Comment posted on Drug Rehab – Part 1 by ADMIN

Gummo,

I personally have a friend who is schizophrenic and whether or not pot makes it worse is definitely questionable. This friend of mine is an AA buddy and he smoked a lot of pot too, but he was definitely schizophrenic before his heavy marijuana use began.

The only problem that I saw with the group study was that it was only conducted for a very short period of time. Schizophrenia is treated with medicine that basically tranquilizes the person. So it does not surprise me that synthetic THC might make a schizophrenic individual feel better because it does have a tranquilizing effect on most people. Lets suppose that it does ends up being something that helps people with schizophrenia. Do you have schizophrenia? Do you have access to synthetic THC? A long time ago THC was approved for cancer patients, so I do not see any real difference here.

Listen I have an open mind, if a bunch of studies come out and all the psychiatrists start jumping up and down about how THC helps depression or anxiety, then that would be something. This is never going to happen because THC does stick to brain tissue. I’m walking, living proof. In the long term heavy marijuana use caused me to slow down to the effect that other people made fun of me. They said I talked slow and seemed stoned up to 2 or 3 years after having stopped. The weird thing was that to “me” I could not tell any difference (as far as the slow speech was concerned). My short term memory loss was definitely noticeable to myself and it got back to normal over time.

Here is what I will say is good about heavy marijuana use (after you stop). Your memory and your regular brain functioning returns to normal over time. It’s still up in the air if pot causes/worsens mental illnesses. I am bi-polar (manic depressive), but I know for sure that I had this condition before I started smoking pot heavily. Whether it made it worse, I have no idea.

Also, keep in mind that I’m the guy that quit. What would my life have been like if I would have kept smoking pot? I was delivering pizzas making a good living when I was smoking pot. Now I’m a college professor teaching computer courses. (That’s where the website comes in.) Do you think my life got better after I stopped? You should see the nice house I live in (Florida – 15 minutes from the beach). You should see my beautiful wife and our little 4 year old son.

My life would have been totally different if I would have kept smoking pot. I know this for a fact. I never dreamed my life would be as good as it is now. Sure, I have problems just like everyone else, but the quality of my problems have greatly improved.

When I was smoking pot and using other drugs, I promised myself that I would stop by age 25. By age 25, I had completely given up. I was the guy who didn’t like to have to deal with all of the crap that came along with buying pot (some of the people sucked). When I went into rehab I had half a pound in my closet because I had given up. Too many DSP notes that never got me anywhere. Thank goodness for my little brother Greg who told my parents about my problem. I went into rehab on January 4th, 1996 and have been sober ever since.

Have a nice day everyone.

ADMIN also commented

• Gummo,

  Maybe you should take a look at this article. Doctors have been suspecting for a long time that marijuana use causes mental illness.

  http://www.schizophrenia.com/news/marijuana1.html

  Notice also how the article indicates that THC stays in your body for a long length of time. It also mentions that it sticks to brain tissue causing a dangerous build-up over time.

  This article confirms why it took me YEARS to get back to “normal” after smoking heavily for 4 to 5 years.

Recent comments by ADMIN

• Drug Rehab – Part 4
  CommonSense,

  The difference between cigarettes and street drugs is that they don’t get you high. For different mental disorders alcoholics/addicts may find themselves having to take an addictive substance. The addictive substance if taken properly (the person does not get high or feel anything from it) seem to be okay “for some” people.

• Drug Rehab – Part 6
  K-Stigs,

  Listen my story of recovery that you are reading is from 13 years ago. I got sober on January 4, 1996. I quit smoking cigarettes a couple of years later in April of 1998. So, I have not had a cigarette in over 10 years. Please just remember that I’ve only written the first part of my recovery story. It is a real story. For the people who do not believe me, I suggest you look up the names of the doctors that I’ve mentioned as well as the treatment center I went to. As for others who are complaining about my writing style, keep in mind that I’m not an English teacher.

• Jail Time
  Shelly,

  You are not a recovering alcoholic if you are smoking pot. In AA we call that “Marijuana Maintenance” and it is not accepted within the AA community. The next time you go to an AA meeting tell everyone that you’re smoking pot now and see what they have to say. Give your sponsor a call (I doubt you have one) and tell him or her your new way of dealing with your addiction.

• Drug Rehab – Part 6
  I’ve only begun to tell my story. I quit smoking cigarettes 10 years ago. Try not to make too many assumptions. You need some help if you having been smoking pot everyday for a long period of time. You can lie to yourself all you want.
• Your Potential
  Sophie,

  I don’t have time to comment on all of the postings. I’m just telling my story. It’s as simple as that. If someone can relate to what happened to me, then it might help him/her. You have no idea what I’m up against. When I approached other people in rehab and told them that I had tried to quit on my own. Their responses were like: “Are you serious? Why?”. This is what this website and I am up against.

  But, I’ll just keep writing. I hope everyone keeps coming back. In AA we have speaker meetings where someone gets up and tells what it was like then and what it’s like now. Here is an example someone famous doing just that:

  http://saynotopot.com/videos/

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