by pongle » Fri 06 May 2005, 10:18:54
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Nano', 'A')s a Dutch student, I smoked weed almost daily for about 10 years. (from age 17 to 27) Overall I'm not unhappy with that, but looking back I realise: What was I thinking? Those were certainly years where I did almost nothing to improve my overal situation, and that was a waste of valuable time. I managed to take care of the most important things: namely getting a good education and a good job, so I can't complain. Question is: Where would I be if I had never smoked weed? Probably even better-off!!!
And yes, I do know several people who I believe have problems due to excessive smoking of weed. However, the danger of smoking weed is certainly far, far less than the danger of doing hard drugs like cocaine, crack and herione. That stuff really destroyes the soul, while weed just tweaks it abit while leaving practically no long-term damage. I'd say excessive weed smoking is LESS dangerous than excessive alcohol use, for the mind and the body, to put things in perspective.
Oh and one more thing: Smoking weed CAN be addictive. Really! I've seen it! However, once someone decides he's had enough of it, quiting smoking weed turns out to be no problem at all. It just needs a relatively small lifestyle-change, in my experience with other people who decided to stop.
In view of Peak Oil my sincere recommendation would be: stop smoking weed! You'll need that boost of sharpness to the mind, and the smokin' days of wonder, dreams and laziness should be behind you for good.
I agree on most of your points. I smoked daily for 1,5 years, and in retrospect, I probably should have used more restraint.. I developed some mostly transient social/mental problems around that time, the weed was not the only reason for the problems (loneliness was the biggest reason), but it may have exacerbated them. Kids, don't sulk and smoke
But I don't think the decision to smoke or not should necessarily be binary, I mean it is possible to smoke a bit on special occasions or a couple times a month. I actually see it as beneficial for me to toke up and contemplate sometimes, and keeping it at that is not hard anymore; I've experienced what it is like when I smoke all the time and I dont want to do it again. But i occasionally wish to switch to the different perspective to life. I think thats the best part of it, but it gets wasted (no pun intended) when smoking all the time; there is no contrast to the ordinary.