Sciencemadness Discussion Board - I quit using cannabis to be a safer chemist.

I quit using cannabis to be a safer chemist.

itsafineday - 19-10-2019 at 07:53

Sorry if this belongs in detritus. I think it's legit here because as a society our use of cannabis is increasing, for better or worse. There is also lots of tools and techs from chemistry being adopted for the cannabis industry.

I used it for most of my life (48 now) and damn near perpetually for the past 11 years.

I can say without pause that much of my use was from boredom (despair?).

Learning chemistry and trying to be safe and efficient has really brought to light just how much of an interference my cannabis habit was. I really want to be good at chem for myself (and I don't want to end up killing my dogs being daft).

I have a difficult time thinking methodically and including all the minutiae required to run an experiment successfully. Cannabis made that much worse . I would use stopping points to get high (I know BAD!) and end up making mistakes. Considering doing more interesting and dangerous things made it clear I had to make choices that allowed for more focused and safer work.

Please don't misunderstand me as condeming cannabis use or users. I still think it has some great applications for some folks (but all they hype I see as tragic). I REALLY miss using it before weight training and doing yogurt (yoga).

I chose complete abstinence because I have not been able to moderate my use in the past.

Better Late than Never

sodium_stearate - 19-10-2019 at 09:05

Nice to hear your story. It's good to know
that others also observe for themselves how
this drug tends to cloud clear thinking.

Sure, it's great if you want to be high and stoned all
the time.

But if you want your brain to be in good working
order, that stuff really does get in the way.

For a heavy, chronic, long-term user, it will take
many weeks and perhaps a few months before 100%
clear thinking returns.

This of course assumes that the brain in question
is capable of clear thought when it is not drugged.

That is, I have learned, a very large and highly
speculative assumption.

Best of luck being straight. It's kind of boring at
times, but it makes up for that with snap judgment
and correct actions.

[Edited on 19-10-2019 by sodium_stearate]

itsafineday - 19-10-2019 at 09:26

Thank you very much for the insighful and supportive comments. There is some debate about which came first cannabis use or psychosis but I think I'll give myself the benefit of the doubt for 6 months. I've been through other forms of withdrawal and this seems to be the longest I've dealt with . I'm still a crappy chemist (and lazy when it comes to non lab study) but getting better.

j_sum1 - 19-10-2019 at 20:57

Cannabinoids are fat-soluble and as such lodge in the brain for en extended time. For heavy use it can take as long as nine months to be clear.

Praxichys - 21-10-2019 at 06:01

Take it from someone who has been a habitual drinker to say that the mental clarity that comes from extended periods of sobriety is revealing if you think you might have a problem with substance abuse. Physical dependence is only half of addiction. If you're making sacrifices elsewhere in your life so that you can continue to use something, it has gone from helpful to hurtful. This threshold is insidiously difficult to detect without outside input--often the voice we trust the most, our own, carries the greatest bias.

I share the opinion that these things should remain available for recreational use. However, I can say from experience that the caution one must exercise to partake socially goes well beyond acute toxicity. Those who pretend otherwise are stark examples of the black hole that is self affirmation and its inseparable relationship with addiction.

It is exciting to hear of your progress. I wish you the best of luck!

itsafineday - 29-10-2019 at 13:49

Quote: Originally posted by j_sum1

Cannabinoids are fat-soluble and as such lodge in the brain for en extended time. For heavy use it can take as long as nine months to be clear.

Holy Crap! I guess I'll give it a year before I start to see it as necessary. I'm still testing positive and sleeping badly. I'll try out things like echinacea first, too.

itsafineday - 29-10-2019 at 14:02

Quote: Originally posted by Praxichys

I share the opinion that these things should remain available for recreational use. However, I can say from experience that the caution one must exercise to partake socially goes well beyond acute toxicity. Those who pretend otherwise are stark examples of the black hole that is self affirmation and its inseparable relationship with addiction.

It is exciting to hear of your progress. I wish you the best of luck!

