What does Marijuana do to you?

I have tried it twice, and neither time did I experience any effects other than a very dry mouth, and those I tried it with (being far more experienced than I) assured me I had been doing it right. As such, I have never experienced its effects personally, but those friends of mine who have described a very poetic sense of lucidity.

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/drugs-alcohol/marijuana3.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana

It can effect people differently. How it works in the body depends on how the person is using it (smoking, eating, etc). What effect it has depends on how their body processes it (how their body responds to the chemicals). The quality of the product also plays a role in all of that (if it’s cut with anything else, etc).

I rolled it into a joint. Take a lighter and light it. I inhale the smoke. I finish the joint. I feel high after the first inhale. It hits me in about 7 seconds. I feel light headed with heightened senses; particularly with my vision. I notice things that I normally would not when sober. I have more of happiness with my surroundings especially when outside in nature. I often laugh. My heart does race too. Sometimes my body shakes a lot especially if I am cold. This is because marijuana lowers your blood pressure and your heart races to get more blood throughout the body. Often I get lost in my head and do not like the feeling if I have had too much

The last time I tried it—30 or so years ago—it made me feel stupid and uncoordinated. That’s pretty much how I feel most of the time anyway, so I’ve never toked again.

I have only tried it about half a dozen times and the effects have been different each time. The second time was the best, it was Christmas and I became very aware of the details in everything I was seeing. I remember staring at the coloured lights on the tree and the reflections on the tinsel. I felt as if I was looking at this for the first time. I kept looking at the textures and the colours in complete fascination.

I have tried it since without any noticeable effect apart from feeling dull and slow and losing all sense of time.

It messes with your head, and it can trigger psychological disorders like psychosis. You shouldn’t do it, no good comes from it.

It makes you ask a bunch of questions about your health on anonymous online question and answer sites.

Marijuana messes with my blood sugar levels (which is why it gives people “the munchies”). Other than that, the effect on me is just a sense of relaxed, detached numbness.

When I start laughing under the influence of marijuana I don’t stop….ever.

It makes me feel like I’m high.

It has a very calming and relaxing effect on my body. Helps with headaches and menstrual cramps. It also helps me sleep. I’m a restless sleeper.

Makes me horny.

Everything seems to be funny, and I giggle and I stop thinking.

But I’ll also become ravenously hungry. Hide that pizza, yo.

I find it’s different depending on how you smoke it. 99/100 times I just pack a bowl….I can’t roll joints so unless I’m with someone else, it’s not happening. Depending on the weed, I feel high after 2 or 3 hits. For the first hour or so I am fascinated by everything, I am laughing at everything, I wanna just go outside and lay in the grass and stare at the sky and be happy. After that initial fantastic hour is up, that’s when munchies usually kick in for me. And sometimes it is really bad. I, again, think it depends on the weed. I don’t know how that makes sense but the last kind I had, oh man it was BAD. I went through so much food over those few weeks. But on a more general note, I will have at least one snack. Usually two or three, depending on what’s in the house, lol. But meanwhile, if I smoke a joint, I am a wreck. I can’t control myself or speak in coherent sentences. It’s usually just a bit too much. I mean, I still enjoy myself, but at the same time I can also be a little embarrassed by myself lol.

I think it’s really interesting how different weeds affect you differently. Like, I absolutely loved this one kind I had a few months ago. Every time I’d smoke I would have ONE (never two, never none) huuuuge laughing fit. Where I laughed until I was weezing and crying…it never failed. I loved it.

Lately I have been smoking indicas and getting really burnt out if I take more than 3 hits. Then my head feels full and I feel like shit until the burnout goes away in an hour or two. Yuck.

On another note, it helps immensely with menstrual cramps, headaches, stomach aches, and heartburn. But, when I have a migraine, it makes it worse. Weird.

Play by play? Here we go.

First I get fairly giddy, what you would call the typical pot experience, I think. After 15 minutes, I begin to become more self-aware, and not in a good way. 30 minutes, and I am in all-out state of self-consciousness and want to be alone, to do what, I don’t know. 45 minutes and I am craving chocolate and tacos and the thought of ever answering any existential questions vanishes. Then I eat and eat and eat for the next hour or until I feel I am sufficiently normal again.

