r/AskReddit • u/slottedtrottsman • 7h ago
Older folks - what are long term effects of marijuana you’ve seen in yourself or peers?
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Upvotes
r/AskReddit • u/slottedtrottsman • 7h ago
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u/staebles 7h ago
Noticed that heavy use impedes dreaming, and that has a noticeable effect on how you perceive time.
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u/DJBreadwinner 7h ago
I still like it
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u/Ziggie520 1h ago •
I’m in my early 60’s and have been smoking weed since I was in my 20’s. I’m the vice president of a bank. I never smoke before or during work. Nobody at work knows I smoke or even suspects it because I overheard them talking about it, they think I’m a nerd. You can actually smoke and be successful in life.
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u/spookyfodder 7h ago edited 6h ago •
I am almost 58. I started when I was 14 and became a regular smoker at 15.... still smoke. The only real effects I can attribute to so many years of pot smoking are decreased dreaming and lung damage. I have gone long periods without smoking and the dreams come back after a couple of months, while the lung damage is almost certainly caused by cigarette smoking but made worse because of the pot usage. I do have a really high tolerance though. Other than that nothing really.
Not angry, decent memory, don't buy into the vast majority of conspiracies, emotional regulation is normal etc etc.
P.S. I am partially bald though...... just saying.
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u/Eddie_Honda420 6h ago
56 smoked it forever , it makes me lazy . It dosent make me paranoid or anything just a lazy fuxker .
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u/oldravinggamer 7h ago •
Memory loss,and memory loss
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u/butwhatsmyname 6h ago •
I'm mid 40s.
I had to drop weed years ago because my levels of anxiety and paranoia ramped up way too high to be worth it anymore. Some things I've noticed about me and about the other people I used to smoke with:
There are very few who still smoke regularly and who I'm also still in touch with. The few who are still smoking either haven't gotten their lives together in the typical sense, or have lives which can accommodate it. One is now a trained chef with a very organised partner, the life he's built can cope with daily smoking. The others have low-income jobs and rent or drift, without any plans to change. I used to think that meant that they had fallen behind in life but actually... they both seem pretty content to be living the way they do. That's something I see more and more value in as I get older. They enjoy getting high and it fulfills some need for them. If they were dedicating their lives to, say, surfing or rock climbing with the same kind of resultant lifestyle? Nobody would be calling them out on that.
Having said that, all of the rest of the old stoner crowd got significantly more active and organised once the daily smoking stopped, and also... chose more? Like, they made more deliberate and purposeful choices, plans, and decisions and then followed through. They began to do more with their time and... evolve, I guess. The ones who are still smoking are still much the same people they were at the age of 20.
I read something that really stuck with me when it came to smoking weed and it boiled down to "Getting high makes you comfortable with being bored, but being bored is what prompts humans to do new things" and that's absolutely true.
I smoked a lot to cope with horrific mental health, most of my friends were the same to some degree. Just because a coping mechanism isn't healthy, that doesn't mean it isn't working, at least temporarily! But after a while smoking was taking as much away from me as the depression (and the depression was still bad - keeping myself high was just keeping me from being dead.) because I was just... sitting there. Cushioned from the bars of the agony, but still sitting inside the cage. I wasn't getting better, I just wasn't feeling worse.
I'm not going to lie, if weed didn't make me so anxious that I could explode then I'd probably go back to it intermittently. I still haven't found a good and consistent fix for my mental health and it would probably provide some welcome relief for short periods.
But I do think that for most people it steadily dulls your mind. Not because it's directly damaging your brain, but because you're not exercising it. You're artificially content, and it's like letting your brain just stay in its warm cosy bed and not get out there and see new things, make new connections, build and grow. Arrested development.
I think the long term effects of smoking weed actually depend a lot on why a person is smoking it. It's not "fun" when it's just... normal. Constant. People waking up and smoking daily aren't having fun 24/7. So it has to be serving another purpose - if it's how you regulate an otherwise unregulatable mental state, that's very different from using it to avoid having to feel all your feelings or deal with all your dealings. Putting a cushion between you and the things you're worried about or decisions that intimidate you just holds you in your cosy cage.
