I quit all drugs including alcohol in 1990. I was a daily pot smoker in my last two years of high school, and usually several times a day. And incidentally I sold it too. But after I became sick in 1980 at age 19 I just could never handle it again. I smoked it when I was at the height of my illness and it made me so much psychotic that I just had to quit. It did not help at all. I HAD to quit.And I did until about 1982 when I was more stable in my illness at this time and I picked it up again. I found I still could not handle it. I quit for another 5 years until around 1987 when I became addicted to crack and I dabbled in other drugs like pot again, heroin, cocaine, and hash. It made me paranoid and out of my mind, yet I still kept smoking it. I am happy I finally quit. My goal is to never smoke it again, and judging from what Iāve read on this site for 5 years I would never recommend it to anyone with schizophrenia. It actually boils down to personal choice.If anyone wants to risk possible serious psychosis then itās up to them to smoke it or not.I know some people with schizophrenia swear by it but it SEEMS that they are the minority. I donāt have exact statistics or figures on what percentage it helps. But I donāt think anyone could make a blanket statement that itās good for everybody or itās bad for everybody.I know in MY case and others Iāve heard share that we smoked it LONG after it was no fun anymore. I think itās a case of we we trying to capture that feeling of fun like it was before we got sick. But we repeatedly failed.
I smoked pot back in the early-mid 2000s, but I quit because I stopped enjoying it. The highs became less pleasurable, more disturbing, and it just stopped being fun. When I did smoke, though, I smoked a lot. I sometimes wonder if it contributed to my illness, like it changed my brain chemistry and caused the sz to develop.
I smoked pot for years and justified smoking it despite the fact it made me anxious. Donāt get me wrong I had a lot of fun with it. A lot of pot heads, myself included when I smoked it, defend it to the death. Even when it causes a negative reaction they still claim how itās ok to do and actually helps. It does help some people, but it also harms a lot of people, especially us. I was told that my probation officer was going to drug test me back in February. I freaked out and bought urine tests over the internet and freaked out even more when the line wasnāt completely solid. If I get a possession charge I have to pay back the financial aid I got when I got the charge and am not eligible for any more aid. That along with the anxiety it gives me is just not worth it for the fun I have while stoned. My psychosis has been a lot better since Iāve stopped smoking. Maybe when it is legal I might take one or two hits, but I wonāt get back into smoking it everyday. 
I used to smoke pot until one night my heart made a huge thump. Omg my heart almost stopped. It wasnāt like when your heart skipps a beat it was huge. I wonāt touch that anymore. It is dangerous.
Never tried itā¦itās illegal in my state, the only place I think itās legal is in Colorado, Iām not sure though. I know many states offer medical marijuana, I donāt even think Missouri is part of that initiative.
I smoked it long past the point where I should have. Just like so many othersā¦ after a whileā¦ itās more paranoia and less fun.
It creeps up fastā¦ a littleā¦ then you need a little moreā¦ until your smoking a lot and then of course, when Iām high, I forget to take my meds. I stupidly revisited pot a little, early last year. It took along time to stabilize again. I hardly took any compared to what I used to smokeā¦
I scared my sis, I disappointed my family, I still donāt know how I didnāt loose my job. It was only a month or twoā¦ but itās damage lasted a long time. I wasnāt even thinking right until October and finally got back on track fully in November.
I have finally learned to leave it alone. I have too much at stake and it is never as fun as I remember it being.
and then thereās MEā¦the only pot head on board that swears by itā¦hahaā¦I love it, I do it all the time and I feel great !! I canāt get a benzo from my doctor for anxiety so I use pot for thatā¦and it helps greatly. Nothing bad about pot from me, I love it. and itās good for me. Pot is legal in Washington and Colorado and a lot more states are getting ready to legalize.
Here is my take on Marijuana - It is here to stay and thrive. I am not talking about the street drug kind, but as a Western society medical science/pharmaceutical companies - tons of major pharmaceutical companies and very smart scientists are seeing the value of marijuana. It is filled with powerful antioxidants and healing qualities - I am not necessary talking about THC (bad for schizophrenia) it is more about the healing qualities of CBD. Marijuana as a medicine - is going to be a big part of the future
Cannabinoid compounds
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, was identified in the 1960s as the cannabinoid primarily responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis;[5] in the 1990s, after the discovery of the cannabinoid receptors CB1[1] and CB2, researchers began to study and better understand how cannabinoids acted on these receptors.[5] THC is associated ā more than any other cannabinoid ā with most of the pharmacologic effects of cannabis.[5]
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a major constituent of medical cannabis; it is a nonpsychotropic and how it works on brain receptors is not known.[5] CBD represents up to 40% of extracts of Cannabis sativa.[37] A 2007 review said CBD had shown potential to relieve convulsion, inflammation, cough, congestion and nausea, and to inhibit cancer cell growth.[38] Preliminary studies have also shown potential over psychiatric conditions such as anxiety, depression, and psychosis.[37] Because cannabidiol relieves the aforementioned symptoms, cannabis strains with a high amount of CBD may benefit people with multiple sclerosis or frequent anxiety attacks.[26][38]
Cannabinol (CBN) is a product of THC and has mild psychtropic effects.[29]
This stuff is just bad news. Legal or not, it should be avoided, particularly by youth:
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I can totally get behind this. I donāt consider myself ANTI-marijuanaā¦ I just know that getting some from the local urban agriculturist and taking it all to my head is the beginning of the end. My high times are finally over.