Happy, peaceful, love everything about life, hungry. But it has different effects on people. And I would start a fight with some of the people on here and prove them wrong about bad things happening but I don’t feel like it.

@lemming Pot, like any drug, effects every user differently depending on their own body chemistry. Some people can drink a cup of coffee and be wired for an hour, others will be able to fall asleep right after drinking it. Same thing with pot – some people can’t handle it, some people can.

I just wanted to warn this young man that pot, too, can be a dangerous drug, especially for young people, and I’m glad I did because after reading all that he would probably be seeking out his local stoners. I know some people aren’t affected by it at all.

I wish I could have the euphoric/happy/horny experience that others do. My play-by-play matches @ladymia69 up ‘til the “I want to be alone”. That takes over.

I become extremely socially paranoid: Why are they all laughing? Did I say something stupid? Why are my fingers so long? What is the word for that thing over there? Oh, door. Now they’re all laughing again. I’m an idiot. I’m so stupid. I’m dying. Nobody cares.

No thanks. I like being around people who enjoy smoking and catch a contact high, but I haven’t smoked for 5 years and don’t intend to.

Nobody has described it better than the late, great Carl Sagan (may his soul become one with the cosmos).

For me personally, the most interesting effects can be traced to how it changes your perception of time. Time seems to slow down. This completely changes how you experience music, movies, humor, how you hold your attention, and other stuff. I wouldn’t say it helps you “focus” exactly, but I do find I’m less prone to multitasking and able to enjoy works of art.

Helps me sleep
Helps my fibromyalgia
Helps my headaches
Makes me laugh
Gets me high

It’s both medicinal and recreational* Sorry, I’m high.

Marajuana kills a bunch of brain cells.

Makes me feel good.
Happy.
Stupid things are funny.
Everything looks more vibrant.
I see more colors.
Hear thing sometimes.
Get the meantest munchies.
Cotton mouth.
Get sleepy.
And have some awesome lucid dreams :)
I’ve once got high, drunk, and took shrooms all at once.
...Now THAT was a trip.

It gets ya “folded”.

@gorgeousgal3 Even as much as I dislike pot, even I cannot attest to that – research only suggests that it weakens the axons or nerve endings of neurons, resulting in a “dopey” like affect over time. Effects the regularity of the CNS – fiddles with neurotransmitters and such.

That’s all I’ve got.

I’ll let you know after I finish rolling.

First, I become more aware of my breathing, and I start actively taking longer, smoother breaths. Then I begin to appreciate the details in the scenery around me more. Colors get more vivid, smells more alluring, music more appealing. This is usually followed by the tendency of my thought process to meander a bit more than usual, the need to voice my opinions and participate in more active conversation with those around me, and the munchies. Then, if I’m really stoned, I just need to get up and groove until I’m too exhausted to move.

Also of note, I have one friend who, when stoned, starts “time diving” as he calls it. He sort of retreats into his own head, completely amused and self sustained. Then, after usually 10–12 minutes of inaction he’ll look around and say, “Quick, what time is it?” Then he’ll giggle at how long a “dive” he just took and repeat the process.

I can understand that would get paranoid the first time. I remember the first time I hit a bong, and became significantly more stoned than any of my previous experiences. The first thing I did after realizing how out of my gourd I felt was turn to my friend and say, “Hey, don’t let me leave this room for a while.” Generally when encountering that problem, I find it’s because people are dwelling on something. Let me stress my belief that pot is not something that you should use to forget, like drinking a worry away. Pot should be used at the end of a long day of work to relax, preferably on a beach and in the company of good friends.

Personally it makes me fell like I’m going to die!
One hit I feel like I want to smile, but then I feel like the room is closing in on me and my lungs are filling with liquid, I can’t take a deep breath, I can’t swallow, if I close my eyes I see my life flash before my eyes, if music is playing I feel like I might go crazy hearing parts of the song over and over again that I never heard before! If anything was hurting before I hit , it now hurts 100X’s more!

