Why do you use cannabis?

[dgmulf]

(I searched for a thread like this, and couldn't find one -- sorry if it's already been done!)

I've always been fascinated by humans' relationship to psychoactive plants and drugs in general, so I'd love to hear the FuckCombustion community's answers to this question.

Why do you get high? If there are several reasons, which would you consider most important? Does it have a particular medical application for you, or do you simply enjoy it? And if you enjoy it, what about it do you enjoy?

Another question I have is, do you believe that cannabis has a long-term beneficial effect which outlasts the experience of being stoned itself?

~~~

I'll go first. I think my favorite use of cannabis is to fight fatigue and promote wakefulness. It doesn't really help me fall asleep (even indicas), but hitting my vape first thing in the morning really helps me get through the day if I haven't slept enough (or even if I have!). Also, if I need to stay up late at night, puffing away keeps me from getting too tired to function.

Secondly, it encourages me to take some time to dive inward, and reflect on the various challenges in my life, which can help me come up with new ideas, and gain a better perspective.

Unlike most people here I'm guessing, I don't particularly enjoy the feeling of being stoned, but I don't dislike it either. I simply do it because it feels beneficial for my body and mind, and to satisfy a kind of primal drive to alter my consciousness.

 

[TeeJay1952]

It makes an otherwise unacceptable reality a little more palatable.

 

[stinkytofus]

Makes watching dramas more fun, better focus, music sounds better, food tastes better, easier to laugh, everything becomes better, even sleep

Everything seems to intesnify, magnified

It just makes life more fun, but better used at home

 

[ginolicious]

To relax after work. Getting guilty people off is starting to take its toll. One of the worst parts is not getting people off when they should not have been found guilty.

 

[Petrolhead]

Cannabis is like nokia... connecting people
Then comes others for work, for talking, gym etc etc...

 

[CaptVapor]

Because I was led to believe life was gonna be full of adventure and heroism and sunsets and by golly that was a lie. When work is over, when I no longer have to stare at soulless code, when I don't have to sit through yet another pointless meeting... it just helps spark the true human spirit!

 

[Baron23]

I have used it for fun and pleasure intermittently for right at 50 years (wow, I got old...sigh).

However, since a bad back injury and surgery, I primarily vape for pain and sedation before bedtime. Works for me and is an effective alternative to a whole raft of pharma they would like to give me.

 

[t-dub]

Why do you get high?

For relief from my arthritis pain, sleep, and blood pressure control.

Another question I have is, do you believe that cannabis has a long-term beneficial effect which outlasts the experience of being stoned itself?

Yes, my blood pressure will remain under control for several days, maybe even a week, after I vape. After vaping for so many years I find that I don't enjoy the experience as much as I used to.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Why do you get high? If there are several reasons, which would you consider most important? Does it have a particular medical application for you, or do you simply enjoy it? And if you enjoy it, what about it do you enjoy?

Another question I have is, do you believe that cannabis has a long-term beneficial effect which outlasts the experience of being stoned itself?

Cannabis turns off the white noise of rambling thoughts and extra nervous energy, and makes it possible to actually relax hfor a while and focus on enjoyable things. It's effects on intensifying the sound of music, the taste of food, and the way things feel, are very nice. It also makes it easier to sleep, and it makes said sleep more comfortable.

I do believe it has longer term benefits past the stoned feeling, but I think those are more noticeable for people with medical conditions that are treated by having certain cannabinoids in your system. Otherwise, I feel it's like most herbal supplements that you can take and not feel the benefits even though they are there.

 

[almost there]

Here's a less conventional answer for you, I used it to stimulate my appetite. I measure 5ft 10 inches and for a period of 20 years I weighed no more than 125lbs. I didn't have any health issues but I was just severely underweight.

 

[His_Highness]

Bill Cosby once did a rif on cocaine users where the cocaine user says 'I use cocaine because it intensifies my personality' and the response is 'but what if you're an asshole?' BTW - Please don't consider this an endorsement of Bill Cosby in any way.

Sometimes I use cannabis for the opposite reason from the above....I know I can be an intense asshole and cannabis causes/allows me to chill out.

I also use it to enhance my senses to make things more pleasurable and rich such as sound (Music), taste (Munchies), physicality (Exercise), Visuals (Movies) and last but not least....sex.

 

[Baron23]

