Marijuana's Effects On Consciousness

Hey there..

I don't smoke pot that often. I did so today for the first time in about 5 years. I used to overinduldge a bit in my college days. Anyway, I got stoned today for the first time in a while, and I got to thinking about all the ways we percieve things when we're stoned, and the ways people think when they're stoned. For me, basically, being stoned is like "being sligthly confused in a cheerful, slightly psychedelic manner". Really, I think, what typifies the marijuana experience is the "skewing of emotions" that occurs. It's as if someone were applying a magnet to your emotions - you expereience things just a little "left of center", if you know what I mean. If you are happy, this usually manifests itself as making you laugh, appreciate things more, or be carefree, and "cool" in some more-than-normal way. It's almost as if you have a SECRET - you've stumbled upon an amazing TOOL of consciousness. I've only done acid ONCE in life. I have a very big interest in the topic of mind expansion, and hallucinogens, but I sure as hell am not going to try any more hallucinogens (other than pot maybe twice a month). It's just too risky. I'd rather like to hear about OTHER people's experiences, and just stay on the sidelines, so to speak. I know a few people (many of us do), who just "weren't the same" after some bad acid trip. Anyway, I just like to sit on the sidelines, and TALK about such drugs. Acid, for me, BLEW MY MIND! I did it ONCE - back in 1997. The morning after (i was still on acid), my dad came to pick me up at my apartment at the time, and we went to a plant nursery where there were these flowering with water being sprayed on them, and WOW - right THEN, everything got so increadibly deep and amazing! No deep THOUGHTS, but rather an intenselfy deep MINDSET! I felt as if I had an increadible SECRET. The very way it FELT - i was like...very greatful to be in such a headspace, and THAT is why it seemed like a secret. The smells, the sights of the nursery, the plants dripping w/ water, AND my own overamplified consciousness - that was SOMETHING! Anyway, back to marijuana - do any of you know any specific psychological TERMS for some of the effects one can get while stoned? Like w/ the "skewing of emotions" - is there a NAME for such an effect? Not all of my experiences w/ pot have been fun, for sure - like...not being able to follow your own train of thought from moment to moment - THAT is no fun! Or things being "skewed" in a WIERD way, or not being able to figure out how to make a freakin pot of coffee! THOSE things SUCK (I would say I get such experiences about 1/10th of the time when I'm stoned.) The worst, though, is a skewing of thought and emotion that seems overwhelming, to the point that it induces paranoia becuase you're not so sure that you are in total control of your own mind. THAT doesn't happen to often to me either, but when it DOES, I just say to myself "hey, you're just STONED, no big deal - try to groove on something". It's interesting that mental illnesses such as schizophrenia really do mimic the effects of psychedlic drugs (or, the other way around, rather). Most people don't know this, but schizophrenia is often cuased by a succeptablity to a virus that is cuaght early in life. People will get this virus, and, eventually (typically around the age of 18 or so), it THEN attacks the brain, cuasing inflamation, which, in TURN, cuases overstimulation of the nuerons. And that's really the same thing that happens w/ psychedelics and marijuana - you are overstimluating nerve cells, which often cuases things like hallucaitions. of course hallucinations on pot is rare (though I've had a few very colorful VISIONS in my head), and getting stoned or doing acid will NOT be the same, exactly, as having a mental illness (probably becuase psychedlics work on specific neurotransmitters - serotonin, for acid and the like, and the cannabinoind receptors in the brain for marijuana) Also, I would guess, with a mental illness, perhaps ALL neurotransmitters would be involved - you might not get a specific thing going on (though I don't really know what I'm talking about - that's just a guess). What I personally notice, while stoned,sometimes, is thinking in a schizophrenic WAY (I myself am not schizoprehinc, but I take the term to mean a confusion or skewing of thought and emotion - that's what I infer) - like..you might expereince normal emotions, but amplification varies - one moment you are grooving on the sound of a guitar in a song, and then another moment a thought or emotion can come out of nowhere an even, once in a while, overwhelm