I know some people love it but I honestly think I’m allergic to it. I don’t like it one bit for me!

P.S. I haven’t smoked pot in years because of this. But almost everyone I know smokes. More power to them, it’s just not for me.

I’ve never tried it, but I have been in the same room with others who are using it. They go from being good conversationalists to zombies, and it always spoils the gathering for me.

It makes me feel 19 and male.

The one time I tried it, nothing happened. I got a sore throat, however.

I got high yesterday for the first time in aaaages.

1) Hold the flame on the leaves as I inhale. It doesn’t stay lit on its own.

2) Massive coughing, throat starts to hurt. Muscles in throat tense up and it’s hard to swallow.

3) I feel high almost instantly. This euphoric sense of well-being washes over me. Everything is funny and I hear this oscillating sound like the blood pounding in my ears. There’s a strobe-like effect in my vision. Whatever music I listen to, it’s fucking awesome. Eyes are bloodshot and I have a stupid grin. There’s tingling in my fingers and toes.

4) My inner stream-of-consciousness monologue gets way weirder. Thoughts connect to each other in intuitive, non-sensical ways. Talking and decision-making are impaired.

5) I eat something, and it’s wonderful. I had the best ice cream sandwich ever when I was high. I just kept thinking, “Oh my god, it’s soo creamy and delicious.”

6) I fall asleep before it wears off.

@gailcalled Most people don’t get high their first time. I have no idea why…...I have heard a few people claim to have gotten stoned the first time they smoked but I didn’t at all.

@Haleth your comment about the “stupid grin” made me laugh and then made me laugh harder because I thought of the “stoner laugh” the low pitched “huhhuhuhuhuhuhh.” This summer my friend from home was visiting and we were watching Dumb & Dumber…I went to bed before it was over though but I could hear her while I was falling asleep every 5 or so minutes going “huhuhuh. HUHUHUHHuh.” Oh god I cry laughing just thinking about it.

@deni Oh my god, I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’m sitting here giggling in front of the computer and trying not to wake up the house, but- the stoner laugh! It’s just too funny!

Like alcohol and any other psychoactive substance it influences your brain chemistry. Smoking it also leaves unhealthy particles in your lung which are accumulating over the years.

@mattbrowne You reminded me that I need to invest in a vaporizer!

wow thanks everyone..great answers!!

I forgot to mention WEED FOOD. My boyfriend is a pansy and smoking hurts his throat really badly so he gets these weed cookies from a dispensary in town and man do they knock you on your ass. Just a bite. And it just escalates over the next 5 or 6 hours. Takes about an hour or so to kick in but after that, going out in public is not an option for me. I really can’t keep my shit together. But it is fun. Last time I ate some I watched Parks & Recreation for hours and laughed til I cried numerous times.

Alcohol can be abused. Cannabis can be abused. Vaporizer or not.

AHHHHHH!!!! Canna-Cookies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....There was a time when I ate a cookie everyday for two weeks straight, well eventually by the second week I was eating two. But anyway, never thought time could pass so slow yet so fast….and all I did was vegetate ._. LOL

@mattbrowne Of course. I just need to buy a vaporizer =/

@mattbrowne Anything can be abused.As Joe Rogan said in a documentary about marijuana, (not word for word, I can’t remember it word for word) “You can abuse cheeseburgers too, you don’t go around closing Burger King. I can take a fucking fork and jam it in my eyeball, should we make forks illegal? I can go jump off a bridge, should we outlaw bridges?” Anything can be badly abused, don’t just blame the things that get bad reputation.

@jballzz Good call. I had actually checked back on this question in order to recommend the documentary you just quoted. The Union

Entertaining and informative for anybody who wants to know more about marijuana legislation.

@Blueroses I’ve seen that. Definitely the best source of information out there, and last I checked it was available of Netflix for anyone who’s got it.

@Blueroses Yup, thats the one. My favorite documentary, best one I’ve ever seen. Very entertaing and informative at the same time.