The value of the cannabinoid compounds canāt be denied. But most people lining up at the new āgreen pharmaciesā arenāt looking at that partā¦ sadly.
If scientist can make a better AP out of other compounds of this plant, then Iām all for it.
Also, thisā¦
Chronic marijuana use could augment the underlying disease process associated with schizophrenia, Smith noted. āIf someone has a family history of schizophrenia, they are increasing their risk of developing schizophrenia if they abuse marijuana,ā he said.
While chronic marijuana smokers and chronic marijuana smokers with schizophrenia both had brain changes related to the drug, subjects with the mental disorder had greater deterioration in the thalamus. That structure is the communication hub of the brain and is critical for learning, memory and communications between brain regions. The brain regions examined in this study also affect motivation, which is already notably impaired in people with schizophrenia.
āA tremendous amount of addiction research has focused on brain regions traditionally connected with reward/aversion function, and thus motivation,ā noted co-senior study author Hans Breiter, M.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Warren Wright Adolescent Center at Feinberg and Northwestern Memorial. āThis study very nicely extends the set of regions of concern to include those involved with working memory and higher level cognitive functions necessary for how well you organize your life and can work in society.ā
āIf you have schizophrenia and you frequently smoke marijuana, you may be at an increased risk for poor working memory, which predicts your everyday functioning,ā Smith said.
Full article here:
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Just for the record, I am not a big fan of people smoking āstreetā marijuana - I am however for the use of medical marijuana - where the science of extracting THC and āfine tuningā marijuana and using it for medicinal purposes comes into play
THC found in marijuana is very damaging to schizophrenics, CBD is another story - Big Pharma is spending a lot of resources and money, and frankly banking on this chemical found in marijuana - CBD is not damaging towards schizophrenia, they are finding a lot of benefits - antianxiety and antipsychotic properties to CBD
Being in one of the two states to legalizeā¦ Iāve had some very mixed feelings about this.
Oneā¦ itās more availableā¦ that makes me cringeā¦
Itās has slightly more oversight as far as THC levels and not getting mixed with anything the grower thinks would be fun to treat the leaves withā¦ That makes me feel slightly better.
There is no way the people who are over seeing can keep up with all the odd little places springing up in peoples basementā¦ Cringe
But people are NOT getting jail sentences for being caught with a few joints any more ā¦ very cool that one mistake doesnāt have to completely ruin all chances in your life.
The Green pharmacies have to charge SO much due to licensing and keeping it legalā¦ itās so cost prohibitiveā¦ so people go back to Joe the grower in the alleyā¦ cringe.
Making it legal means people can do more research on it and have freer access to in fact studying the plant and trying to see what the other compounds can doā¦ that could be a good thing.
Itās just odd seeing the first steps in the legalization process play out in my home town.
I tried marijuana after I had a psychotic break. I wasnāt getting treatment, so I decided to self-medicate. It made me feel more paranoid and I looked like I was stoned. Marijuana is not for me. Everybody is different whether it helps or hinders them,
Marijuana has never caused me to become psychotic, though I know it can for others, Iāve seen it happen. It doesnāt however do to me what it does to most pot smokers, it is not an incredibly pleasurable experience, it makes me feel far too aware of myself than I really need to be. When I smoke I have this wave of anxiety pass over me in which I begin to question everything about myself that I normally am not even aware of. Am I more odd and different than I think I am? Do I spend too much time alone? Do people notice this and that about me?
This only lasts about ten or twenty minutes after I smoke, especially if I havenāt in a while. Iāve found that while it is not incredibly pleasurable it is actually not entirely bad for my well being if done say once or twice a year, keeps me aware. While Iāve gone through stages of smoking it heavily Iāve never enjoyed it the way most others seem to, it just does something a little different for me than it does to them.
