The New Dope on Dope

Tony, your reaction to the Four Corners program and associated SMH article is quite precisely what I would expect for people who have your, quite common Australian experience level with cannabis.

The message was very specifically crafted to mislead people with a lay or cursory knowledge of cannabis and its effects.

I'm particularly disappointed in the ABC Four Corners team; this program was of the style and calibre I would have expected of A Current Affair or Today Tonight. They did not do their homework on this show.

Kindly refer to my recent post on the topic which I have referenced in a Trackback. It's probably my longest post to date, but it will turn on some lights for you and a lot of other people who might have smoked a joint or two 20 years ago or know someone who did.

cheers

-weez

I didn't see Four Corners and I can't seem to read weezils previous comment but I have seen the appalling effects that cannabis smoking has had on the daughter of a close family friend. OK - I should say I am assuming the cannabis had the effect but it has seemed a dreadful coincidence that a couple of months after she found pot at the age of 15, this very intelligent, attractive, sociable, somewhat self centred child went clinically depressive and nearly succumbed to anorexia. She underwent a total personality change and scared her mother rigid. She is now on medication (Lithium) for the rest of her life and is functioning well but she lost her academic spark and her mother is convinced there has been some brain damage in the process.
There is some hereditory tendency to depression but I am sure the cannabis accelarated things at the worst possible monment. As I've said before - these childrens' brains are no way mature. We are all right to be scared tony.

Sue, when I said we all grew out of it I wasn't being entirely truthful. I know one guy who's never really taken his place in the world, and I suspect his chronic dope smoking had something to do with it.

But he's definitely the minority. Dope's probably no different from booze in the sense that a small proportion of users will have problems from using it.

You just have to hope it's no one close to you.

Sad eh tony - and in the case of my story I should have said that this happened recently - this girl is 19 now. Her mum was one of those who was of the opinion that pot is fun and fine cos 'We all did it' and I don't think she had any idea how the strengths and potency have changed from the 60's/70's.

At a drug forum for parents at my daughter's school 3 years ago we were told that the current cannabis available is actually 25 x stronger than current parents experienced.

A few points to consider..... before some of your readers write me off as a dope smoking hippy....

1. I have smoked marijuana regularly for many years. I can tell you from personal experience, that Pot isn't really that much stronger that it was 20 years ago. Yes, you can get some super strength, hydro grown ganja - but your average garden variety teenager is unlikely to get a hold of it. Although I do agree that the hydro grown pot that is around now is a bit stronger than the backyard home-grown that you probably smoked as a teenager, all the scare-mongering about the strenght of marijuana these days is sooo boring!

2. I firmly believe that people who end up with some type of psychosis have some sort of pre-disposition, which is the real reason for the mental health issues. Yes, pot can be a BIG negative for those people, and some scientists believe that pot can trigger episodes - but so can alcohol, bad diet etc. I'm not saying that its a health product and we should all start smoking 5 joints a day - but really, CALM DOWN ALREADY!

3. In my opinion, kids who end up abusing pot (or any other drug), rather than the normal experimentation that most kids get into, have other issues going on in their lives and use pot to self-medicate or to avoid other problems going on at home, at school, with peers etc.

4. I know I'll get crucified for this comment... BUT - in some cases, (but not all!) I think parents use their children's drug use as a big excuse to hide behind, rather than facing up to the fact that they fucked up in the parenting department. Kids who have high self-esteem, are motivated, have interests and hobbies that they are passionate about and feel loved and supported don't generally feel the need to get shit-faced all the time - I'm just saying! ;-)

To conclude... yes I do smoke pot, no I am not a junkie, yes I do have a full-time and relatively well-paid job, no I'm not depressed, yes I do manage to live my life happily and effectively despite my drug use.

Personally, I'd be more worried about my teenager getting in a car drunk, than worrying about them smoking a joint or two.

Me, I hope I haven't sounded like a prohibitionist. I'm not. That would make me the worst kind of hypocrite.

I broadly agree with everything you say.

I'm assuming you don't have kids. It's natural that a parent is concerned about the risks of what their kids get up to, even thought they (the parent) did it themselves.

There's a downside risk whatever your kids do. As a parent, you just hope they are with the majority that get to adulthood without any major calamities.

Well, i've posted my own side of the cake, but I find this comparison to alcohol sometimes pointless, and very much besude the point. Alcohol is a problem, possibly bigger than cannabis, but that doesn't mean that the worry about dope should be played down. Rather, the debate over alochol should be stepped up. These are substances which allow a stepping back, or a blurring, from reality. To step back and deny their effects is dangerous I reckon

Additionally, (boy, am i enjoying my soapbox today) of course you can't blame one thing, i.e. dope, for negative circumstances arising: depression, schizophrenia, paranoia, blah blah blah. But then just to shift blame to somewhere else, parents perhaps? is totally ludicrous.

Life isn't a series of isolated photographs, it's a living breathing organism. There a many things that make us tick. All as important as the other. Sure, people always try to shift the blame to somewhere else, don't you? (generic rather than singular 'you')

In relation to the posts about the increased strength of marijuana: It is BETTER for ALL SMOKERS if marijuana is stronger. Marijuana smokers reach what is known as auto-titration where they stop smoking when they are stoned. If they are smoking low-strength marijuana, they will have to smoke more to reach this feeling and therefore there is more strain on the lungs. But, if your smoking some good hydro shit and only need one cone to be fucked up for a good five or six hours it is way better on the lungs.

Psychologically it does not make a difference because both smokers are consuming the same amount of THC(the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana), which is considered to be the catalyst for schizophrenia(in people who would otherwise develop the disease at a later stage in their life anyway)

I am seventeen years old and have been smoking pot for seven months. I used to drink every weekend and fail my classes because i was so hungover but thanks to pot i hardly ever drink and my marks have improved.

Sure, pot will be dangerous for some and safe for others. However, it seems like its not the substance that changes a person its the person does that changes a person.

My motto is 'People should be judged by their actions, not the cannaboids found in their urine!'

As someone who sometimes teaches third year uni students, let me say something to yuri:

Try not to let the substance use thing go on for too long. It doesn't matter what you ingest for fun, but it is really important that it doesn't take over your life.

YOU have to control IT, and IT should never control YOU.

A good trick, if it concerns you and maybe it should, would be to ring the counselling service of your nearest large uni and ask for some tips about finding some support service who won't be moralistic but will be realistic.

There's always a group of my students who are going slowly and messily downhill through their substance use. Bad, bad karma.

I have to agree with David. Moderation is the key.

I've seen the effects on friends who've got to the stage where they couldn't go for a day without getting stoned. One, who's now 50 years old, hasn't held a job in nearly 30 years and is still living with his parents. Sure, he may have had a disposition to a mental health problem which the smoking exacerbated, but it doesn't hurt to keep the risks in mind if you're going to use the stuff more than occasionally