Very well said. Getting support here means a lot more than anywhere else (except my immediate family), THANKS!

Herr Haber - 30-10-2019 at 03:59

Oh but you will sleep badly !
That's because the dreams are back.

Sometimes after not smoking for a few weeks I wonder if I shouldnt have tried writing for Hollywood as a career.

itsafineday - 25-12-2019 at 09:40

So I am coming up on the 3 month mark so I felt like giving an update.

I have maintained abstinence and have only felt minor temptation to use cannabis. My sleep is much better and the crazy dreams have subsided. I still dream a lot but the Hollywood crazy dreams Herr Haber mentioned aren't waking me up any more. My state of mind is more peaceful and relaxed. My relationship and mental focus are also much improved. I wouldn't have believed it but cannabis was causing me to instigate "debates" with my partner that were a serious drag. That has stopped. My libido is returning but still less than before I quit. I also have more appetite and have gained about 10 pounds. I first lost about 5 pounds . My memory is still very much lacking but I don't blank out like I did when using cannabis so frequently. My general happiness is higher . I enjoy chemistry more and have a greater reward response as I progress in my projects. I feel safer and I am proud to not be dependent.

Unfortunately, I feel like my rate of aging has increased . My knees and shoulders are feeling pain and my vision seems to have declined. I feel surprisingly weak. This I wouldn't have believed prior to quitting. I thought it would be all improved health but I feel less healthy than when I was using. I have less motivation to exercise and it is more difficult to make healthy eating choices. My lifts are all down a lot. I could do 4 sets of 8 pull ups but now I can't manage 2. When I first quit cannabis the good feelings from working out also stopped but they have returned so I am really hoping that my strength will return. I've decided to give this until July 1st 2020 before entertaining any notions of returning to cannabis. I very much want to not use cannabis and for my body to stabilize back at it's former level of health so I think that 9 months is a reasonable amount of time to decide if that will happen.

Even at that point in the future, I may decide to continue abstinence. I will at least be continuing that position accepting the loss of some benefits of using cannabis .

Thank you all for your positive comments and insights.

B(a)P - 25-12-2019 at 10:25

Nice work, what an achievement!

S.C. Wack - 25-12-2019 at 10:27

Sounds like you would benefit from amphetamine er adderall.

Amos - 25-12-2019 at 11:50

The pleasant things we feel from occasional use simply cannot be felt all the time. I'm much happier to smoke once, maybe twice a week than I ever was when I was high every morning and night. Moderation is good stuff.

A Clear Mind

sodium_stearate - 25-12-2019 at 16:53

I stopped using alcohol and cannabis over 30 years ago.

The reason I stopped using both of those
things very abruptly one day was so that I could
pay attention and learn new things.

Stopping the use of those drugs has been one of
the best decisions I've ever made in my life.

That decision has made many things possible that
have happened and have played out very well for me.

Had I kept up living in the mental haze which was my
life as a user of those drugs, none of the better things
ever could have happened.

(and I'd advise also against using uppers such as
suggested above. Most of the people I know who
are on that stuff have minds that run 24 x 7 at a rate
of several million miles per hour and they can't
relax and concentrate on one thing long enough to
accomplish anything meaningful. They are certainly
chatterboxes though, they can talk and talk and talk and...)

[Edited on 26-12-2019 by sodium_stearate]

itsafineday - 26-12-2019 at 10:48

Quote: Originally posted by S.C. Wack

Sounds like you would benefit from amphetamine er adderall.

I'm fairly certain that my brain will adapt given enough time. I was just reading other reports about muscle weakness resolving at around four months. I used a lot for a long time. I am sure that without cannabis many circuits aren't as viable as before and I'll have to make new ones. Taking something else to deal with withdrawal symptoms would undermine that process.