@jballzz – I disagree with you. The mantra that anything can be abused is intended to make strongly psychoactive substances sound harmless. Youngsters, listen up. Drinking too much peppermint tea? Eating too many peas? Smoking too much cannabis?

It’s like calling strict teachers grammar nazis.

Nazis are never harmless.

@mattbrowne You’re right there. The real distinction is between the ideas of addiction and habit-forming. While marijuana is not physically addictive, extended use can be habit-forming, in the same way that, say, masturbation can be habit forming.

Some of these answers made me laugh! In no way do I endorse smoking pot but it does have pro and cons. It does not make you hallucinate, and if you get the giggles everytime you smoke it, thats strange and would make me want to do it more: and we all know that too much of anything is a bad thing. Marijuana has some great proven medicinal purposes, and can actually be beneficial. Here’s the Real issue, how old is the person asking this question?

I know healthwise cigarettes/alcohol are more dangerous than pot. They are legal and known to actually kill you. They are extremely addicting.
Pot has legal consequences that comes with it and if smoked habitually does leave “crap” in your lungs. It is habit forming which can have a “domino” affect and lead to other problems.
I never want my children to try/do any of these, especially the legal ones, alcohol and cigarettes. None are totally harmless and it is always good to have a dependecy on yourself and not to depend on ANY substance.

Alcohol and cannabis are equally dangerous or harmless. Depending on usage.

@mattbrowne It would be really hard to find an occasion when someone smoked too much weed, got in their car, and killed another car full of innocent people. Alcohol, on the other hand….that happens on a regular basis. That is why I think alcohol is worse, and if abused it tends to make people angrier or more violent than weed does.

When my daughter was in 7th grade, she and a friend bought one joint from an older boy during a Sat. night play at school.

The girls each smoked half the joint. Then the older sister of the friend ratted on them.

My daughter was suspended for a week and given a choice; work at a local pre-school or write a paper.

She chose the latter; she entitled it, “Marijuana: The Evil Weed.” So the experience helped to refine her writing skills. I managed to keep a straight face.

@deni – Some weeks ago I read an article in a German print magazine citing studies done with high school and college students. There are negative effects with both alcohol and cannabis usage. I tried to find some information available online and in English. Maybe this is a good start

http://www.livestrong.com/article/24680-effects-marijuana-use-college-students/

“The immediate effects of marijuana use in college students are almost always apparent. Upon inhalation of the THC chemicals in marijuana, students experience increased heart rate, dry mouth and blood shot eyes. They lose coordination and have difficulty speaking and listening, interrupting class work and social relationships. The altered states of being high make it more difficult to acquire and retain new information and comprehend new ideas and information. Marijuana is psychologically addicting, which can lead to the need for treatment and loss of time that could be spent towards a degree.”

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/pot/a/social.htm

“A vast amount of scientific research has shown that heavy marijuana use negatively affects smokers’ learning abilities and social skills, causing problems in their daily lives and compounding their existing problems. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has surveyed and compiled 11 scientific research studies that have demonstrated that heavy marijuana use, defined as smoking marijuana 27 days in the past 30 days, has a significant impact on users’ ability to learn, remember what they learned and function in society.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6606931.stm

“They then carried out brain scans, and a battery of tests, and found that those who took THC showed reduced activity in an area of the brain called the inferior frontal cortex, which keeps inappropriate thoughts and behaviour, such as swearing and paranoia in check.”

“If something has an active effect in inducing the symptoms of psychosis after one dose, then it would not be at all surprising if repeated use induced the chronic condition. Professor Murray also warned that the high potency cannabis now widely available was likely to pose a much bigger risk to health than the significantly weaker formulations of previous years. It is similar to comparing the effect of drinking a glass of wine at the weekend with drinking a bottle of vodka every day. Marjorie Wallace, of the mental health charity Sane, called the research a significant contribution to the understanding of the dangers of cannabis.”

Don’t get me wrong. I think both alcohol and cannabis should be legal. But people need to know what they are doing. Cannabis is not peppermint tea.

