I smoke and I have daily for 38 yrs , it’s the only medication that I trust, I haven’t used it for months because where im at its not legal so even if I do get it its sub par.
This is probably the reason why im moving back to where it is legal.
I smoke to cope and escape everything and don’t smoke because I’m extremely unproductive and the worst for me is the days after and symptoms start acting up more. It is a love hate relationship with me and I shouldn’t be doing it because its just not right for me however I have nothing against it.
Im in no way advocating it because I don’t need to, those that DO know that its beneficial to them don’t need advocation and those that don’t? STAY AWAY FROM IT!!!
Before I got sick, I was a daily smoker in high school and 90% of the time it was fun. I got diagnosed in 1980 with paranoid schizophrenia and after I got sick, marijuana was never fun again. I smoked it sporadically through the years (and also crack) and it made me psychotic. I quit all drugs in 1990. A minority of people on this site say marijuana helps them. I think it the majority can’t handle it. You can get opinions and experience on this site but you can also research articles about marijuana and schizophrenia elsewhere.
I’ve been smoking since I was 17, and I’m 23 now. I am taking a tolerance break starting today for a month, if I can make it that long. I was using 4 grams a day and feeling very little from it, because my tolerance is so high.
I smoke it because it’s a vacation from stressors, an easy way to laugh, and it makes everything so damn interesting.
The drawbacks are that I have a difficult time recalling information that I was just thinking about seconds beforehand, which is embarrassing when that happens.
I smoke for relief from anxiety and depression, it makes mania worse for me, but I have to be already hypo for it to have an effect. It sometimes makes delusions worse, but hasn’t made any hallucinations become overbearing so far.
Good topic, take care!
It makes you stupid.
Unless you’re already stupid I don’t see why dwell on that.
The cognitive effects are gone after 3-4 weeks. But it does make me more passive.
I don’t smoke because it causes me great anxiety. The last time I smoked, last winter, I had the worst panic attack and paranoia ever. I was convinced that I would die by murder that night. I was terrified.
Well, temporary stupid then 
I smoked alot of things in the past and have come to the conclusion that smoking anything at all is not good for my lungs or my heart, or I still would., but even then it can be costly financially.
I smoked a lot at uni. We had fun, but that is almost 20 years ago now. I would not do it now - its in my past.
sz was present when I broke from reality 15 years ago. today, mj is still in my life. I have tried unsuccessfully about at least two dozen times. I’ve given up trying to be sober. It’s not realistic for me. The caveat: I get manic when I use, usually me driving my car far distances and spending money. slight psychosis and throw in some dissociation. depending on he potency of the mj, it can last an hour to several days; I much prefer cbd cannabis- I can sober up within an hour or so of using. I’ve been fortunate though, I’ve skirted the law a few times. But love smoking mj, giving me a way to think about things in a different way and the providing laughter, emotion, and very possibly healing past trauma. if you are new to cbd, please visit my blog: http://cbdpush.com
Never smoked marijuana. It’s illegal in Sweden. I’ve been stuck to alcohol.
Getting high with the beings of evil is not a great idea and it’s not fun at all.
Imagine being high man, high with them man, super terrifying shit it is, it’s scary sober but imagine if you were high.
i smoked a lot before my diagnosis. it was relieving my symptoms for 6 years but i was quite passive on it… it didnt cause my schizophrenia but porbably made it worse, probably dont know…
i didnt smoke since years already and i miss it but i try not to do it… i think ill get some bad experience with it and meds.
Yeah, I’ve heard about research saying it’s bad for those with SZ, but we’re still kinda in that phase where there’s not a lot of good research out there, with it being federally illegal. So I thought I’d see what people say.
So it sounds like most of you have the same problems or benefits as the general population: cons being paranoia, forgetfulness, lethargy, possible anxiety, and no motivation; pros being anxiety relief, having a good time, allowing you to think in different ways.
Isn’t it interesting how it can cause or relieve anxiety? But I guess that’s true of a lot of medications actually marketed for anxiety.
But it sounds like those of you who did suffer serious side effects decided to quit. So it’s probably safe to assume that if smoking was causing psychosis to get worse in my roommate, she’d quit. Hopefully.
Thanks for sharing, everyone, was interesting to hear. What a lot of you say about it not making you more social is interesting, because I feel somewhat the same way, but for most people it’s the opposite. If I’m at a party with mostly people I know, or at home, then it makes social time more fun. But I know people who smoke at work and it helps them be friendly with customers. That’s not me at all, I get so paranoid that the customers will notice I’m high.
But the only times I smoke not just for enjoyment, it’s because it makes the voices stop. And by “voices” I really mean my own thoughts, I don’t really “hear voices”, but it is really hard for me to shut my brain off at night sometimes. An indica is good for those times, makes me not care about whatever I’m worrying about. If I mess up and smoke a sativa before bed though… I’ll be laying in bed with dialogue from books or movies running through my head, it makes it so much worse.
Unfortunately, you can’t assume that’s likely. You’re talking to people with a lot of insight who recognized the issue and wanted to correct it. Browsing through the Family forum will show you plenty of people whose loved ones don’t have this insight or determination.
I recognize that, but on the other hand, I think I’d notice something if it was causing her major problems… She does try to hide symptoms, but isn’t very good at it. Like, we can tell when she’s off her meds because she becomes reclusive, has a flat affect, etc. We might not know when she’s hearing her daily voices, but when something’s seriously wrong, it shows. Even if I can’t always put my finger on it, I can sense that something’s not right.
In any case, we decided not to push her on it as long as she keeps paying rent and going to work. It’s hard enough to get anyone to quit when they’re addicted, throw in mental illness and I know how hairy it can get… When I quit for a few months I would have mood swings, periods where I felt the fogginess of being high but none of the good parts as it was released from my fat, anxiety, insomnia… I don’t want to think what could happen if we made her quit cold turkey. Plus, it wouldn’t be fair if we continued to smoke after that. As long as she lives with us, she will probably always smoke, unfortunately.
But I am glad to hear that it doesn’t always cause horrible side effects with SZ, and if it did hopefully it would be scary enough to scare her off it. I know in the few instances I’ve been able to identify what caused a major panic attack, I stay away from that trigger to the extreme.
Seriously? I’ve seen dozens of articles in the news section of this forum alone on the link between cannabis abuse and psychosis. Some were indeed mere correlation. But more recent articles confirmed the causal direction. You can find them yourself, if you want to. But it seems to me you are looking for anecdotal information to confirm what you hope for. For this:
So it’s probably safe to assume that if smoking was causing psychosis to get worse in my roommate, she’d quit. Hopefully.
???
People can and do get addicted to cannabis, like they can and do to other substances. Is it safe to assume that an addict will quit whatever drug of choice if it is causing whatever problems, psychosis or not, to get worse? Really?