Jim's New User Cannabis Primer

There's a growing trend in our country toward acceptance of cannabis as a natural substance to be utilized for its multitude of benefits, including as a form of intoxication, a human endeavor for eons.
It hasn't achieved the level of acceptance that it will, and more and more new users will continue to try it out. I'd like to provide the benefit of my experience using cannabis. Of course, everyone knows how to smoke. I'm only going to offer techniques that I've found work beautifully. I think one of the most important concerns for the first time user is to put yourself into an extremely comfortable environment before you light up. Some people feel a sense of paranoia, thinking "everyone knows I'm stoned.", and that's why you shouldn't light up the first time like it's a regular day, particularly if you suffer at all from anxiety. It won't be as comfortable if you're out in public. Another benefit of the growing acceptance is that the closer it gets to becoming legal and normal behavior, there will be less reason to feel such paranoia. As a legal user, I'm way over that, but it's part of the psychological scarring that occurred for all of us living through the drug war, not wanting to appear stoned due to the stigma attached by prohibition. I now consider it a healthy choice, not just because it's my antidepressant and anti-seizure medicine, but because I'm stimulating my endocannabinoid system with every toke.

The endocannabinoid system refers to a group of neuromodulatory lipids and their receptors that are involved in a variety of physiological processes including appetite, pain-sensation, mood, and memory. It is named for endocannabinoids, the endogenous lipids that bind cannabinoid receptors (the same receptors that mediate the psychoactive effects of cannabis).

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/endocannabinoid-system#ixzz18dhQtW8l

It's true, but somehow people still reject the idea that they might physically benefit from getting stoned. That's the power of what I believe to be the most successful propaganda campaign of all time. How about we change the reference terms? Getting stoned is what used to happen to the wretched members of society who angered the citizenry such that they were the target of the best pitchers of their time, throwing fastrocks at what, 70, 80 mph? It's not like that. Indicas are the cannabis for pain, and when you're under the influence of Indica, you can imagine you're a statue made of any substance, but stone certainly works. You find yourself in a comfortable position and you feel the effects wash through your blood stream and you don't move a muscle for several minutes at a time, just enjoying the experience. I can't tell you how many times I've just said, "WOW", to myself as I'm reminded that I'm so lucky to have this opportunity to enjoy this plant, and that so many people still don't, and even have a fear of it. Sativas on the other hand, are the more stimulating varieties, and produce the euphoria that many people experience. Sativas are my preferred variety, but I've got a mixed bag for a few reasons and am happy about it. I hadn't considered any reason to separate the two plants during harvest, so now every new bowl is an unknown outcome, except that I know that due to putting that THC into my system, I'm not going to be having any seizures for the foreseeable future, and I'm also going to feel much better, despite not ever feeling bad, which I'm certain is part of the long term benefit of the medicine. Each bowl is good for 2-4 tokes, depending on the density of the dead flowers. I'd never considered the Stones' song as a reference to cannabis until I'd become a gardener. Every morning I get the biggest toke I can hold, and attempt to swallow a bit into my stomach too. My full lungs help hold the smoke in my stomach, and I think the stomach smoke gives me a bit more of and a longer high. Instead of getting stoned on sativa, I'm getting euphored, certainly enhanced, and I just feel better. Get over your fears of intoxication, or of being stigmatized as a druggie. It's a plant that man has used for not just centuries, but thousands of years. Think about that. It's been part of the evolution of our species, until Hearst, Dupont, and Harry Anslinger convinced our government that it was evil and would doom society based on fear mongering, using the likes of "Reefer Madness" to brainwash society. It's been a black mark on human history, this prohibition.