@mattbrowne I noticed that all your sources are specifically talking about the detrimental effects of marijuana on social activity. I think it’s fair to say that nobody here is advocating the use of pot smack dab in the middle of your day-to-day life. I would dream of getting up and smoking a bowl before going to work or class, that’s just asking for trouble. Like I said before, pot should be a recreational thing, not an hourly medication.

However, that’s not to say that prolonged use of alcohol and pot are equally harmful. Several sources, such as The Times Online and The Economist have published studies ranking drugs by level of harm and risk, and in most if not all cases, Alcohol ranks well Higher than Marijuana on the list. Erowid, an in-depth archive of different psychoactive substances, also released a study linking alcoholism to increased nicotine abuse:

“According to Toshio Narahashi, professor of pharmacology at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, nicotine stimulates and then deadens or desensitizes the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor site on nerve cells in the brain.The acetylcholine receptor of the nicotine addict may be slightly desensitized, meaning that higher doses of alcohol are required to stimulate it,” Narahashi said. He and his colleagues point to research showing that about 10% of the U.S. population are heavy smokers, but among alcoholics, 70% to 90% are heavy smokers.”

This is not to say that I’m against alcohol, but I certainly wouldn’t call it marijuana’s equal.

@mattbrowne Cheeseburgers can be harmful too. Pot isn’t addictive, it’s habitual. Eating cheeseburgers can become habitual too, same concept. And as for your news articles, here’s a little information that you might not have known, and would consider a conspiracy theory but is very real. The news is controlled by the government. The government doesn’t want marijuana to be legal, so they tell the news what to say so pot stays on the bad side, fooling all the innocent citizens at home watching their local news and reading the paper. But the thing about the government, it’s not independent. It’s controlled by big businesses that would be hurt by pot legalization. Examples: Lumber, pharmaceutical, tobacco, alcohol, clothing, oil. Because if pot was legalized, hemp would be legalized too, replacing the need for paper made from trees, the need for cotton for clothes, and the need for oil for cars, because hemp can be used as fuel. Marijuana is natural medicine, which means you can grow it yourself, and pharmaceutical companies don’t want you growing your own medicine. Marijuana can help alcohol and tobacco users kick their addictions, which means no money for them either. There’s a lot more you need to look into to actually start to uncover the truth of why it’s actually illegal. The government also profits from all these businesses, thats why. I could go into so much more detail, not even about pot but even about the food companies and water companies and oil companies. It goes on and on and on but I don’t have time for that. I’ve watched many documentaries and done tons of research and heard a lot of things. It’s time people start waking up and realizing these things, people like you, who have easily been fooled.

I just think that a lot of research done on marijuana is done to an extent that it’s obnoxious….equating smoking weed every day to drinking a bottle of vodka every day is ludacris. Come on. I would die!

I’ve never heard of overdosing on weed or needing rehab for weed or a weedaholic…........then again I guess a stoner is a weedaholic, but there are alot worse things to be.

I just watched an entertaining documentary called “Super High Me.” I recommend it, as it’s funny and informative. The guy was a comedian who smoked on a regular basis for years, then decided to make a movie where he stops for a month, then stays high for a month. They run all kinds of physical and mental tests on him in each month and compare the results.

Long story short, it is fine to smoke sometimes. It is not good to smoke 20 hours a day, every day. It is less harmful to smoke weed excessively vs. drinking excessively.

I’ve smoked pot on and off since I was a teen, sometimes heavily, sometimes not for a year. My opinion is everyone should smoke a little now and then to loosen up and get a new perspective. It won’t kill you or make you insane.

“A number of studies show that THC provides medical benefits for cancer and AIDS patients by increasing appetite and decreasing nausea. It has also been shown to assist some glaucoma patients by reducing pressure within the eye, and is used in the form of cannabis by a number of multiple sclerosis patients, who use it to alleviate neuropathic pain and spasticity. The National Multiple Sclerosis Society is currently supporting further research into these uses. In August 2009 a phase IV clinical trial by the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel was started to investigate the effects of THC on post-traumatic stress disorders.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahydrocannabinol#Studies_in_humans

But here’s the difference: You need a doctor and a prescription. And there’s monitoring and feedback.

