Smoking weed everyday - is it a crutch or totally healthy?

These are just my own reflections after starting a T-break for the first time in 18+ months of smoking damn close to everyday. I'm glad I had the chance to experience this before I got too old since it has opened up my eyes to my own behaviour and how deeply unhealthy it actually was. I'm posting here rather than the toker's section because I think I'll get a much more educated responses than "get the fuck out of here".

I got to the stage with smoking that I was doing it from start to finish, 2 grams was no longer an occasion but part of my daily, hazy routine. Eventually after a good year+ of this lifestyle I hit a weird boredom of life but yet couldn't go through the day without the sweet, sweet MJ. Knowing this wasn't a good sign, I decided it was time to chill for a bit. After the first few days of the T-B I began to notice that
- Struggled to get involved with life, with very little interest in doing so
- I was getting very little enjoyment out of being sober
- my focus was shot to pieces
- appetite was screwed at first, with no interest in eating
- my levels of paranoia and anxiety dropped
- found it difficult to sleep
- I was remembering my dreams again for the first time in a while
- I managed to "escape my head" and was living much more in the moment

After a few days I began to realise just how much I had been missing out on by smoking all the time. I could get just as much out of life (if not more) by being sober when I should have been. I doubt much of this will come as anything ground breaking but the fact that I even experienced this when I had always felt that I was relatively "on top" of everything came as a bit of a wake up call. I was smoking all the time because weed had came along and made life seem better... at least initially.

After a while all I was doing was floating through life with no true appreciation for things any more. I couldn't concentrate on video games, exercise, drawing or any of the other things that I really do enjoy doing without being high. Looking back in retrospect that shit was fucked up, because I did hit a stage where I was vaping every few hours without even asking myself why.

I'm not medicinal so what was my excuse for such habits... was it indulgence? Boredom? Malaise? Simply an escape from reality? It was probably a good mix of a lot of things but the end result was that smoking that often messed with my base appreciation for life. To anyone out there who smokes everyday, I would press you to ask yourself if what you are doing is actually conducive to a happy life. When I sobered up I began to realise that weed was simply filling a void that I had created myself through smoking that much weed.

Sure I get the whole concept of "one man's meat, another man's poison" but is it really all that healthy to smoke through EVERYTHING? If this was any other form of substance I would be accused of addiction but yet weed seems to be a socially acceptable form of addiction for most people - with the #smokeweedeveryday lifestyle now being somewhat cool. When I started smoking I never imagined I would get to this stage and now that I have, I never want to again. While I will continue to smoke and have no intention to ever stop, I have had what alcoholics would call "a moment of clarity" (yes I watched pulp fiction this morning) and the way in which I treat weed is going to completely change.

I now feel that smoking everyday to just "get by" is a form of escape for whatever reason. No amount of hostile comments about how it isn't bad for you or addictive will ever change this for me now. If you aren't smoking for medical reasons, then I've came to the conclusion that really you shouldn't be smoking 24/7 and that nothing truly satisfying would ever come from that. This goes especially for smoking to deal with depression/anxiety etc -all of which I have had more than my fair share of. While it might suck, it's much better to face your life head on than float through it. Do something about your life rather than living in a state of bliss ignorance, because when the ride is over you run the risk of being disappointed with the reality.

You can still smoke weed everyday and not be accused of this but I see a big difference between going through life high and smoking after your day is done to relax etc. One adds to your enjoyment life, while the other replaces it with this fake sense of appreciation - more of a deception of yourself than anything.

WHATS THAT, TOO MANY WORDS SO YOU DIDN'T READ YOU SAY?
Stop smoking so much if your just ambling through your life high for no real reason. We can all enjoy life sober, we just need to try harder... plus I'd rather save the money, get higher and get more out of smoking a joint. Thoughts?

Healthy

The way i get weed leads me from having a mound of it for a month to smoke all day to the next month having none at all. So i constantly go on long enough tbreaks to see both sides again and again. Honestly, a single hit or two with little to no tolerance is amazing and incredibely valuable. Considering one single hit ( some pocket change worth) can get you feeling completely revigorated and refreshed and give a rebirth moment in your boring stressfull lives. Fuck, id put my 50 cents in that gumball machine everytime!

But honestly after a few days of smoking all day the machine starts asking for like 10 dollars and shorts you with a half of gumball. Honestly i feel better sober at any moment during the day than i do when i have a big bag of weed to smoke because i cant get truly "high" anymore because ive smoked myself into a tolerance zombie.

