Did you quit smoking cannabis? If so, why?

I've done a little research (only a little) into cannabis and health, and not surprisingly (due to legal complications), it's difficult to get very specific answers when you drill down into specific use patterns.

For instance, I read a study that people who use cannabis 4 or more days a week experience certain harmful psychological and physical effects. I get it, and I haven't read the full study, only the mainstream press overview... but right off the bat, think about a study that describes people who "use" alcohol 4 days a week. This includes people who drink one beck's "ultra premium light" 2.3%ABV every day and people who drink a fifth of bourbon a day or worse. It wouldn't make any sense for the beck's drinker to infer much from this study.

The state of cannabis research seems very limited - again, there's a good reason for this. But what does it mean to "use" cannabis. There are CBD heavy strains that have ~3%THC, and strains that exceed 30%TCH. How much do you smoke?

Someone who takes, say, 3 drags of low THC weed twice a week is smoking the equivalent of less than cigarette every two weeks. And the psychoactive effect is likely very, very mild.

I'm also learning (post-legalization markets) that the scenario I described above is becoming quite common, so I don't think it's an edge case anymore, even if it isn't the norm.

Ultimately, unless someone describes the kind of cannabis and the frequency and dose, I can't get much out of these stories or even the more formal research.

For some people it leads to issues. Here are some of the possible issues one can encounter: depression, anxiety, loss of motivation, psychosis, low testosterone, lack of energy / motivation, loss of concentration, short-term memory loss, lung damage...

Whether or not an individual experiences any of these negative side effects will likely depend on a variety of different factors ranging from the person's personality, to their genes, their state of mental and physical health, how often they smoke, and what precisely they smoke. I'm not sure where you live or what kind of weed you smoke but a lot of weed on the streets of the US today has a dramatically higher level of THC than it did in the past. When the THC levels are much higher than the other cannabinoid compounds it increases the risk of psychosis.

So I think the bottom line here is that you need be careful and be mindful that weed is not "harmless." Growing up, we thought it was harmless because you can't overdose on it and people don't generally smoke all their money away the way some people do with other drugs. But it can still fuck you up. It just takes longer and does so in much more subtle ways.

I hope that helps you...

I used for 10 years. Some weeks I would use daily, most weeks I would use a few times, many weeks I wouldn't use at all. Always in small amounts, and only before bed. During that time, I was able to make and keep close friends, work hard in a very successful career, and meet my wonderful wife. I kept my usage a secret, except to my closest friends.

I quit because I stopped enjoying it. It eventually made me feel stupid and lazy, rather than creative and relaxed. The more I used, the more found myself getting confused or distracted at work. I felt duller. Seemingly profound ideas I had under the influence seemed ridiculous the next day. I would also feel very emotional when under the influence, with little explanation. I realized that spending so much time in this weird state was potentially detrimental to my mental health and would eventually lead to making poor judgements in consequential situations.

While it's impossible to know in hindsight the extent to which my self-medication was helpful or harmful, I'm inclined to believe it was mostly a weight around my neck for all those years. I turned out okay, but I wish I had exercised more self-control. I don't miss it at all.

Because I realised that the marketing about it being mostly harmless and the happy go lucky attitude towards it is wrong.

It was having very real, very serious negative impacts on my health.

It's an addictive drug with negative health implications and a withdrawal syndrome.

Negative effects: lung dysfunction, brain dysfunction, poor sleep/REM suppression, inability to remember what "normal" is when you're high and a lack of awareness of the negative effects until discontinuation.

Withdrawal syndrome: low mood/depression/irritability, insomnia, lack of appetite, brain fog/slowed thinking.

Additionally research has now shown that chronic daily use leads to permanent brain damage in the form of reduced reasoning ability.

It's a parasitic plant that diverts your motivation towards its own preservation and propagation. You fall in love with it while it takes away your ability to realise what's happening.

I stopped smoking because of the impact it has on lung tissue.

I instead now consume edibles, and although the high is different its still similar enough that I get the same benefits.

I do consume Sativa exclusively and recreationally.

I have ADHD and have noticed that certain symptoms of my ADHD are worse when under the influence of THC. That being said, ingesting small doses is great - the half-life is the same regardless of dose, so the effect lasts a good amount of time. Just for context I tend to consume 2.5mg of THC most of the time, and just to clarify once again, I exclusively consume Sativa, not Indica, not hybrids.

I make $700K USD a year base salary, not including other aspects of compensation. Probably over $1M with everything else. I've been working in the software industry full time since 2016. I never consume THC when I need to work, exclusively on off-days and typically during a hike or when I have time to think.

This is a throwaway since I don't really want my drug ingestion to be publicly known while there is prohibition in place. That being said I do think drugs have had a major positive impact on my life.

