dasamm

Just out of curiousity...

I'm 20 years old and I really enjoy smoking marijuana. At the same time, I try to be very healthy; I eat healthy foods and exercise regulary. Reading your posts I can tell that you've all created a lifestyle that involves marijuana, but you also manage to keep your feet on the ground. I'm curious about how you all practice moderation of pot and avoid the tendency to overindulge (which I tend to do with anything I find pleasurable). How often a day/week do you smoke? Is there anything in particular you try to do when high? I'd like to start using it to do some beneficial things...I usually just end up getting all laughy or watching tv and joking around...but I'd like to start to meditate or try using it to improve certain aspects of myself. Any suggestions?

Mamabudz

Yes... Lose the remote control -- better yet, toss the TV

Do housework stoned...

Get a dog ... great companionship and garunteed work out every day

And eat a cookie a day

...who's next in line?

Cassius

The #1 reason I am able to keep it in moderation is the time of day that I smoke. I used to smoke whenever I got home from work, and that led to once in a while smoking in the mornings, and smoking all weekend long... wasn't working out. So I tried waiting until AFTER my last meal of the day, on any day (except holidays =P) to smoke. So I get home from work, and I clean the house, do my laundy, finish up any work for the day, etc etc then eat supper, and finally smoke and enjoy the remaining part of my evening. Not only does it keep your head clear for a couple more hours after work to get work for yourself done, but it gives you motivation to get it done also. Seems to work great, and I know a lot of other people on this board use the same general type of strategy -- some people don't even smoke until they know it is 1-2 hours before bedtime.

Humans are creatures of habit. If you get used to vegging out in front of the TV when you get high, you'll form a habit around it and it will be very hard to motivate yourself. You don't have to be productive EVERY time you smoke, but if you try to make it so every other time or more, you do something productive, then THAT will become a habit and you'll find it perfectly doable to remain productive even while being high. Of course, you still need to be responsible and avoid driving if you can, that kind of thing. But there are many things you can do to keep yourself productive while you're high -- a really good one is one that Mama just named, chores. It even makes them less boring! I, like Mama, can GO TO TOWN if you give me a bowl and set me on some chores -- I'll get em done 3x faster and 3x cleaner than if I was doing it sober. Exercise is also a good one that lots of people like to do while they're high -- easier to concentrate (single-mindedly) on what you're doing, makes for a GREAT workout where you feel you really pushed your body and got something accomplished. Meditation is okay... I think other people have some luck with that but for me personally I think it's harder to meditate while high as my thoughts wander too easily and I just sit there thinking instead of meditating. Planning, however, is great -- weed really gets the creative juices going and more than that, it helps you look at the big picture of your life, without some of the bias about yourself that you have when you're sober. You're willing to ask the big questions and seriously answer yourself about whether you're happy with your current situation(s) and where you want to go in life -- so it's a great time to keep a diary, or plan out the next day or week or month, or brainstorm for the kinds of things you'd like to accomplish in the future.

Just experiment -- try different things while you're high, some of them will work better, some of them worse, but you'll have fun doing it and learn a lot, and you'll get an idea for the kinds of things that help you regulate your marijuana use and enjoy it at the same time. But I remind you one last time -- please be responsible, marijuana is still illegal, so DO NOT DRIVE while you are high unless you have no choice, and avoid public places unless you're sure you can pass as sober (some people are better at this than others).

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Buzzby

Being high on marijuana is a very interesting and enjoyable state of mind. It's not very good as a primary state of mind. I tried that a long time ago and found that I didn't enjoy it. Ice cream is great, but I don't eat a gallon of Hagen-Daz every day. If you try to have sex 24/7 it's not much fun, either. Life requires balance: a variety of activities and states of mind.

I read a third as fast when high, with much poorer retention. It's fun, but not very productive. I write a fifth as fast when high. A large part of my day is taken up with reading and writing. There simply aren't enough hours in a day to get my work done if high and my output is inferior.

I tend to smoke a little late in the evening when all my tasks for the day are done. I listen to music, eat a small bowl of ice cream very slowly, exchange email with friends and family, and do some large-scale creative work. Being high is great for coming up with new ideas. It's not really good for carrying out the minutiae of writing or programming unless it's boring, rote work.

When I was in school, I'd smoke a joint and do a whole quarter's programming assignments in one night. They were dumb and simplistic and I wanted to get them out of the way so I could spend my time in the computer lab working on my own projects. When I became a professional programmer/systems analyst I found that I could rough out a system design or pseudocode programs while high, but actually writing code was too inefficient and error-prone.

If you're not the kind of person who jumps on every sexually attractive person he meets, drinks until he passes out, or eats junk food until he weigh 300 pounds, you shouldn't have any problem moderating your cannabis intake. One secret is to smoke just a little at a time. The marijuana high takes 10 to 15 minutes to fully develop. If you smoke a lot at a time you find yourself wasted 15 minutes later. At that point you say, "Well, I'm all f*cked up anyway: I might as well smoke some more." If you take a couple of hits and wait 15 minutes you might find that you're as high as you want to be and still capable of doing things.

I think smoking yourself stupid is just as childish as drinking until you pass out. I don't enjoy being stupid, inarticulate, and unable to remember what I was thinking about five seconds previous. Where's the fun in that? I remember when I first started smoking, way back in '67, that the thing to do was sit around in a dark room with loud music and smoke yourself paralyzed. What I can't remember is why I thought that was fun. As with all drugs, there is an appropriate dosage to achieve a desired effect. For me that dosage is quite small because my desired effect is an altered consciousness, not semi-consciousness.

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grillmeats

I try not to get high as soon as a get home from work. I have plans after work and they don't include being stoned.
I DO NOT go to work stoned, and working an average of 50 hours a week, helps keep the consumtion down.
When I do get high, I usually sit and play some Madden 06'.
I find that if I get high before I eat, I smoke after I eat. So I eat first.
On my day off, I smoke a joint in the morning and get my sh*t done that I had planned for the day.
When I go to a party I pass the joint quickly.

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I use to like this site, but it out grew my interests. If you want to pass a test, Quit Smoking, I have!

dasamm

Great posts all of you. A lot of helpful information there and thank you all for the well thought out responses. Cassius and Buzzby in particular gave out some really helpful information

I've been trying to do something along the lines of getting high as a reward type thing or as positive reinforement. However, when I have pot on hand it's always a toss up whether or not to smoke (which I'm trying hard to control).

How much do you typically smoke per session?

"One secret is to smoke just a little at a time. The marijuana high takes 10 to 15 minutes to fully develop. If you smoke a lot at a time you find yourself wasted 15 minutes later. At that point you say, "Well, I'm all f*cked up anyway: I might as well smoke some more." Buzzby that is exactly what was happening to me...If I smoke myself I'll usually smoke a whole joint or pack a full bowl. This leaves me feel VERY lethargic in about 30-40 minutes and I find myself smoking again just to feel picked up again.

Also...I read somewhere that holding smoke in your lungs DOES NOT get one any higher...that the maximum amount of THC is quickly absorbed. Is this true? I typically hold in my smoke as long as possible...but I don't want to be hurting my lungs if It's pointless to do anyways...

Too bad vaps aren't more common...