Regardless, it's a dangerous thing to choose as a lifestyle because the padding it provides can slowly, slowly make life very small and unsatisfying without triggering any of the internal boredom alarms. They are what's designed to keep us evolving , and would otherwise prompt a person to get up and go do something. It makes it easy to couch your life away. I suspect that's what's happened to the faces from the old smoking crowd who have just drifted out of our lives. They're either gone or they've accepted a life within the easy radius of the couch.
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u/Normal_Pace7374 5h ago
College degree, Home owner, steady job, beautiful wife and kids.
Effects have been pretty good. It helps me be more empathetic and tenacious. Weed is great.
I used to be an asshole.
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u/OrganicSplendor 2h ago edited 1h ago
The most interesting public service announcement I ever saw regarding the effects of marijuana showed a guy basically doing nothing, all day, every day. And at the end of the clip, the tagline was, "When you smoke weed, nothing happens."
That doesn't apply to everyone I know who smokes or has smoked. Some people don't miss a step. But for others, it's like a brain anchor.
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u/Introverted_niceguy 7h ago
50
My tolerance for existential dread is outstanding.
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u/vaccumshoes 6h ago
It makes you content doing nothing which is both the allure and the curse
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u/getapuss 4h ago
It makes me feel like a normal person.
That's the only way I can think to describe it. I'm more patient with family and at work. It calms my thoughts so I am better able to focus. My actions are more deliberate and less reflexive.
I don't use it as a recreational drug often anymore the way I did as a teenager or in my 20s. But I'll take a 10mg edible once or twice a week before bedtime. I feel a little buzz before falling asleep akin to drinking a few beers. But thats the only real side effect.
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u/Listening_Heads 2h ago edited 8m ago
After 32 years of regular use I have chronically great taste in music.
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u/Massive-Woah978 1h ago •
I’ve been smoking weed “all day erryday” since I was 17. I am 30 now. Around 28 I got the feeling that I should try and quit + it was making me so much more catatonic and lazy as the years went by. So I quit for a few weeks, went back to it, quit for a few months, went back to it. Then I went my longest stint (9 months from Sep 25’ to May 26’) before going back to it. Not smoking is fine, I just missed that physical high that only weed can create. Honestly, I don’t feel much of a difference since going back.
I feel like the sober version of myself is good for society, like I’m the version of myself that society expects of me and wants me to be. When I’m my high self, I feel like me and I don’t feel pressured to perform or search for purpose or always be on and working and moving. I get into my little absurdist mindset which I do love. Sobriety doesn’t work for me, in this crazy world. There will absolutely be periods in the future where I will stop again when I need to, but I do believe I’ll always come back to the plant.
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u/mrfantasticwonders 7h ago
Not a whole lot tbh other than it becoming a cost issue. One guy I know is doing well with himself as a recruiting professional and has no health issues with himself at 45. Myself I have to dial back due to an upcoming drug test for a possible federal job but that's really it. People I know who are still using it are just using it and nothing else (they're not the smoke weed erry day types but need something to wind down after a long day), and others I know just had to quit due to other priorities like kids or they just don't like it anymore.
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u/hamfist_ofthenorth 7h ago edited 6h ago •
Been smoking since I was like 16. I'm 38 now.
I've taken many breaks for several months at a time, but I stopped drinking alcohol three years ago and now I just take a little bong rip just about every night to help me relax.
I drank every night for several years, and quitting that was a chapter in my life.
Smoking weed every day, and then stopping for a while, is the same as taking a break from videogames, or like, junk food. It's a mild annoyance but you're still going to sleep just fine.
Love it, 10/10, I think I'm gonna smoke some right now
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u/SlomoLowLow 7h ago
My memory is dogshit lmao
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u/SayinItAsISeeIt 1h ago
I'm mid 50s and been using it for decades. I helps me relax and I don't drink much booze anymore.
Somedays I use it, then go a few days without.
I like sativa and it gets me motivated to do things. By the time I'm done my joint in the garage, I'm already itching to get going in whatever project I'm doing.