I think it’s totally absurd to compare a psychoactive chemical like THC to cheeseburgers. Again, the mantra that anything can be abused is intended to make psychoactive substances sound harmless.

And it’s foolish to tell people that alcohol is very dangerous and THC is harmless. So my advice:

Be careful with alcohol. Know what you are doing.

Be careful with cannabis. Know what you are doing.

“You need a doctor and a prescription.”

In CO, a 20 year old hippie complaining of back pain can get his medical card no problem.

“I think it’s totally absurd to compare a psychoactive chemical like THC to cheeseburgers.”

I suggest you compare the documentary I mention to “Super Size Me” and note the physical effects on the body of eating McDs vs smoking pot for thirty days. Cheeseburgers will kill you and make you moody and depressed. Pot will make you kind of goofy, but physical status will be far superior to if you ate fast food. There’s the real problem, not pot.

“And it’s foolish to tell people that alcohol is very dangerous and THC is harmless.”

I hope you aren’t suggesting I did, since your comment is posted after mine. I didn’t suggest it was harmless, just less so than alcohol. People on weed don’t usually caujse car accidents. If anything, they get paranoid and drive like 35mph on the highway.

Once I was so high, I was parked at a 4-way stop sign intersection at 3am for several minutes. I was waiting for the light to turn green.

“And it’s foolish to tell people that alcohol is very dangerous and THC is harmless”

@cockswain No I think that’s meant for me.

@mattbrowne Please don’t misunderstand; I don’t believe THC is harmless, just less harmful than alcohol.

@cockswain your answer made me llaugh, I have done that same thing before.

@cockswain – No, no, I wasn’t suggesting this. We watched “Super Size Me” too. My wife had to leave the room when the vomiting started. I can still hear the sound in my head thinking about that particular scene. I’m an outspoken anti-fast food advocate. Eating many cheeseburgers can become a problem, sure. People can also die from over-consumption of water. But both are not psychoactive substances with significant effects on our brain chemistry. This still means we need to take care of our liver too. Even the most healthy brain is worth little with a totally damaged liver.

Many people can handle THC quite well, because they are smart and organized and they think of potential consequences. And they don’t want to get into a habit that might have a significant impact on their daily life.

I just felt very calm and the pain of fibromyalgia went away. This effect lasted throughout the next day (even the high anxiety I’ve developed over the last few years stayed away during that day), and I seemed to be more focused. I hate smoking the stuff though and also how it makes me very hungry. I wish there were a safe drug, natural or otherwise that produced the good effects of marijuana, that could be just swallowed or used somehow with an electronic cigarette. I’ve had fibromyalgia for 15 years and have had more than my fair share of being treated like a guinea pig with different prescriptions. The side effects of some of the meds my doctors prescribed make me think they are doing way more harm than a little marijuana. I wish there were something comparable that didn’t make me so hungry. I did smoke too much a few times, where what I call “crossing the line” happened. I went beyond the mellow, calm feeling and into a state of euphoria where nothing else mattered and I didn’t care about anything because I was so self-absorbed. I think some people like this feeling, but it made me feel like I was treading in dangerous waters. I really did not like that feeling and it kind of scared me.

Obviously pot affects people in different ways.. Some get paranoid, others contemplate the cosmos.. It really depends on the strength of the weed.. Mexican pot will barely cause a ripple while red or gold bud columbian can open doors to thoughts long hidden.. You will not become a crazed monster unless you are aready crazed to begin with.. Too many people blame pot for their irresponsubilities thus taking themselves out of the equation. Criminals blame pot and other drugs to get lighter sentances.. It’s unfair and reflects on the validity of the advantages that it does offer. You can say what you want but pot is not the evil that’s depicted by non-smokers. Nothing medically dangerous has ever been noted and aside from the actual smell, it’s no more dangerous than an occassional six pack. footnote: George Washington grew pot in his garden and endulged in a pipefull quite often.