Shannon's DMSI V2.3 Journal

[Shannon]

Yes, nicotine by itself isn't very hard to overcome. That's what I've been leaning towards during this whole discussion. Smoking cigarettes however, is fickle. Social aspects like you said, have great impact. And there has to be an evil genius in the tobacco industry who has managed to tweak the formula in ways that make them absolutely addictive.

My point is... when you remove all the social memes that say "it's hard to quit smoking" and "cigarettes are absolutely addictive", they really aren't very addictive. The addiction is so easy to break that you can be made to literally forget to smoke, once those social memes are deleted. In other words, you believe that when you try to quit, X and Y and Z has to happen and is true, so your subconscious executes that script and makes it true for you, as it believes you want it to be. And you believe this because everything and everyone around you seems to be pointing to it being true... but in reality, it's all a giant viral meme being passed from person to person. An infection if you will, that gets in so deep because the infection is inoculated so early, and so frequently, and it seems so logical and rational because of what you see and hear, that nobody ever even questions it and it becomes everyone's reality because everyone believes it to be true and makes it their reality.

But my subs could not have produced the results they did, if it were true!

I started smoking as a form of rebellion. When you twist and turn it, stir it around a few times, we can come to the conclusion that it was rooted in insecurity. Today, I'm just an addict.

Rebellion is one of the rarer reasons why someone might smoke. It's generally less based in fear than any other reason someone starts smoking.

Regarding marijuana, I have never heard of a person able to achieve that state without smoking or ingesting it. I'm not saying it's impossible, but I find that highly unlikely.

I can. You can too. You just don't know how yet, and you don't have access to the right tools. I was going to release a sub to replicate the effects of marijuana, for example, but I thought better of it.

There are so many misconceptions about weed it makes me relectant to talk about it. But, legalization is so important that the cause is greater than I.

Not everybody smokes weed to hide from something or use it to kill some imaginary pain. Allthough studies have shown that it can be particularly beneficial in treatment of PTSD. That's factual, you can look it up. I'll say most weed smokers are indeed running from something, or they try to fit in. They are also being criminalized which is being glorified by many potential weed smokers. It's also being glorified in pop culture which breeds a certain appeal among the kids these days. Somehow it makes you cool.

I'm not saying everyone who smokes it is hiding from pain or fear or whatnot. Not everyone is addicted to it psychologically, by far. But those who are, are self medicating for those reasons. I know it's got medicinal uses, and I'm actually for legalization even though I am so allergic to it that it will probably make my life hell if it is legalized. I just happen to believe that we are wasting huge amounts of money punishing people for stupid things when we have better things to spend money on. And let's not get started on how fast the US debt could be cleared if we were to focus on making things for ourselves and export out of hemp. Paper, clothes, oil, food, ink, cloth, rope, candles, need I go on?

Then there are people like me. For thousands of years humans have been smoking weed. Native americans for example, had a symbotic relationship with the plant. They didn't smoke weed out of fear or insecurities. It was more a spiritual ritual to connect with a higher sensitivity. Again, I'm not saying this is the only way. But it's one way and it works.

Whatever floats your boat.

Smoking weed has made me more reflected, enhanced my creativity in ways that wouldn't be possible otherwise and changed my attitude for the better.

They would be possible otherwise, but again, you have to know what and how. The alternates are not well known.

The main issue that surrounds this harmless plant is all the controversy which makes people smoke it for the wrong reasons. It also makes people rally against it for the wrong reasons. Back in the day when weed was banned (can't remember if it was the 20's, 30's or 40's), the propaganda was retarded. They literally claimed if you smoked weed you could die and you would kill babies. Am I full of shit? Some of these ridiculous videos can be found on youtube. Obviously, this social brainwashing has major impact on public opinions regarding weed. Some swallow it without even using a small portion of their frontal lobe capacity, while some....well, they become hippies.

IIRC it was the 20's, and it was banned because it made a great political stepladder for one particular politician.

I'm just an observer laughing at this circus they call modern society.

I wish I could laugh, but it's more likely to make me want to just be alone.

But, back to your point in light of all of this. Yes, absolutely. For a specific type of people, i.e potheads, they have a penchant for addiction. They are useless whether they smoke weed or not, and that's just the reality. They cannot handle the sensory inflood, to them it becomes an overlaod. The reason for this is because they are not living an authentic life. To quote Bob Marley (ironic isn't it) "When smoking the herb, it reveals you to yourself". In other words, that can cause a shutdown which I have personally witnessed many a times. For that reason, I've become extremely selective about who I'll choose to smoke with. I have a problem with potheads and ignorant people in general, they're ruining it for everybody.

