I smoked because it was fun. I stopped smoking when it stopped being fun. No bad experience, the buzz just stopped being worth the hassle. I still have no interest in catching a buzz anymore, and prefer to hang out with/date other non-partakers, but I’ll admit that every now and then I’ll meet someone and think that it would be a trip to be high with them. And I totally think it should be legalized in the US.
[sings]
You don’t drink, don’t [toke], what do you do … you don’t drink, don’t [toke], what do you do…
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It made things more amusing like being a kid again. If you’re stoned enough, everything seems new and exciting. An altered state definitely has it’s appeal whether it be drunk or high or whatever. Often the people that don’t partake in any of that tend to be prudes, or people that react very poorly to it, physically or mentally.
I guess pot for me is also linked to many fun memories from high school (I’m in college now). Also for me a lot of times it was, “I’m bored, and it’s there so why not?” I mean pot doesn’t have the dire consequences of many harder drugs. But no drug is harmless and society tends to frown upon users so I’ve quit (quite recently actually) and I foresee little problems adjusting.
After a little puff, the Global Glaucoma Network website is really absorbing. Really, really, absorbing. The coy little glaucoma researchers jumping around like leprechauns, the soaring theme music, the interdimensional spacewarp animated Glaucoma Society logo, all the boobies at the Imperial Viennese Glaucoma Ball set to Beethovens 9th, the psychedelic footmen, and hey! Cheese Doodles!
Why? Because I’ve always been interested in experiencing altered states of mind. Why did I continue? Because as has been said before, the mellow weed buzz is kinda nice, and sometimes it’s just fun to really enjoy watching a kid’s movie, or sit there and stare at the music channel, getting lost in the noise.
That said, I’ve only smoked it a couple of times, mainly because it’s not really easy to get around here. At least I don’t know where to look for it, anyway.
I enjoy the feeling of being high. I like comparing different types of weed for potency and effect. I also like doing most of my mundane around-the-house activities while high. It makes cleaning up, doing the dishes, or doing laundry way more fun. I never do anything important high, so showing up to work or class completely bombed isn’t a concern.
I prefer pot to alcohol and tobacco in private settings. I get hangovers really easy these days and most drinks are simply not enjoyable. Been there, done that. Smoking pot leaves absolutely no nasty feeling when I come down. In fact, the day after a serious smoking session usually feels very tranquil and peaceful. Also, smoking through a bong or a pipe can be unenjoyable as it can cause coughing, but there are alternative methods that can be employed – some much more effective than simply smoking.
I enjoy putting myself into an alternative state of mind and I’m very confident that pot is the safest way of doing so. I like to enjoy all that my mind has to offer – sometimes being “normal” is just too boring. Alcohol can turn people violent and mean and even kill them, so it’s not an option for me. There really isn’t anything as “too much” pot. You can’t reasonably ingest/inhale enough THC to do yourself in. If you smoke too much for your body to handle, you eventually just get really sleepy and go to bed.
Music is really enjoyable while high. I’ve about destroyed my Radiohead, Pink Floyd, and Cure CDs by playing them during smoking sessions. Also, watching baseball is completely amazing while stoned. Well, it’s completely amazing sober as well. Smoking a few bowls with some friends while the game is on elevates it to the level of gods. I’ve really enjoyed this year’s playoffs as a result.
Many of my friends do it. When we hang out, it’s the most enjoyable way to spend our time. Maybe that makes us losers or criminals in the minds of many, but we have fun and no one gets hurt in the process.
It calms/relaxes me like no other substance. Instead of that beer or two after a hard day’s work, I smoke a bowl or two and kick back. Alcohol can depress me at times. I’ve never once been depressed while smoking. I also have focusing problems/anxiety and a bowl or two will take care of that pretty quick.
It makes me better at video games. Playing Counter-Strike while stoned is about the most fun I’ve ever had in a video game and I’ve played a lot of video games. It “slows” down your perception of reality just enough to do some very sick things in most first person shooters. It’s the difference between a 10-10 score and a 16-4 score in my experience.
It changes the experience a little while listening to a CD, or watching a movie. Sometimes i like to just have a little before SNL or Bill Maher comes on. I like watching sports while under the influence.
I’ve used since I was 15 (33 now) but I’ve never been that regular or heavy. I’ve gone for whole years in that time without using. But, I just like to add it to my drinking repertoire from time to time.
Finally, this might sound totally lame, but I think I still always like to have some around because as you get older and have a regular job, a mortgage payment, a wife, responsibilities. . .it’s nice just to have something illegal to do. It ain’t like robbing a bank or anything, but it can satisfy the “subversive jones” that some of us carry around.
Why? Well, as a medical marijuana patient (with no real medical problems) I have access to some of the most awesome stuff. And it tastes good! You can’t even imagine all of the things that can have a yummy bit of thc oil added to them.
I’ve been smoking pretty regularly since junior high. Maybe it was a gateway drug because incidentally (consequently?), I ended up a sick addict/alcoholic. I quit everything 'cept cigs and bud. What’s the problem? I hardly even get high anymore, but like I said, it tastes good. As I go to the dispensary I am always purchasing different strains and edibles, looking for the one which will again give me a good buzz. Recently found an excellent skunk. I guess (know) that I’ve built tolerance.
