As promised - here's the Prankster's view....
I've been doing drugs for about 35 years , and pot was one of the first that I ever did. I've smoked it most of my life, and I believe pot to be the least physically harmful of all drugs. There has not been *one single death* as a direct result of marijuana ingestion. It is not toxic - and if used occasionally, or even regularly, the most damaging effect is actually putting smoke (of any kind) into your lungs. But then again - you don't have to smoke it to enjoy it - you can eat it - or use the evaporators that give you all the fun stuff that smoking it does - but without any actual smoke to irritate your lungs.
Pot is not physically addicting. That is to say you will not experience actual *physical* withdrawal symptoms if you stop suddenly - no matter how long you have smoked it, or in what quantities.
Pot is one of the most diverse medicines offered by nature. It's finally being recognized as such, and while not exactly advertized, is used legally in many long term and terminal illnesses as an alternative to, or as an adjunct to other medications. It is excellent in combating nausea of all kinds - and helps cancer patients deal with chemotherapy. It is an appetite stimulant, also useful in cancer patients, anorexics, and so on. It is a tremendous painkiller - not in the way that the Opiates are, but in a way that helps one get more 'in tune' or comfortable with pain, and provides insight into natural pain relief therapy (Yoga, Tai-Chi, etc.). It is helpful to those suffering insomnia and other sleep disorders. It is (usually) quite calming, and can help people with anxiety avoid taking horrifically addicting drugs like Benzodiazepines. It can be helpful for those suffering narcotic or other withdrawal. The list just goes on forever – a never-ending list of good things to say about the pot plant.
Let's not forget that you can make food of all kinds from it, fuels more environmentally friendly than fossil fuels, clothing and all sorts of other biodegradable materials, and oh yeah...
It gets you high, too.
So in prelude to answering the actual question asked, I'd like to make it clear that I believe in Pot (for those of you who are not already blindingly aware of this premise, given my effervescent, nay, *explosive* exuberance there-over). I have used and abused pretty much everything - and I am and have been a devoted psychonaut for over three decades - but while I believe completely in the enormous benefits that can be derived from the tryptamines and phenethylamines, marijuana is the *only* drug that I actually advocate. I think it's good for you - and I believe that it is the only drug to which there is really no downside.
HOWEVER!!
There is a saying "Guns don't kill people - People kill people". My maxim in this area is "Drugs don't kill people - people kill themselves". Moderation is something that we as a species tend to lack, and the other old adage goes "Too much of anything can be bad for you".
With pot we do not see the devastation and destruction that is the wake of so many other drugs. No-one gets 'sick' from lack of pot. There is no delirium tremens or cold turkey, risk of death or any physical danger of any kind associated with pot 'withdrawal'. And due to this seemingly 'harmless' aspect of pot use - even abuse - even *chronic* abuse - heavy pot smokers tend to think that no harm is being done.
And this is where it all links back to that question "What do you want to do with your life?" as it relates to pot (ab)use.
I, personally, have a totally healthy relationship with pot - and I have smoked it for 35 years. I enjoy it immensely - pretty much every time I do it. It doesn't really matter what it is that I am doing - whether I’m listening to music or dancing (I love dancing on pot), playing music, singing - doing Yoga, Tai-Chi, twirling Bo-Sticks, meditating, swimming, hiking. Pot enhances it for me, and in some ways makes me better at whatever it is I am doing. As an artist it can make me more creative, in my intellect it can make me more refined. I enjoy movies more when high on pot, sex a *lot* more, creative writing is improved, I'm a better cook, and enjoy my food more. While I might, like anyone, get lost while on a complex thought that I am verbalizing, I just as often find my linguistic expression is enhanced. I would have to say that when I have smoked pot, I am more entertaining and entertained - I am smarter, not dumber - more creative, not less - more careful, not reckless. Just better! In almost every way.
But I think the reason for this is that I am not addicted to it (as in psychological addiction). I can take it or leave it - and often I choose to leave it - even if I have it on me. I can go a day or two without smoking - or I can go a week or two - even a month or two (but I see no reason to do that other than to prove a point - or if I have no money to buy it). I probably smoke an average of an ounce every 3 - 6 months. Sometimes, if the situation is right, I will smoke several times a day - but generally not for more than a few days at a time.
When it runs out I do not panic. I do not do other drugs in *place* of pot (although sometimes I will do pot in place of other drugs that are not around). I would say 50% of the time I smoke pot is pain related I have some nerve damage that causes me pain that can't be treated physically). I *never* abuse it - for me there is no such thing - I do not have a 'habit' (as in there is no predictable nature to my pot smoking - I can't say I do it so many times per day/week/month). I have a perfect relationship with it - as I don't have an addictive 'attachment' to it. I don't do it to 'escape' the moment - I do it to 'enhance' the moment, not to disguise it.