Bill Cosby once did a rif on cocaine users where the cocaine user says 'I use cocaine because it intensifies my personality' and the response is 'but what if you're an asshole?' BTW - Please don't consider this an endorsement of Bill Cosby in any way.

Yep, always loved that one.

My all time favorite though was Richard Pryor who said: "A line of cocaine makes me feel like a new man.....first thing the new man wants is a line of cocaine!". No truer words have ever been uttered IMO.

 

[dgmulf]

Great replies... thanks to everyone who has chimed in so far!

 

[GreenHopper]

I use cannabis for several reasons:

• Reduces the inflamation in my skin
• Takes my mind off the fact that 40% of my body is covered in inflamed, broken, itchy, weepy skin
• Got me off of the codeine which had a number of unwanted side effects
• Switches my mind off and helps me sleep (indica)
• Focuses my mind (sativa)
• It lifts my spirits
  
• Can't drink alcohol as that dries me out so it's an alternative vice
  
• I love the culture, the people and the vibe
• Has helped during periods of topical steroid withdrawal

I also find I need regular breaks from using cannabis in order to maintain a lower dose, if I stray into higher usage patterns the effects can be reversed and cannabis can actually make me itchy and more sensitive to allergic triggers, it's quite a fine line.

The major downside for me is when I get the munchies I want to eat all the things that set off my allergies and chronic eczema, this goes double when I'm on the prednisone. I've gotten a lot better at managing my dosage and avoiding the bad food and allergic triggers as I've gotten older.

The other downside is I'm constantly aware that I could be completely fucked over by an unjust and prejudiced government that would rather have me hooked on steroids and painkillers.

 

[Jimmer144]

Prob to fight depression and loneliness. This world is inherently sick, most people and hollow and narcissistic which just utterly destroys genuine human relationships and connection, we use technology for all the wrong reason and prefer staring at screens over face to face talking. How many ppl used to call and actually talk on the phone with their friends/family i bet a lot, now it seems like the most you get out of ppl is a text that took them half a second to send, and if you do hear from ppl is cause they want something outta you or from you. These are all symptoms of a some kind of dystopian nightmare reality.

 

[herbivore21]

I use cannabis to medicate ~half a dozen various neurological and psychiatric disabilities, most of which are cradle-to-grave conditions that one deals with for life.

The list of symptoms is beyond exhausting and I won't bother to explain them. Cannabis has kept me a productive, hard working person regardless of the many complex challenges that affect my working capacities. It is the opposite of a lazy drug for me.

 

[CarolKing]

I used cannabis many years recreationally, since the 1970s. As I got older I realized that it helped me with my aging body. I have arthritis in my feet, hands, low back and now my knees are starting to hurt too. It also helps with anxiety that I have every so often. It does help to turn off the noise - I liked that answer from above. I can identify with that.

I can no longer take anti inflammatories because they damaged my kidney function. Cannabis dulls the pain from aching joints and bones. I still use it for recreation too.

Vaporing allows me to use cannabis and not feel like I'm doing damage to my body from smoking. I want to live to be a little old lady.Without the beard.

 

[Jimmer144]

To be clear I wasn't trying to use this thread to personally vent or anything, I just wanted to bring attention to the fact that we need to cherish our own humanity and connections with others and stop giving so much energy to artificial and material pursuits, in this social networking age time seems fleeting, the key is steady awareness. Cannabis does an excellent job at least for me at turning off the monkey mind and its rambling thoughts.

 

[Diggy Smalls]

It feels good. It helps with several health conditions, though not super well honestly. It helps my stomach pretty well. It helps with depression really well. Pain relief is not really that strong. I used to think it was strains and temperature that had an effect on the type of high I get, but I now believe it has to do with my intent. If I am interested in some escapism, it works very well like that. If my intent is to sleep, it really helps well. If I need to focus and get chores done, it really helps with that, but only for a while. Then I start getting easily distracted even more than normal. Oh, not just intent, but also level of inebriation. The higher I get, the more distracted and the more sleepy I get.

Mostly, though....it feels good and makes everything better...

EDIT- I forgot...the morning vape is so important. Set my mind in a good direction for the day. And then of course the after work vape...I'm an asshole the moment I'm not being paid! My work is very stressful and cannabis really does help me let go of it all.

 

[Whissmu]