I also think that seeing a doctor for amphetamine is like asking a wolf to guard the hen house. I'd end up with lot's of justifications for staying on it and probably a prescription for benzo's maybe even modafinil or some antidepressant. Doctors who prescribe drugs that produce euphoria end up played by everyone and their sense of reality is skewed. Like pop stars surrounded by yes men. Doing the right thing becomes very difficult. I wouldn't want to trust my health to someone in that position.

itsafineday - 26-12-2019 at 10:56

Quote: Originally posted by B(a)P

Nice work, what an achievement!

Thanks ! A year ago I was convinced I was a lifer. All these pats on the back are gonna go to my head

S.C. Wack - 27-12-2019 at 03:54

I have spent a lifetime observing people use drugs as an excuse for their problems and behaviors, or their former use of drugs as permanent damage, and people love love love to use someones drug use (other than accepted alcohol use) as an excuse to be shitty to them.

Quote: Originally posted by sodium_stearate

Most of the people I know who
are on that stuff have minds that run 24 x 7 at a rate
of several million miles per hour and they can't
relax and concentrate on one thing long enough to
accomplish anything meaningful.

Quote: Originally posted by itsafineday

Doctors who prescribe drugs that produce euphoria end up played by everyone and their sense of reality is skewed. Like pop stars surrounded by yes men.

A psychiatrist would disagree with this characterization, but of course they're just in the business of pushing drugs, right? Stimulants help many people lead normal lives.

The straight edge sober living sounds great and so it appeals to religious thought, a higher plane of wisdom; it's a pipe dream nonetheless.

Cou - 27-12-2019 at 04:09

When I smoke marijuana, it makes me think humans are gross. never again

Fery - 27-12-2019 at 05:27

itsafineday congrat that you left abusing cannabis
abusers of cannabis have increased risk of developing schizophrenia, decreased fertility, smoking and inhaling carcinogens induces lung damage and risk of cancer, ...
a lot of drugs cause much more severe withdrawal syndromes than cannabis (even alcohol - delirium)
there are some possibilities to treat cannabis withdrawal syndromes too (mood, sleeping, ...) but this cannot be solved online - you could ask an addictologist/psychiatrist if you find your problems severe
there are some medical applications for CBD derivates (more research stage today than clinical use yet) but cannabis plants used for abusing contain mostly THC and only very low of CBD

Quote: Originally posted by itsafineday

...Doctors who prescribe drugs that produce euphoria...

psychostimulants are used for treatment of children with ADHD and surprisingly the children do not develop addiction either euphoria, the treatment is for improving their attention, no need to increase doses (unlike addicted people who do need to increase doses) - whether continue in medication of adults is still discussed a lot
antidepressants normalize depressive mood of depressive people and may cause switch into mania sometimes (then the disorder is not classified as depressive disorder anymore but it is bipolar disorder and the treatment also differs then as well as selection of antidepressants)
otherwise I do not know any treatment causing euphoria
S.C. Wack - yes almost everyone has some excuse for abusing (drug rationalization)
doctors should be free in making decisions about medicals selected for treatment and not influenced by own business / pharma companies
the better doctor the more of patients healthy and less of patients ill - primary prevention to avoid genesis of disease/disorder completely so no need to treat it at all - but this is utopia today, maybe in the future...

arkoma - 27-12-2019 at 05:44

OK whiny boys..........
I take drugs because I FUCKING LIKE THEM. No excuses, no drama fer christ sake.....where the hell is Dr. Phil when we need him?

*edit* ask around and I'm sure you can find an N.A. meeting somewhere

[Edited on 12-27-2019 by arkoma]

morganbw - 27-12-2019 at 13:36

Quote: Originally posted by arkoma

OK whiny boys..........
I take drugs because I FUCKING LIKE THEM. No excuses, no drama fer christ sake.....where the hell is Dr. Phil when we need him?

*edit* ask around and I'm sure you can find an N.A. meeting somewhere

[Edited on 12-27-2019 by arkoma]

Respect sir.

arkoma - 27-12-2019 at 14:46

I do fucking like them. In modern idiomatic English, the "f" word is way more of an emphasis than disrespect. I have an Arkansas Med Marijuana card, and cannabis just works for me--as some of you know I've been through multiple surgeries ending in amputation of right leg. Haven't taken any narcotic painkillers since two weeks after my last surgery in Aug 2018.

