malaga :)


 
12 Oct 2015 21:21:20
I think this thread shows that abuse of anything is never wise. While I appreciate the trap you can get into if you smoke weed everyday, my view is based on my own experiences. When I was a lazy stoner, it was because I was lazy, and unmotivated. The plant didn't make me that way, it only gave me an outlet to waste my time in a state of numbness. When you do anything everyday it takes its toll on you, but its very dangerous when you search for excuses for why you are lazy, unmotivated or even becoming slower in thought and your first step is to look outside yourself.

The plant is a medicine and should only ever be used as such. When literally all the evidence that is coming out, is showing that marijuana doesn't cause mental illness, you have to ask yourself why did all you seem to feel the same. Was it that the plant allowed you to be lazy losers, and so you began to feel bad about your life and choices and you blame the plant rather then looking deeper in your own psyche? Was it that due to its lack of regulation in production, many dealers spray the plant with substances that can cause problems?

Either way, its a very dangerous step to blame a plant for your issues, when all the science is showing the plant does not do such things. I was once the same, but when I stopped abusing marijuana and started getting my life in order (healthy diet, exercise, hobbies) all of a sudden it was obvious what the problem was all those years. Me and my attitude towards life.

I think if you're truly objective in thought, you may feel the same. I smoke once every couple of months, maybe more, maybe less. But just because some people lack the ability to keep control of their own lives and look for an escape, rather than looking to better understand themselves, doesn't mean the rest of the planet should suffer by having a plant that has grown here, naturally, for millions of years, made illegal.


 
12 Oct 2015 22:05:45
Melbourne I totally agree, I think most of us see it that way tbh.

Lots of people die from alcoholism annually yet there is no call to make it illegal. Only the individual can control how they use substances and weed certainly is of benefit to many people and should be of benefit to far more - if only the medical benefits were shared amongst the mainstream.

I just think that whilst we point out the positives in forums like these its also important to point out the dangers, everything in moderation is the way forward. The problem for people like me is we got in a little too deep too soon, before educating ourselves on the pros and cons. I do blame the poor education we receive when it comes to illegal substances but more than that I fully understand that I have myself to blame and only I can decide to make the relevant changes.


 
12 Oct 2015 22:51:26
I have to say that no drug is addictive, its up the person taking the drug to keep things in moderation.
30+years a smoker and an occasional dabbler in cocaine, I'm an ex raver so I use to like taking pills (E's). a lot :) I was always in good company which helps.
I have always been a worker hardly ever having time off, and I don't really get ill, my mind is clear, i'm very polite and well mannered to everyone I meet.
The point i'm trying to make is that drugs if used moderately can work. Alcohol on the other hand is the root of all evil (in my eyes).
Peace.


 
12 Oct 2015 23:16:58
Theres only one drug (other then prescription) that if you abuse and then stop taking, it can kill you, as your body will shut down. Its not marijuana, cocaine, heroin, speed, meth, mdma, ecstacy or lsd. Its alcohol. The only legal substance in the list. No surprise there, but when people want to throw stones at drug users, it comes from a place of absolute ignorance and arrogance. Nothing I hate more then a bloke with a pint in his hand preaching about the fact he doesn't use drugs.


 
12 Oct 2015 23:51:41
Well said Melbourne, Alcohol is a hard substance to leave, its evil,it spawns violence, kills lifes and wrecks relationships, how anyone can become an alcoholic is beyond me.
Weed on the other hand. well, have you ever seen a stoner not smiling :-)

 

{Ed001's Note - this is nonsense, I have personally seen many stoners commit violent acts while stoned. On the other hands I have known alcoholics who were kind drunks. There is more to it than this kind of bull, that is based on bias. You have obviously never been involved in any kind of gang, where the whole group will be smoking weed together before going out to cause trouble.}


 
12 Oct 2015 23:54:24
Your right Melbourne my worst vice by far is alcohol. I drink every day and it's far more detrimental than anything I have ever took. But first il explain how I got there. When I started in oil and gas I gave up the weed well I didn't I replaced it with alcohol and every time I go out its there right in my face.

Since stopping smoking weed I have the occasional joint when given. I won't buy it! And it's nice it makes me giggle , makes music nicer etc,,, but when I smoke it for a period it does my head in, so I don't a joint a year for me. But I do alsorts frequently do changa or vape dmt when I can be arsed to pull some from bark, do acid two-3 times a year (1p-lsd is now a legal analog in uk £8 a blotter and as potent as lsd) but heavy come downs limit that? And good old mushies. And if I can be arsed and get kids shipped out for a few days have a good old soul search on black cappi vine! Never do Coke only do Mandy if on the rare occasion I go for a rave up. But weed I can truely say does me in more than any of those things. Me and the misses enjoy ket with a little drink but everyone should do whatever they are comfortable doing and if it effects your ability to live your life or if you have kids and they have to go without to fund it then knock it in the head. I hold down a great job (money wise) and am the biggest muck head out there. Drugs tend to have an adverse effect on the poorly educated and those who live in an in privileged area where they choose to pick drugs over the basic need to live. Legalise all drugs in my opinion because you either are or are not in this life


 
13 Oct 2015 00:51:42
Agree with that Melbourne,alcohol is the root of all evil,like everything else it's fine in moderation,but when alcohol is abused it can be a cold killer,and like you said its accepted in society


 
13 Oct 2015 01:24:20
Thank you everyone for your words of encouragement, and for sharing your own experiences. I had no idea how this thread would be accepted so I didn't go into a great deal of detail, but since you have all shared your experiences I will share a little bit more about where this has left me.

