In Colorado, marijuana is legal. With restrictions, but legal.
I think it’s brought up in the thread somewhere.
Well, for one, you can’t just walk into a store and buy it (unless you have a Medical MJ Card) They are still hammering out the details. Not sure how long it will take before regular stores will open up.
I’m a MMJ provider for my Mom (I’m make a salve for her back). I used to smoke it as a kid, but very rarely any more.
Anyone that is thinking about this should do a quick Wiki on the differences between the Sativa plant (higher in THC) and the Indica plant (higher in CBD). Both with get you high. But THC is more of a cerebral high (we could all be living on the fingernails of a giant bee) and CBD is more of a melow calming high.
Or so I’ve read and been told. I haven’t smoked enough recently to be able to tell. And the stuff I get my Mom is all Indica.
bees don’t have fingernails
whoa
It’s a myth. Some dispensaries list the THC and CBD content of their strains, and there is no consistency among strains labeled “sativa” or “indica,” or even which strains are listed as one or the other. The only consistency is that they all have very high levels of THC and low levels of CBD.
I tried following the citations on Wikipedia one time to see if there was any data supporting claims of big differences between the effect of the two subspecies. From what I could figure out, there was a study once showing that a wild, uncultivated strain of indica had low amounts of THC and relatively higher levels of CBD. All modern cultivated strains have been selected for extremely high levels of THC, and they all have relatively much lower levels of CBD. Given that CBD is supposedly a milder psychoactive, it’s hard to believe that the relatively miniscule amount in even the most CDB-heavy alleged “indica” is likely to result in a different high.
Also, I don’t think there is any evidence at all that any of the active compounds in cannabis can be absorbed through the skin or that adding cannabis to a balm has any measurable effect. Of course, any nice balm or lotion can help with skin.
Is a vaporizer actually “smokeless”? I recently had the experience of trying to set one up for someone who was trying medical marijuana and had never smoked anything in his life, and the apparatus was, shall we say, hauntingly familiar. There was a bowl, even though that bowl was designed to be pressed into a heating element, and the tube looked a whole lot like a hookah tube, and the “vapor” looked and smelled a whole bunch like smoke. The experience lacked only a Pink Floyd album and some Yes posters on the wall to make it exactly like my memories of the late 70’s. The “vapor” also made the patient cough, and he wasn’t willing to try it a second time. Now, it’s quite possible that I was just not doing it right, although I was following the instructions the owner of the vaporizer had given me, but what makes this set-up any different from just burning marijuana in, say, a bong?
As for the question of whether someone who’s never used it before should give it a try, I’d say there’s no really compelling reason one way or the other. If you’re really curious, then sure, go ahead, but I also believe you’d be better off trying it at home than out in a loud restaurant (Casa Bonita is a crappy Mexican-themed restaurant, right?).
From here: Knowledge Base – vapor.com
I don’t have much experience with a vape, but I understand the expensive ones do a good job of heating the weed to the right temp and no hotter. The cheaper ones just use a basic heating element without anything like a thermostat to ensure the pot doesn’t smolder and produce smoke. Uncombusted vapor is much less irritating and more pleasant tasting than smoke, but it can still make you cough if you’re especially sensitive.
I stopped eating weed when I saw a small dog spaz out three different times from eating a small roach.
I would choose THC any day, but I never could truly understand why people enjoyed drinking alcohol, so I’m probably not representative of the general population.
In any case, remember to have sweets, cookies, choclate, etc… readily accessible.
Let me offer a small amendment. Something to drink that isn’t milk. 
(Why is milk so vile when you have cotton mouth? And why is it so often the only liquid on hand when noobs get high for the first time?)
Thanks, spazurek, for starting this thread. I think I will indeed lay off the herb on my trip. Seeing Mesa Verde is important to me, and I don’t want to waste time potentially freaked out and paranoid. Denver isn’t that far of a drive; I can always take a wasted weekend and give it a try later.
Interesting Alan. I’ve gone to a number of MMJ dispensaries, and they all have an equal amount of either Indica or Sativa available. All have told me that the Sativa produces a more of a ‘cerebral’ high, and the Indica is more of a mellow or relaxing high. This, they have said is dependent on the amount of THC compared to CBD. That follows from what I have read.
Since they have both Indica and Sativa, I have to assume there is a difference. I understand that perhaps only 10% use MMJ for real medical reasons, but there seems to be a real difference, or it would not be marketed that way.