But for a self realized person, weed can be beneficial. I'm not saying one has to smoke weed. However, where do most art come from? DRUGS. YES. Great art, at least most of it where made under the influence.

That most great art came from drugs is debatable, but I can see your point.

This does not only include weed, but other HARMLESS psychoactive drugs. Let's try to compare Pink Floyd to........hm, let's see.....Christian rock maybe. Sorry, can't be done. I'm no Beatles fan, but a huge part of the population is. They were also stoned out of their minds. Who writes "On a yellow submarine" while sober?

Or Through The Looking Glass? That and Alice in Wonderland are popular for the very reason that they needed their author to be on drugs when he wrote them. They take us away from our normal reality in ways that are enjoyable. As to how harmless psychoactive drugs are, well, that depends on the drug and the person using it.

It's the life they don't want you to life. Steve Jobs was tripping hard on LSD and founded Apple. The guy (can't remember his name) who discovered DNA strains also used massive quantities of LSD. Picasso was a drunk. The Romantics were smoking opium to acheive this dream like state that transferred to their writing styles. Einstein abused cocaine (bad, bad, bad), how crazy is that? Paulo Coelho went on a pilgrimage trip were he royally experimented with various psychedelic drugs. He wrote The Alchemist, one of the world leading bestsellers. It's hailed as this reallly profound book, personally I thought it was mediocre at best. But the dude must be proud. .....I could go on and on.

I am not sure about the veracity of all of your cited examples, but I see your point.

Acheivement often has a price. Life can force you to dig deep at times, certainly true for me. Psychedelics can serve as a "shortcut" in self discovery. To claim this is based in fear or insecurity is ludacris. Infact, one should have a decent level of respect for such compounds and treat them as such. There's a big difference between smoking weed because "all my friends are doing it and they're getting f*cked up so I might as well do the same" and saying "I need to look at this situation from a broader perspective because I'm missing something here".

Not every use of drugs is based on fear, and I never said that. But a lot of recreational drug use is based on escape from fear and/or pain. Even if it's just fear of not fitting in.

I'm certain you have solid research to back up your statements. I didn't say you don't know what you're talking about. I can see what has been the basis of your studies, i.e the average person trying to end their tobacco/marijuana addiction. For reasons mentioned above, your reaserch is absolutely sound. However, I'm not exactly an average person that falls into the category of enlightened "involuntary" smokers or those who were conned into thinking marijuana is bad after shaming from family members/peers/social conventions and/or being arrested by the police/suffering financial liabilities/losing their job. Btw, potheads would lose their jobs anyway, their fears/faulty reasons for smoking it only adds to their already existing problems. YES, we can confirm this. Drugs, that means most drugs, attracts a certain type of people. I'm just saying, I'm not one of them. I belong to a different league.

Fair enough.

But I appreciate your extensive answer. I'm in the process of eliminating tobacco (I will post in my thread when I've STOPPED, not PAUSED and I'll stand by it). Weed however, that stays by my side. I can handle it. I work a full time job, work out everyday and pretty much follow what interests me. Smoking weed has not caused any negative consequences for me at all. The only thing that worries me is trouble with the law. At least the natural man hunting on the prairie didn't have to worry about that, he could just smoke his peace-pipe out in the open and go about his business.

Personally, I am allergic to weed. Deathly so. My lungs start filling with fluid and I begin to drown. It is for that reason, and the fact that I don't like the way it smells, and the fact that it would prevent me from being able to work, and the fact that I have found alternative ways to relax or heal myself that I don't use it.

I also don't like how sheerly idiotic most of the people I know personally/in person who use it are. It seems to be a trend. Not everyone... but the majority of those I personally know.

However, I am also of the opinion that marijuana is a laughably stupid thing to make illegal, and in fact we waste hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars a year we could be making from using it as a cash crop for various things OTHER than because it produces THC, never mind the money we waste on the "war on drugs" concerning marijuana and incarcerations related to it.

Ever wonder what your taxes could be like if we didn't have those things to pay for?

Primarily, I'm trying to help you with cigarettes. I don't much care about marijuana.