Smoking Cannabis: what I wished I knew at the beginning.
By: Kane Leboutillier
Tags: Productivity, Experience, Medicine, Marijuana, Cannabis

Smoking Cannabis: What I wished I knew at the beginning — By Kane LeBoutillier.

Cannabis is commonly treated like a miraculous wonder drug, but does it work for you?

Over recent years Cannabis has become quite a trending topic, with many countries around the globe starting to legalise Cannabis for it’s vast array of health benefits. Currently, in the UK, where I am writing this article, Cannabis is not legal for medicinal purposes, nor recreational use. However, CBD oil and Cannabis Oil have recently been made legal for its medicinal uses — as reported by the ‘Evening Standard’ on the 1st of November, 2019. This legal CBD oil is still in the early stages of development in the UK, with health stores such as Holland & Barret slowly capitilising on an ever growing market.

Today, I am not here to speak about this CBD and Cannabis oil, rather I am here to speak about my own personal experience smoking the skunky version of Cannabis — you know, those buds that you grind up and roll into a tasty joint at the end of a long day? Yes, I am speaking about the high grade Cannabis which is currently illegal, yet abundantly avaliable for many to get their hands on.

So without any further redue, let me enlighten you on a few things that I wished I would have known before I started smoking this high grade Cannabis.

Why I decided to smoke Cannabis to begin with…

Me personally, I started smoking Cannabis recreationally 6 years ago during my first year of college. I did so out of pure curiosity, with no idea about the pros or the cons — all I knew is that it would get me high, and even then I had little to no idea of what to expect.

I am diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper-activity Disorder) and not long after I started smoking, I learned about all the benefits that Cannabis held in store for me, from; finally allowing my mind to relax, finally allowing my body to relax, finally allowing me to have a full nights sleep every single night, and allowing me the ability to focus more effectively on the tasks I was performing. It really did seem like a wonder drug, and everything that I had ever needed to help me with my mental health condition, but as the years went on smoking Cannabis became more of a problem than what I was dealing with in the first place, especially should a time arise that I didn’t have any smoke.

My anger and irritability got way worst; my financial position was slowling deteriorating; my motivation to work and achieve my goals was fading; and worst of all, my anxiety had started to sky rocket to all new levels.

It seemed like despite all the benefits that smoking Cannabis brought me, it also brought a number of negative cons, especially on days where I wouldn’t have any smoke— cons that could heavily outweight the positives in the long run.

So, is Cannabis right for you? Maybe you have been smoking for a few years and are struggling to weigh up the pros and cons, or maybe you are just looking to test out this wonder drug for yourself but are unsure on what to expect from it: it is my aim in this article to enlighten you, based on my own experience, to help you come to the final decision of my above question…

Is Cannabis right for you?

*Before I finally get started on this article, I would just like to point out that I am speaking from personal experience here. Meaning, what I faced could slightly differ compared to what you see. Who you are as an individual, personality wise, plays a huge role in how the pros and cons of smoking Cannabis may affect you!

What I wished I knew when I beginned smoking.

Finance — Do you have enough financial security to spend £300 each month without putting your other needs out of the way?

For me, finances were the biggest con of smoking Cannabis. I found that I was buying more excessive amounts with the more that I smoked. In my heaviest months of smoking I could easily spend upwards of £500 a month in order to get my fix. Some months my paycheck would not amount to that number, which would go on to leave me in debt — debt that was almost impossible to clear off if I was to carry on smoking. If I was to have a bad day, I would instantly turn to smoking, spending money that I might not neccesarily of had avaliable at the time.

Now I know this won’t be a huge problem for everyone, as my addictive personality and lack of self-control definately played apart in my mistakes, but none the less — Finances should definatley be considered if you are looking into smoking cannabis, whether that be medicinally or recreationally.

In the UK it costs £10 for a gram, which can last the average smoker one day; for the heavy smoker that would last all of a few hours. So you can imagine the damage that smoking cannabis daily could have on your finances — £10 a day, everyday of the month is £300 of your monthly pay check.

Do you have enough financial security to spend £300 each month without putting your other needs out of the way?

