Dope

[tryer]

I smoke dope on a regular basis and have done for years. I have taught myself piano  for the last two years but still can't read music (as can't Jamie Cullum who I heard on the radio today) but still cheating I suppose.  The dope doesn't seem to impede my playing and memory such as it is, and I sometimes think it helps.  So much for scambling the brain. Anyone else any experiences with dope?

Tryer

[zheer]

So i guess thats why you call yourself Tryer . I dont like drugs, unless it is paracetamol.

[tryer]

I'm English so Tryer comes from trying at Johanna and not Trymadol or whatever it is.

[leahcim]

Anyone else any experiences with dope?

I though the latest research put the effect of running / cycling for an hour or so down to ananadmide [which is the chemical created by your bonce that's supposed to bind to the receptors that THC does]

If so, you could buy a pair of trainers or a bike. [Possible side effects : growing long blond/grey hair, wearing bright tracksuits, increased cigar smoking and saying "now then now then, howsabout that then boyz and girlz?..."]

[fiasco]

I find that I get better results from practicing while stoned mainly for two reasons: 1) It lends me patience, and 2) Everything sounds better.  I'm much less apt to fly into a fit of rage or throw my hands up in dismay if I smoke some dope beforehand.  My favorite pasttime is getting stoned late at night and practing on my keyboard with headphones (my apartment doesn't allow for the piano past 10:00 PM).  I don't think I could stay as focused and "into it" for as many hours as I do without being high.

Some will say "drugs" are a hinderance no matter what, but I disagree.  It's not like I'm shooting heroin and staring at my shoe for eight hours.  Being stoned while practicing really does help me learn faster and memorize easier, and I guess it's because I'm so much more into it when my mind is a little, uh, altered.  Same goes for listening to music.  I don't know, everybody's different.  However, when it comes time to perform, it's straight as an arrow for me.

[leahcim]

I find that I get better results from practicing while stoned mainly for two reasons: 1) It lends me patience, and 2) Everything sounds better.

Well maybe. Apathy isn't patience, and many a band's career has probably relied on what they are doing sounding better when the audience is stoned 

Have you recorded practice sessions stoned and not to compare? Do other people's recordings sound better when you're stoned?

[stevie]

random cunt

[rob47]

in first year my residence was across the street from the music building so bunning tingz n going to practice was convenient and practical.  I've found pretty much the same as everyone here that it sounds awesome and you control (or at least feel like you aer in control) every detail about a piece.  However I don't think i actually ever 'practiced' when burnt, just played through my pieces in a dramatic fashion for an hour or two.  I've found it also relaxes your muscles if you are tense, thus allowing you to practice if you could not otherwise; however this likely is bad for you.

I dont smoke anymore though (just cigarettes  ) because I found it gets to apoint where you'll just blaze....for the thake.........of blazing........... and it eventually just made me into a silent antisocial zombie whenever I'd smoke.  Stuff wasn't even funny anymore; it was a sad day.  But then when you stop, everything is so much clearer and you just feel mentally healthier, or at least I did.

However sometimes if a day is already going to be written off (i.e. insane hangover) i might smoke and watch a movie or something.

right.

[stevie]

hahahaha random kissin ref

[contrapunctus]

I find that I get better results from practicing while stoned mainly for two reasons: 1) It lends me patience, and 2) Everything sounds better.  I'm much less apt to fly into a fit of rage or throw my hands up in dismay if I smoke some dope beforehand.  My favorite pasttime is getting stoned late at night and practing on my keyboard with headphones (my apartment doesn't allow for the piano past 10:00 PM).  I don't think I could stay as focused and "into it" for as many hours as I do without being high.

Some will say "drugs" are a hinderance no matter what, but I disagree.  It's not like I'm shooting heroin and staring at my shoe for eight hours.  Being stoned while practicing really does help me learn faster and memorize easier, and I guess it's because I'm so much more into it when my mind is a little, uh, altered.  Same goes for listening to music.  I don't know, everybody's different.  However, when it comes time to perform, it's straight as an arrow for me.

I like to melt my brain too. Man, who needs quick response times? who needs 'em! Well, any way, carl sagan wrote an extensive essay on Cannabis smoking which is a must read: https://www.marijuana-uses.com/essays/002.html

[lisztisforkids]

So much for scambling the brain. Anyone else any experiences with dope?