Was my two cents, and I can be old and grouchy and might have been a bit in my cups so please excuse my rudeness.

S.C. Wack - 27-12-2019 at 15:48

Quote: Originally posted by Fery

yes almost everyone has some excuse for abusing (drug rationalization)

There are two ways of interpreting my first sentence and unfortunately it is not clear which one I was choosing. The meaning was not the one you chose. I'm saying that people blame drugs for problems they very well might have had without them.

Some problems such as my arrest record do require drugs. I should also add that straights not only don't like people who take drugs, they have strong negative feelings towards those who don't take drugs but are perceived as being drug users.

Cou - 27-12-2019 at 20:54

Oh Science, you know who the MOST annoying type of marijuana user is?

Privileged first world white people who rave on about certain "strains" like "oh yeah i like this strain, it makes me feel really calm", and claim they use weed to "help my anxiety"

EVERYONE has anxiety.

RJ2 - 27-12-2019 at 22:44

@cou hey, whatever it takes for them to justify it as "morally acceptable." That's how we get these kind of things legalized. We are in a time when cannabis is moving from being seen as a "corrupt dangerous rebel" substance to an "everyday" one like alcohol or nicotine. There was a time when I had to hide my gender identity completely, or fear cops kicking in my door at night. It's no longer that bad, but I am less than impressed by some other elements of our society which are still holding us back. Hence my need for the PGT last year.

DavidJR - 28-12-2019 at 02:44

Quote: Originally posted by Cou

Oh Science, you know who the MOST annoying type of marijuana user is?

Privileged first world white people who rave on about certain "strains" like "oh yeah i like this strain, it makes me feel really calm", and claim they use weed to "help my anxiety"

EVERYONE has anxiety.

Do not confuse the (normal) emotional state of anxiety with having an anxiety disorder. Yes, everyone has anxiety (the emotional state) at some point in their life, but for the majority it does not take over their lives.

Unless you have lived with an anxiety disorder you probably don't understand just how disabling it is. I certainly didn't understand it before social anxiety disorder took over my life.

(To be clear, I don't and have never used cannabis, and I've only heard of it causing anxiety, not fixing it... but maybe for some people it does help anxiety)

Get High!

sodium_stearate - 28-12-2019 at 04:59

Arkoma, well said!

You obviously KNOW what works for you.
That's great so go with it.

For myself and for a few others here however,
getting high was not working so well in the long term
for us, so we eventually abandoned it.

Everything in life is a tradeoff of some sort.

itsafineday - 10-1-2020 at 05:11

Quote: Originally posted by S.C. Wack

If psychiatrists spent any meaningful amount of time identifying and correcting lifestyle factors before prescribing , I'd have some respect for them. I'm very familiar with the industry and it's dependency on isolating a patient for a very short period of time in a very contrived environment before prescribing drugs. That fits a profit model.

Fit a patient with a body camera for 6 weeks and go through the video then spend 6 months to 2 years or longer identifying unhealthy lifestyle factors and eliminating them and I'll start to think psychiatrists are more than drug dealers with a profit motif. The inconvenient truth of human beings is that they require much more attention. The average psychiatrist spends less time with a patient than a typical auto mechanic does fixing a car.

Many people believe a "normal" life should include no exercise or time outdoors, a complete lack of self interested collaborative activity with family or friends, consumption of food lacking nutrition, hours spent online and very little sleep.
I don't have a clue what a "normal" life is, I don't believe you do either. The truth of "normal" life is thoroughly corrupt by marketing. To think someone in a psychiatrists postion , sitting on her ass all day listening to mentally ill people , is a recipe for understanding normal, is flawed thinking. Trusting their evaluation is foolish.

