[LiquidPolymer]

I'm not much of a user myself, but my two brothers were heavy users and the difference between how it affected them was profound.

One brother seemed to need weed to function daily. He struggled at school, never got a real job, and smoked weed every waking hour. He was hitting the bong first thing in the morning. I think he eventually got bored with weed and started using other drugs including prescription pain killers. He became paranoid and psychotic and eventually started pointing guns at police officers. He is now dead sadly, and I wonder every day if I could have intervened in a meaningful way to prevent this.

The other brother is smart. Engineer smart. He designs his own motorcycle racing mods, built an e-commerce site for a Harley Davidson dealership which eventually took over as the principal money earner for the business (until Harley cracked down on 3rd party sellers). When he smoked weed it seemed to quiet his mind and even inspire him - he could work for an inhuman number hours once properly loaded with THC. His boss new he was a regular user and tipped him whenever a random drug test was in the works. Then one day, my brother deliberately failed the test. At that point he seemed to have a mental breakdown and his life has been in a downward spiral ever since. He lives in a school bus with all the seats removed (no other mods). He struggles with poverty.

My general attitude is that THC should be legal, but it is not as harmless as advertised. Occasional recreational use seems fine, but some people who use it to self-medicate may eventually have a reckoning. I still say THC is less harmful than alcohol.

[tonetegeatinst]

Personally, I don't smoke....but my freshman year roommates did. One of them smoked it rolled up but I think he moved onto vapes I think....I can't remember as I didn't really care what they did with it and I personally just didn't want any. They both were active students, were not letting their grades slip up, and seemed to be able to balance any negatives of smoking, but I also know that that's not the same for everyone.

I smoke a cigar, probably a few (<10 a year on average) and I mainly have those when I'm celebrating a major event like passing finals or finishing personal projects. Cigars help me a bit but I can't stand the after smell, so I personally wash everything immediately and shower and brush my teeth.

I might try weed if it ever became unregulated to the level that tobacco or liquor is, when its not a felony or even mistonomener(can't figure out how to spell this word) even if I did find pleasure in it, I wouldn't use it more than 2 times. I know some people swear it helps them function better, but iv also seen some people who lose motivation and become less of themselves....they seem to lose focus of goals in life, they seem to have memory issues etc.

I'm doubtful weed is as bad as it is classified....but I also don't think its some cure all without these negative side effects. The modern movement seems to talk about how harmless it is, but I feel like they don't recognise that it can be harmful just like drinking.