2. Motivation — Do you have the self-control to avoid smoking when you have a lot of tasks to get completed?

A lot of times I would find that after a smoke, my motivation towards certain goals would be diminished, with me usually saying “I can get on with that later.” Again, this was down to my own personality type as much as it was down to the smoke, but none the less, the relaxing attributes of Cannabis can set you down in terms of productivity. It can lead you to into a lazy state where you cannot be bothered to do anything but sit infront of the TV with a bucket full of munchies.

Now of course, there is a simple solution to this: Don’t smoke when you know you have things to get done. But for me, this wasn’t easy whilst dealing with an impulsive mind and a lack of self-control. As soon as the thought of ‘joint’ entered my head, I wouldn’t be able to focus on any task until I had smoked that joint, and even after smoking it I would end up focusing on a completely different task because the other one no longer cultivated my attention.

So there is an important question you must ask yourself:

Do you have the self-control to avoid smoking when you have a lot of tasks to get completed? Can you wait until you have finished your task before sparking up that joint?

3. Addiction — Do you have an addictive personality type?

Now this one, I don’t mean in a literal sense of addiction. But what I do mean is that I would become so acustom to performing tasks whilst high, that doing those same tasks sober would no longer interest me — I would find them boring and tedious if I wasn’t high, in other words, I felt like I needed the smoke to enjoy all the things that at one point I would have enjoyed without the smoke.

This ‘addictive buzz’ can cause all kinds of problems, from; Irritabilty, moodiness, more expendature, and a lack of motivation.

Think about it: if you feel that you need Cannabis to have a good time and enjoy completing a task, then you are going to smoke a lot more and in turn spend a lot more. Especially on the days where you have no smoke, you will find that your mood lessens, your motivation lessens, and your patience for things will be slowly decreasing also — at least in my personal experience.

On top of this, I smoked Cannabis primarily to help me get to sleep at night, which I feel like a lot of people will do. But the problem with this is that, on those nights where I didn’t have that joint before bed, I would find it extra difficult to get that important shut eye. Leading me into a moody tomorrow after a night full of stressful, racing thoughts.

This overall point is especially imporant to think about when it comes to deciding whether or not smoking Cannabis is a good idea for you, because in the long run it can cause major problems to your overall state of mind, health and wellbeing.

Do you have an addictive personality type?

4. Sterotypes — Are your family and friends supportive, or at least understanding, of Cannabis and these strerotypes that many people believe to be true?

This one sounds daft I know, but many people are strongly against those who smoke Cannabis, believing that it is a dangerous drug and that stoners are generally lazy, unmotivated individuals with no goals in life. Now as sad as that is, many people view stoners in this perspective.

This could lead to problems within your family, friends and relationships, especially if one of those people are dead against the idea of smoking Cannabis. It can create tension within that relationship and potentially cause arguments of misunderstanding to be raised — I know because I have witnessed a divide within my own family, with those non smokers remaining distance and divided from the side of the family that do smoke.

So this one is majorly important to ask yourself:

Are your family and friends supportive, or at least understanding, of Cannabis and these strerotypes that many people believe to be true? Or do you feel like it would create tension and potential drama between your family and friends?

5. Heightened Anxiety — Do you have high levels of anxiety, or negative thoughts?

This one may not be common in everyone, but it is something that I and a few friends have experienced whilst smoking. Whether this heightened anxiety is born from the idea of being stoned itself, or whether it comes from a high mind that is stuck in the deepest of thought, it is very real.

Here is the perfect example:

