Heck I've got an older brother that could prove this theory...he's also never been "not stoned" once every day for the past 40 yrs......

All he does is sit and commiserate about all the bad times;

I don't like it at all.... It makes me paranoid and I don't feel in control..... Thanx Mark....xo

I love smoking weed! No paranoia at all just relaxation and the munchies, then I pass out. I haven’t smoked since October and can’t because my job does random drug tests and just my luck is have an accident or something. I forget all the bad stuff when I smoke.

I like smoking weed too. It helps with my fibromyalgia pain. It's going to be legal soon here in Michigan, like it should be. I've had a medical card for it, I let it expire though. Anyways, I don't smoke much at all and not every day. I never smoke before work or something important. As long as it doesn't get in the way of true feelings. I do journaling and writing to help with my problems. I don't journal when I'm stoned. To each his own.

So I'm curious, because I live in a State where it's not legal and I have no desire for it ever to be legal. I drive on these highways back and forth to my office through the week.

When you get your weed card, or whatever its called, do you give up your driver license? How does it work, do they just trust you not to drive high and kill somebody on the highway?

I don't drive high or if I've had ANY alcohol at all. It's the same, I guess. Should we just trust everyone who is over 21 or the legal drinking age to NOT drive after drinking? Both are wrong. Driving while intoxicated on alcohol or weed can be deadly!

One more point about prescription meds used for pain. Should we trust people prescribed pain meds to not abuse them and not use them to get high? We have an opiate/opiod abuse epidemic in this country that is far worse than marijuana use in this country. As far as I'm concerned, no one should drive while on any opiate/opiod (I'm never sure which is the correct name...I think they're interchangeable).

Here they treat it the same as any impaired driving if you smoke weed and drive

what about bubble bathing while stoned...eating bon bons LOL

@Catin: Firstly, I didn't mean YOU specifically, I meant people. I watch LivePD every Friday and Saturday nights and the amount of people they pull that are driving and smoking weed, or have just smoked weed, is insane. Its like people treat them like a cigarette...and they aren't.

and BTW I am a Chronic Pain patient, I have been since I was 17, for 32 years now. I've had 30 surgeries in the last 19 years and have no removable organs left in my body, save a lung. I take a total of 21 medications a day and I drive responsibly and safely back and forth to my office 4 days a week.

For that privilege every 6 months me and my PCP, PDOC, Ortho Surgeon, Neurologist, Cardiologist and Rheumatologist have to fill out a 26 page Medical Review Report for the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles, which lists all my current conditions statuses, how many Seizures I've had in that 6 months and what time of day they were, every single medication I take, including the Long Acting Morphine that I've taken every day for the past 11 years and built a tolerance to long ago, so for me it's like taking tylenol & Psych Meds, Benzo's and all the other stuff that makes my crapass body work like normal peoples do. It gets reviewed by the State Medical Board and I get told if I get to keep my Drivers License for the next 6 months. I go through that every 6 months and have done so, for the last 8 years.

So, yeah I wouldn't find it out of the question for someone using MJ throughout the day to be monitored by some Medical Agency if they're going to be driving a car.

As for the Opioid Crisis in this Country, there's a big difference between Drug Addicts abusing pills and illegal substances and being stupid and overdosing accidentally and those of us who have Legitimate Multiple Medical Illnesses that require we take Narcotic meds so we can do things like...walk, bend our arms, write, type, etc. But it doesn't really matter since we're the one's paying the price for that.

@Malibumark: I love bubble baths...but I've not had the ability to get stoned on any substance since, hell it was long before 1986....and I was the "good girl" who never did any of that stuff...and I hate chocolate.

So just the lovely bubble bath for me, sans bonbons!!!

You know, I never tried weed. I had the opportunity to in college, but passed. I was in a room of four people smoking. I had no urge to smoke it. I kept thinking what do they put in the weed to mask its scent from the dogs at the border? Dunno. I was just paranoid about what else could be in it.

I was never a big smoker either. I never understood the unnatural body process to ingest smoke in your lungs. Drinking, on the other hand...in college I learned to drink like fish! Going from extreme drinking to what I do now (a few beers on the weekend) I have since toned it down. lol

But I never got smoking...anything.

OlderCPer, I'm sorry if I reacted defensively. I just feel that marijuana is in the same category as alcohol. We're both allowed our own personal feelings or opinions. As for the Opiate Crisis, I'm sure we both can agree it's a HUGE problem right now. You and I are both experience chronic pain for different reasons and I'm not against opiates for people who actually need it. It is unfortunate, that because so many people abuse them, people like you could have a difficult time actually being prescribed them. I feel that Marijuana controls my pain enough rather than take a med for it. I'm on 4 meds for Bipolar and ADHD...I don't want to take any more meds, orally and with so many side effects. I realize that a lot of people abuse marijuana or drive when they're stoned, and, like I said, I do not agree with that behavior. I don't believe that marijuana should be legal just because I feel, when used medically or recreationally, is about the same effects of low doses of alcohol. Both can be abused and used at the wrong times (like when driving). I also believe that the money the state can use via the revenue from the sale of marijuana could be used for many important things like financial help for those in need of rehab for drugs and/or alcohol and help keep marijuana offenders out of jail which would free up space for hard drug offenders, etc. I hope I'm making some sense here and let you know that I don't take offense to my marijuana use and behavior. Thanks for your post. BTW, I like bubble baths with a lot of candles lit...I don't need to be "lit"! LOL!

Cat, you made perfect sense. These are all dangerous substances and unfortunately there will always be idiots that don't want to play by the rules. State Troopers and Highway Patrols all over the U.S. are now in the process of creating new "Driving under the influence of a Substance" test because the current "DUI" ones don't cover the same symptoms.

Hopefully it all won't get too out of hand.

I agree with the article. It does the same thing to me. I've noticed as my bipolar worsened, that type of side effect increased as well. I used to enjoy smoking weed. But now it makes me feel so, so much worse.

But with that being said, I think different types of weed can have different effects. I live in a state where it is illegal, medicinally or recreationally but recently traveled to a state where it was legal (Nevada) so of course I had to exercise my right (haha). I got a quick lesson from the dispensary and totally agree with what they recommended. Supposedly Indica strains have a downer effect, good for relaxation and pain. Apparently anxiety too, but definitely not in my case. Indica seems to be the most readily available in states where weed is still illegal, and is most likely what you get when you just buy weed off of someone illegally. When I told them i was interested in an upper state, a"giggly" high (Vegas baby), they suggested a sativa strain. I had a very good experience several times when in Nevada, not once did i get that negative dwelling on the past, paranoid feeling I was so used to getting. Is it because it was medicinal grade or just the effect any sativa strain marijuana would have? Not sure but I wish i could find it where i live and not just trust the stoney dude growing it in his cousins basement.