Some good links/info

[AKN]

The most interesting information and advice I've read about cannabis comes from this treatment clinic in sweden dedicated to treating cannabis addiction. They are very objective and scientific in their approach, which appeals to me. It's not just "drugs are bad m-kay". It's not so easy to come across if you're not looking for scandinavian stuff. so thought i'd share...

This is the best and most reasonable thing I've ever read on the subject of quitting:

A guide to quitting Marijuana and Hashish
http://www.droginfo.com/pdf/guideuk.pdf
(other languages found at: http://www.droginfo.com/rgb/rgbhaschguide.htm)

They've done some really interesting research that really played a role in my taking quitting seriously. Here's a link to the english documents section.
http://www.droginfo.com/documents_in_english.htm

Specifically, these three were helpful to me. They describe the influence of cannabis in three areas:
Memory: http://www.droginfo.com/pdf/publicerade_artiklar/Cannabis2.pdf
Coherence: http://www.droginfo.com/pdf/publicerade_artiklar/Coherence.pdf
Thought patterns: http://www.droginfo.com/pdf/publicerade_artiklar/Thought_patterns.pdf
(Even if you aren't used to reading research papers, these are not so hard to understand, can easily skim over the more technical stuff and still get a lot out of it. give it a shot.)

Of course if anyone wants to talk about this stuff i'd be more than interested. I've read them pretty carefully, so ask if you have questions and I'll see if i can help.

[bud free]

thanx for the links. it really helps to explain my intense dreaming and emotional ups and downs after about a month clean. the dreaming stuff has settled down a bit but it is good to know that it is a measurable effect. good luck with your journey and keep going forward. you deserve to be happy!

[AKN]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm happy you found this stuff useful.

[AKN]

Here's an excerpt from that Guide to Quitting (http://www.droginfo.com/pdf/guideuk.pdf) (highly recommended) mentioned in the top post that seemed especially relevant to recent posts:

2. Chronic influence
Clinical observations show that the use of cannabis more often than about every six weeks (elimination time of THC) for approximately two years, lead to changes in cognitive functioning. These changes create a new state of consciousness which can be described as a "cannabis state dependant" effect.This effect may result from the release of stored THC.

It can be described as follows:
Experimenting with cannabis, you are frequently acutely intoxicated and experience this state in relation to a normal non-intoxicated state of consciousness. The aftereffects are a passive, unreflecting, and blunt state of consciousness, lasting a day or two. If you smoke again within a period of six weeks or less, these aftereffects last longer. You have gradually adjusted to this altered state of awareness and it will be your new normal state of consciousness. After a period of regular use you then experience the acute state of intoxication in relation to the effect of the chronic influence (being passive and blunt).

After a critical period of chronic use, the acute state of intoxication is then perceived as one which creates a feeling of being capable and normal. This state lasts for two to three hours and is reported as weaker than day-to-day capacity in the non-intoxicated state. The effects vary with the doses used over time. Acutely intoxicated you will experience a feeling of capacity and a sense of being normal and thereby enabled to perform different tasks. In the beginning you smoke to get stoned, but after a while (individually) you have to smoke to be normal and to get a nice feeling.

Implications
Most users are not aware of this process.
To do something you first has to smoke cannabis.
You are not using your full intellectual capacity.

[LisaSimpson]

That was actually incredibly helpful. Thanks!

[AKN]

Hey could someone perhaps 'sticky' this thread, please?