I quit smoking pot when it started interfering with my work. Not in a “I’m gonna get fired if I carry on smoking” way. But I was finding it if harder and harder to get in the same coding mindset when stoned and when I was sober, which lead to me rewriting code because it was like two different people were working on the same bit of code at the same time.

I was a heavy smoker back then (would roll two joints at the end of the night, one before I slept and one to “wake and bake” with) and just knocked it on the head.

I will still have a joint on special occasions (basically when I’ve been out with friends who still smoke) but I treat those times like a night of heavy drinking and try to make sure I’m not planning to work the next day as I’m not normally in the mood to code the next day being a “very very light smoker” these days I find it hits me harder these days then it used too, but that could also just be age :-p

I support decriminalization, but I'm completely against its use. It makes you less intelligent, both in the short term and long term. I've experienced it myself and seen close friends get lost in a haze of confusion, drop out of college, and mess up their lives. It's especially dangerous for teenagers and college students, which seem to be the main demographic that uses it.

Thanks for asking. I smoked or vaped basically every day for the last 15 years. Also I don't know if your username is an intentional pun or not but I appreciate it.

A few months ago, I had a come to Jesus moment with alcohol and decided to stop drinking.

A few months after that, I realized that I didn't just have an addiction to alcohol, I also had an addiction to cannabis. And in fact, I just have an addictive personality, and wanted to be free from my addictions, and free to make my own decisions.

If you really cannot go without it, you might ask yourself if that's something you want for yourself. I mean I couldn't travel to half the countries in the world because I couldn't imagine being somewhere, where I couldn't pick up.

I've only been clean for a week so far. But the mental changes in this short amount of time have been astounding. I feel as mentally awake as I was in high school before I went down this road. I actually enjoy playing video games even more now.

Robert Anton Wilson used to write about how drugs are reality tunnels that filter your perception of the world. Well, being clean is its own reality tunnel, especially after living ni a different one for so long. It is a real trip.

edit: I have to thank NA for getting me here. It's an amazing program if you can find a good group.

It just stopped being fun.

It went from being a mostly euphoric, relaxing and sensory-enhancing experience in my teens and early 20’s to one mainly characterized by anxiety and paranoia.

You can't smoke anywhere. What's the point of it being legal if almost every place has no-smoking policies, and now (in CA) they're adding explicit rules for cannabis. Unlike tobacco, you can't go to some corner or park and smoke. It's not allowed anywhere,

I had to stop because the best way to smoke, is to do it often in small amounts, but this inevitably creates a lingering smell. This is understandable but there are no alternatives to go outside either. On top of this, the stigma is still there, and non-smokers despise smokers and can't stand even smelling a particle in the air without making strange faces and throwing dirty looks.

I still have hopes it becomes like coffee, because if done properly, it stimulates productivity, it's just that most overdose (and have extreme low tolerance from non-frequent use), so they end up thinking weed makes you lazy and puts you to sleep, which is not the case if you know what you are doing.

I smoked quite a lot in my 20s and used cannabis as a tool for inspiration. However, I found it is not beneficial from a long-run perspective. My panic attacks during the trips become more regular and after several experiments with amounts, including microdosing, I reduced my cannabis intake to 2 times per year. That is the most optimal for me to not go down into addiction and still change a take a look differently at the things sometimes. I live in Sweden and it's a legal hell for those who open for experiments with substances. Even usage is illegal and it surplus more stress to the experience. Nowadays I don't use simulators a lot but insist on decriminalization of personal usage and regulation of dealing.

I learned and got better at meditation which helps me alleviate symptoms I used to smoke for, depression and anger.

Meanwhile, weed would irritate my throat. Also, my dreams are much more vivid and accessible now, while when I smoked I would rarely remember them at all.

I've used cannabis for close to 50 years, starting when I was about 12 years old. For me it's been helpful in reducing stress caused by other's bullshit, and I have been subjected to far too much of that most all my life.

Over those years I've had friends and family give me a shit ton of guff about it. One of the things I've heard a lot is "it makes you stupid" but I was always pretty far ahead of most of my classmates in school and I taught myself how to code in the 90s and have been doing that since.

In the 80s I took a lot of heat over using cannibis, and most of it came from cocaine and alcohol users. According to drinkers I was a "drug user" and they were not. The coke users kept going with the "it makes you stupid" insult, and they loved that insult.

For most of those years I was committing a crime and risking getting fired from a job and tossed into prison if I got caught possessing it, but I could've been whiskey drunk at home from Friday after work to Sunday night and never have had to worry about that. I could've been on any prescription drugs a doctor signed off on and abusing the shit out of them and not had to worry about that. And I've known a lot of people that have been.

