Posted by Jared on February 18, 2000, at 13:50:41
In reply to Re: marijuana and antidepressant, posted by PattyG on February 17, 2000, at 17:15:04
I hope I haven't offended you about my comments. Marijuana is a very controversial drug and I have my own opinions which are merely colored by my own exprerience. I smoked my first joint when I was seventeen. I got hit the first time and really liked the change in perception. Music sounded better. The whole world just seemed so amazing. I never smoked it consistently, but from 17 to 22, I have smoked it a little over 40 times with different amount and with different people. I also took LSD twice(once in a mental hospital). I have had anxiety all of my life, since I was very young and throughout all or my teenage years. I had my first panic attack when I was nineteen. The reason I believe that drugs have contributed to my anxiety is because they changed my perception, and got me seeing things in different ways. I had several really bad experiences where I freaked out while smoking pot. My anxiety has been worse from ages 19 to present then it ever was. Now I can't blame this on the drugs, and I
have absolutely no scientific proof, but I just feel that things might have gone differently had I not done them. The problem with Marijuana is that as Noa said, you never know where its coming from and whats in it. There have also been no(to my knowledge) clinical tests done for it use in psychiatric illnesses. I wouldn't deny that it might actually be helpful to some people. It is such a varied drug from person to person. The reason why I think its dangerous is that people who are mentally ill may already have a chemical imbalance in their brain, and using an illegall, untested psychoactive drug is probably not a good idea, even if it does help. There are so many drugs available that whatever the problem is I am sure it could be helped with existing, tested, and legal pharmaceuticals. Also, I hope I didn't throw you off with my comments about neurotransmitters. I am no expert and I only know from the things I have read. I should have said, using an illegal drug with a prescribed psychoactive is
playing with fire. The difference is grass has not been given clinical trials, and approved psychiatric medicine has. Thus it is much safer.
poster:Jared
thread:20874
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000209/msgs/22269.html