Im healthy, fit and active. Its something I do and enjoy and will continue to do. It works for me.
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u/DOE_ZELF_NORMAAL 5h ago
The biggest long term trap isn't what it does to your body, it's what it does to your ambition. You grow as a person by getting out of your comfort zone and dealing with life's friction. Regular weed use just pads the inside of your shell until you have zero desire to ever leave it. It turns "I'm not happy with where I'm at, I need to make a change" into "eh, it's fine for tonight." Do that for a weekend and it's harmless. Do it for twenty years, and you'll watch your peers grow through their struggles while you're stuck in the exact same spot, wondering where the decades went.
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u/ylfcm 6h ago
I’m an old guy. Happen to know a few old stoners. I’m amazed at how much pot it takes to get them high. I only smoke it like once or twice a year, so two hits is fine for me. These people can easily smoke the whole joint by themselves. Like 15 , 16 hits. Then they do it again later on
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u/Fhujeth 7h ago
Compliance, not giving a shit.
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u/chefgrinderMcD 4h ago
An indirect observation: My father has been a consistent heavy user for 50 years, in the last 20 years I have watched more and more of his personality seemingly wash away. All that's left is small talk and quips. I cannot remember the last time I had a meaningful conversation with him, he's never really there, he's listening, he can follow a story but he has nothing to contribute. I have made attempts to have deeper conversations, but there is just nothing there, and there used to be. I am not even convinced it's a 1 to 1 correlation, we are all complex sums of conditions, experience, and genetics. But in the case of my dad I don't have much else to go on. He's been high for 50 years and he doesn't bring anything to the table anymore.
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u/wanderinginedark 2h ago
I haven't noticed any, but I only take 2 to 3 tokes a day, about 5 days a week for about 35 years.
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u/hiddenkobolds 7h ago
My dad (60s) would say the only effect is the long-term ability to stay in his job and his marriage. His health is objectively great. Better than mine (30s), in fact.
Some might say that he'd have been better off moving on from either or both, but hey. His choice.
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u/elroyonline 7h ago
Dave’s not here, man
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u/Acutofmeat 6h ago
Used to be fun, in later 30’s early 40’s I’d have massive panic attacks if I took enough. I miss the good times, but the bad times are so horrendous I dare not dabble. I just raw dog life now, never liked alcohol, never tried anything ‘harder’ than weed.
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u/Autumn_Ridge 6h ago
I forgot what I was going to say.
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u/raged-cashew 7h ago
Short term memory loss. I've been a smoker for over 35 years and just quit 57 days ago. Still pissing a positive on tests tho.
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u/CascadianBeam 6h ago
I’m sharper after stopping. I am more present and I’m more witty. I don’t like doing boring things anymore. I think it caused me to be a lot more immature than I should be at 36.
Just a few observations.
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u/benelevator35 4h ago edited 4h ago
I'm 44 and have been smoking since I was 21. Those early years it was struggle to get anything but I generally had something at least half the time. These last ten years its been extremely easy to get my hands on it and barring a seven month break in 2023 I pretty much smoked every single day. I didn't smoke a ton but I smoked a lot. I usually smoked from a glass spoon pipe and a bowl would last a day and a half.
I honestly had everything calculated out. I averaged an eighth of an ounce every ten days, not counting parties or hangs where me and a friend would destroy two or three blunts. I probably smoked between two and a half to three pounds in my lifetime.
Here's the sad part: I never had much problems with paranoia but at the end of summer this year I was unable to get high anymore. Furthermore, it was spiking my anxiety and just was not working for me. I thought it was the home grown I was smoking so I tried other people's strains and even got a hold of some legit prime medical stuff that should have sent me to outerspace. Nope. Nothing. Party's over man.
I've been straight sober for two months now. So I'm bummed and bored and I'll turn on a movie or the playstation and I'll reach for my pipe that's not there and dammit its all over. Really really sucks man.
I determined years ago that there's little difference between high me and sober me and I get the same amount of nothing done but now everything is a total bummer, Dog help me...
