that may be true. it may also be that too much cannabis is bad for you. as is too much sugar/food, sport, sitting, sleeping or ... anything.

Somehow, if you suggest that smoking too much weed is bad for you, you're branded as some sort of puritan who isn't "getting with the times". I have never seen the kind of propaganda for any substance as I have for weed, with almost zero discussion about its harmful effects.

> with almost zero discussion about its harmful effects.

Where do you live? Because growing up in the Netherlands I can say all the negative side-effects were very clearly explained to us in high school, without stigmatizing it.

EDIT: it is a sincere question - obviously the Netherlands is in a kind of special position here. And my experience is from the late 90s, so who knows how things have changed since then too.

In the US, marijuana is treated by supporters as some sort of magical panacea.

This goes back to the root comment in this thread that people see this issue as very black and white.

Do people know about drug induced psychosis there (including weed)?

The lightest strain in a coffee-shop was pretty strong.

First, we should keep in mind that I can only speak anecdotally and by extension of that only for people with a higher education.

But with that said, yes, we do. I even know someone who had it, and they quit using weed after that. It's kind of treated like the complicated thing that it is: genetics and existing mental and physical health are all risk factors, and as a teenager there is the still-developing brain to consider (just like with alcohol). You basically have to decide for yourself if all of that seems worth it.

> Somehow, if you suggest that smoking too much weed is bad for you

I've never seen this attitude in the wild. In fact, most heavy cannabis users I know express a desire to use less.

I am also interested in where you're from, because that really hasn't been my experience. Talking about baseless propaganda, don't forget that cannabis was deregulated for political reasons (in the U.S., then due to politics again, pretty much the whole world followed), not because of social or scientific ones. So your complaint about positive propaganda without discussion of harmful effects is very ironic.

"In the US... Pretty much whole world followed"

I wonder where you are from. If not from USA, you've been misinformed. If from USA, stop assuming you're the frontrunner of anything please.

I grew up in the Soviet Bloc. I didn't assume you were from U.S., not sure what gives that impression. I was talking about U.S., because it originated the current drug policy of the Western countries, roughly speaking.

I’d argue that anyone using the phrase “getting with the times” isn’t “getting with the times”.

Yeah well. I've given up on that. If people want to self-inflict schizophrenia and psychosis on themselves who am I to stop them?

It's good actually, because it's the young mostly, and we're out of jobs in my country... more jobs for me!

I've seen some of my really bright friends get hooked on to it and become slow and lazy (anyone who says weed isn't psychologically addictive is lying), and it's just sad.

Not to mention that it is almost always mixed in with a little tobacco which is a smell I can do without.

That's their choice though. Are you really going to blame a plant for their becoming slow and lazy versus their decision to use it? Furthermore, I'd just point out that people who seem bright and happy on the outside can actually be suffering on the inside. It's possible they're happier and "brighter" now, just not in the same metric you were measuring them by.

(Note: I don't have a horse in this race- I don't use marijuana because I don't like the effects, but I'll be the last person to act like it's some demon plant out to hurt capitalism's productivity.)

It's sad that you've grown cynical, but it's nothing to brag about.

Cynicism is nothing but a mechanism of self-defence against this evil and degenerate world; I encourage others to become cynics too before they go mad.

Cynicism is when this self-defence enters a degenerate state. This kind of negative outlook is an actual precursor to various kinds of psychosis widely studied with causal links established. You should check yourself.

The world is evil and degenerate only for your personal definition of those words. Your worldview is the actual defense mechanism.

Still a rather sad story on your side, sorry to hear that. Don't want to stir up things more but maybe have a smoke and relax a bit, world is just fine ;)

On a more serious note, cynicism is one way to fail to cope properly with reality, not something that gets you far and high in life. But hey, more jobs for us positive folks compared to bitter sad cynics!

That is, in fact, why it is called "too much".

I'm schizotypal and I do. For me, weed is how I get my brain to shut up long enough for me to get in the groove when I'm working on my artwork. My symptoms are primarily issues with thought disorganization and it's often a struggle for me to sit down and get to work because my behavior is often very disorganized as well. I've been treated for ADHD since I was little, but I see my ADHD and schizotypy as two sides of the same coin.

I don't smoke a lot, though. Just a hit every few hours, enough to give me a buzz. If I get too stoned to do anything, that defeats the purpose for me. Weed is a tool, weed is for work. If I want to just have fun, I'll drink.

It does, however, contribute to psychotic episodes sometimes. But it's never the only contributing factor, it's usually in combination with too much isolation and/or not eating/sleeping properly. If I feel like my thoughts are starting to get more and more unorganized, I generally take that as a sign I need to get out of my apartment and go see my friends. My psychotic episodes are pretty benign, though, all that really happens is my thoughts get too rapid fire and disorganized for me to do anything but sit there in a stupor because I can't get it together enough to execute tasks. They're over when I wake up the next morning. (I will also say, they were pretty frightening before I realized what they were just because it's frightening to feel like you've lost control of your own brain like that.)