Hi everyone, I am currently an undergraduate doing a Psychology degree at university. My class has been set the assignment of asking cannabis users some general questions to understand the behaviour and attitudes of cannabis users. The answers I get will be used to present my findings in a lecture. By posting on this thread you are agreeing to me using your answers as part of my research. No personal details would be recorded (apart from age, gender and country of residence) or used for any other purpose than for the one stated above. The more people answering the better. Questions: 1. Age, gender and country of residence? 2. Reasons for commencing the use of cannabis? 3. What are your perceived positive effects of using cannabis? 4. What are your perceived negative effects of using cannabis? 5. How has your usage of cannabis changed over time? (dosage) 6. Is the cost-benefit ratio changed at all with continued use? 7. Have you used any methods of self-restraints/attempts to reduce or quit? 8. What are your beliefs on the health impacts of cannabis? Have these attitudes changed over time? 9. How do others close to you perceive your cannabis usage? (good/bad?) Thank you for your time! Please feel free to ask any questions about the research.
1. 30, Male, USA 2. Medical, 9 years military, suffered significant back injury 3. Helps me not think about the pain, brings me out of pain induced depression 4. Short term memory is 100% fucked 5. Coming off opioids it was about 30 grams a week, 2 years later (I smoke everyday) I consume about 15 grams a week. 6. Priceless. 7. I vape when my lungs hurt. 8. I knoe there are significant health impacts both physically and mentally, and I accept later in life I may have long term damage. I use to think it was harmless. 9. Very private consumer, my parents, wife and a few close friends all support me 100%. No else knows. One other piece of information I think is relevant is the legality of the individual. I have a medical card and a 24 plant count. If it was not legal I would 100% be on pain killers and not consuming marijuana. As it stands I only take Ibuprofen as an additional pain reliever. Good luck with your study! What do you hope to do as a profession once you graduate?
I'm 39 a male and in Canada and my reasons for using cannibis is this. I have PTSD and Dysthymia I deal with on a daily basis. I've tried taking prescribed pills but the outcome never helped. The positive effects of cannibis has been deeper thinking of self healing. Which in turn led to yoga and better eating habits. The negativity I deal with is that I'm considered a criminal for a victimless crime. It brings on that outcast feel to me which is not fair for I'm only making myself well with its use. My dosage has actually decreased through the years. Reason being I grow correct strains that are most effective to my needs. And for myself cost ratio is going down as I become more efficient in growing. Continued use is not me I have quit for years and will do so again when it's effects are no longer needed.
Thank you so much for this reply, it has been very interesting to read and has made me think about certain aspects of cannabis use! Not sure what I want to do after I graduate, I need to start looking at all the options
1. 29, M, USA 2. I enjoy the way it changes my perception and way of thinking. I become more empathetic, also taste, touch and hearing are improved. Sex is awesome because of the touch and empathetic enhancement. Music is awesome because you can 'tune' how you are listening to it more easily. 3. Dovetails with answer 2 4. Dry mouth, makes me sleepy, short term memory inhibition 5. Used to smoke fairly regularly, not it is very occassional and more sacred. 6. I have always been an economical toker. Smoke as little as possible to get the desired effect. 7. I have no problem smoking or not smoking, absolutely no withdrawals 8. I used to think it was 'bad' since it was a drug. My brother and his friends smoked it, all i noticed was laughter and hunger, it didnt strike me as 'bad' but i still had no compulsion to imbibe. Some years later i started listening to all sorts of things online as i played video games, among them was Terrence McKenna. He essentially changed my mind and actually piqued my curiosity to want to try it. Being a nerd and fairly cautious i did a fair amount of research about it before i got into it. I was amazed at the volume of positive health benefits with virtually no chance of toxicity. 9. Either positively or indifferent. If you'd like any more details or follow up questions feel free to inquire.
Thanks for the reply too! I appreciate the time you took to help me out! Do you know many others that do cannabis? Any stories of them trying to quit/bad experiences etc? Many thanks
Of course and yes i have one very unique horror story for you ill write. Well it is my brothers experience so ill ask him to text me his recollection.
1. 20/M/US 2. Have nothing else to do, enjoy being high as it makes doing day to day life more pleasant. 3. Keeps me calm, makes a 6 hour drive enjoyable, gives me something to do when I'm bored. Also used for nausea and headaches. 4. Turns me into a social retard. 5. Started off at probably 1-2g's a week, then to an eighth for awhile, then I was pushing .6-.7 a day after about a year in. I'm at about a gram a day now. I'm trying to cut back a lot though, but with how cheap and available it is here in CFL, it's tough. This is over the course of 4 years. 6. Well an eighth used to last me probably 2 weeks when I first started out. Cost me $50-60. Now I put down a quarter every 7-10 days, costs me $50, sometimes $60 for better quality. ALTHOUGH, I now smoke 2-4x a day almost every day. I used to just do it once a day or a hit in the afternoon after school. 7. I use a cutting back method. I'll pack a bowl that has to last me all day until 2-3 hours before I go to bed (so usually until 10pm-12am), then I smoke one more either all at once or spread out between those two hours. Surprisingly works very well, especially when I'm back visiting home for the summer and have to pay more for bud. 8. When I was young I used to think I'd get all the negatives of smoking cigarettes from them. or some stupid thing like that. Now I just don't give a damn, and can see the medical value. 9. Most people just see me and go "wow, classic Dr. Natty Light", cause I'm always high. Most people don't really care
While that is scary, it was your lack of preparation and knowledge that scared you i think. No offense at all, you probably had an 'ego death' which can be frightening! My brothers story was dark apocolyptic hallucination type shit. After that i investigated and found rare cases of cannabis induced psychotic disorder, which is the closest thing that even made any sense of his experience.
thank you very much. The lecture is on Monday so I need as much info as possible before the weekend is over!
1. 25, Male, Europe (don't want to get too specific) 2. Do you mean when I first started? I was curious about it and continued use because I found it pleasant. 3. It relaxes me, makes me less worried, eases the aches I get from combat sports, stimulates my weak appetite, relieves occasional nausea, helps me sleep and sometimes helps getting shit done like cooking or cleaning. Also makes many activities more enjoyable or enhances them. 4. Cottonmouth, dry eyes, paranoia or anxiety with some strains when taking too much, temporarily decreases cognitive function, might cause fogginess the next day depending on how much I use. 5. At one point I was a daily user and my doses got pretty big then. Now I use almost exclusively on the weekends and have tolerance breaks so my doses are pretty low. Still obviously higher than when I first started. 6. I used to buy my weed, but now I grow it, so it has improved. 7. I've had many successful tolerance breaks, they usually go well unless there's something really stressful going on in my life. Never tried to quit for good since I don't see the reason for it. 8. Before I used, I thought it was pretty bad for you. Makes you a bum, destroys your brain, gives cancer, all that jazz. After using a while I thought (or convinced myself) it was completely harmless. Now I think it's mostly harmless, but it has its risks, especially when smoking. I use a vaporizer, so I'm not too concerned about lung problems. 9. Only 4 people know I use. My wife, a friend that also uses, a friend that doesn't use and my therapist. My wife and I get high together so she doesn't judge. She sees benefits in it too, like me being more open with her. My user friend is a pretty avid stoner so he thinks it's all good. Not sure what my friend that doesn't use thinks, but he doesn't seem to consider it a big deal. My therapist just advised me to whey the pros and cons and decide if it's something I want to continue and it doesn't seem to be a big deal for her. Hope this helps, I study psychology too.