Tryer

I never did like Dope very much, because it made me extrermely uneasy, agitated and sometimes downright scared. But since most of my friends throughout school were pot heads I was inclined to smoke it every once in awhile. I never could function one Dope, but with Alchohol (as long as I dident slam a 5th of Whiskey), I could actually function throughout the day. But neither Dope nor Alchohol helps me when I practice. Sometimes for fun, I will get really drunk a try to sight read something really hard.

I think its kind of strange in our culture that Dope is outlawed but Alchohol is so widely accepted.. As Alchohol is a far more dangerous substance.

[lostinidlewonder]

Smoking Dope will make you play without full consideration of the notes. You consider the sound more closely than the physical playing. When you stop smoking your mind starts considering the individual notes with more frequency and you will start making errors because you are not use to considering individual notes. That is my own experience of smoking for 7 years straight and then stopping. Now I don't touch the stuff because listening to recordings of my playing under the influence I may think it is good but when I compare to when I am straight minded it sounds a lot better. It destroys your potential from my own experience.

[ted]

Much is said about how harmless, even beneficial, smoking cannabis is. I have never tried it and, at fifty-eight, I dare say I shall probably never bother. Many of my friends, of course, smoked it and some probably still do. The worrying fact for me is that the more cannabis somebody of my age has smoked over the years, the worse his memory appears to be. I am sure this cannot be coincidence. One good friend, a very heavy smoker, cannot remember a single name from school photos and has absolutely no idea of events and facts when we were children. He himself attributes this inability, along with certain other problems, to his earlier heavy use of cannabis.

As I say, I have no real evidence and my observation is somewhat subjective, but it seems a bit peculiar that all the cannabis smokers I know seem to be losing their long-term memories as they approach sixty.

 

[zheer]

Try Amsterdam, its cannabis paradise, and if you like women well.............

[rc]

Like Lisztisforkids, I never handled weed very well but had a lot of friends who enjoyed the hell outta the stuff. In all my isolated sessions, I'm convinced that pot does make me dim. For a few days after smoking I feel slower and foggier, it's frustrating as hell.

I remember playing in a band, and when the drummer would get stoned he would come up with some very interesting beats, it was fun to listen to... But he was in his own zone, the timing was all over the place and it was impossible to jam along with.

Watching my friends who've become chronic smokers, although dope isn't so dangerous in the sense that you'll drive into a pole, it often will kill a persons motivation which to me seems like a sort of suspended animation. I have known a few who are able to function normally stoned, but I know more who seem to have never grown up because they just get stoned everyday and never do anything.

It is strange that alcohol is allowed (glorified even) when weed isn't, I wonder why?

I'm becoming more and more convinced of a healthy lifestyle, no crutches... Even though I still find myself swearing off alcohol every other weekend

[contrapunctus]

Alcohol is legal and Cannabis is not because Alcohol does not harm the brain nearly as much as Marijuana. The brain produces a substance called dopamine naturally. It is the main pleasure causing chemical in the body. Cannabis temporarily increases dopamine production while you are high, but when you leave high, the brain produces less dopamine than usual. This leads to a point where your brain cannot produce dopamine unless you are high. So you basically turn into a zombie. Alcohol is not that severe.
Not to mention the innumerable other things marijauna does to your brain--it literally eats it away like an acid. Alcohol severly affects the liver though.

[lisztisforkids]

Contrapunctus,

You are an ignorant fool that is spewing out decayed garbage. You have no idea what you are talking about. Sorry to be rude...

Alcohol is legal and Cannabis is not because Alcohol does not harm the brain nearly as much as Marijuana.

Alchohol is legal because it is socially acceptable in society, where as Cannabis is a relatively new thing. Alchohol is much more damaging to the brain and the rest of the body than Marijuana.
Marijuana cant kill you from overindulgence, while over 1,000 college students die in America each year from over drinkning. Marijuana does not have any real negative effect on the rest of the body, where as Alchohol can kill you in a few years from liver failure.

. The brain produces a substance called dopamine naturally. It is the main pleasure causing chemical in the body. Cannabis temporarily increases dopamine production while you are high, but when you leave high, the brain produces less dopamine than usual. This leads to a point where your brain cannot produce dopamine unless you are high. So you basically turn into a zombie. Alcohol is not that severe.

What?   You cant get phsyically addicted to Marijuana. But you can get addicted to Alchohol.And yes, IT IS THAT BAD. Have you ever known an Alchoholic? Do you know what AAA is?
Have you ever been on drinking binge and you feel like you cant stop? Do you know how Alchohol tears apart familys? Have you ever been to the hospital and had to get your stomach pumped?
Have you ever seen a drunk homeless man?

