Pot

[Acorn Sigma]

It really changes your perspective on things. For me it carries over sometimes when I'm not high.

Does anyone know about long term effects of pot on people from a psychological perspective? Has research been done?

~AS

[Montezuma21]

research has been done. lots of it. google it if you want. but if you really want to know about drugs, it's always better to ask users IMO.

I smoked skunk (don't know if you americans smoke weed or skunk. anyway, it's very strong stuff) for about 3 years pretty regularly. it DEFINITELY carries on. the THC stays in your system and you can feel it there. For the whole of the last year i was smoking, i absolutely did not enjoy myself smoking weed. i got fairly paranoid and it interfered with my life in a fairly negative way. i was kind of addicted and it played a big part in ym social circle, so i didn;t quit str8 away.

Some people can deal with weed well. It doesn't really interfere too much in how functional they are. If you're a big screwed up already, it will almost certainly make you worse (eg. paranoid, schizophrenic, excessively shy, etc.). It depends on the individual, but i would say that most pot smokers experience some kind on negative effect on their lives, though how major it is and whether they give a [censored] is a different story.

EDIT: you can also use the search function in this forum if you like.

[Beesnuts]

I am very pro-marijuana on certain subjects and anti on a couple others. I believe weed allows you to use different thought processes and allows to take a whole different prospective on things (as you said). However, for me, weed made me incredibly lazy unless I was doing something I genuinely enjoyed. It is hands down a safer choice than alcohol and anyone who disputes that obviously doesnt know the facts about either. I think a lot of people are way more creative when they're stoned. You start to see things in a different light and I can remember being stuck on some physics problems in school and just drawing a total blank, I burned one and went back to the problem and saw ways of solving it I probably never would have seen otherwise (besides getting help from the prof.). I dont look at being stoned as a substitute for being drunk, I think you can use marijuana in a more professional manner than how it is usually precieved.

Rant: I think it is absolute ludacris that marijuana is illegal, just blows my mind...
...and no, I dont smoke anymore.

[r0eKY]

i smoke weed all day everyday and im a long term winning player, thats all i can say

[Splossy]

It should be obvious that continued alteration of your brain chemistry will have side effects. What they are and how much they affect your life will vary. Some people can go totally loopy on weed if they are so predisposed, most other people range from getting lazy, having concentration problems to paranoia etc. It depsnds.

Taking a drug to get high every now and again can be fun. Taking a drug every day is a problem. You might not think it is now but everyone I know who did this (myself very much included) eventually realised this. I went several years with one drug or another in my body every single day, bar none. I used to tell people how it's perfectly possible to "use" it on a daily basis. I believed it myself but of course it's total crap. If you cannot live your life without altering reality then you have a problem. IMNSHO.

I can say with 100% confidence that my life is better now I don't smoke weed. Not massively but better. Plus I remember everything and have memories and a timeline to frame my life, unlike when I smoked weed.

[SplawnDarts]

I think there's little question that long term weed use has negative effects on mental ability that spill over beyond the short term effects of the drug. Potheads, in my experience, tend to be rendered pretty dumb even when they're not high.

In poker terms, there are few things I love more than hearing the slow, inarticulate speech of a long term pothead at the table. It's almost as good a sign as a convention badge.

[slik]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana

Pot alone isn't nearly as bad as pot + alcohol. The effect isn't 1+1=2, but rather 1+1=3 or 4.

And long term pot use can have some permanent results. Recent studies have shown that a series of mental illnesses involving psychosis may be associated with pot use. Though, the topic is still semicontroversial, as pot has some soothing medicinal effects as well.

[yi style]

there's obviously benefits and drawbacks to pot...

benefit - i'm a long-term winner in low/mid NL cash games, and frankly pot helps me play my "A" game.

drawback - I'm extra tired after my profitable trip to the casino and I skip class the next day.

everyday it's obv not a good thing, but with balance it's no more harmful (probably less actually) than alcohol.

[calf]

[ QUOTE ]
Potheads, in my experience, tend to be rendered pretty dumb even when they're not high.



[/ QUOTE ]

This is complete [censored]. Do you have any actual people you were able to observe before, during, and after long term weed use and saw this occur? If they're dumb when they're not high I doubt the weed is to blame. More idiots might smoke weed in the first place, but that's a different subject.

[wyndam]

i thought getting off the chronic would makeme less lazy, but i still just sit around all day playing online, the only differrnce is now im not stoned.
i think the whole pot makes u lazy thing is complete [censored]...i am just as lazy now as i used to be w/o the weed.

it does make me parinoid though, now i would say i have improved socially in a very marginal way. but not enough to say pot was a big problem.