It does help to turn off the noise - I liked that answer from above. I can identify with that.

+1

I do not see a world without cannabis in my life!

My answer would be; Everything is better with cannabis: I sleep and rest better, my mood is always better, better, my garden smells better, etc ... I am unable to think of anything negative of cannabis except the non-legalization in many countries

 

[Prolusio]

Cannabis turns off the white noise of rambling thoughts and extra nervous energy

I also agree with this completely. I'm the type of person that's thinking constantly.. I'm not a worrier exactly. But it doesn't matter what I'm doing or who I'm talking to, I always have a constant stream of thoughts ready to distract me.

Cannabis doesn't eliminate this for me; I'm still a very active thinker.. I just feel I have more control over my stream of consciousness when medicated. I can more easily let go or shelve the thoughts I cannot readily find, or don't need, solutions too. I can focus on single ideas or concepts.. then move on to others. It's hard to explain but I guess it just kind of lets things flow more smoothly for me, which does wonders for my emotional and mental health.

It also helps my appetite and lets me sleep easier; but these are definitely secondary benefits for me.

Another question I have is, do you believe that cannabis has a long-term beneficial effect which outlasts the experience of being stoned itself?

TL DR Yes, I do. For me the entire experience of trying cannabis for the first time was life changing in itself; irrespective of the recreational effects of the drug or the medicinal benefits I would one day find from it.

This is ask FC right? Well I'm drunk and pleasantly medicated so fuck it, story time!


My entire life I had watched my father struggle, successfully, with prescription painkillers due to a workplace injury in his 20's. I've seen the strongest man I know act incoherently and completely out of character due to the effects the narcotics had on his mind. As a result, by rote and by example, I had been taught my entire life that drugs are a wholly negative thing. That if I was lucky I would never need to rely on them. That the only people who "should" do drugs are the ones who were so ill they could not function without them; and that even in that case there would be negatives to their use. Drugs were something to be avoided. And Cannabis was a drug.

So the first time my best friend asked me to smoke pot with him I was shocked and disgusted.. I still remember the feeling of contempt I had for him in that moment (and always will, I'm sorry buddy). It was so potent, so hateful.. and for what? Because he wanted to smoke weed and I didn't? I wrestled with these thoughts for weeks and avoided him the entire time. I wish I could say it was some inner revelation that led me to change my mind.. but sadly it was a silly break up that saw me seeking comfort in the soft warm arms of Mary Jane. So I texted my friend and went for my first experience.

It was completely different than I had been led to believe by my parents and teachers, and to a lesser extent the government. Why isn't everything turning rainbow coloured? Isn't something supposed to start talking to me? When do I start "tripping balls man"? Aren't I supposed to melt or something? Oh don't get me wrong I was high as a kite; I remember trying for 10 minutes to tell my friend exactly the way sound was travelling around my ear before it entered my ear canal and turned into the music we were listening to. But it was very far from the life consuming, mind ruining, heathen herb I had been lead to expect. And to top it off, the next morning I felt fantastic!

Not only did I enjoy the effects far more than alcohol (which I had only tried a handful of times), there was no hangover?!? And even though I thought of my ex and our recent break up; I just dealt with it. I didn't avoid the thoughts, I didn't smoke more to escape.. I just dealt with the emotions and moved on in a single blissful evening with my friends. Sweet lord above why has this miracle been kept from me my entire life? Why would anyone choose to drink when this paragon of potent pistils purveys the population? Why is alcohol not a drug, and therefore OK in the eyes of my parents/society surrounding me, but weed is not?

It was the start of nothing short of an epiphany for me. It was such a clear and concise example of hypocrisy and misleading information that suddenly I was re-examining.. everything. My entire life I had thought one thing, and knew that to be true because it was confirmed to me by those around me.. but I was wrong. The issue of cannabis consumption was far more nuanced than "right" or "wrong", it's a facet of life that reflects the desires/needs of people to such an extent it cannot be reduced to such simple concepts.

So to answer your question @dgmulf.. Yes I believe the benefits of cannabis consumption can indeed lead to long term benefits other than the positive stone they provide. Cannabis has forever changed my life, even if I never see it again.



But luckily I see a lot right now so imma go deal with that. Thanks for reading anyone who did.

 

[Diggy Smalls]