About the Dopamine. Marijuana has nothing to do with Dopamine. You are refering to such drugs such as Crack, Meth, Cocaine and Heroin.. These are the addicitive srugs that you are refering to. Cannabis is nothing like these drugs. So dont compare Marijuana to them.

Not to mention the innumerable other things marijauna does to your brain--it literally eats it away like an acid.

Marijuana does not eat your brain away.  What made you think that? Marijuana is by far the safest drug out there.  Anybody with any expierence in the real world will tell you this.
Booze on the other hand is extremely dangerous if abused. Let me tell you from expierence...

[leahcim]

Marijuana is by far the safest drug out there.  Anybody with any expierence in the real world will tell you this.

The fact it is illegal is, without doubt, something that currently makes it unsafe in variety of "real world" ways. Completely irrespective of whatever its short or long-term effects on the human body are.

Irrespective of whether something should be or shouldn't be illegal, once it is, ignoring that and the potential consequences isn't wise.

I think most of the negative effects of drugs relate directly or indirectly to their legal status. Alcohol has been illegal in places in the past and I think the effects weren't disimilar.

We seem to live in societies that want to ban and control things all the time, even those that are pro- things need it to be harmless [perhaps partly because of that]

It's illegality and the potential consequences make it unsafe enough for me today. YMMV, but I wouldn't ignore it even if you don't agree with it.

I think if you choose to use it then you need to take a leaf [excuse the pun] out of the cigarette smoker's book and see that kidding yourself in the face of evidence to the contrary is just that, kidding yourself.

Of course, you need "evidence" - the place to get that probably isn't the pro- or anti- camps which are largely media and political points of view. Each will, if it uses studies, take the studies and media stories that fit their pov.

There are studies that link affected dopamine production with dope and there are those that don't. Take your pick

I doubt it will ever be legal. It's not technically legal in Amsterdam. In light of the law suits and whatnot against tobacco companies and the current shift from the battle against cigarette smoking [largely won, cannabis is dead from a "stick it in cigarettes" pov] towards alcohol [which you are fueling here] and fast food [which others have fueled with everything from meat to sugar becoming "poison" these days] I can't imagine who would want to sell the product anyway.

["you" doesn't refer [another bad pun] to anyone in particular]

[contrapunctus]

Contrapunctus,

You are an ignorant fool that is spewing out decayed garbage. You have no idea what you are talking about. Sorry to be rude...

Alchohol is legal because it is socially acceptable in society, where as Cannabis is a relatively new thing. Alchohol is much more damaging to the brain and the rest of the body than Marijuana.
Marijuana cant kill you from overindulgence, while over 1,000 college students die in America each year from over drinkning. Marijuana does not have any real negative effect on the rest of the body, where as Alchohol can kill you in a few years from liver failure.

What?   You cant get phsyically addicted to Marijuana. But you can get addicted to Alchohol.And yes, IT IS THAT BAD. Have you ever known an Alchoholic? Do you know what AAA is?
Have you ever been on drinking binge and you feel like you cant stop? Do you know how Alchohol tears apart familys? Have you ever been to the hospital and had to get your stomach pumped?
Have you ever seen a drunk homeless man?

About the Dopamine. Marijuana has nothing to do with Dopamine. You are refering to such drugs such as Crack, Meth, Cocaine and Heroin.. These are the addicitive srugs that you are refering to. Cannabis is nothing like these drugs. So dont compare Marijuana to them.

Marijuana does not eat your brain away.  What made you think that? Marijuana is by far the safest drug out there.  Anybody with any expierence in the real world will tell you this.
Booze on the other hand is extremely dangerous if abused. Let me tell you from expierence...

Actually, you need to go back to school, or read a book or something. Cannabis does everything I described and much more. Just because you are pot-head doesn't mean you can put down anti-cannabis people. We are just trying to help you not fry your brain. Marijauna is very addictive,
I don't know where you came up with the idea it is not. Both alcohol and cannabis are very dangerous drugs, but you will fry your brain with cannabis much worse than with alcohol.

[lisztisforkids]

Actually, you need to go back to school, or read a book or something. Cannabis does everything I described and much more. Just because you are pot-head doesn't mean you can put down anti-cannabis people. We are just trying to help you not fry your brain. Marijauna is very addictive,
I don't know where you came up with the idea it is not. Both alcohol and cannabis are very dangerous drugs, but you will fry your brain with cannabis much worse than with alcohol.

