Who gets high?

[GRH]

Originally Posted by sesame

Yes, GRH, meditation is beneficial to body and mind, but one must try for a long time with much discipline to get used to it. You can't master it in 3 days. :D People want fast results and turn to drugs due to impatience. Drugs can also take one to unexplored domains of consciousness. But Drug is like a zip-zap-zoom method. You are there even before you begin to understand it. Here, Meditation has extra advantage. Meditation is slow in the beginning, but you have control over it's mechanism. And you can reach any particular plane of consciousness as many times you wish at will. With drugs, you dont know the station the train will stop at.

Practice with drugs can lead to experience, and you can begin to learn methods for guiding the train's journey. Some drugs are so completely predictable (for me at least) that I could just about give you a plot synopsis of the high prior to ever ingesting (i.e. cocaine). As to meditation, yes, it is the slowness that has always deterred me. Patience is a difficult thing to come by, especially in our convenience-driven culture. One of my best friends was very into yoga and meditation...He was sober for 30 years, but then somewhere along the way decided that he wanted to reenter the drug culture. I was never sure why he made that decision, but I think the elder care of his mother and father drove him to desparation. At any rate, even at his junkie worst, he still went running every day, would do yoga, etc. He insisted that the routine helped to keep him grounded and could ultimately take him to places farther than drugs.

Ok, the helps I recieved in meditation come from various schools of philosophy: In order of effectiveness===>
1) Vedanta from the Upanishads [Hindu]
2) Vipassana from Dhammapad [Buddhist]
3) Gita [Hindu]
4) Yoga (Rajayoga & Hathayoga) & (Aurovindo) [Hindu]
5) Don Juan (Books by Carlos Castaneda) [American Indian]

We share many influences! I absolutely love the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads. As to Hathayoga and Aurovindo, I am somewhat familiar. As to the Don Juan books, these are a very good read, despite the rather dubious authenticity of Castaneda's dissertation. If you like Native American spirituality, I would recommend "Rolling Thunder" as a very good book that explores an alternate view of reality and draws parallels between this school of thought and the East.

I had many bouts with monks smoking Ganja (cannabis) :D
When they offered, I declined gracefully. You can start with Cannabis.
In one of my visits to the Himalayas, I took refuge in a hermitage for the night. This particular Hermit had a huge garden full of various psychotropic herbs! And he was a very strong, helpful and happy person. (not the typical drug junkie)
Actually these herbs can also open gateways to subtle states of the mind. But their unrestrained use (or abuse) by undisciplined people gives them a bad name. As such, mother nature is quite unbiased. She has such priceless jewels hidden in her bosom!

I would like to meet this Hermit. Herbs are one of my primary interests in horticulture, and I would love to have an apothecary/herbal garden some day. Right now I grow many culinary herbs, but I LOVE plants that have a history of use among mankind. For example, aconitum, mandrake, etc. are plants that I would really like to grow despite the fact that I have no interest in ever using these plants functionally. I think they are powerful plants, what Native Americans would call "helper plants."

In Indian belief, "helper plants" have their own spirit. I believe this. Each plant is unique and important, many we have only just begun to discover their utility in an ecosystem. This is not to say that ALL plants should be utilized in some functional manner by people. Still, MANY plants can be...Thus they are "helpers." Psychoactive plants are among them, but so are food plants, flowers, and medicines. I believe there is a reason that certain plants alter our consciousness in certain ways; further, I believe that we have brains and responsibility enough to use these plants. Government prohibition is the height of arrogance...Arrogance of mankind against both God, natural selection, and millions of years of evolution.

Alright, on to cannabis...
(I pause to collect my thoughts.)

[GRH]

Cannabis is one of the most universally used drugs, probably behind only alcohol and caffeine. For our disccussion, I will include all cannabis derivatives in this discussion to include raw cannabis, hash (screened trichomes that are pressed together), hash oil (the oil exuded from pressed hash), tinctures, etc. As to synthetic THC (brand name Marinol), I have no personal experience, but know from talking to others that it it not as effective for a variety of reasons.

Cannabis achieves its psychoactivity via a number of cannibinoids, with THC (tetra-hydrocannibinol) being the most notorious. That said, THC is not the sole chemical responsible for the psychoactivity (This is one reason Marinol is less effective therapeutically). The different ratios of cannibinoids and other chemicals affect the overall psychoactivity...

Two distinct strains of cannabis are generally recognized...Sometimes a third, though I won't go into that. There is Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica. The sativa strain is considered to be a more "light" smoke, a more visual, hallucinatory variety. The indica is more heavily "narcotic," a more sedating smoke, one that makes the body heavy and tired. Both species can be very powerful, though many smokers have a preference towards one type of high over the other. Personally, I find that both states of consciousness have their own time and place.

Alright, to the larger question, what does cannabis feel like? This depends largely on the strain, potency, and amount ingested. Small amounts (or large amounts among a tolerant user or with low grade weed) will produce relaxation and lowered inhibitions. This is a state very conducive to meditation. Increased potency and ingestion can lead to increased intoxification. This can include a very disinhibited sensibility and a much lighter take on life (everything becomes funny!). Increased hunger is often a side effect (the munchies), this is one reason marijuana is favored among cancer patients. There is a degree of analgesia that accompanies marijuana use. As you get to higher doses, reality becomes completely sublime. Conversation flows like water, and EVERYTHING takes on an increased sense of profundity. Sometimes you will forget what you were trying to say, but it doesn't matter. Life if lived in the moment. You open up like a flower blossoming in sunlight, inhibitions melt to a great degree, and you are peaceful and content. At worst, you consume too many calories and fall asleep. You don't knick or crave the high to the point of going out and robbing convenience stores. At the best levels, hallucinations can ensue, but these are generally closed-eye visuals and subtle distortions of sound. The hallucinations are nothing on par with psychadelics, but you get VERY creative. The desire to write or create is very strong.

That said, sometimes the desire to create is overpowered by the lethargy that can accompany marijuana use. Oftentimes, the perception of creativity and profundity is lost upon being sober. As an experienced user, I can take away from the intoxication more than others...For that matter, it has altered my perception to the point where I am a much less rage-driven individual. I am much more mellow nowadays. But cannabis does not come without its downside. First and foremost is the cost and legality. Factor that out, and you still often end up with cottonmouth. And paranoia. Paranoia is a possibility for anyone, though some seem more prone to it than others...I find that I myself am a more paranoid person than many...This has caused me anxiety over the years, but it has also saved my ass several times.