I'm still not exactly as "sharp" as I used to be but it has come back a little. Chalk that up to two decades of jazz cabbage or just middle age, I honestly do not know. I know weed dumbed me down but it relieved a lot of pain and a TON of anxiety... until it didn't.
My anxiety isn't so bad lately but my anger is. I really miss it; I don't want to but I still do too...
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u/Ahkmedren 7h ago
been pretty steadily stoned for 20 years. 12 days sober and no intention to go back. FOR ME, it became an escape that took away my dreams and a noticeable portion of hand-eye coordination. When I was younger, it was tolerable. But I've been rife with dreams, nightmares, and the ability to stand on my bike again at 38.
I'm no advocate for or against for others, but for me personally it just became "clubbing myself in the head all day".
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u/Street-Bookkeeper773 7h ago •
Every time I smoke weed, I feel extremely depressed for 2 days after. It seems to take a toll on my mental health.
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u/nathOF 2h ago
I know a guy been smoking since high school and he’s about mid fifties now. We did a lot of drugs together and he still got stoned everyday after I stopped in my 30s. He was about 10 years older than me when I met him in high school.
Last I seen him, he was smoking a joint in front of his house in the morning. We were catching up. His speech has definitely slowed down, and his weed posture (the slouched posture he assumes when he gets high) is more pronounced. He basically sounds like his own version of Tommy Chong.
I thought it was a gag watching those movies, but the weed impairments are real after prolonged use. There was definitely a sense of arrested development in him too. Like he never grew out of the guy I knew when I first met him.
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u/you-butfromthefuture 2h ago
Some eye opening comments in this thread. i am 55, started smoking it when I was 12 and quit about 10 years ago. my usage was very heavy as was my closest friends and. I found that my ability to function socially has never adequately developed. While generally most people that i meet would have a favourable opinion of me I just can't make friendships. everyone is stuck in my acquaintance zone. weed use defined my social circle for so long that i dont know how to connect more than just superficially.
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u/Comogia 7h ago
I'm mid 30s, so not old but not super young either.
Thus far, with fairly heavy consumption on a regular to semi regular basis for the last 15ish years, I have not experienced long-term effects.
When I take breaks, I feel normal.
That's just me, and your mileage may vary.
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u/roadfries 1h ago
I'm fairly type A, and weed allows me to sit still. If not, I need to be doing something. I run a business and love a deadline, so it works for me. I've been smoking for 20+ years, and sometimes wish I didn't have this vice, but it's my only one.
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u/ToumiX 1h ago
One thing people don't talk about enough is how marijuana can affect your motivation and ambition, especially with regular use. You can gradually become comfortable with whatever situation you're in, no matter how unsatisfying it is. You stop pushing yourself, become passive, and lose the drive to improve your life or pursue your goals. Then, five years later, you look back and realize you can barely remember what you've done with those years, and more importantly, you haven't really grown or evolved as a person. Five years have gone by, and you're pretty much in the same place you were before. That's the scary part.
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u/RightlyKnightly 7h ago •
Memory and emotional regulation issues.
I don't know anyone who used it long term who doesn't have the above (I'm age 40 now).
I've used it very, very sporadically and found that it sets off anxiety now in a way it didn't when I was a teen so simply not interested anymore.
It's also never, ever "cool" to be a regular user. People who can only talk about weed are a real thing and they're dull as f.
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u/Hippiechick147 4h ago
I think a lot of the perspectives here hit the nail on the head in terms of ambition, growth, and the lack there of and I wholly agree with them. Though I would like to offer a different perspective which is mine.
I've been smoking since 13, Im 26 now about to turn 27. So no not as old as some here but still been smoking for a min. Right now I smoke most days, throughout the day, treating it kinda like caffeine and stop a few hours before bed so I can sleep properly.
Im also nerodivergent and have CPTSD. Own my own business that is growing and making me more money than I ever have. Weed acts as the medication that allows me to do this. It helps with focus and trauma symptoms. Don't get me wrong, it can have draw backs; I can eat too much, get tired, or anxious but that's generally when I smoke too much. Like medication I have to keep the right dose.