Stimulants help people meet expectations with little management of the greater constructs of life. Stimulants are good for people who don't/can't see beyond being "tools". (edit: this isn't really fair on my part, the unfortunate situation of most people is they are required to adapt to very unhealthy lifestyles just to survive)

I don't want to present myself as sober, either. I'm not religious or part of a sobriety cult. I don't drink or use cannabis but I got bombed on kava yesterday. I don't expect my brain to be back to normal for a week or more. I just have realized how compromising and undermining my habitual drug use has been. I won't use cannabis again as I feel like it made me mildly psychotic and I am MUCH happier, calm, content and loving without it. I'm also much less frustrated as I study chemistry. I still feel a need to alter my consciousness from time to time, though. I think that is part of a "normal" life. I'm a terrible judge of "normal" though.

I am very sorry, I won't lie, I just don't respect people on psychiatric drugs. I also feel they do damage to the general understanding of normal. The idea that some employees will be judged next to others on amphetamine sickens me.

Also, "sober living a pipe dream", lol

[Edited on 10-1-2020 by itsafineday]

[Edited on 10-1-2020 by itsafineday]

quack "Doctors"

sodium_stearate - 10-1-2020 at 06:17

My take on it is that for every real doctor out there,
there are at least a dozen or more quacks.

The whole concept of having "psychiatrists" involves
concepts of what is accepted in society as "normal"
behavior, as contrasted with "abnormal" behavior.

These ideas are subjective because one person's
"normal" may not be anywhere even close to that
of some other person.

So, my advise is, go watch an old black and white
Groucho Marx movie where he portrays a doctor.

Or watch some old Three Stooges episodes where
they clown around as doctors.

Some how or other, we have decided for ourselves
that doctors are seen as authority figures.

Aside from setting broken bones or fixing up
severe injuries, most of "modern medicine" to me
is just a greedy bunch of money-grubbers
that have managed to brainwash most of society.

By doing so, they have created a multi-trillion
dollar industry.

This industry is a self-perpetuating one.
The more drugs they hand out, the sicker and the weirder
the patients become.

In other words it all revolves around repeat business.

[Edited on 10-1-2020 by sodium_stearate]

mackolol - 14-1-2020 at 13:05

Lately I'm taking a break from cannabis too.

I've been using it regularly during Christmas break to this point, that I became unproductive and even had few days that I remember as from a fog.

There is quite a lot going on in my life soon and I start another chemistry project so I need to be sober and fully mobilized. I keep my fingers crossed for you itsafineday!

karlos³ - 14-1-2020 at 14:32

I'm using that stuff only rarely nowadays, growing older did quite a bit for it.
But in no time I turned into a much better chemist, which is of course no coincidence.

Well, I still do the occasional stimulants(which turn me into an even better chemist actually

stoichiometric_steve - 23-1-2020 at 23:52

Quote: Originally posted by itsafineday

If psychiatrists spent any meaningful amount of time identifying and correcting lifestyle factors before prescribing, I'd have some respect for them.

I'm a health professional and totally agree with what you said.

As per my experience, the "level of competence/willingness to REALLY help" one can expect from a doctor/pharmacist/nurse etc. can be plotted on a Gauss curve.

Very few ones are really bad, by far the most are just "meh" and again very, very few ones are excellent.

Why is that, then?

Probably because identifying root causes to a psychological problem is much more difficult than just applying a temporary fix like writing a prescription, then if those meds didn't help, just write another.

Repeat until you can claim to "have done everything": Voila, made money without doing what you were supposed to do!

You've gamed the system, and that's just what's so deeply rooted inside every human that it defines us as individuals and our society.

We're gaming ourselves into oblivion, as is quite obvious from the current state of the world.

We are fucked.

itsafineday - 3-3-2020 at 10:12

Yeah, it's really a bummer about the gaming. I totally agree with you. I think it's an intrinsic aspect of evolution. Then again, it feels good to have hope there might be an alternative. Naive, but it feels good.

Also, culture works against the creation of great doctors who really want to heal people. Without a supporting culture that practice is even more difficult. Success is invariably a deal with the devil in the name of our children.

