Marijuana is a somewhat crude pharmaceutical.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

Compared to SSRI's? I don't know the answer but it seems like a lot of people are trying multiple drug treatments for mental illness and get lucky (hopefully) when they hit the right one.

Trade anxiety for schizophrenia

Endogenous anxiety and the paranoia that can come with cannabis use aren't always a good combo.

Personally, while it certainly has relaxing effects, I always found cannabis to mostly be a mood enhancer rather than a mood changer. If I'd just completed a strenuous bout of work and I knew that I could let my mental guard down but my brain was still keyed up, cannabis could help take the edge off and mellow me out. But if I was anxious about something that was upcoming, pot wasn't the way to go - it made things worse, not better.

The last few times I used weed it triggered anxiety attacks so I stopped using it.

Been on Zoloft for 8 months and it’s working like a charm.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Different strokes for different folks. SSRI's will typically give you a "basement floor" to keep depression and/or anxiety from sinking below acceptable levels. If given to someone without depression or anxiety it typically has the opposite effect, it puts a "ceiling" on your emotions. The studies are still out on marijuana and its effectiveness for various ailments, but my N=1 is that there is no associated paranoia or anxiety. It makes me feel "normal" by giving me the same day to day positive emotions that I see in others, but I'm not able to experience without chemical interference.

SSRI more refined pharmaceutical. With marijuana you really don't know what you are getting. Even CBD oil is somebody checking what the marijuana company says is the concentration? Even if marijuana helps with anxiety it still is a drug more like multiple drugs in one package. Alcohol works quite well for anxiety as well for some people

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

I have talked to a few addictionologists and there are two "drugs" they simply do not care about - nicotine and marijuana. The effects, in their opinion, are insignificant compared to alcohol and much harder drugs.

What bugs me about marijuana is now that it is legal (at least in our jurisdiction) everyone is rushing in to capture the market and they are aggressively promoting the stuff as a cure all for all sorts of things. Big money involved. Sort of reminds me of how heavily opioids were promoted twenty years ago. Twenty years ago you were a bad person if you were not using opioids up to and including high doses for chronic pain. The drug companies were that effective lobbying the opinion leaders in the pain community. Not that I think that marijuana is going to be as problematic as opioids. In a way I would be happier if people or small producers grew their own. I don't have much problem that it was legalized. It should be kept away from developing brains though.

The other thing that makes me wonder about marijuana is if it isn't addictive at least for some folks why were so many willing to risk jail or having a record for using the stuff?

I am surprised people not concerned about nicotine. That stuff is very difficult to get off of.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

"Some folks" are addicted to porn, sugar, weed, approval, alcohol, adrenaline, violence, nicotine etc etc. Personality types, or brain chemistry, have a lot to do with addiction so you will certainly find an addict for just about every occasion.

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"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

BINGO! Cannabis does not "create" addiction. Likewise, there is no definitive evidence cannabis is a gateway drug. But, if you have a propensity towards addiction, cannabis can become as addictive as the other things you mention.

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

Some studies show alcohol use actually increases anxiety, short term and long term.

https://americanaddictioncenters.org/...sm-treatment/anxiety

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If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went. - Will Rogers

Emery's Third Coast Triathlon | Tri Wisconsin Triathlon Team | Push Endurance | GLWR

I know quite a few people who are helped tremendously by weed.

But for me, as stated above, it made things worse.

I used to smoke it all the time then one day I just didn’t like it anymore and stopped.

Then years later I started getting anxiety attacks, smoked weed and it made things worse.

It’s definitely something that should studied and tested more...

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

I think the recent studies have been favorable, especially in the micro-dosing of hallucinogens. As with the SSRI’s, I think weed affects people differently.

I’ve looked into the LSD thing.

Maybe someday.

For now SSRIs are working.

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Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

We know so little about long term marijuana use and what we know isn't good. Many teens are turning to marijuana believing it's safe and that isn't the case. In fact, marijuana permanently lowers the IQ of developing brains.

I just started occasionally smoking weed last year, in my mid 30's.

For me, it definitely helps with anxiety. Also, I don't have very much at all, a puff or two, and that's it. I don't even really feel high. It's no more inebriating then relaxing with a glass of wine or whiskey after dinner, but, I sleep far better and wake up feeling like I conquer the world (unlike booze).

I'm not going to tout it as a cure all, but, I think occasional use amongst responsible adults is pretty harmless.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

I had a really bad anxiety attack out of the fucking blue on Friday, around the Expo at the Broad Street Run

It happened in the parking garage ... twice

I think it was triggered by the close quarters in the garage + going up the ramps [they're so steep, you don't know how far up you're going, and being afraid of heights, it's ALWAYS higher than I think] + I'd never been here before [the one we park at the outlet mall in AC is pretty familiar]

Going in wasn't so bad, but leaving was worse; you know how sometimes you have to go up a level or two before you can turn around? Yeah

My daughter was so sweet "I can drive us out Dad" but I said "You've never driven in a parking garage before, so that might make it worse for me"

But, I H'dTFU and got through it

As we were crossing the BF Bridge - a bridge I fucking run across every Fall; acrophobia be fucked "It's just a hill; just look at the road" - she asked if I was OK, and said I did great

Interestingly, there was a lot of weed being smoked outside in the Reading Terminal Market area; maybe I picked up a little, it just took longer to kick in?

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Perseus wrote:

We know so little about long term marijuana use and what we know isn't good. Many teens are turning to marijuana believing it's safe and that isn't the case. In fact, marijuana permanently lowers the IQ of developing brains.

I find it interesting that we know so little about long term use. Musicians like McCartney have been using it since the 60's. I started smoking in the 70's. I would guess that at least 50% of the baby boomers have tried weed ...

"Older Americans are among the fastest growing groups of pot users, according to recent research and drug surveys.
For example, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that from 2002 to 2014, marijuana use among those 55 to 64 years old rose from 1.1 percent of the population to 6.1 percent, a 455 percent increase."


I am not the best at math but that increase seems a bit high (pun not intended)

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"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

If only occasional, have a "rescue" benzo ie: ativan around.

Paul McCartney has used weed for a long time so it must be safe! More seriously, 1 in 5 marijuana users smokes daily and the strands they have today can have as much as 30% THC vs. the historical 1-2%. Statistics from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health that he shared indicate one in five youth and one in 10 young adults in states that have legalized marijuana have been diagnosed with cannabis use disorder in the past 12 months. A recently released report by the Colorado Health Department indicated 400 percent increase in children zero to nine exposed to high potency pot products, meaning poisoned by them, ingesting them, going to the hospital. Hospitalizations have risen 200 percent since legalization happened in CO. Initial research suggests people who smoke marijuana are 2.7 times more likely to use prescription opioids while continuing their cannabis use. Opioid and heroin-related deaths in Colorado have risen from 377 in 2012, the year before legalization took effect, to 560 in 2017. Aggravated assaults and murders have soared in the first four states to legalize.

While correlation is not causation the information we do have is not positive.