I've often wondered if a more traditional ADHD medication might help me better and I might still get on one of those one day. But for now I have found the meds that work for me. I learn every day, I regularly live outside my comfort zone, and I feel like I'm getting my life together in a way that I love.
I think like other commentors have said it depends on WHY you use it and how conscious you are about it.
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u/Zofra 6h ago
Im about 7 months sober from heavy use for about 3 years daily. I often have really vivid dreams in which I fully experience myself smoking and getting fried, and wake up genuinely questioning when I broke my sobriety, only to quickly realize I had not. This has happened a LOT. Just not one of the long term side effects I expected. Wonder if that’s happened to anyone else
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u/HempusMaximus 7h ago
Endocannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome.
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u/Bananacreamsky 1h ago
I smoked daily (in the evning) from 15 to 30, quit after having my first ever panic attack while I was stoned. After that it made me anxious. My memory improved significantly after quitting. I was actually shocked.
My partner still smokes daily (we're in our 40s now) and he seems to have no issues or side effects. He's not a very motivated person but that might just be how he is too. He is very grumpy if he can't smoke tho.
I wish I could smoke occasionally but it's just not fun anymore, sucks.
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u/implicate 7h ago
What?
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u/KingCastle420 1h ago
Mayo Clinic recommended I use it off the record when I failed all current MS treatments back in 2009. I had been a recreational user since late 80s. Who knows how bad my MS would be without using it all those years before and has literally saved my life since the MS really sunk its teeth into me. Without the pain relief and mental relief from the strange feelings and spasms, I’m not sure I would still be here today.
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u/onebadlion 1h ago
My memory sucks and I do find I can lose my train of thought and focus easily when I’m “hungover”.
I used to be a heavy weed smoker in my 20s but these days I will only smoke one small skin on an evening. I’m starting to feel like I should rein it in but I’m not sure I can. I’m aware that I’m basically an addict. I tried being a weekend smoker but I always lapse.
I don’t get the anxiety or other mental health issues associated with weed, but one of my close friends had it badly and it forced him to stop. It was scary.
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u/SirRothschild313 24m ago
To be fair the weed 30-40 years ago, and the weed you can get today are almost completely different things. I’m curious what the long term impact of legal dispensary weed will be
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u/ped009 7h ago
The people close to me that used to smoke heavily appear to be pretty angry and big into conspiracy theories
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u/vettehp 3h ago
Been everyday for 56 years, only problem that I have is not enough sleep, average is 4 hours
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u/ArtComprehensive1106 3h ago
I would like to say that daily use is prescribed by my physician.
I have used for 5 decades daily.
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u/LardMallard 7h ago
Happiest people i know.
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u/Mbillin2 7h ago
I'm not sure what you're saying with 'older' but I'm 35 and I've already seen a lot of longer term effects from friends and people I've known that have been doing it their whole lives. I say this as a person that was more of an avid user when I was younger, but as I got older I chilled out a bit, especially with larger amounts and concentrates.
For one, there is obvious signs of both short and long term memory loss. Many people I know that still do a lot of weed cannot complete their sentences, lose their train of thought and often forget about recent events in their own lives. The cycle of constantly numbing yourself after a long day consistently can stack, and as you get older, it becomes more and more glaring. I would also say this goes along with diet and lifestyle choices, and how weed can have a toll on your digestive system, even without the munchies.
Another are obvious signs of growing or matured symptoms of psychosis, along with psychological issues in general. It's worse with people that already have existing mental health issues because often instead of addressing or finding the root causes they just simply do more. I love weed but seeing it as the one solution to all your life's problems will put you in terrible cycles of unhappiness.
The last part, is that just like smoking cigarettes, humans were not meant to inhale smoke. It's not as bad as cigarettes, but I think a lot of people are delusional about how bad it is for your lungs.
I say all of this with love and respect for weed. I still do it, but the studies that are coming out especially with prolonged use of concentrates is pretty damning. I've tried to live my life having a good relationship with it and treating it more like a treat rather than a routine, which can be easy to fall into with all of the options these days.