Why, again? Habit mainly. Just part of a daily routine at this point. My (ex) best-friend and I always thought we’d end up in nursing homes in our rocking chairs sharing a doob.
I would, however, really like an answer as to why people have to drink alcohol. Seems like you can’t even have a family party without its presence. I had to insist that my baby shower be alcohol-free, and even then, the people at the party were asking when I was leaving so they could start drinking. That made me kinda pissed. And no, I didn’t smoke at all during pregnancy.
Some people smoke to relax. Some people smoke to easy pain. Some people smoke to alter their state in one way or another. I think everyone has their own reason for smoking. :rolleyes:
I started because curiosity got the best of me after standing by watching friends do it for years. I quit because I didn’t much care for the type of buzz it gave me, especially compared to that of drinking.
I’ll be honest right up front and say I’ve never taken a puff from the funny cigarette, so I’m professing my ignorance. But, seriously…this is a reason in FAVOR of doing it?
I like being buzzed, but being in complete control, a feeling alcohol doesn’t give me.
I smoked daily pretty much all of last year, every night while watching TV. Didn’t find any adverse effects (I actually did better academically than ever before) and no problem giving up.
It’s a great drug for control freaks…you can feel a little out of it, but it wears off quickly, can’t really do anything except make you throw up and you’re still in control of what you’re doing, while being able to relax.
Well, if you’re going to be watching Pauly Shore anyway, you may as well … (suddenly remembers Mod warning) … NEVER CONDONE THE USE OF DRUGS OR ANY OTHER ILLEGAL ACTIVITY.
Well, it’s fun and relaxing. It’s just one of those things in college and in your 20s that goes with drinking, being in a frat, listening to Dave Matthews and doing nothing. Ahh I remember my first time at a high school party:
“no thanks man…I don’t do that…”
“…uh…it’s generally customary to not actually take a hit after saying that…”
“…oh…”
Why I never did it that much is that it makes it too easy to just sit in and do nothing.
I don’t consider myself a stoner anymore. I’ve done it maybe three times in all of 2005. But I did it all the time in 04; never daily (except for a couple of weeks when i lived in the dorm).
Why?
Introspection.
I’ve learned a great many things about myself on drugs that I was completely ignorant of before the high. I recently had a very amazingly profound night where I analyzed the last couple of years of my life and I felt that I really succeeded in pulling my head out of the sand. A lot of things in life are difficult to figure out, and sometimes it helps to see them from another angle. Which brings me to…
Experiencing things from another side.
The one common thread of every single pot high I’ve ever had is that there was something I saw in a different light every time. Sometimes it was insignificant. Sometimes it was something that wouldn’t make any sense to a sober person. But sometimes it was a major reality revealing myself to me. Honestly, I liked nitrous oxide and dextromethorphan HBr much more for that particular aspect–I thought they were more consistently effective–but marijuana’s done a lot of good things for me in that way too.
The arts.
Music and movies, man. I remember last summer when I would just kick back at home, parents out of town, smoke a bowl and turn on Trio and watch a concert or a movie about some kind of music or some kind of culture I’d never seen before. The hidden layers of depth in music and movies that weed exposes are absolutely amazing and utterly indescribable, IMO.
Social aid.
When I and all my friends were stoners, there was always something to do: get high. And we’d always come up with different things to experience high. “Man, we should get high and see X movie…” “How awesome would it be to smoke some weed and then do Y?” It was really a bonding tool, too. You meet some interesting people smoking weed…and you can always strike up a conversation with another stoner at a party. I used to be a very socially inept little kid, and the one thing that’s helped me get out of my social anxiety more than anything else ever could is marijuana. And ever since I stopped smoking pot on a regular basis I’ve felt myself continually sliding back towards being that anxious, scared, timid kid. I felt so much better about myself when I was a stoner.
Being taken on a trip upon the magic swirling ship of gañja, I sought the true nature of this sacred herb whose powers I had consciously invoked with a sort of pranayama as a magick fire ritual. Reflecting that this is the sacred herb of Shiva, I approached that lord of yogis as he sat blue-skinned, animal pelt-clad, moon-crested atop Mount Kailasa, and requested this knowledge from him.
As a friendly greeting, I said the Shaiva mantra “Bam bam bolo.” He scowled at me for this unwarranted familiarity, and I inquired as to the nature of his special herb, gañja. He demanded to know how dare I presume to mess with such heavy Shaiva matters.
I answered that I was adept at yoga.
At this he exploded into a horrific whirwind, sweeping away all in creation. I stayed still and watched the fury, unruffled. He morphed into erupting volcanoes, tidal waves, exploding stars, and finally the destruction of the universe. I understood what he was getting at, so I kept my attention steady on the question I had brought to ask him. (It was the ultimate “Hold that thought.”)
Eventually he seemed satisfied that I was the yogini I had claimed to be. So when he settled back down to his seated yoga pose, I politely asked again about the gañja. He explained that it assists in carrying out various yogic techniques of which he is the master. He told me that the yoga he had just tested me on was one example. But, he cautioned as he leaned his head in nearer and put an arm around my shoulder, gañja alone isn’t enough. You must first practice the yoga and learn it well for the gañja to bring this benefit. Putting in steady yoga practice is an investment, while enjoying its pleasure is spending from your investment.
I thanked Shiva for answering my question and as I was leaving I reflected on how a good investment will continue to grow…