[Edited on 3-3-2020 by itsafineday]

arkoma - 3-3-2020 at 13:04

Quote: Originally posted by karlos³

Well, I still do the occasional stimulants(which turn me into an even better chemist actually

LOL. I have been very lucky to have a good "Doctor". Miss Lisa is an Advanced Practice Nurse, and I honestly believe she SAVED MY LIFE after my motorcycle wreck. I burst into tears every time I looked at my leg. She INSISTED I take some lexapro for several months. Knew me well enough (been my healer for 14 years) to ask how my mental health was.

God Bless Her.

DavidJR - 3-3-2020 at 14:26

Quote: Originally posted by stoichiometric_steve

... identifying root causes to a psychological problem is much more difficult than just applying a temporary fix like writing a prescription, then if those meds didn't help, just write another.

I don't disagree, but certainly for many people medication really is the right solution...

itsafineday - 3-3-2020 at 14:53

Quote: Originally posted by DavidJR

Quote: Originally posted by stoichiometric_steve

... identifying root causes to a psychological problem is much more difficult than just applying a temporary fix like writing a prescription, then if those meds didn't help, just write another.

I don't disagree, but certainly for many people medication really is the right solution...

Given the limited flexibility of our lives (employers/families etc) addressing lifestyle factors becomes too disruptive to others. Meds are most often a best solution in a list of bad solutions kind of "right".

Just the idea of having to find an alternative means of educating your child when you have to go to work to pay the bills can have some parents craving a benzo.

Naturally culture is set up to assure parents that drugging their child (or whomever) is the right thing to do , even that it's inhumane to let the poor little kid keep suffering. But if you count the number of people for whom it's a profitable and convenient solution you would be highly suspicious about any definition of it being "right".

I just saw a body cam episode where a guy stabbed his wife and some other woman and then commited suicide by cop. During the episode he grabbed a bottle of some kind of benzodiazipine and tipped it up into his mouth. No one will convince me that the entire incident wasn't caused by the benzo prescription to begin with. I'd also be seriously shocked if the vast majority of mass shootings had no connection to prescription drugs.

[Edited on 3-3-2020 by itsafineday]

Cou - 26-4-2020 at 18:23

It's a bad idea to keep any illegal drugs or paraphernalia in your house while practicing amateur chemistry. You order elemental iodine from China, then a month later you're woken up at 3 AM with 3 hard knocks and "POLICE SEARCH WARRANT!!!"

arkoma - 27-4-2020 at 20:08

Quote: Originally posted by Cou

It's a bad idea to keep any illegal drugs or paraphernalia in your house while practicing amateur chemistry. You order elemental iodine from China, then a month later you're woken up at 3 AM with 3 hard knocks and "POLICE SEARCH WARRANT!!!"

how does this even RELATE to a thread about cannabis use?!?!

Syn the Sizer - 27-4-2020 at 20:38

The great thing about living in Canada is marijuana paraphernalia is not illegal, nor are weed plants or marijuana itself. I smoke weed and I bought 7g last week right across the street from a crap load of cops and walked out with the weed in my hand. Its still surreal to me though, I have been smoking for 24 years and to walk out in front of cops from a weed store with a tub of weed is a great feeling.

Edit:
Tbh I am happy liquor and weed were considered essential industries, it makes quarantine way easier.

[Edited on 28-4-2020 by Syn the Sizer]

Cou - 28-4-2020 at 10:57

Quote: Originally posted by arkoma

Quote: Originally posted by Cou

how does this even RELATE to a thread about cannabis use?!?!

Cannabis is illegal in most places in the world x/

[Edited on 28-4-2020 by Cou]

clearly_not_atara - 28-4-2020 at 11:34

Quote:

Learning chemistry and trying to be safe and efficient has really brought to light just how much of an interference my cannabis habit was. I really want to be good at chem for myself (and I don't want to end up killing my dogs being daft).