The doctor that examined my 83 year old mother and got her a MMJ license recommended a salve. Now this might be a complete placebo, I don’t know; but it has really seemed to help her. It’s not for a skin condition, but bad spinal problems. She had been going to a back pain specialty clinic and they tried everything. Nothing helped. As long as it seems to help her, I’ll keep making it.
I use to have a terrible popping/cracking in my neck (Crepitus) when I turned my head to the left. It drove me nuts. Now, I use the salve on my neck about once a week before I go to bed. The crepitus is not gone, but not nearly as bad as it was. Now I can only ‘crack’ my neck once, where before, it would happen every time I turned my head. Odd, I know, but there you go.
My Wife has arthritis in her neck, and the salve does not seem to help. She has only tried it a few times though, so that’s not a good indicator at all.
In any case, I really support Colorado for decriminalizing MMJ, and hope that it opens up possible medicinal uses for the plant.
I smoked a couple times in college. I was usually drunk at the time as well, so it was hard for me to really tell if I liked it. Then a bit over a year ago, my wife decided that she wanted to try it. She was a complete THC virgin, just like the OP. I knew some people that knew some people and I brought a bit home and used a very basic one-hitter.
I ended up not liking it. I didn’t like the taste (makes me gag) and it made me very VERY tired. To me it felt like being really drunk, but I could never keep my eyes open long enough to really enjoy it.
I can’t do any of the typical stoner stuff like watch movies or listen to music because my eyelids get too heavy and I fall asleep after about 15 minutes. I get hungry, but I’m too tired to get up and get anything. And that was only after a single hit. I tried to do three hits once and I could barely move. My arms and legs felt like they weighed over 100 pounds each. I got a little nervous that I was going to break the couch because my arms were too heavy.
I’ve found that I prefer alcohol to get my buzz.
On another point, I always felt good the morning after smoking. Never any hangover and always clear headed. Even after I did the three hits. 
My wife, on the other hand, loves it. She has chronic pain issues and fibromalgia and arthritis and restless legs. She just does a hit or two and she is much happier. She has been able to greatly reduce the number of pain meds she takes each day. She sleeps better at night because the restless legs stop without the use of narcotic meds (she mainly smokes it at night before bed). Unfortunately, Illinois does not even allow medical pot, otherwise I’m sure she could get it that way.
She is able to enjoy it better than me. She likes to netflix stand-up comics and laughs constantly. But since she mainly smokes in the bedroom, there isn’t any food for her to munch on.
So there ya go. Two relative noobs trying it out and getting two vastly different outcomes. I would recommend trying it. It’s about as low risk as you can get, as long as you don’t drive or do anything you wouldn’t normally do while drunk. And if you decide, like me, that it is not for you, at least you know.
It’s a very widespread myth. It’s also what you just said: marketing. If you don’t believe me, ask your dispensary how they know the ratios of THC to CBD for their various strains. Either they don’t and they’re just guessing, or the strains have been tested by a lab, in which case they’ll have numbers. Here’s a link to a Denver dispensary’s “strainbook” (sorry, it uses Flash) showing each strain they have, whether it is supposed to be sativa-dominant or indica-dominant, and the amounts of THC, CBD, and CBN are in each. Apart from one “indica-dominant” strain with 11% CBD and a couple of “sativa-dominant” strains with no detectible CBD, everything the stock is about 20% THC and about 1% CBD, and there is no match up whatsoever between whether it’s listed as sativa or indica, the percentages of THC and CBD, and what medical conditions it’s supposed to treat. (The use of meaningless terms like “sativa dominant” is a dead giveaway that the whole thing is marketing. It’s like trying to categorize all dogs as either “wolf-dominant” or “beagle-dominant.”)
Wait, you’re going to trust your own doctor over some guy on the Internet? Harshin’ my buzz, man!
Alan Smithee
I’m curious as to whether you have used marijuana or not. I can promise you that if you go to a dispensary and but five completely different stains there will absolutely be a difference in the high. For a short time we had a compassion club here and the owner put a variety pack together for me marked either day or night and the difference between them was definitely noticeable.
“Do not be too timid or sqeaumish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more you make, the better.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson.
You bet I will. 
Just doing my best as any good son would do. I really do appreciate your input.
Thank you for that. When we find walls we should make detours or go over the wall. Life is an experiment.
I love Emerson.
If the OP decides to try it, have a couple beers or drinks first to loosen you up. Then just try one hit and see where that takes you. I suspect giggles will ensue.
Could not disagree more. MJ is much stronger than ditch weed years ago. Don’t have a couple of beers first.