When I first started smoking pot at age 13 or 14 I enjoyed it very much but eventually it began to cause me only anxiety in which I would freeze up to the point of not being able to even speak much. After giving it a good long rest I picked it up again on my own terms and found that this was no longer the case.
I much preferred LSD myself, which always causes people to go āWhaaaaa?ā I did though, despite the substantial chunk of time one must commit to a proper acid trip, I never once had a bad experience with the stuff. Iāve tried just about everything short of heroin which always seemed to elude me for some reason, and have to say I had the most fun on LSD, but those days are well in my past and I donāt plan on going there again, enoughās enough.
I donāt think pot caused me to become psychoticā¦ but while high, I was not med compliantā¦ and Iād get very little sleepā¦ and to shake off that slow feeling, Iād take coke if I couldā¦ then I would completely stop eatingā¦ then Iād end up in hospital a few months laterā¦ curled up in the corner having serious conversations with my toes.
Plus I have found that it really does add to my paranoia and this last dance, last Julyā¦ really whacked out my meds and it took a long time getting back in balance.
Good for youā¦ seriouslyā¦ that is hard to let go ofā¦ I could wax rhapsodic and become very nostalgic about my times spent with XTC. I have woken up and not even thought about drinking, but lament my time without E. Itās hardā¦ and if someone dare to offer it, I might not pass that test. But I work on itā¦ more and moreā¦ I try to put that out of my mind and tell myselfā¦ those days are overā¦ enough is enough.
Ah extacyā¦can never spell this word ha.
I did find it fun and enjoyable but I always felt so stupid the next day after talking as much as I did. As an introvert it just felt so unnatural to be so extroverted, Iād go from rarely saying a word to talking up a storm for hours on end. Does it still even come in the form of those big honking pills anymore? All I hear these days is about mdma coming in powder form which we were just starting to see towards the end of my time around the drug scene.
I know itās become very difficult to find acid these days after the feds busted the major manufacturers some years back. I remember when we were swimming in the stuff, six bucks a hit, now itās apparently more like $20 a hit.
I donāt know about the pillsā¦ Iām sure they are out thereā¦ for my crowd it was powder and then liquid.
I would take it melt my wax build-up. I wasnāt trying to be the life of the partyā¦ I was just trying to fight off that disconnected, no empathy, coldness.
I would take E and then just ramble to my kid sis every thing I wanted to sayā¦ but couldnāt because I was frozen in negative symptoms. I loved that hit of being able to feel something for my fellow humans. I do genuinely like people and feeling that coldā¦ that cut offā¦ really upset me.
I hated that feeing in myselfā¦ that un-empathetic, un-caring, disgust I was feeing for everyone around me. E would melt that away.
I had to learn to do that drug freeā¦ I think Iām getting there.
Excellent post- I too smoked pot in the last semester of high school. I had been smoking like on friday nights starting in the summer before my senior year, and socially, my parents knew I was, I was open about it and they figured I was a responsible kid, I was a military brat and they also figured that it was less harmful than alcohol, which was true, there are genes for alcoholism in my family.
I became physically ill in between semesters with a testicle infection, not an STD just epididymitus, and I started smoking every night to dull the pain. I then slipped into psychosis at the same time. I kept it up for a few months then had to quit, just like you, because it was disturbing to get high, it just made me more psychotic. I didnt know I was psychotic, I thought I was right, but I thought weed was making me anxious.
Itās fine for some people, although it makes them lose IQ points with daily use and most people are laughable when they are stoned. My cousin is into it, heās mentally healthy and it just makes him admittedly lazy. It made me lose anxiety and get really horny when I did it when I was 18, until I became schizophrenic, then it made me anxious as hell and hallucinate and get delusional.
When I did it in moderation before schizophrenia, I did it socially and for alone time on sunday nights. I would smoke on friday nights with my friends, and I was quite popular, I was the bodybuilder military guy who smoked pot and enjoyed the company of other boys to a suspicious degree, (Now I am out about being bisexual) and it was safe to drive after smoking and it made everyone have fun and was actually a really good memory. I would smoke by myself some sundays and then play video games or masturbate, it made all forms of entertainment more entertaining.
But then when I became schizophrenic, I just desperately smoked that ā ā ā ā every night in an effort to feel good. I then discovered that alcohol was effective self medication and became a binge drinker my freshman year of college.
Now I will have one beer when I am in social situations. No pot. Never ever again. Last time I smoked pot, it was a 12 hour nightmare and I didnt sleep. It was like being super schizophrenic, like in dragonball z when they turn into super saiyans, I turned into super schizo and went into a dark room, laid on the couch and stared out the window hallucinating and having a train wreck for a train of thought.
Whoa I am so glad that my meds work. I hate remembering the worst nights of my āā ā ā ā medicationā days