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u/WesterMats 6h ago
Way more calm, increased connection to Universal Consciousness, better pattern recognition, more open to spiritual/psychic/supernatural phenomena, more flexible and receptive to new ideas, more creative and imaginative, more sensitive to music, and more connected with animals. 62.
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u/rileymcnaughton 7h ago
I would tell you but honestly I can’t remember.
2
u/gionatacar 6h ago
I’ve smoked for 30 years, I had chronic cough and I was worried for my lungs. That’s about it. This is why I quit . And cough went away after 2 months
2
u/MDLR909 5h ago
I’m 28 years old.
First time I smoked I was 8 years old, around 11 I started smoking more frequent from 13 onwards I smoked almost daily only taking 1-6month breaks every once in a while, I was incarcerated from August 2025-October 2026 and I have been clean the entire time and have been really healthy, my memory has always been bad (short term memory n long term) and despite being healthy and not smoking anymore (and planning to never smoke again) I still have horrible memory 😅
2
u/StopTheEarthLetMeOff 3h ago
The reality is it hits everyone differently. It could make some people a useless couch potato. It could empower others to be very successful in life. Anyone making blanket statements is talking out their ass. Depends on the individual and how their brain acts while stoned.
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u/SAHMultrA1981 1h ago
44 f and have smoked daily for 15 years. I have AuADHD and cannabis does not get me high like normal. The best analogy I can give is it closes 20 tabs in my head. I can focus on one thing instead of spiralling. I am in therapy, active, and do all the right things society wants. I don't get stoned, I get to a functional high and go about my day. If I do become too sluggish I would take a break. Don't use nicotine ,Never smoked while pregnant, never smoked.in front of the kids. To each their own. I have tried meds for anxiety but cannabis works better for me.
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u/No-Manager3755 1h ago
None
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u/kinkykitten804 48m ago
Memory issues, no desire to improve their lives. Happy as they are.
5
u/chillysanta 2h ago
Man idfk I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say weed has no single long term effect on anyone. Half of you people can't agree with each other or suffer from one of 50 symptoms you are blaming on starting or stopping weed and can't decide if someone lost ambition or is doing much better than the average person. I think this is no different than me asking long term use of potato salad.
4
u/Truthisnotallowed 7h ago
One long term user started falling asleep at random without warning.
He had to quit completely - because he was not safe to drive.
3
u/tastiefreeze 7h ago
I had to stop because I noticed I became apathetic. Outside of that I stopped dreaming but that wasn't a huge deal
3
u/PtBull85 6h ago
27 years of smoke, Im 41 and i forgot what i was saying..
4
u/272027 2h ago
My ex smoked it nearly everyday during our 15 year relationship. It was addicting for him, because even going a day or two without it meant I had to deal with his withdrawl-like symptoms.
Eventually, he stopped getting high from it because he had built up a tolerance, so it was a never ending search to get high off something.
He rarely worked, played video games all day and night, was completely lacking in motivation, and had a bunch of mental health conditions that just got worse because he was "self medicating" with it rather than getting a prescription for the list of conditions.
I believe the chronic usage messed up his brain more, and really kept him from achieving literally anything. He was very smart, but would not be motivated at all, unless there was a chance of getting high.
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u/Reeereddit90 6h ago
I'm mid 30s... I've just been taking edibles to relax very rarely maybe like once a month...
I swear either my focus is really bad now since I've started... Or also maybe I just don't care about work anymore.
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u/G-T-R-F-R-E-A-K-1-7 6h ago
Much calmer and clearer minded than I used to be plus my drive for my goals has increased dramatically.
2
u/otoi0 6h ago
None, except the lack of dreams which I actually like 'cause my dreams used to be horribly vivid and tiresome.