First off, I am not a pot head. I dont even smoke pot. Marijuana is not addictive. It can be Psychologicaly addictive. You are thinking about Crack/Heroin/Cocaine. Those drugs are the addictve and VERY ,VERY, DANGEROUS. The harmful affects of Alchohol abuse far, far out wiegh Marijuana. Again, I think you have misunderstood Cannabis, for other drugs. I am not saying Cannabis is a good thing. Its just not the terrible drug that some people make it out to be.

[maul]

lisztisforkids is right. Marijuana doesn't do that to your brain. Meth on the other hand, does. It's not physically addictive either. Get your facts straight.

[countchocula]

I smoke dope on a regular basis and have done for years. I have taught myself piano  for the last two years but still can't read music (as can't Jamie Cullum who I heard on the radio today) but still cheating I suppose.  The dope doesn't seem to impede my playing and memory such as it is, and I sometimes think it helps.  So much for scambling the brain. Anyone else any experiences with dope?

Tryer

Dude - how do you know it hasn't impeded your memory or playing?  Maybe your progress would have been even greater had you not been getting stoned now and then.  I'm pretty sure that it doesn't do anything good for your playing, if you are a serious pianist.  Playing Beethoven while you are drunk or high is not a pretty scene, you are way better off staying focused and sharp.  I'm quite sure of that.  But if you are in a rock band, then it probably helps your social image - but even there it doesn't really help your creativity - that's just an illusion.  Quit before the longer term effects start to kick in.  If anyone tells you that there are no negative longer term effects, and they start quoting some bogus stats etc., they are just justifying their own habit, believe me.  Hang out with people that have been smoking and using for 10 or more years, and then try to tell me that there are no longer term effects - you'll know immediately what I mean...
Good Luck!

[maul]

countchocula:

How do you know it doesn't help creativity? You sound like a person who has never tried it. Then again maybe you have, and maybe it hasn't helped yours. It's different for everyone. Who are you to judge everyone based on your own personal experience or on a couple of your idiot friends? Those guys were most likely either: stupid to begin with, did it in excess (which has only ever been "theorized" to cause alterations in short-term memory) or most likely never did anything productive while on it. For me, it does spur more creativity. I get loads of crisp musical ideas and my imagination explodes. I'm a college graduate in Digital Media and it has only helped me when I've done it. Then again, I don't do it in excess. Most things are bad in excess. I've discovered many things about piano and life in general while high. Not stupid ideas, but valid things that aid me. My memory is also as sharp as it has ever been. How do I know? I'm very observant about my life and my thoughts. I don't wonder around in a stuper. So basically quit clumping me and others into your "pot makes you stupid and rots your brain" category. Thanks.

[BoliverAllmon]

does dope cause brain damage?

click to read.
https://www.marijuanaaddiction.info/brain-damage-marijuana.htm

harmful effects of dope

https://www.marijuanaaddiction.info/harmful-effects-of-marijuana.htm

is it addictive? kristi alley says yes (from experience)

https://www.marijuanaaddiction.info/index.htm

so how about bickering like school girls and post reports.

[rc]

I was wondering when someone would come in with some outside info, thanks Boliver.

so how about bickering like school girls and post reports.

hahaha! The bickering is hilarious, I love how when people get upset it's always for no reason at all .

[BoliverAllmon]

that reminds me of when I first posted at Chopinfiles. My first post stated that Beethoven was overrated. It went something like this.

"Man, Beethoven is overrated. His music is nothing. I have only been playing for a couple of months and can already play the first 5 minutes of his first concerto. I sight-read through that punk and have it memorized. BAH on Beethoven."

needless to say people were pissed. I got some really nasty letters. The entire time I laughed my head off. The first five minutes are friggin rests you idiot. BWAHHAHAHAHAHAHA

[maul]

Wow Boliver, congrats for finding the most biased website out there. The fact that it is called marijuana addiction proves that it's total crap. Why? Marijuana isn't physically addictive. Heroine is something that is physically addictive. Anything can be "mentally" addictive (ie watching T.V.). You have to have a strong mind/will power and Kristi Alley obviously doesn't (like I would care about her opinion on anything). It's different for everyone. Did you even read the whole article on brain damage?

"a recent meta-analysis of neuropsychological studies of long-term marijuana users found no significant evidence for deficits in seven of eight ... ability areas and only a small effect size for the remaining area of learning."