Back when I was working at Subway I had a fight with a lad whilst outside on my smoke break. This fight led to me getting targetting whilst closing the store on my own at night, and having the same group of lads come into the store with balaclavas and weapons threating to attack me. One thing led to another and one night my brother was in the store as they all rushed in. With him being highly protective a big fight broke out, with blood being spilled, the store getting turned upside down, and the police quickly arriving at the scene. After this experience I was so nervous to close the store on my own, I was so scared to walk home after work at night in fear that these lads would be waiting for me. One night I was walking through an alleyway, I was pretty high, and I saw a group of lads enter at the top end of the alley… My heart started racing, along with my mind. I started hyperventilating uncontrollably as my panic attack was initiating. Despite how anxious I was to proceed, I was also too anxious to turn back, so I had to move onwards. Upon getting closer to this group of lads, I realised that they were some of my friends — imagine that. But this happened everytime that I was high and saw a group of lads at night, it would set my anxiety off big time! Due to this, I decided to stop smoking Cannabis for a while, to see if it helped. About 3 days had passed and I was waiting for the bus to head into work, when I saw the lad I had a fight with walking up to the same bus stop I was waiting at. Now, before hand I would have been hit with a panic attack, no doubts, but because I was sober I had more confidence in myself; I wasn’t scared or struck with fear, rather I was struck with inspiration — inspiration to end this nonesense once and for all. So I approached him, I spoke to him about the situation and I apologised for the fight that broke out, which had led him to getting injured. We managed to end the whole ordeal in peace and we even gave each other a handshake to signify a truce. Had I of been high at that moment, that truce would never have happened and we could still be at war with each other today, 3 years later.

This is a perfect example of how Cannabis can heighten levels of anxiety in certain situations, and this fact shouldn’t be taken lightly when it comes to deciding whether or not Cannabis is a good choice for you.

It is important to pose this question: Do you have high levels of anxiety, or negative thoughts? Because if you do then Cannabis may only heighten them, so you should proceed slowly with caution and keep your eye on your anxious thoughts.

6. Your current emotion state of mind, body and soul — Do you feel peace and happiness within you already, or are you expecting Cannabis to create that for you?

People like to praise Cannabis as a feel good drug, one that can uplift you even in the hardest of times, and whilst this is true to some respect with its relaxing properties, the truth is that Cannabis will actually heighten your current state of emotion.

For example: if you are feeling ultra happy within yourself at the time of sparking up, then you are more than likely going to experience a feel good high. Whereas, if you are not feeling to happy within yourself at the time of sparking up, then you are more than likely going to experience a not so good high: one where you may overthink on current situations, creating scenarios that don’t yet exist which will ultimately lower your mood.

I’ve experienced it myself. There are some days when my mood and mental state were so bad, that not even a joint would help. Infact, it would often make my mental state worse, as more negative thoughts would flood through my mind.

It is important to understand this before expecting Cannabis to instantly uplift your mood. Sure, it can help relax you and may make you feel temporarily better, but if we are constantly running and hiding behind the smoke screen then we may never see an ever lasting increase in our moods and states of mind, body and soul, because we are essentially just turning our backs to problems, rather than seeking for a solution.

So ask yourself this:

Do you feel peace and happiness within you already, or are you expecting Cannabis to create that for you? Because if you are expecting Cannabis to create those attributes for you, then you are truly setting yourself up to see the very worst of the 5 points I previously mentioned.

In Conclusion.

Cannabis has done a lot of great things for me, and it does for many others too, I cannot deny that as there are two sides to every story — the good, and the bad. I personally feel like the plus side of Cannabis is huge for the right individual, with the right personality and personal attributes. But it definately isn’t for everyone.

For me, personally, nearing 7 years of experience smoking, I have decided that Cannabis works best for me when I smoke it on occassion rather than all day everyday, and I feel like a lot of people will notice the same with themselves.

After years of heavy smoking I noticed that smoking daily, actually caused me to grow dependant on Cannabis, meaning: I would believe that I needed it in order to sleep; in order to relax; in order to get things done; in order to eat, and this type of dependancy really isn’t good for your pocket, nor is it good should a day arise that you have to unwillingly go without smoke. This would actually cause my symptoms of ADHD to heighten in ways I could never have imagined.

So before taking the dive and embracing whole heartedly in this ‘wonder drug’, be sure to ask yourself the questions that I posed above. But ultimately, I know that we will never truly know until we try, and I know that only you will know whether or not Cannabis is right for you — so I shall trust in your decisions from here on.

I hope that I have provided you with some valuable insight, and have possibly enlightened you on some of the thoughts that you should consider when deciding whether Cannabis is right for you or not.

Below I will link an article from Business Insider, should you want to have a look at some of the major benefits of smoking Cannabis.

I thank you all for reading, and I am happy to answer any questions, about my thoughts and experiences, that you may have.

Feautured Photo by Add Weed on Unsplash.