All of that is meant to add perspective when I say that after 50 years of experience in observing this issue I believe more than anything else it is societal pressure that causes the anxiety associated with usage. The characterization of the "dumb" and "lazy" pot smoker is still how we envision users.

We might like to think we don't respond to that, but most people do because it is so deeply entrenched in us.

I quit because, among other reasons, cannabis causes me to experience major anxiety (AKA “paranoia”). I’m surprised more people don’t complain of this side effect.

I also suffer from Bipolar II, and cannabis was a contributing factor to an episode of hypomania with extremely life-damaging effects.

I was smoking relatively heavily in my early twenties (at least once a day) but drastically reduced my use when I started being serious about work. I felt like I was less sharp.

Then I had a brain infection that took years to heal(still working on the aftermath). I had heavy neurological symptoms and weed made it so much worse, so I completely stopped. The infection kinda traumatized me and the symptoms were not so far from cannabis consumption : brain fog, memory loss, problem with diction and focus, vertigo and nausea... So now I have absolutely no intention of smoking again since it will remind me of when I was at the worst.

I don't regret the years I smoked tho, I laughed so much with my friends. I'm just glad this is behind me.

I went from smoking daily in my early 20s, slowing down then finally completely stopping by 30. It wasn't even a conscious decision either, it just happened. When cannabis was legalized here I went to the store and bought some for the whole "its legal now, yay!" experience. I smoked a bit but never finished it. The best way I can describe it is: I have the same feelings towards smoking as how one feels when they are depressed about fun/social activities, only I'm not depressed, I'm just busy doing other things.

I've quit keeping it on hand and won't buy more than can be consumed within a single day. The dose makes the poison. Nothing good comes out of being constantly stoned.

I’m really on the edge. I’ve smoked pretty regularly for the past 5 years. On the one hand, it helped me reduce anxiety and to be a more sociable person. I was on heavy medication for depression and anxiety, one essentially causing the other. It made me into a zombie. Marijuana allowed me to not only get out of bed, and do my job, but also leave the house and be a sociable person with others, and make strides to be more sociable in general.

I’m off the medication now, and I’m finding marijuana is pulling me really down. I want to stop, but the feelings of euphoria and happiness that marijuana creates, is a really hard thing to quit.

My wife on the other hand, is a high energy, ADHD software engineer. She uses it to calm her brain so she can sleep at night. I use it to stimulate my brain out of anxiety induced paralysis.

I wish I could quit. It’s expensive. I got excited because my state is undergoing changes in their law and I thought hey we could grow. But I’m worried about that dependency, and I would really prefer to live without it.

All that to say, I’m just not sure. It’s not as easy to swap one thing that gives you joy, with something else. I do think it is very dependency inducing, and addicting for heavy users.

I only quit when I notice I am smoking too often. My sweet spot is once a week to relax, listen to some music and take my mind off everything.

I also eat pretty clean most the week so eat a good meal the night I smoke. That hits the reset button for me.

I don't know how you would study such a thing but I can imagine it is not healthy to not have a reset button.

You can't hit the reset button everyday though or it will stop resetting.

Yeah, from daily smoking in my 20s at home and with coworkers over a few years it eventually just wasn’t enjoyable anymore. I had a lot of anxiety and paranoia and was fairly antisocial by the end of a few years. It kind of just phased out own its own. I do drink a beer most evenings now in my 30s and that fits much better although I know isn’t healthy.

I quit because it gave me extreme panic attacks, and because I have PTSD from having a major health episode while stoned. I miss the headspace, it was easier to get into a creative flow and see things differently, but I was fed up with feeling like I'm dying while I waited for it to level out.

Yes. It was fun in my early 20’s when hanging out with friends, but at some point it just started making me very paranoid.

That said, everyone has a different experience. I know plenty of happy, productive people who smoke and plenty who don’t. I think it’s up to you to figure out what works for you.

Was going great, well integrated into daily and/or weekly life. Could go on fun binges and remind myself what too much was like every once in a while and have a silly 'nap day', then not do that again for a while.

Then, I had a kid. I'll probably pick it up again when the little knee biter is a bit more independent.

Overall I feel I made the right move in terms of drug of choice. Infinite LD-50, tame overdose curve, minimal withdrawal symptoms (heck sometimes I even forgot to smoke/vape/edible for weeks at a time). And thankfully I never got the anxiety or paranoia some complain about, much. All I needed to do was watch the dose, the set and setting.

10 year user. After a devastating diagnosis for a parent happened, it started to give me very intense anxiety when I used. It was almost immediately after the bad news and I haven't been able to go back to it even in small doses.