you. If you are having a good time, you will usually have a much BETTER time. If you are worried about something, you will perhaps have a bad time. I've had some wierd shit go on while being stoned just becuase I was worried about some PETTY god damn thing. Overall, my experiece with pot is that it's just freakin INTERESTING - you get to experience things in interesting ways (especially FOOD - god DAMN - food is like some other DIMENSION when you're stoned!). After being stoned today, I went to a local grocery store(a very UPSCALE grocery store_, and they had these "chip dips" - and this stuff was gourmet! it was like the most amazing stuff you could buy. And - WOW - the experience of eating this stuff with THC in my brain - it was like every taste was a whole other DIMENSION. I've never had taste be amplified so much from pot as I did today. I'd eat some herb-flavored sort of chip dip, and I would be in some herb-flavored other freakin DIMENSION. I was grooving on it so much that my dad, who was with me, gave me a wierd look (he didn't know I was stoned, so I had to tone it down - i didn't want him knowing). But there was some wierd shit, as I often get, today as well. Mostly this "wierd shit" is not that bad, if you don't smoke all the time, but of course one of the problems with CHRONIC pot use can be an actual case of schizphrenia. Poeple think pot is totally safe. It's not though. It can f*** with your head, mess up your short term memory, cuase you not to react to important stimuli (like me today - walking down a street totally not thinking of the car behind me - someone eventually honked, and I moved out of the way). I think that is probably THE reason why it is (and will probably always be) illegal. it's not predicatble. Alcohol, which is legal, is rather predictable. You get drunk; you get happy, and if you are not prone to voilence, chances are you will just get drunk and happy (thought, as w/ my experience, you might want MORE sometimes, and that doesn't always work out - you might get sick). Marijuana is nice becuase there is no hangover, but that THC is still in your brain for like 3 weeks, STILL (though weakly) influecing your thinking. I mean, would you want a bus driver on a bus that YOU are on to be stoned? THAT is why it's illegal. I was amazed that so many people in california really wanted to legalzie it. It's a fun drug - it's interesting and psychedlic, USUALLY, but it's also something that can mess w/ your mind. If you're a business man getting stoned every day, chances are you are going to have some cognitive impairment going on lots of the time, and that will interfere w/ your work. anyway, I was just wondering if any of you know any specific psychological TERMS related to things expereienced when stoned - like the emotions being "skewed" - is there some term for that, becuase I'm dying to know. And have you had any really interesting psychedelic things from pot? THE most psychedelic and INTERESTING time I had was from just (litterally) TWO DOLLARD WORTH OF WEED. It was like my third time being stoned. A guy in the dorm room across from me was buying some weed from a guy, and I said "what can I get for two bucks", and everyone was like "what?! Two bucks?", and he gave me this tiny little amount. Anyway, I smoked that stuff and was listening to some Butthole Surfers song on a walkman - a live version of "Bong Song", actually, and i went outside for a walk - WOW!!! Suddenly my imagination and perception of reality were intertwined. it sucked, though, becuase it was strong as hell and I couldn't figure out what the f*ck anything was! I looked at a grassy "island" in the street, but in my head it wasn't an island in the street, but a vast PARK (somehow - I was pretty stoned!). Luckily I came out of this, or I would have spent the rest of my life not knowing what the f*ck anything was! Another time I got stoend and it was as if I had two consciousnesses (I did, really!) - one thining one thing, and the other another - and THAT felt HORRIBLE. It just wasn't very much fun. Or, one time, being stoned with myself and some friends playing guitars, suddenly i started hearing (in my head) everything we were playing, but like..five MINUTES ago. i was expereiencing past and present at the SAME time, and THAT was totally interesting and blew my mind. Anyway, all you psychology majors - what are some of the NAMES of specific effects (like the "skewing of emotion" I refer to)? Or, anyone else, have you had any really interesting and pyschedelic expereiences while stoned - like, specific stuff - to yourself - like something only YOU have experienced? this could be a cool thread. Tweet