4 ms·

This. I have no judgement and plenty of my own demons (alcohol). That said, the swing in my lifetime on marijuana legalization (as one example) is telling. Fro

This. I have no judgement and plenty of my own demons (alcohol). That said, the swing in my lifetime on marijuana legalization (as one example) is telling. From “smoke the devil’s lettuce and put your baby in the microwave” to “it’s natural, there are no negatives whatsoever” is very troubling. There is no free lunch and there absolutely are negative effects with all of these substances. Of course alcohol is the reigning champ for damage to society but marijuana, etc is creeping in with much less dramatic fashion.

tayo42 4y ago
In what way is that happening?
- kkielhofner 4y ago
  Cannabis and other popular psychoactive drugs (including alcohol, of course) have impact on everything from the dopamine reward system to fundamental perception. If you take a few shots at 9 AM everyday few people will debate whether you have an alcohol misuse disorder and how problematic it is. Alcohol does it’s job - pumps your reward system and alters your perception of reality. More and more, if you wake up at 9 AM and take a gummy, hit an incredibly high THC vape, etc it’s called medicine. While it won’t kill you and destroy your life as efficiently and ruthlessly as alcohol will I think there are fundamental issues and lasting effects from hacking dopamine rewards and using psychoactive substances to alter your reality. The biggest difference here is how directly toxic alcohol is to the body (liver, brain, heart). Marijuana and others are substantially better from a “your body will physically give out from this” standpoint but that’s a low bar. At one point in my life I was prescribed what I later learned to understand was an incredibly high dose of Klonopin. Drugs that bang on dopamine, GABA, etc are a sledge hammer for “life is suffering” the Buddha talked about. By the way, I‘ve met a lot of people with poly drug addiction issues and they respond to my klonopin experience with shock and amazement. FWIW it’s worth I fairly quickly realized the impact this sledge hammer hack was having on my life and quit it cold turkey. Now I know I could have died from it but I’m happy to be back to reality and process the struggle that is life with a scalpel instead of a sledge hammer.
kredd 4y ago
In Canada, everything seems to be fine despite it being legal for a few year now? People who smoked up, still smoke, people who didn’t still don’t. Really depends on culture and how things are being legalized, obviously. I don’t think any reasonable person says it has no negatives, but it’s just being treated as alcohol.
- naasking 4y ago
  More people smoke/ingest THC now than did before legalization, but drinking also dropped after legalization. Time will tell which is better, but certainly the short term after-effects from THC are far more pleasant than those from alcohol.
Ingaz 4y ago
I had the same demons in past. It's highly individual so can't be recommended but for me switching to: - first to flupirtine which is legal in my country. It has "liver toxicity" but .. ha! comparing to alcohol it's less toxic - and then to some ..khm.. illegal drugs worked.

tayo42 4y ago

In what way is that happening?

kkielhofner 4y ago
Cannabis and other popular psychoactive drugs (including alcohol, of course) have impact on everything from the dopamine reward system to fundamental perception. If you take a few shots at 9 AM everyday few people will debate whether you have an alcohol misuse disorder and how problematic it is. Alcohol does it’s job - pumps your reward system and alters your perception of reality. More and more, if you wake up at 9 AM and take a gummy, hit an incredibly high THC vape, etc it’s called medicine. While it won’t kill you and destroy your life as efficiently and ruthlessly as alcohol will I think there are fundamental issues and lasting effects from hacking dopamine rewards and using psychoactive substances to alter your reality. The biggest difference here is how directly toxic alcohol is to the body (liver, brain, heart). Marijuana and others are substantially better from a “your body will physically give out from this” standpoint but that’s a low bar. At one point in my life I was prescribed what I later learned to understand was an incredibly high dose of Klonopin. Drugs that bang on dopamine, GABA, etc are a sledge hammer for “life is suffering” the Buddha talked about. By the way, I‘ve met a lot of people with poly drug addiction issues and they respond to my klonopin experience with shock and amazement. FWIW it’s worth I fairly quickly realized the impact this sledge hammer hack was having on my life and quit it cold turkey. Now I know I could have died from it but I’m happy to be back to reality and process the struggle that is life with a scalpel instead of a sledge hammer.

kredd 4y ago

In Canada, everything seems to be fine despite it being legal for a few year now? People who smoked up, still smoke, people who didn’t still don’t. Really depends on culture and how things are being legalized, obviously. I don’t think any reasonable person says it has no negatives, but it’s just being treated as alcohol.

naasking 4y ago
More people smoke/ingest THC now than did before legalization, but drinking also dropped after legalization. Time will tell which is better, but certainly the short term after-effects from THC are far more pleasant than those from alcohol.

Ingaz 4y ago

I had the same demons in past. It's highly individual so can't be recommended but for me switching to: - first to flupirtine which is legal in my country. It has "liver toxicity" but .. ha! comparing to alcohol it's less toxic - and then to some ..khm.. illegal drugs worked.