So its like i have a desination in my head and want to get there. The desire to get to a destination in my head causes the suckiness. WHen im sober a few weeks i forget what its like to be high so the desire to get to this other place in my head fades.I then find myself just blahhh just not feeling any emotions just a bored robot getting up to go to work everyday without any kind of fun or excitement in my life, while i watch everyone around me so excited to do trivial shit like grocery shopping or riding a unicycle down a mountain. So i always go back to the marijuana naturally. Then i can have an orgasm at the sound of a bird chirping or a stupid deodorant commercial like all of the happy for no reason inside a shit universe people.lol

Edited by hurb1, 17 June 2012 - 07:39 PM.

i actually somewhat agree. i feel that being sober makes me go elsewhere for a sense of satisfaction and acomplishment, where as if im high all day im perfectly content sitting around in my boxers watching cartoons all day

I agree with you as well I've hit that wall of boredom recently and decided to cut down on the wake bake sessions and try to only smoke after a full energized day to wind down some.

I feel you though.

You are questioning yourself right now reflecting.

Weeds not totally bad even though you smoke often.

My advice.....Very simple...Just stop blazing for a lil bit or just smoke limit yourself

depends on the person imo, and how you define "a crutch" and "healthy"

Everything in moderation my brotha

well, ive been a pretty heavey smoker for a while and each month my habbit mght change slightly, one month il smoke in the morning and later at night, but the next month i will not in the morning and smoke mid day and evening it just seems to happen without me limiting it or putting an effort to smkoe less or more. its an everyday thing for me now and i relize that its bad but i compare my life as a "stoner" and as someone who smokes occasionaly. to occasionly smoke i notice i do hate things more, ive always been a pestimist and smoking often seems to make that permnent hate less strong. not to say i hate everything but its pretty close, people annoy me and i find the only people i can handle are other stoners, but only a certain breed of stoner, smart ones. i found that no other group can provide me a strong intrest other than smarter stoners. smoking everyday may be frowned uopn by our society and most people, but im the complete opposite of you man, i lose the sense of purpose of life when im sober throughout the day, i just take comfert in knowing that at one point soon i can smoke and im gunna chill and forget how shitty our world is, weed gives me more of a sense of purpose. i dont belive in any religon so i feel i should live happy, pot makes me happy and the medical factors are not as severe as any other way to relive our stresses therefore why not smoke weed alot? "i get high because the worlds low" ive seen that quote somwhere on this site and it made me think, why not? i would still be living my mediocore life with weed or not, so would all of you so why not make life a lil more interesting? pot makes me feel that our world has so much more to offer, so much more to explore, but when im sober i only see the one demention of my fusratation with the world i cant change.

and when i said i relize its bad i mean that i relize having a dependancy on somthing is not a good thing, but in my case being sober is not a good thing for me ethier, weed makes my negativity more acceptable and managable, life is good.

Great inspiring and motivating post, OP. I went through something very similar. I went off MJ, because of what I became; a paranoid delusional asshat. I felt that the MJ cleared my mind, and had a similar effect on me as NZT had on Eddie Mora in Limitless, which is based on the novel, ''Illuminating the Dark Fields.'' While on weed I didn't nearly have the eye for detail I have right now - I wouldn't even have had the capacity to remember the name of that film's protagonist. Since going off MJ I have noticed that I have greater concentration, feel more content with everything,feel less irritable, feel more clearheaded, and I my thoughts are more coherent and productive.

The reason I quit MJ was because of the enormous toll it had on my mental health. When I began toking everyday and went through life in that aromatic haze, I realised what a grip the MJ had on me. It had me believing that I needed it to survive this brutal world. I used it to alleviate anxiety, which I unknowingly at the time got from smoking MJ, but in that state of mind my thoughts were so jumbled that I believed the MJ was a cure to what I thought was chronic anxiety, when in fact the MJ was causing the uncomfortable symptoms. I was smoking it to cure the feelings of emptiness it gave me; I was trapped in a cycle. I implore everyone who is in a similar situation to just take a break from smoking, so they can fully see what a hold it has over your life.

Edited by tHe LoNLy StOnR, 19 June 2012 - 12:48 AM.

I am torn on this subject. I would agree that smoking pot heavily every day can have that effect on people, but at the same time, it is greatly dependant on that person's natural motivation levels.

On a personal note, I have always been a particularly content (in terms of material goods) person with no major ideas for making myself rich or famous. So it is hard for me to say that If I didn't smoke pot I would be better off in life (not sure what that involves). By the standards of some people I am sure I could be considered somewhat of a failure (don't worry I dont think so), I left school with basically no education (school number seven), I don't have a job, no girlfriend and no car. So you may wonder what have I got to feel proud of? Well I got family,friends and inner serenity (not talking religiously or spiritually, more like introspective analysis). I have been accepted to college as a mature student, and I have various hobbies that take up my time every day. These are things that make me proud of my life. There have been times in my life where I smoked mainly to pass the time and make things less boring, but of course you are kidding yourself in that situation, life is an activity not a show. A few tips I do try to stick with are, no smoking before 5 (too busy/no point), no smoking at least an hour before bed (wanna enjoy occasional lucid dreams) and realising that after so many years that after the 4th joint I ain't getting much higher.

