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Ask HN: Do you use marijuana non-recreationally?

34 points by imsofuture ↗ HN
Inspired by one of the responses to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17310926 I'm curious about people taking marijuana regularly and non-recreationally (by non-recreationally I mean anything other than 'getting super baked and listening to Dark Side of the Moon', in broad strokes).

Specifically I'm interested in those that take it for depression, focus, creativity, sleep, etc. Would you be willing to share your experiences?

49 comments

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pwason
Focus+Creativity

I can play things on my guitar when I'm stoned that I am completely unable to play when straight.

RPGing is quite amusing when stoned, as long as I don't become fascinated with the sparkly dice and drift off into a fugue state.

I also find that menial tasks such as cleaning, painting, yardwork, etc., become much more bearable/enjoyable.

Keep it clean, keep it green. GYO

KempFood
I was taking Tramadol for years for chronic pain. It worked great and allowed me to function. Then a couple years ago, some scientist said it was ‘opioid-like’, and now it’s impossible to get from doctors. The state where I live is clamping down on opioids and tramadol is now tied in with actual opioids.

Ibuprofen + Tylenol every 4 hours works OK, but the nausea and withdrawal from Tramadol led me to try cannabis. It works great for keeping me off opiods, since it fills that ‘any narcotic’-need people feel even years later.

It’s better, safer than heroin, which many turn to when their cruel doctors cut them off. The only thing that worries me now is a hospital stay. Can you imagine surgery without painkillers? Ouch, that’s only for the rich!

andrei_says_
Ganja is a significant part of many Yoga traditions.

I have a good friend who was introduced to its use in this context.

The lineage he was exposed to uses the enhanced attention in very specific way. No yoga teacher or class I’ve ever experienced has ever hinted to these techniques which makes me think they are not known outside of this lineage.

With that being said, one can always explore yoga practice in the presence of sativas, with attention toward the body and slowing down everything.

A typical augmented yoga session is 6+ hours.

cosmojg
Could you provide links to tutorials or other guides for the techniques and lineage you're describing? I'm curious!
richerlariviere
I use it at the end of my day in a vaporized form so I can inhale less carcinogenic chemicals. It really helps to regulate my mood since I tend to have a really "jumping" mood when I'm tired. I take a dose small enough (currently 0.2g) to feel a little high and being functional for creative activities (music, walk in the woods). This forces me to take time to wrap up and integrate what happened during the day. I found marijuana really helpful to reduce anxiety. I never used weed as a miracle substance but more as a supplement to physical activity and meditation. Weed, despite what people say can trigger mental addictions and sometimes body withdrawals this is why I like to keep a tight control over it.
protonimitate
I use it for: - Insomnia - Migraines - Focus/Creativity (studio art hobby) - Anxiety (mostly generalized anxiety disorder)

also recreationally, but not as often as I used to.

In general I've found that semi micro-dosing has helped with non-recreational use. Rather than smoke a joint/bowl worth all at once, I take a couple hits scattered throughout the day. Helps prevent getting the come-down sleepiness and lack of focus that comes with getting toasted early in the day.

Vaping over combustion also seems to help curb stoner side effects (sleepiness, laziness, munchies, paranoia) but YMMV.

posterboy
I think some people are mistaken here what weed consumnption is about. It's the oxygen deficiency, the sleepiness that makes some people feel irrationally happy, or otherwise a placebo effect triggered by very strong stimuli like the taste/smell and the heat and a lot of positive marketing.

The anxiety is, by definition, the problem that you should be most anxious about. Live is random and you need to stay alert, and self conscious. Bringing a bit of randomness into art can help with an organic look, but organisms decay, you likely want to design structures built to last. Migrain can be a consequence of malnourishment, vascular stress or other circulatory issues, certainly not something that can be helped by a pill or any of that sort. And if your doctor doesn't know where it comes from either, and your medical history doesn't indicate any reason, go see a chiropractor. And ask about sleeping pills, if you really cannot get any sleep at all. Which I doubt.

dangerface
Chiropractors are quacks https://health.spectator.co.uk/the-evidence-shows-that-chiro...

Sleeping pills are extremely dangerous https://www.everydayhealth.com/news/risks-taking-sleeping-pi...