I also agree with this completely. I'm the type of person that's thinking constantly.. I'm not a worrier exactly. But it doesn't matter what I'm doing or who I'm talking to, I always have a constant stream of thoughts ready to distract me.

Cannabis doesn't eliminate this for me; I'm still a very active thinker.. I just feel I have more control over my stream of consciousness when medicated. I can more easily let go or shelve the thoughts I cannot readily find, or don't need, solutions too. I can focus on single ideas or concepts.. then move on to others. It's hard to explain but I guess it just kind of lets things flow more smoothly for me, which does wonders for my emotional and mental health.

It also helps my appetite and lets me sleep easier; but these are definitely secondary benefits for me.




TL DR Yes, I do. For me the entire experience of trying cannabis for the first time was life changing in itself; irrespective of the recreational effects of the drug or the medicinal benefits I would one day find from it.

This is ask FC right? Well I'm drunk and pleasantly medicated so fuck it, story time!


My entire life I had watched my father struggle, successfully, with prescription painkillers due to a workplace injury in his 20's. I've seen the strongest man I know act incoherently and completely out of character due to the effects the narcotics had on his mind. As a result, by rote and by example, I had been taught my entire life that drugs are a wholly negative thing. That if I was lucky I would never need to rely on them. That the only people who "should" do drugs are the ones who were so ill they could not function without them; and that even in that case there would be negatives to their use. Drugs were something to be avoided. And Cannabis was a drug.

So the first time my best friend asked me to smoke pot with him I was shocked and disgusted.. I still remember the feeling of contempt I had for him in that moment (and always will, I'm sorry buddy). It was so potent, so hateful.. and for what? Because he wanted to smoke weed and I didn't? I wrestled with these thoughts for weeks and avoided him the entire time. I wish I could say it was some inner revelation that led me to change my mind.. but sadly it was a silly break up that saw me seeking comfort in the soft warm arms of Mary Jane. So I texted my friend and went for my first experience.

It was completely different than I had been led to believe by my parents and teachers, and to a lesser extent the government. Why isn't everything turning rainbow coloured? Isn't something supposed to start talking to me? When do I start "tripping balls man"? Aren't I supposed to melt or something? Oh don't get me wrong I was high as a kite; I remember trying for 10 minutes to tell my friend exactly the way sound was travelling around my ear before it entered my ear canal and turned into the music we were listening to. But it was very far from the life consuming, mind ruining, heathen herb I had been lead to expect. And to top it off, the next morning I felt fantastic!

Not only did I enjoy the effects far more than alcohol (which I had only tried a handful of times), there was no hangover?!? And even though I thought of my ex and our recent break up; I just dealt with it. I didn't avoid the thoughts, I didn't smoke more to escape.. I just dealt with the emotions and moved on in a single blissful evening with my friends. Sweet lord above why has this miracle been kept from me my entire life? Why would anyone choose to drink when this paragon of potent pistils purveys the population? Why is alcohol not a drug, and therefore OK in the eyes of my parents/society surrounding me, but weed is not?

It was the start of nothing short of an epiphany for me. It was such a clear and concise example of hypocrisy and misleading information that suddenly I was re-examining.. everything. My entire life I had thought one thing, and knew that to be true because it was confirmed to me by those around me.. but I was wrong. The issue of cannabis consumption was far more nuanced than "right" or "wrong", it's a facet of life that reflects the desires/needs of people to such an extent it cannot be reduced to such simple concepts.

So to answer your question @dgmulf.. Yes I believe the benefits of cannabis consumption can indeed lead to long term benefits other than the positive stone they provide. Cannabis has forever changed my life, even if I never see it again.



But luckily I see a lot right now so imma go deal with that. Thanks for reading anyone who did.

Thanks for sharing homie.
I grew up seeing first hand the effects of substance abuse all around me. I'm terrified of addiction. It keeps me in check and keeps me honest to myself. I didn't try cannabis or alcohol until I was almost 30 and immediately preferred cannabis to any booze. I would rather puff than drink any day. Even if I do occasionally get hangovers from vaping too much

 

[dgmulf]

Hey @Prolusio, thanks for giving such a thorough response. I enjoyed reading your description of the way cannabis helps you reel in your thoughts, and your story about cannabis revealing the massive hypocrisy of social norms.

