Paul: Some comments...
There are highs and good feelings with smoking dope, I'm not going to deny that it makes you feel good.
As a personal comment, it does not work for me. It causes anxiety and triggers my colitis. If I take enough to feel good, I don't like dealing with hangover-like effects the next day. But that's just me. I am not typical. I haven't touched it in years.
However, i defy anyone to say that it doesn't have an affect on the brain, particularly after long term use.
Asked and answered in an above post. At least some research shows no significant long term effects. Also, as a starting point for others interested, see http://www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org/BiosInd/Edell.htm.
There are other ways to deal with these issues than smoking dope. I can only talk of my own personal experience and felt that i was smoking as a way to escape the reality i was in.
Yup. Just like drinking or smoking cigarettes. It has to do with your relationship to the substance and how you use it. Not to say escaping is always bad - there appear to be significant psychological needs to escape/decompress, relax/recreate, and even intoxicate (ever wonder why kids like to spin around to make themselves dizzy?).
Smoking definately puts a person on a different level than others.
It can, and often does. So will SSRIs, or other medications. Sometimes this different level is more "normal" compared to others.
Some will say that they prefer this level, but for me it just isn't reality. Any use of marijuana to escape WT issues is a misuse of the substance.
I am glad you have made choices that work for you. As noted earlier, however, there are valid reasons and perhaps biologic/psychologic calls for escape at times. But we agree that there should at least be a return to a baseline along the way.
If one person in a relationship smokes, whereas the other doesn't, two people on different levels just doesn't work in my view.
It appears to not have worked for you, and again I'm glad this became defined for you. The danger is in seeing everyone else's situation as, de facto, like yours.
I cannot see how anyone can argue that smoking weed on a regular basis has no negative aspect to it. I would challenge anyone who says they have never had bouts of paranoia with long term, regular use. Again from my own experience, i do not know anyone who hasn't.
It may be hard to separate your experience from someone else's. I know more paranoids that do not indulge in any psychoactive substances than otherwise. But that's just me.
But i defy anyone, especially a smoker to say there are absolutely no adverse effects to prolonged, regular use.
I am not a smoker. I know several. There are studies that show adverse effects are not a given. I am not saying there are no risks, nor am I saying that it's great for everyone. But adverse effects to prolonged regular use are not universal.
Getting back to the original point of this thread, medical use however. I just feel that these side effects should be balanced against the pain relief. If after this consideration a person feels that it is the best option then more power to them, however they shouldn't be ignored.
Yup. As with any medication.