You have no medical knowledge, please stop trying to give people medical advice.

beenBoutIT
If you're having headaches you need to see a neurologist. Anything having to do with your brain or head is generally going to be neurology. Rule out aneurysm, tumor and other potential 'game changers'.
posterboy
I said it, because I believe nerves and vessels can become lodged in between the spine, and block them somehow.
herbst
Well i use marijuana for a lot of reasons i would say.

Sure there always is a recreational factor. But i also suffer from way less migraines in stress situations, my depression is "smoothed" out as well as it helps my focus and creativity.

When i started smoking it may was all for being baked, but these days its more like a coffee. Its a habbit that helps in several parts of my private and work life. I can easily go without, and regularly do, however i don't see much of a reason to do so as it just helps without any worrysome side effects.

scrumbledober
I'm in a very similar situation. I started using marijuana to easy my migraines... Then I found out I enjoy it whether I have a migraine or not.
velox_io
I use it for muscle spasms, when CRPS is bad.

It's quite amazing how much has come to light with THC et al. recently. I vape CBD daily (never smoked, or vaped nicotine). I can't help but feel that the last 100 years has been lost (in the west at least), feels as though it's now being rediscovered.

dandare
I used to be addicted stoner. Does it count as non-recreational?
soared
I smoke before cycling/running basically as a performance enhancing drug. It enables me to nearly instantly “get into the zone”. I noted every run/ride that I smoked prior to in my tracker and anectodally found I performed better.

Also 25 miles into a ride, a quick puff on the pen feels excellent.

I assume it both gets me into a good mindset, but also raises my heart rate quickly.

skate22
To sleep every night

Also great for some of my migranes (can be worse when it doesnt work so i try the usual meds first)

Good for hangovers too

[dead] mrlala
+1 amazing for sleep.
toomuchtodo
A close friend uses it to medicate against her seizures.
posterboy
> non-recreational

So, destructive?

> Specifically I'm interested in those that take it for depression, focus, creativity, sleep, etc.

So, creational? I am confused by ''rec'', it's a bullshit term, especially if that means getting blunted which does at least not recreate braincells.

tazard
rec·re·a·tion·al/ˌrekrēˈāSH(ə)n(ə)l/ adjective

    relating to or denoting activity done for enjoyment when one is not working.
The opposite of that doesn't necessarily sound "destructive" to me. I mean sure, that's one possibility, but not the only one. "medicinal" could be another one. I'm sure there's more.
posterboy
As I was trying to say, I didn't grow up using this term to mean a big break or yard time or whatever it is. Neither do I find relaxing an apt description of the literally mind numbing activity.
acct1771
Smoking is dumb and deadening.

Vaporizing is for the gods.

Level up, friend.

posterboy
numbs the senses all the same, maybe less or differently, but it's certainly ... well, uncertain. Point in case, nobody in this thread was talking about the method of intake.
Torgo
Used to enjoy it recreationally a decade ago at age ~30. Now it makes me paranoid, more depressed, lethargic, and definitely dumber if I partake. So I don't anymore.
sfoblowsjose
Makes you feel dumber. It can't actually make you dumber lol.

Now alcohol can actually make you dumber. Stay away from the booze.

cylinder
You guys are always so confident about these marijuana harnlessness claims. You love acting like logic driven scientists so show us the science.
creep
I have a friend who used to smoke like an ounce/week. He was always high. He has scoliosis and is often in extreme pain, so the weed helped-- but apart from that, I have never seen a lazier, more depressing person than he was when he smoked that much. He wouldn't move, his appetite wasn't increased with marijuana so he was so skinny, and he'd just sit there and lazily preach about its benefits. All he did was talk about weed and smoke weed. He'd wake up, smoke a bowl, smoke another bowl, sleep, wake up and smoke a bowl, stay up all night listening to music and smoking bowls, and then fall asleep again. It scares me to think that people don't take marijuana seriously. It's a mind-altering substance that needs to be respected and monitored in one's own body just like anything else. It may not kill you, but it can fuck you up nonetheless.

I know there are so many positive stories about it, which is great, but I wish people would be more responsible and reasonable about what they take, how much they take, when, etc.

