Posted by guttersnipe on March 29, 2004, at 2:36:25
In reply to Re: POT USERS I NEED SOME INFO:), posted by CrazyGuy on March 26, 2004, at 16:47:09
* Set (your state of mind before using ... if stressed out, it's best to relax, meditate for a while first if you do that sort of thing, maybe put on some mellow and comforting or familiar music).
* Setting (where you are when you light up ... good = around close friends, or at home snuggling up with cat; possibly risky = anything where there may be a sensory overload of scattered stimuli and a lack of comfort zone, such as at a noisy party where you don't know most of the people).
* Strain (what kind of herb is it ... as a rule, the more CBD to go with your THC, the less anxious a response you will have; but as another rule that is somewhat at cross-purposes with the first, the more quickly the THC crosses your blood brain barrier (i.e., the more potent the herb), the greater the chance of an anxious response, so lower-quality herb may be the safest bet. Indicas and indica-sativa hybrids ("kind bud," "killer green bud," "the chronic," etc.) usually have a greater CBD-to-THC ratio than that of pure sativas, but depending on the strain that is not always the case -- there are some very low-CBD indicas. However, indicas also tend to have high THC levels than most sativas (although this is not always true), so if smoking some indica or indica-sativa hybrid, maybe take one hit, let it sink in, then decide whether to take another ... with many sativas (especially the brown, imported, "commercial weed" like you see a lot of on the east coast and in the southwest) you can safely take a few hits without getting tweaky because the THC level is probably low enough that a couple tokes won't make you agitated. There are some strains that the medical marijuana community has found are especially good for mellowing people out and reducing anxiety -- if you can grow your own, you might want to but some seeds of, for example, an indica-sativa hybrid strain called Blue Heaven, which was bred especially for its anti-anxiety effects).
Hope that helps. If you have any benzodiazepines at hand (Ativan, Xanax, Valium, etc.), and you eat one of those about a half-hour before smoking, you should have no adverse effects from the marijuana -- only an uplifting, completely relaxing high. Also, although not as strong as the benzos, I find that theanine helps to relax me and reduce stress and anxiety (theanine is the amino acid in green tea that causes the relaxation that comes from drinking green tea .... it helps promote alpha waves in the brain, and appears to increase GABA levels also).
poster:guttersnipe
thread:327604
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20040130/msgs/329719.html