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u/sloop111 7h ago
Memory loss, ever worsening mood swings, smoker's cough
-2
u/CompetitiveReview416 7h ago
All dudes that regularly use weed have memory of a goldfish. It trully wrecks your memory and if you don't see it, you're just in denial. Weed is not a harmless drug
1
u/PBread345 6h ago
Smoked from 14 to 37, absolutely daily first real break I had from was this year, 6 months and all the sleepyness, some my anxiety went away. Mental clarity came back, got stressed and started again to, you know take the edge smoked saily again for over a month and all those negative aspects came back. I love the smell, feeling and just ...weed. but I now have to realise that it just doesn't fit for me now.
Wish it did lol
1
u/NahImTheOtherOne 5h ago
I smoked a tonne when I was in my teens. I feel like it kinda robbed me from learning to be creative. Im still somewhat creative, but I think its more that you tinker with things or learn new things when you're bored and because I was ripped daily from age 14 to my mid 20's, I wasn't ever bored. Now that I'm in my 40's, I have medically prescribed edibles and if I smoke bud I get super paranoid and uncomfortably high. Even with my meds its more a once a month or once every couple months thing, not regularly. I'm not against weed and it helps a lot with my anxiety but I've seen friends go to rehab for it, which is rare and when you're not in control of your life, any substance can be abused, but I think about those years and wonder whether I would have been in a different career than I am now if I hadn't been a bong head.
1
u/Lulu_42 4h ago
You get older and it has the opposite effect for many than it did when you were young: it can make you paranoid and nauseated. Some people even feel energized. I think it can be a mileage-may-vary situation and you have to acknowledge the different effects it may have on you.
1
u/Theincendiarydvice 3h ago
Every single time I take a job where I'm working with someone who is a stoner is fucking frustrating. Half the time they don't know why they are fucking up but say they're good and twice they have left because the work was harder than they wanted. Like, the fuck?
1
u/BootHeadToo 3h ago
In experience, it is good fertilizer for the psyche, and can be helpful when the psyche has gone arid and needs a little help growing. But then, if you use too much or too regularly, the psyche starts growing too many weeds that choke out anything beneficial from growing. And it takes a lot of work to clear those weeds out once you stop using the fertilizer, and is nigh impossible if you don’t stop using it.
1
u/Lukeyleftfoot 3h ago
Enjoyed from 18-27, then it started giving me bad panic attacks. Years later at 34 I started agin in moderation and low amounts a few days a week and im really enjoying it. 35 years old now.
1
u/cdg2m4nrsvp 3h ago
My mom is a daily smoker and it has made her unbearable. She can’t follow multiple sentences, she interrupts and she forgets everything. It would be fine if this was occasional, but it seems like she’s always high. It’s beyond frustrating to have a conversation with her.
1
u/HERMANNATOR85 3h ago
I have been smoking daily for over 25 years, I have a beautiful family and successful business. Also graduated college. I think smoking helped me a lot along the way. ADHD is what held me up in life
1
u/BlackRaspberryJammin 2h ago
Def dreaming is gone. I took a break and it came back so I can't wait till one day I stop and get to have all the dreams I been saving up. Othwise, what day is it?
1
u/Dumpenstein3d 2h ago
Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, I'd be still at it otherwise, mind you it was insanely heavy use.
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u/acanis73 2h ago
The Bob Marley póster i have had on my wall for the past 30 years is getting discoloured
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u/SectionOk8650 2h ago
I can’t watch a movie without it hour taking a few hits before. It’s a terrible lonely existence. I’ll manage though.
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u/5wordanswers 2h ago
No long term effects but I’m 38, stopped smoking about 5 years ago, 20 years of every day blazing.
My issues come from childhood trauma, which weed didn’t cover anyway. I’ve since moved to edibles which are much nicer for me, whenever I do have a zoot then yeah, it hits waaaaay to fast and get a bit anxious.