I was in a very destructive relationship for 7 years. We both used to smoke weed every day and I can honestly say for my own part that smoking weed contributed greatly to the downfall of that relationship. I used to get angry over the slightest things, especially if I had ran out of weed. I used to take my anger out on my girlfriend, and I used her for money to buy weed, among other things. I didn't work for roughly 50% of those 7 years, and I had no shame in that, providing I had the weed to smoke. I was paranoid constantly, thinking my friends and family were judging me for these things I was doing, and it was like a vicious cycle. The more I smoked the less I wanted to do anything, and the more paranoid I would become that my girlfriend would leave me for it, so the more I became reliant on the weed to quash those feelings of rejection. I became aggressive and violent, not so much to her but to my surroundings, kicking in walls and doors, and throwing things around, and ultimately rejecting anyone who tried to help me. In the end it got to the point that we could no longer be in the house together in the same room. I would spend my days in my bed trying to sleep away these horrible feelings and thoughts, then get up at night when she came to bed to go downstairs and smoke weed.

After 6 months she got fed up of me being like this and left me. I was truly heartbroken, even though I knew everything that had happened had been my own fault. This is when things really took a turn for the worse. I moved into a little flat on my own, and started drinking and smoking so heavily its amazing i'm actually alive to tell you this story. I was at times drinking a bottle of whiskey a night, along with smoking a good few grams of weed. Then started the suicidal thoughts. I was wracked with guilt so much I could not stop thinking about ways to end my life. Every night I would lie in bed thinking of the least painful ways to kill myself. The ONLY reason I didn't do it was how I thought it would affect my family. This went on for about a year.

I was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, and severe depression, and placed on severe sedative medication which ultimately left me almost zombified. I was barely able to hold a conversation at times, and although the suicidal thoughts had gone, I just felt empty.

I eventually moved out of that place, and into a new house. I was feeling slightly better in myself, but carried on smoking and drinking constantly, always looking for an escape from reality. I stopped taking the anti-schizophrenic tablets, and tried coping just with the weed, and at times I was fine, but then I would slip back into depression again.

Two weeks ago however, I had a minor epiphany. I had been watching lots of conspiracy videos on youtube regarding the world ending (sept 23rd, i'm sure some of you remember). When it didn't happen (as I was expecting in all honesty), I was ready to simply carry on with my life , but something told me that if I carry on the way I have been, i'm not going to make anything of my life ever. Call it what you want, but I swear God helped me here. So I quit smoking and drinking.

Fast forward two weeks and I feel great. By no means perfect but all the suicidal thoughts have gone, and I am slowly looking to go back to work full time. i'm going to be starting a voluntary job soon, and get myself back to being a productive member of society. i'm 100% convinced that the substance abuse is what lead me down this dark, dark road, as when I was 18 when I first started smoking I was a different person entirely.

Anyway sorry for the long post. I just pray that there maybe someone else out there who reads this and can relate, and it can help them. Obviously not everyone is going to have the same experience on weed, and i'm by no means trying to demonize it, but my mental health has severely suffered as a result.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply and offer words of encouragement. It really meant a lot.
Jase


 
13 Oct 2015 08:18:08
Well done Jase, hope you keep it up mate.


 
13 Oct 2015 09:30:37
Best of luck mate,there's always a way out,things can only get better,there's always people out there that are willing to help along the way.


 
13 Oct 2015 09:55:29
Ed01 your right,but I think there's more to the violent acts than weed,like mixing alcohol and cocaine that's a recipe for violence,there isn't a town in Ireland or England at the weekends where people go out mixing drugs and drink and committing acts of violence on the streets,
Then as we are saying it's mostly immature young people that go over the top showing off in front of their mates.

 

{Ed001's Note - which is my point, it is not the drugs themselves, it is the person taking them. Whether that be alcohol or cocaine or weed.}


 
14 Oct 2015 00:05:42
You are right Ed, it is not specifically the drug/alcohol that's violent but the person, I suppose I was been a little bias.
As for been in a been in a gang, well, in my youth I was a footbal hooligan who liked nothing better than a punch up at the weekends(not proud of that) and through my own personel experience and what I saw alcohol played a major part in the bravado of it all.