If smoking pot everyday means that you are unhappy with your life, why would you do it?

Good mental health and cannabis do not go hand in hand for some people. If you feel that smoking has negatively affected you then you should stop straight away, we are all genetically unique, don't mess with drugs that disagree with your body chemistry.

Great inspiring and motivating post, OP. I went through something very similar. I went off MJ, because of what I became; a paranoid delusional asshat. I felt that the MJ cleared my mind, and had a similar effect on me as NZT had on Eddie Mora in Limitless, which is based on the novel, ''Illuminating the Dark Fields.'' While on weed I didn't nearly have the eye for detail I have right now - I wouldn't even have had the capacity to remember the name of that film's protagonist. Since going off MJ I have noticed that I have greater concentration, feel more content with everything,feel less irritable, feel more clearheaded, and I my thoughts are more coherent and productive.

The reason I quit MJ was because of the enormous toll it had on my mental health. When I began toking everyday and went through life in that aromatic haze, I realised what a grip the MJ had on me. It had me believing that I needed it to survive this brutal world. I used it to alleviate anxiety, which I unknowingly at the time got from smoking MJ, but in that state of mind my thoughts were so jumbled that I believed the MJ was a cure to what I thought was chronic anxiety, when in fact the MJ was causing the uncomfortable symptoms. I was smoking it to cure the feelings of emptiness it gave me; I was trapped in a cycle. I implore everyone who is in a similar situation to just take a break from smoking, so they can fully see what a hold it has over your life.

Masturbate less and you'll be fine little guy!

Totally in the same boat dude, I really need to take a tolerance break it has been months maybe a year

Anything worth doing is worth doing high, so everyday for me.

I know I need to take a t break, and it will be soon as im broke and jobless for the summer. I see weed often times as a cool thing to do, my favorite hobby, making everything more enjoyable, leading me to new thoughts, etc. And other times i see weed in a completely different light, especially when i realize the majority of my income goes towards getting burnt up in smoke.

I don't think i see it as a crutch overall, but I don't know if smoking a half eighth a day is a good habit. Many times i will smoke pot and do things, go to a park, party, go out etc. Many times ill smoke pot and just sit around.

I don't attribute pot to any of my negative traits or anything, but i try not to attribute it as one of my positive traits. It's merely something I do, and honestly I don't get high enough anymore for it to interfere with anything.

I've proven to myself that its not detremental to me mentally. I finally chose my major in philosophy, environmental ethics, and a minor in religious studies. Anyways, this past year i got a 3.94 and 4.00 for my 2 semester gpas. My previous 2 years of college left me at a cumulative gpa of like a 2.8, I've always been smart, but have no interest in learning all the things that don't interest me. I spent everyday of my last school year smoking insane amounts of hash and weed. Seriously I was smoking over a gram of hash everyday, I just came into the best hook of mylife.

People would come over trying to pack buds, and me and my roomate would both be like, well there is not a single empty pipe, they are all filled with partially smoked chunks of hash, and we have like 9 pipes. Anyways, i was smoking like a madman, working 15-25 hours a week in food service, and getting straight A's.

I don't see weed as a crutch mentally, but physically its taking all my money, in the same sense as any other drug addiction, but its not ruining my life. Parts of me want to attribute my academic success to hash and being stoned, but i think its just sucha part of my routine it doesnt even matter. I'd smoke in between all my classes and before and after work, I always thought people would think im high, if i was actually sober, because everyone probably thinks i just look chopped all the time.

I am looking forward to the upcoming days where i run out of weed and money, and really have to cut back on my smoking, i can't wait forr my tolerance to lower some and I can enjoy getting high on an irregular basis, rather than catching a lil buzz 15-20 times aday.

it sounds to me that you were a "self consience" stoner. im assuming people around you and our world disapprove of mj and by stopping you feel better about yourself, but for me, i dont give a fuck about what other people tyhink beccause thier wrong. and im sure most of us on this site know the truth behind cannabis so you must know what i mean.

Ah man that self consciousness linking in again.



That's wen I know there's a problem.

while i watch everyone around me so excited to do trivial shit like grocery shopping or riding a unicycle down a mountain.

In all serious though,

"What is moderation? Let's just say that I've never met a person who smokes marijuana every day who I thought wouldn't benefit from smoking less (and I've never met someone who has never tried it who I thought wouldn't benefit from smoking more)."

- Sam Harris