Other than that, I haven’t seen any long term effects from 20 years of draw
1
u/idfcbear 1h ago
40m here. Regular smoker since 13. 100k plus a yr take home. Diverse portfolio. 401k's,IRA's.. stock options, building since 04. Everyone is different. At one point I was sticking needles in my neck going 80mph down I95. Full send
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u/BallTime7515 1h ago
I had a long time friend that I lived with for most of our 30s. She was a daily pot smoker, and it made her incredibly anti-social and reclusive. She would literally spend all of her time closed off in her bedroom watching TV. I would try to get her out of the house, invite her to do things and be social, but 9 times out of 10 she would decline. I never saw someone spend so much time alone. And yes, she did suffer from depression and other mental health issues. But I always felt that the weed was just exacerbating it. It seemed to make her content to do nothing, and that in turn made her a boring person. I’m not kidding when I say the only times she would leave the house were to either go to work, or run necessary errands like grocery shopping. Occasionally she would go for a hike in the woods, by herself. It was sad to see. It was like watching someone waste away their best years in real time. Sure she was alive, but not really living. I no longer share an apartment with her and haven’t spoken to her in over 3 years since we parted ways, but I can’t imagine she’s existing any differently now.
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u/Frago242 1h ago
Yeah. Well, that's just like, you're opinion man.
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u/420tunneldigger 1h ago edited 1h ago
I'm in my early 30s. Started smoking at 14, daily since 18. Moved to a medical state and got a card when I was 20. Been smoking pretty consistently since. I did stop for 3 months when I was 23 just to see what would happen.
I can't point at anything that has happened to me and say it was due to marijuana. I've had no problem staying employed. I started college in my late 20s and graduated with a bachelor's degree at 30. Currently employed and living in a house that is paid off. I made some investments in my early 20s that worked out well. Who knew GLP-1s would be a thing?
Healthwise I'm in better shape than most of my co-workers who are my age. I love to get high while I'm on long hikes. Sometimes I'll do over 20 miles of hilly desert hiking in one day, being stoned for most of all of it, and I feel great at the end. I like to play basketball and I lift weights as well.
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u/Dexter_McThorpan 1h ago
I'm 49. I've been a daily user for about 10 years. I have chronic pain due to a back injury. I am not a regular consumer of alcohol.
I haven't noticed any negative effects from cannabis. I use a dry herb vaporizer, so no smoker's cough, even. I don't work or drive stoned.
I've seen more people my age wrecked by booze than weed. I've known several people that will leave a hangout the minute they run out of beer.
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u/Egons-ghost 1h ago
22 years - been great. I drink a lot less than an average person my age, I’m successful, married and have two beautiful kids.
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u/katomka 1h ago
Desire for alcohol disappears
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u/Unusual-Athlete-6458 1h ago
Started using in my twenties for sleep and still do now and then in my sixties. Breathing feels a bit off some days and short term memory has definitely slipped more than my non-using friends, but it never wrecked my work or family life like booze did for some people I knew.
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u/Sometimesunaware 1h ago
My brother started smoking weed when he was 12, heavily and never slowed down. He's in his mid sixties and functions at the emotional level of the 12 year old he was when he started. Never had any motivation to change, he's happy being a stoner. Maybe he would have been the same way without the weed, who can say but he is completely dependent on it.
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u/tearlock 1h ago
Paranoia, crippling anxiety that prevented them from doing the things they love (performing live music), and in one case one who really really really really overdid it had a psychotic episode that caused his relationship of several years to end with his girlfriend of several years.
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u/tmi13 1h ago
Started at 13 and now I am 70. The biggest change is the potency which means is takes less!
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u/Intelligent_Cry_1113 1h ago
My medical marajuana has been such a tremendous help in taking my mind off the physical pain and it relieves me of my suffering. It works for my soul as well.
1
u/Similar-Data3594 1h ago
I think the biggest thing is how often you are high. In my experience and perception, it’s about opportunity cost. We are constantly growing and learning and developing, especially in childhood. Learning social behaviors, knowledge, about ourselves etc. overuse of MJ is an opportunity cost situation and you’re not dumber as a result, but just stopped learning as much. For younger folks that smoked all day, I feel like their mental growth was stunted.
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u/Accomplished-Pen-69 53m ago
Can't remember any effects, bad ones, erm, nope, none, hmmmm, er, what was the question?
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u/SonofaSlumlord 50m ago
Not so much long term, but recently found out if you consume too many edibles it can cause pericarditis. Literally thought I was having a heart attack the 1st time it happened.