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seattle_spring
Captures how it makes me feel now as well, unfortunately. It also surprisingly exacerbates my chronic pain. I wish it helped.
creep
I used to smoke every night to enhance my dreams and enjoy some music. One day, a "switch" just flipped and now I can't smoke without intense social anxiety (I think my friends are trying to kill me or that I'm morphing into an alien freak), almost paralysis (can't move my body without extreme effort), and sometime uncontrollable crying. I have tried the oils, I have tried high this and low that, I've tried certified stuff, I've tried the backyard bullshit-- everything. I no longer partake because to me, it is a nightmare drug.
amorroxic
Involved in development with pretty insane schedules, 14-18+ hrs/day pretty often and weird as it sounds enjoying my activity immensely. Marijuana keeps me focused at times without a single Alt+Tab for most of the day. Far from ideal or healthy and I wouldn't recommend this to anyone however truth be told there's also a perennial race against time, if I'd be to stop the company would probably grind to a halt.

Never talked about this with anyone and would never even dare interacting with people in public in an altered state of mind but luckily we're a decentralized team. I'm also conscious about the bad part of this being gradual social retreat/isolation and inability of engaging with people at chit-chat/informal level. In my case though satisfaction from seeing an algorithm flying is just too great - but I'm also lucky of having a really supportive (non-smoker) partner, life without this aspect would most probably look much much different.

feel_the_need
Which Strain do you use / is it available on Eaze or downtown SF?
dd_3141
I use it to help ease various symptoms of my cystic fibrosis(I take it in a pill form), It's been really life changing.
beenBoutIT
You didn't specifically mention topical use, although anyone who dislikes sunburn, 3rd degree burns, bug bites, eczema, or mysterious rashes will appreciate this one. Cannabis Oil (THC/CBD ratio of 1:1) mixed into Aquaphor can be applied topically to effectively make anything topical caused by inflammation disappear. 3rd degree burns go from severe pain to no pain in a few hours, and the wild thing is that the burns heal without blistering. From what I've heard/read it may be possible to cure skin cancer and melanoma the same way.
King-Aaron
> From what I've heard/read it may be possible to cure skin cancer and melanoma the same way.

Citation definitely needed.

beenBoutIT
From The endocannabinoid system of the skin in health and disease: novel perspectives and therapeutic opportunities

"...cannabinoids were also reported to inhibit the in vivo growth of melanomas that express CB1 and CB2 by decreasing growth, proliferation, angiogenesis and metastasis formation, while increasing apoptosis." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2757311/

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gitgud
It helps some people focus, but not me. For me its good to relax every few months, but not to get anything done.
feydaykyn
My father uses it since he got stomach cancer: - while in chimiotherapy, it reduced the nausea and pain by a great deal - for the past 10 years, he has used it to reduce stomach spams and nausea caused by removing the cancer tissues In a few minutes, he goes from being white-sick, sweating, vomiting, trembling to being almost normal, it's quite magical actually!
throwawayf8f8
Hello, I’m currently trialing it to treat epilepsy. AMA.
dangerface
I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome and I find that a good Sativa will really help with it and calm my stomach, Indica not so much.

Some times when I want to work on something I find my self depressed and apathetic. A nice bowl of Girl Scout Cookies will fix that, once I'm started I will be less critical of myself and more pleased with my progress, allowing me to get into it and enjoy my work. If I have something more Indica I will just sit and watch tv :(

I feel it increases my creativity while stoned, but when I look at the work sober its not as good as my sober standard. I have anxiety problems it doesn't help with that.

irb3
I find that eating canned tuna will significantly reduce the impact of irb. Instead of 6 trips to the bathroom, I get down to 3-4.
neveradmitmyid
I use it for focus when writing software. I'm a fairly heavy user, and it allows me to block out anything that would take me out of flow. I write scientific security software, often under deadline, and my typical day is an integrated coding, working out, and smoking bongs. I prefer indica, and tend to smoke about an 1 oz. per week - these days about $120. Each day I do a hard cardio, which seems to balance out the smoking and coding from (seriously) 6am till 10pm with a few 1 hour breaks to eat or do that cardio workout.