[glennonymous]

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.

[tenfourwookie]

The paranoia inducing effects can be very therapeutic, especially for people who suffer from paranoia and anxiety in general.

You can ask your doctor for a drug that allows you to increase or decrease paranoia at your leisure. He would probably look at you like you're insane before saying “No, I have no such drug.” But he does: marijuana.

But he wouldn't prescribe a drug that induces paranoia to cure paranoia, unless he's thinking desensitization.

This sounds counterintuitive, but that's how marijuana cured me of anxiety. I became desensitized to being paranoia while stoned, so desensitized that the “paranoia stopped making me paranoid”: “Oh! I'm just being paranoid! It's the weed.*

What surprised me was that this effect followed me whether I was stoned or not.

My anxiety got drastically better, cured almost, and it's because marijuana gave me control over paranoia by exposing me to it over and over and over, desensitizing me: Smoke a lot, really paranoid. Smoke a little, a little paranoid. Smoke nothing, not paranoid.

“Hey, Mom, look! I can turn the paranoia on or off whenever I want to! Now I'm in control, it doesn't control me.”

I essentially cured myself of paranoia by using marijuana as a paranoia desensitization tool.

And you absolutely can desensitize yourself to marijuana's paranoia inducing effects. You do become accustomed to the experience, and it won't bother nearly as much as it might have before.

You can also be very selective about the strains you consume. Heavy sativas induce paranoia as consistently as heavy indicas induce the munchies.

[herbst]

Some In this thread do, you surely aren't alone with that.

I know only very few people who had this, and I only ever experienced it myself when I got to strong or not washed (fertilizer) cannabis. I wonder if it has to do more with the strains than THC itself.

But then again afaik bipolar are within those having the biggest risk for mental issues from THC.

[tenfourwookie]

High THC sativas consistently cause paranoia. Just like heavy indicas consistently cause the munchies.

[glennonymous]

In my case, I experienced high anxiety no matter what strain I smoked, and I smoked a wide variety of different strains.

[anotherevan]

Curious if edible vs. smoking makes a difference with this?

I was under the impression (having zero experience) that edible was less likely to incur negative side-effects due to something, something, smoking unlocks more bad something, something. (Quite possibly read that in some alarmist something, something.)

[BrianOnHN]

Were you supplementing omegas at the time?