~~~

A few of these replies suggested to me that some of you feel that you would be unable to find happiness without cannabis. Honestly, my first impulse is to say that this is an unhealthy attitude, and that you shouldn't depend on a substance for fulfillment...

...but hey. As long as you can get high, does it really matter?

 

[Krazy]

Why do you get high? If there are several reasons, which would you consider most important? Does it have a particular medical application for you, or do you simply enjoy it? And if you enjoy it, what about it do you enjoy?

I only occasionally get high or stoned. I mostly micro doss for a variety of medical issues. TBI, PTSD, chronic pain, and more.

Another question I have is, do you believe that cannabis has a long-term beneficial effect which outlasts the experience of being stoned itself?

I do, yes. The evidence is rather conclusive on that for a variety of applications.

Unlike most people here I'm guessing, I don't particularly enjoy the feeling of being stoned, but I don't dislike it either. I simply do it because it feels beneficial for my body and mind, and to satisfy a kind of primal drive to alter my consciousness.

Fair number of people here are primarily medical users and some might feel the same.

Do you have access to a large number of strains? Dialing in which ones help the most might make the experience more enjoyable simply by helping more with what ever is ailing you.

 

[verdampersweats]

Hey @Prolusio, thanks for giving such a thorough response. I enjoyed reading your description of the way cannabis helps you reel in your thoughts, and your story about cannabis revealing the massive hypocrisy of social norms.

~~~

A few of these replies suggested to me that some of you feel that you would be unable to find happiness without cannabis. Honestly, my first impulse is to say that this is an unhealthy attitude, and that you shouldn't depend on a substance for fulfillment...

...but hey. As long as you can get high, does it really matter?

I need the dual purpose of fighting ailments but also numbing thoughts or i would go nuts. Because all i want is to produce my own high quality organic produce on my own land without anyone else required or permission sought. That is impossible with capitalism nevermind planning laws which forbid cheap D.I.Y homes of which i have many designs inc river boats and earthships and containers in polytunnels. Unless when born you get a certificate of owning 1/2 an acre you are screwed and someone else profits of your labour to save the money. I think its madness i just worked out that if i wont eat meat all my money goes on food every penny because its so expensive and hard to find 2500cals of good food not sprayed with chemicals Most of the stuff i use daily is all plant based like Cannabis, Fruit, Veg, Aloe Vera hairgel shaving gel tea tree wound fighting gel not to mention hemp products.

What people had years ago has been stolen, The rights to production and self sufficency without society. And if you take care of yourself you can shun thier social healthcare and taxes too. I think i might come back for a TV or a Vape hey we moved forward but the rest? Im a minimalist i see things as anchors that other people have been forced to produce because of my arguement. So even buying a vape im a hypocrite. Now you know why i need to keep vaping otherwise this can go on. Heck i barely even scratched the surface of my thoughts lol!