Thank you so much. You take care too.
nyc

I actually think that drug use during trauma could be more harmful.... this is not hard to find in children who are drugged during abuse.

I would think it simply makes memory more difficult to recall... but the mind doesn't forget still. Flashbacks still occur with those drugged during abuse. PTSD still occurs with those drugged during trauma.

And, someone can still be anxious on pot... in fact, likely more so as research suggests whatever the mood, it is enhanced by pot usage (though I have never personally found this, but this is the research nonetheless!).

I would say, drugs DURING trauma, could be dangerous... lets not forget (despite my own little habit of using pot) that researchers still don't know what cannabis does to the mind and brain....

Just my 2 scents!

This conversation has been really interesting.

NYC,

Just a question for you, one though that you don't necessarily have to answer if you feel uncomfortable doing so. The original questions you posed, while not using the first person pronoun, lead me to believe that you are inquiring because you used pot during a trauma. If I'm wrong, please tell me.

Therefore, have YOU experienced any negative effects from smoking pot while enduring a traumatic event? Have you come to realize any different realities from the original reality now that you are sober?

I really believe that all of this is extremely subjective. Just like prescription drugs, what works for some, will not work for others.

I'm not under the impression that "researchers still don't know what cannabis does to the mind and brain" as Lisa stated. Eastern cultures have been smoking cannabis far longer than Europeans. We are talking hundreds of years - well beyond any prescription drugs that more than half of us on this board are currently putting into our bodies on a daily basis. The list of side effects regarding those prescription drugs are much more extensive than the list of side effects for Cannabis (sativa). Also, I just want to be clear - when I speak of Cannabis, I'm speaking of a plant that is grown naturally, not pot that is grown using any sort of additives or chemicals to create "chronic".

Best,
Rachel

Yeah, I really don't like chronic too much. I miss the good old fashioned sensamilla (Can't spell it but it never stopped me from smokin' it)!

Ha! Morgan, I agree about sinsemilla. It's hard to find because a lot people don't have the time or ability or knowledge, for that matter, to separate the male plants from the female.

Naturally grown cannabis has numerous medicinal advantages, and while it happens not to have a positive effect on me, I support its use in many ways.

Uh, huh, that may mean we are both talking about two different things as I am talking about skunk (street name for several types of chemically engineered cannabis). Researchers don't know exactly how this affects the brain.

I also beg to differ on the comment disagreeing that sativa is a substance that is not fully understood in the effects it may have on the brain. I am no expert, but have completed a psychopharmacology module at uni. on drugs such as this so know something of something on the topic. Though I can say that, yes, it has been used for many, many years long before prescription drugs (certainly, researchers do not fully know what prescription drugs do to the mind and brain). However, just because it's been in use and existance for a long time, does not mean that it is understood chemically, structurally, neurologically in it's interaction with the brain, and also the circumstances that it is taken in (drugs interact with the brain, and also the context of situation). If researchers knew about cannabis' effects on the brain, there would be no funding for the research.

However... I'm personally not against the use of it whereas my feelings about prescription drugs are not quite the same. I just acknowledge, that like anything and everything else, I don't know fully what 'skunk' (or sativa though this I don't use) may be doing to my mind and body.

Hi Lisa,

I respect your argument. In your first statement, however, you didn't use the word "fully" to modify "understand". Call me anal but that changes your first statement dramatically.

I think time does play a very big role in understanding how drugs interact with a person biologically. The fact that there are hundreds of years of recorded cannabis usage speaks volumes compared to the decade or so of research done of certain prescription medications. That was my point, in case I didn't word my opinion accurately.

I certainly wasn't questioning your knowledge of research or understanding of the drug, I simply didn't agree with your original statement.

Best,
Rachel

Sorry, I just assumed people would know that I not 'knowing' what drugs do to the mind meant understanding what drugs do, and that understanding is something that means full understanding, not in parts... can see the misunderstanding though through my lack of clarity...

I'll be clearer in future as I am picky over my words, just let it slip this time I guess.

I understand, and agree with, your viewpoint in terms of knowledge around cannabis over years, compared to the little time that there has been to gain knowledge into prescription drugs. And of course, something can be said in that 100's of years use of cannabis has not led to people being mutated or anything drastically as obvious as such, whereas we can clearly see side effects that are negative in prescription drugs to the extent that the side-effects with some of these drugs are actually 'main' effects...and some of these side effects (ie. MOA's) can be eventually lethal when mixed with certain ingredients in foods!

I guess my point was more that, simply,everything is not understood in terms of what cannabis does to the brain chemically, neurologically, mentally, psychologically, etc. etc. - evolutionarily even. Same as prescription drugs. All drugs are drugs to me... only difference is some are chemically engineered, some are direct from plants, and the governments of each country/state decide what is to be 'prescribed' (and can get it both right and wrong!) - but all are toxins that change the brain chemistry and thus mind-altering, and all these things will need to be understood fully before anything can be claimed about them being 'safe'... though this is somewhat perhaps an impossible task, as science doesn't even understand every aspect of the brain yet. So I guess I was just generally pointing that out as my feeling was that during trauma, mind altering drugs would NOT prevent PTSD, as there is already evidence that it does not - though it may change the dominant symptoms/issues in PTSD (such as memory problems/flashbacks/recovering new memories, higher levels of dissociation etc.).

Interesting thread. I like a thread with a bit of challenge and discussion... makes me develop my own opinions more intricately, or change them entirely even...

Hey Lisa! Thanks for clarifying. I'm hesitating on replying because I don't want to hijack this thread but just a few thoughts from me:

If understanding something means to fully understand, how many things does science understand? Mathematics? Yes. But what else? I love that science is malleable. It is constantly theorizing and testing, even things that have already been "proven". In my opinion, I think the best we can do is make judgments based on what time and research has shown to date. For something such as cannabis which has been around for so many years with recorded information, I think it's fairly safe to say what cannabis does - the information is there.

As far as drugs preventing PTSD - I don't really know, but I tend to agree with you. This topic makes my mind spin in so many directions, mostly because this is really about what reality, we as individuals, choose to live in. And someone will always come around and say that the one we chose was the wrong one.

Bah! Too much philosophizing. I'm making myself dizzy!

Hi Rachel,

In answer to your question, someone i care about smoked a ton of pot DURING the trauma and for years later. I feel that he has so many realities. My perception is that he doesn't know which ones are real, even when he is sober. They seem to be compartmentalized. He's lost his truth.Or maybe he avoids it.

I'm trying to gain an understanding of this. So, I appreciate ALL of the dialog.