by robertdreed » Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:41 pm
Well, cannabis is a unique high...the chief effect is on the time sense. Lowers the blood pressure 10-15 point on average, while increasing the heart rate for perhaps the first 30-60 minutes after smoking, and lowers the body emperature by perhaps 1-1.5 degrees F. <br><br>A ton of antioxidants in cannabis, too.<br><br>But, expansion of time sense isn't necessarily always felt as pleasant...a lot depends on the surrounding circumstances. The pot high is something one learns- a learned state- and after a given pint one either enjoys it, or not. It doesn't induce physical numbness, like CNS depressants such as alcohol, benzodiapenes, opiates, barbiturares, etc. Such pain relief as it offers results from the mild disassociative state of the high, lowerng blood pressure, and muscle relaxation. It relaxes the smooth muscles- subtly, not like amyl nitrite. For this reason, it can also help suppress the vomit reflex, or keep a spell of vomiting from chronic spasming. (If used when heavily drunk, though, even a little bit of marijuana is an almost guaranteed ticket to the spins, and vomiting. Feels pretty good if you've only had a beer or two, though...)<br><br>Schizophrenics tend to not like marijuana. It does tend to set off or intensify the unpleasant symptoms of schizoprenia. fpr most of the people who have it. I've encountered a lot of schizophrenics, and it's rare for them to be users of illegal street drugs. The drug that homeless schizophrenics are most likely to use on the street is alcohol. And tobacco, schizzies are oftenn chain smokers. For the majority of schizophrenics, symptoms become apparent during adolescence. ( Adolescence is such a weird stage of life, though, that it's difficult to be sure of a diagnosis of schizophrenia until the early 20s. ) Adolescence is also the usual time of first use of cannabis. That's too young for best results, in my opinion, but it's like shouting into the wind to tell young people anything. They often don't listen about tobacco, either...<br><br>I dunno...really strong reefer or hashish can be disorienting, especially in risky, strange, or foreboding environments. I suggest not smoking it under those conditions. But I think it's a scientific error to make a Federal case out of that. Disorientation after smoking usually doesn't last for more than the first 15 minutes- unless one decides to keep on smoking it anyway. Some people get the heebie-jeebies from even a little bit, and thus don't care for smoking it. And a lot more people don't find the time expansion and sharpening of sensation and perception to be worth cannabis's most common side effect- a tendency toward fatigue and chronic tiredness. And then there are those who steam through remarkably productive and successful lives seemingly fueled by their cannabis consumption...actually, in my experience, that type of pothead is often a weird combination of Type R and Type A personality, the sort of people who would be productive anyway...they use cannabis to take the edge off of their fast-lane personalities. They tend to smoke more when they're at the end of a creative project than at the beginning. And then there are musicians...pothead musicians smoke pot in order to dwell in enternal music land, amid the grace notes and the all-night steadu mid-tempo beats of trance rhythms and modal arabesques. Even American country musicians go in for the herb. <br><br>I think it was L. Ron Hubbard who noted in his book Dianetics that marijuana was capable of "helping neurotics stay productive." "Neurotic" is an elastic term, and I'm not sure how Hubbard, an upper and downer popping pillhead, defined it. Whatever, cannabis use can help ameliorate the boredom factor of a lot of routine jobs. There are a lot of blue-collar workers who use it for slow, steady stamina- from farmworkers to drivers, from warehouse workers to gardeners. <br><br>My recommendation is: if it works for you, stay with it. Used daily as an antidepressant, it's remarkably non-toxic. I wouldn't recommend any pharmaceutical drug I know of as a safer substitute. If you get tired of the fuzzy labyrinth of habitual cannabis use, then quit. Some people get a little jittery or insomniac for a while after they give up smoking pot. I've never had a problem stopping- but some people do, usually they're also tobacco smokers in my observation. But at least quitting cannabis abruptly doesn't plunge people nto suicidal depressions, as can happen with Paxil, Zoloft, or Prozac...that said, cannabis tends not to agree with bipolar personalites or serious depressives. Smoking pot doesn't work as effectively as the serotonergic antidepressants. <br><br>As always, I recommend that adults make their own informed, educated choices on their choice of mind medications- if any. And whatever you decide to ingest, take responsibility for the consequences...don't look at me, I didn't make you take it. <p></p><i></i>
