Yeah, i know what you mean.
I don't suffer too badly from cannabis-induced anxiety, but it can have the effect of taking me from feeling confident, and that everything is alright - to an overwhelming sense of over-analysis of myself and the world around me, almost instantly.
I am quite restrained with my consumption these days. I spent most of my 20s and a fair chunk of the latter half of my teens stoned all the time.
It is one drug that - for me at least - fits that old less is more adage perfectly. The less i consume, the more high i get when i do.
I think i've only bought weed 3 times in the last year. Which is great, because it used to be an "essential" part of my monthly budget.
Picked up some the other day though, a nice half ounce which i had a look at when i got home, and it was just two massive buds.
Nice.
Weed for me these days is more of a sleep-inducing agent than anything else.
I've had insomnia my whole life, but i find that if it gets to about 2am and i'm still wide awake, i'll go hit the vape a few times, go back to bed and sleep well.
When i was younger, it was more of a "wake and bake" or "smoke up before leaving the house" kinda guy.
I like that i've been able to completely modify my use - and still get a lot of benefit from it.
It also helps to have access to the right strain for the job you want it to do. This is still a bit of a luxury for us Aussies, but my main source has a grower that does crops of 'Blueberry', along with 'AK-47' and the occasional 'Super-Skunk'.
I love the blueberry because it is so sedating. Having had longterm sleep problems - and issues with benzo addiction - it's great to have a drug that i can use to get sleepy that isn't dangerous or side-effect inducing. No next-day blackouts or bullshit like that.
But it can certainly skew your outlook towards paranoia at times. Conversely, it can shift me from a bad mood to a good one quite effectively too.
While i wish the world was more accepting of psychedelics generally - i am pleased that cannabis law reform has been taking place in certain parts of the world (or at least, parts of the USA).
I'd love to see more people coming out saying "psilocin should be legalised" and such - but weed is a good start, i guess.
Hell, it's going to be 20 years since my first toke, later this year - and while i've had periods of non-smoking, and periods of over-indulging in cannabis - it is still such a versatile and useful drug to me.
Not so much a novelty any more, but it suits me more than other drugs do. Very few of my friends smoke weed - and most of them drink booze, but i'm much happier just to have a bit of weed at a gig or a party - it's a drug that i generally find really manageable.
Yeah, you can overdo it, and you can get The Fear - but at this point it is just a useful substance for me.
But i like having self-imposed breaks, too. Went about 6 months without, last year.
More clarity, and greatly enhanced effects when i do end up having a toke.