So what's the scoop with this then? Firstly, I am *not* a saint. I am a drug addict - and have been for most of my life - there are some drugs that I can *never* do again – and others that I have a tenuous relationship with – at best. So this is not “look at me! Aren't I great?” I'm just as fucked up as the next guy - just as weak-willed - just as reckless - just as greedy - maybe more. My point is only that pot is the *one* drug that I *don't* have a problem with. And because of that, maybe I can shed some light on the question posed - and if I were to paraphrase the question as I understand it, it would read:
Does smoking pot regularly or excessively negatively affect motivation?
I have a friend who is as addicted to pot as I am not. He smokes 30 joints a day - spends nearly a grand a month on pot - and cannot go an hour before totally freaking out and needing to smoke. He's more addicted to pot than I am to cigarettes. It's the first thing he does in the morning and the last thing he does at night. Life is the thing that happens in between joints. He is one of the few *true* pot addicts that I have known. It is an addiction that is psychologically as crippling - or even more-so than opiate addiction for him. He has to be stoned *all* the time. The thing is, when you smoke that much pot, you become pretty much immune to the good stuff (like the way it *enhances* everything for me - every time), and almost all that is left, after the psychological relief of having had his smoke, is the 'bad' stuff.
I have known this guy all my life. He is an intelligent, funny, highly driven person by nature - a natural leader - a 'do-er' - a man of accomplishment. When he does not smoke pot (He went straight for a year 2 years ago) he changed so much. He was light, energetic, enthusiastic, driven, and dependable. He lived more in that year than in the ten years preceding it. But his life is again a struggle to come up with the money to afford his habit. He is constantly depressed. Even if I help him clarify his thoughts to the point where he knows what he has to do to get his life back on track - he's no longer able to even *fake* the effort. Other than work the job that he must in order to survive - he does almost nothing else, other than skin up a joint, and skin the next one while smoking the first, while worrying about running out of it later in the day.
He has become totally paranoid, to the point where even in his own home, you can't mention the word 'pot', in case someone hears (like from half a mile away). He is completely anti-social, and this will never change while he is addicted to pot.
It sounds almost crazy to me to say something like “addicted to pot” – for me this is just not within the realm of possibility. I’m sure there are a bunch of pot smokers who really envy me – like I envy the guy who can smoke an occasional cigarette at a party, but is not addicted to it. But as I mentioned – I am not touting this as a virtue – like I’m-so-cool-because-I-can-smoke-pot-and-not-be-addicted-to-it. If you’re going to fuck up on a drug, better pot than anything else – because with Pot – you can always quit without physical suffering– and your body won’t have been irreparably ravaged by toxic chemicals.
So I guess what I am trying to say – is that while I *truly* believe in pot – I think it is a *good* thing – that too much of it, too often, is not only not good for you – it *is* in fact actually bad for you. Not in the physiological sense – but in that realm of motivation – focus – precision – ‘greatness’. It all seems to be good up to a certain point (I think one of the warning lights of that point is when you start smoking a joint before lunchtime on a regular basis). Then there’s kind of a trip-switch. One day you ‘re like me – smoking to enhance things – able to walk away from it (even if you miss it) – and the next it’s practically an obsession – where smoking pot becomes more important than the things you do on it. When the *smoking* becomes the focus – that’s the point at which your entire mental condition is being compromised. After this there is nothing new. It’s a habit. It’s no longer fun – it’s necessary.
I think – from observing others *and* myself (sure, I have gone on pot benders) – that once you hit this relationship with it – all of those magnificent things that are Marijuana are lost – or most of them. Another dead give-away as to whether someone is smoking too much pot is a) when they get defensive about smoking it and b) when they start telling you how little they are smoking. I believe that over time, this behavior, like any, becomes entrenched – and you become stuck at in that headspace – at that stage of emotional development – that your productivity, while adequate, is only adequate – your motivation, while there, is only idling – your drive, while identifiable, is weak – and your life, and the way you feel about it, stops expanding, and will not amount to more than ‘satisfactory’.
You can coast there, for weeks, months, years. You will not be doing any really serious damage to your body, and if you stop for 6 months, you can reclaim what you may have lost – but in general – once people reach this place in their relationship with pot – it is unlikely to change.
The moral of the story…
Don’t smoke too much pot on a regular basis – and enjoy the wonders that Mother Nature’s Child has to offer.
At least that’s my Story - and I’m sticking to it!
. I do try my very hardest to smoke only at night on weekdays, after work and the gym each day.