Yes. When I used cannabis I would be insensitive and make stupid mistakes. When I was withdrawing from it it would make my head hurt to listen to people. Neither was good for my character.

Yeah. Quit for the sake of not doing any psychoactive substances (including caffeine) for a couple of months, but I've never been a regular smoker anyways.

I do this regularly to generally detox.

There have been studies of it influencing testosterone in men. My levels have never been very high (around middle of the range) and now as I'm >40 I try to limit things that negatively influence the levels. Here's one study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5660879/

Smoked almost daily for about 12 years. Ran out, didn’t feel like going out in a blizzard to get more. Was snowed in for about a week. The detox was nice, didn’t buy more. I have some now and one or twice a week I’ll do a one hitter, but I use to smoke multiple times a day, and the effect of severely reducing my intake had a really positive effect on my anxiety and depression

I started vaping in my almost 30s to cope with depression and insomnia induced by living with tiny crying adorable babies and no family support whatsoever.

It worked great as a way to relax, enjoy some anime / movies / youtube and then fall asleep after everyone in the house quieted the f down. Your tastebuds on weed are an amazing experience as well. I also managed to vape with friends a few times, which was fun.

I got a vaporiser because I care about my health and didn't want to smoke paper. Very little smell, no effect on walls, easy to operate.

The only annoyance was having to use the black market to buy it which implies firing up tails, transferring bitcoins / monero, hoping the guy won't flat out scam you or that your package would be stopped. Basically the buying process wasn't stress free, so after a couple of years I just decided I wouldn't buy it anymore. The high stress points was also on the way down so I was a bit more relaxed.

I still vape if I'm somewhere where it's legal and I would definitely vape every once and then if it were legal in my country.

After a couple of years of almost daily use I stopped cold turkey and nothing happened. I was worried I would have problems with falling asleep but that didn't happen.

After 2 more years I started being stressed again (for work reasons) and I had trouble with sleep again. I self cured it with a beer every once and then (which is as much a depressant as weed). I'm not happy about the extra calories and I'm not happy about how mild and less relaxing it is - but it's easier to buy than weed.

Because it’s really hurting your brain, your mood, your life.

Though it’s hard to notice from inside, because pot takes also your focus (as opposed to cigarettes or other drugs) and critical thinking away.

Despite all that bullshit, marketing world is trying to sell you.

Ive checked myself - it is as harmful and as addictive as any other popular drug like tobacco etc.

You mentioned that cannabis helped or helps with your migraines. Can you elaborate a bit on this? How did you figure out which strains help (and which specific ones), dosage, flower, edibles, etc .. Does it help as a preventative, or an abortive? Does the efficacy wane over time, forcing you to up the dosage?

I couldn’t find strains that reliably gave me a body high (I have near constant pain) without giving me anxiety or doping me up. I prefer microdosing psilocybin, and partaking in strong hallucinogenics in religious ceremonies every few months or so instead.

I've quit smoking for long periods a couple times- when I worked for a boss who was so smart, I simply couldn't keep up (and even after I stopped it took 2 months to recover), and when I first had a kid.

I returned to smoking (well, vaping oils).

What strains are you using? Each one has a different effect. Some Lazy, some hyper active some hughly creative and some highly spacey.

If you are smoking just any weed you are getting some random effect that may or may not work for you.

Not quite a answer: I don't smoke cannabis in the first place because it was hard enough to quit regular cigarette smoking. I don't want to do anything similar ever again.

I just don't smoke when I need to be productive. The idea that marijuana makes you unmotivated is not news to anyone. It's certainly no reason to stop entirely.

I don't smoke pot, but some of my coworkers did and they were always happy. Can anyone comment is this happiness is due to pot or they were just happier people.

Smoked daily for 4 years then moved to Germany. Weed is costly here approx 10 Euro per Gram.

Beer is cheap and you can buy good quality German beer for 1-1.5 Euro per 500ml bottle

It just got too hard with workplace drug testing - urine testing that tests for a metabolite, rather than the intoxicant, and can show +ve up to six weeks after.

I don't smoke at all. I cannot see how that is healthy for any part of pulmonary health.

I moved to a state where it’s illegal, can’t be arsed to find a dealer, and I tend to abuse it to the point of mental health issues. That said, I still think it’s a wondrous substance and will always rabidly support its legalization.

No. Nothing changed.

Everyone going on about lung disease when you can just vaporize it or use edibles. Edibles are tricky since you can either add too much or too little so you get an unexpected high.

Vaporizing doesn't produce harsh carcinogenic smoke and it's the best way to consume cannabis IMHO. By not combusting the plant material, you use less of it to get high and it's better bang for your buck. You can make 25g of hashish last 6 months if you want to.