Basically they are taking a small amount of data and blowing it up into what they want. The article even ends in saying that they still don't know if it causes damage... and look right below it, another article which says it causes no brain damage (where they actually did extensive animal experiments not just a bunch of useless word games). Nice proof you have there. Good luck trying to find it on another biased website, because it doesn't exist (with cited evidence). We are also talking about people who have been doing it daily for 24 years. As I said, most things are bad in excess and these people probably have very unproductive lives. I'm not going to go search for a bunch of reports, I already have and I'm not going to waste my time doing it again. You can do the research yourself. Find some unbiased websites. Even if something does exist that "proves" it causes "damage", it's most likely because of the reasons I've stated before...

[cfortunato]

My experience is that any good effect ceases with age, and when you get older, it just makes you tired and lethargic, and tends to make the world more boring instead of more interesting.

When I was younger, I found it was good for improvisational music or jamming, and bad for sight-reading or fully arranged playing.   Good if you can let your imagination run riot; bad if you actually have to concentrate on something technical.

But one thing that makes marijuana fairly unusual for a recreational drug is that different people have VERY different reactions to it.

[nanabush]

Don't do it.... not worth it... i did a few times, regret it fully...



(ps, it doesn't help with piano, ur not fully aware)

[BoliverAllmon]

Wow Boliver, congrats for finding the most biased website out there. The fact that it is called marijuana addiction proves that it's total crap. Why? Marijuana isn't physically addictive. Heroine is something that is physically addictive. Anything can be "mentally" addictive (ie watching T.V.). You have to have a strong mind/will power and Kristi Alley obviously doesn't (like I would care about her opinion on anything). It's different for everyone. Did you even read the whole article on brain damage?

"a recent meta-analysis of neuropsychological studies of long-term marijuana users found no significant evidence for deficits in seven of eight ... ability areas and only a small effect size for the remaining area of learning."

Basically they are taking a small amount of data and blowing it up into what they want. The article even ends in saying that they still don't know if it causes damage... and look right below it, another article which says it causes no brain damage (where they actually did extensive animal experiments not just a bunch of useless word games). Nice proof you have there. Good luck trying to find it on another biased website, because it doesn't exist (with cited evidence). We are also talking about people who have been doing it daily for 24 years. As I said, most things are bad in excess and these people probably have very unproductive lives. I'm not going to go search for a bunch of reports, I already have and I'm not going to waste my time doing it again. You can do the research yourself. Find some unbiased websites. Even if something does exist that "proves" it causes "damage", it's most likely because of the reasons I've stated before...

I am not really getting into this thing. I choose not to use dope. I am not going to force anyone to do the same. It is your choice. I just got tired of the whining and googled for brain damage and addiction. I posted the first site I got to. Of course I didnt read the thing. I don't care what it says. it doesn't apply to me.

[leahcim]

I am not really getting into this thing. I choose not to use dope. I am not going to force anyone to do the same. It is your choice. I just got tired of the whining and googled for brain damage and addiction. I posted the first site I got to. Of course I didnt read the thing. I don't care what it says. it doesn't apply to me.

Good point, but this is now a website that talks about it, that will appear in google anon. It's not the actual research itself.

I think the most obvious thing the name Kirsty Alley triggers is scientology.

<clickety-click> Oh, quelle surprise where those sites come from....

[Floristan]

My experience is that any good effect ceases with age, and when you get older, it just makes you tired and lethargic, and tends to make the world more boring instead of more interesting.

My experience, too.  But I sure enjoyed the hell out of it when I was 20 or so.    Alcohol is a much more damaging drug.  I've seen pot ruin people... turn them into disengaged, uninteresting, unmotivated do-nothings.  There are few things sadder than an old pothead.  But I've seen alcohol ruin a lot more people and ruin them more completely. 

[cziffra]

I went on a month long binge where i probably went through a quarter or more a week, and then, at the urging of my friends, I took 2 weeks off.  I felt absolutely no need to smoke, and during day 2 of the experiment, I was back to "my old self", sharp, quick, etc.  Essentially reborn.  However, my life at the moment requires no responsibilities or energy, so I am able to be stoned from 10 in the morning till 11 at night, and not have it effect me negatively.  and there iss nothing better than smoking a bowl in your bed right before you sleep.

[teresa_b]

Hey guys,

I'm 51 years old, and smoking marijuana was popular in my college days.  I am an M.D., and I will give you my opinion:

Occasional marijuana use probably will not cause permanent damage--however--Tryer, I suggest you "try" taping yourself when you are playing stoned.  Just because your brain is perceiving the music as better, what makes you think it's really coming out that way? 

If you are playing easy stuff, it may not make much difference, but I can't imagine successfully playing something like Bach with anything less than total alertness and motor control.  You are fooling yourself if you think otherwise.

Teresa