I have a difficult time thinking methodically and including all the minutiae required to run an experiment successfully. Cannabis made that much worse . I would use stopping points to get high (I know BAD!) and end up making mistakes. Considering doing more interesting and dangerous things made it clear I had to make choices that allowed for more focused and safer work.

If you were performing chemical procedures while intoxicated, you were not using cannabis responsibly to begin with.

At a physiological level, cannabis is indeed much safer than alcohol. But at a behavioral level, I see no reason to make the distinction. Both cannabis and alcohol clearly inhibit effective psychological functioning. Would you do a reaction drunk? I certainly hope not. The only reason that cannabis does not cause auto crashes as much as alcohol does is that cannabis is anti-aggressive, while alcohol is pro-aggressive; the implications for driving are obvious.

I smoke weed on a daily basis. However, I am never intoxicated at work or school or while doing anything dangerous or technically challenging. I consume less than one gram per week; even hitting that number seems financially and medically irresponsible. Taking sedatives recreationally in the off-hours assumes a moderate amount of risk that is not that much worse than other recreational activities (David Nichols likes to contrast drugs with horseback riding). Doing it in the on-hours suggests you have a problem.

Stimulants are a whole different story. I don't fuck with most of them, but I use about as much nicotine as an old guy in an anime. I know it's bad for me. Nobody's perfect

TheMrbunGee - 28-4-2020 at 11:51

Quote: Originally posted by clearly_not_atara

At a physiological level, cannabis is indeed much safer than alcohol. But at a behavioral level, I see no reason to make the distinction. Both cannabis and alcohol clearly inhibit effective psychological functioning. Would you do a reaction drunk? I certainly hope not. The only reason that cannabis does not cause auto crashes as much as alcohol does is that cannabis is anti-aggressive, while alcohol is pro-aggressive; the implications for driving are obvious.

Alcohol also makes one dizzy, If one cannot walk straight, surely mustn't try driving. Never risk with someone else. Caffeine and nicotine are also psychoactive (less for many, more for others). There is a huge reason to make a distinction between any substances.

Refinery - 28-5-2020 at 12:40

You guys aren't seriously running a lab under the influence of alcohol, pot or other stuff?

I'm not anti drug by any means, but always keep work, hobby and recreational time separate.

In general. I'm not going into semantics more than this, but there are of course low level exceptions like caffeine, and then the gray area where nootropics and stimulants etc. falls into. In a controlled manner they are beneficial (amphetamine in military operations), but it usually slips recreational.

mackolol - 28-5-2020 at 13:07

I don't go to lab when I'm under influence, I just don't want to and know that I won't do there much, instead I will rather destroy something or harm myself.

Cou - 25-10-2020 at 16:23

Should home chemists really be keeping any illegal drugs in the house?

We are always risking house searches by doing things like ordering glassware from China, ordering red phosphorus, showing pictures of our glassware, etc. It's not safe to have a drug in the house if/when the cops show up to search your house. Having balances, glassware, etc, could get you charged with intent to distribute.

[Edited on 10-26-2020 by Cou]

Drugs

MadHatter - 25-10-2020 at 17:59

People who generally get busted for lab
equipment were using it to make drugs
or explosives. In the U.S. the emphasis
is on drugs. Ordering something like
red P raises a flag as it's on DEA LIST 1.

Clear_horizons_glass - 25-10-2020 at 19:23

In my experience, it seems different people can handle different levels of cannabis, like most recreational drugs.
I'm glad you seem to be finding a balance that works for you, itsafineday.
I'm also glad that those who recreationally/medically use cannabis get benefits from it. I hope they are mindful of how their usage affects their life at work and off work. I've seen it really benefit some people, but I've also seen it really consume others.
I think we can all agree that the legal consequences in many places are a little excessive compared with how dangerous it is though.
I'm hoping as it becomes legal in more places (I think that's a pretty obvious trend among states), we can have more honest conversations about how to responsibly use it, without all the reefer madness and proportional over acceptance by some enthusiasts.

[Edited on 26-10-2020 by Clear_horizons_glass]