DOSE:

repeated

Various

BODY WEIGHT:

120 lb

My experience with psychoactives has been largely typical. I began taking drugs during my junior year of high school (age 16) and since then I have used cannabis moderately (between 3-10 times a month) and used psychedelics very sparingly. I have tried salvia several times - mostly when I didn't have access to cannabis - and psilocibe mushrooms once. I have also used alcohol, nicotine, clonazapam, hydrocodone, oxycodone, and propoxyphene (darvocet) on various occasions, but never habitually.

I do not wish to report one particular experience, but rather a recurring set of symptoms that I have noted since my first experimentation with psychotropic chemicals. I have always been unusually susceptible to the effects of drugs and, similarly, prone to cognitive impairment for many days after the primary effects have ended. By my estimation, my experiences have been largely unique among my group of friends - many of whom are drug users.

The major drug - I consciously exclude caffeine - that I am most familiar with is cannabis. I have used it in two types of ways, first in a home-made vaporizer and then mostly through the familiar pipes and bongs et al. The vaporizer that I used was simply an elaborate version of a light-bulb crack or meth pipe. I found the effects of a very small amount of marijuana sufficient for at least an hour long buzz. By small, I mean about 1/4 cubic cm. It should be noted that in addition to the small amount of material that I was using, my vaporizer, which worked through basic conduction, was woefully inefficient when compared to combustive methods. Anyway, in the early stages of my drug use, I was very disturbed by the persistent 'mind-fog' that followed even such modest use. My verbal skills were, and are still, effected most severely. I am usually reasonably articulate, but one or two days after cannabis consumption I stutter frequently and my grammar and syntax are poor. I also have the tendency of using words that are closely related to, but not appropriate for, the purposes that I intend. I have trouble thinking with any abstraction or linearity, and, unsurprisingly, my memory is very bad.

After smoking cannabis, I am most heavily affected in the following day or two. This is a consequence of my smoking any non-trivial amount of marijuana. I usually take either one or two inhalations of high-grade bud, which typically sends me into a semi-hallucinogenic, trainspotteresque haze. The effects felt most strongly after use are the distinctive alterations in touch and vision, with, of course, cognitive impairment.

Following these effects, I am usually left with only the cognitive impairment for an additional 3-5 days, with the length of the impairment commensurate to the degree of intoxication that I experienced. This is perhaps the most bothersome aspect of my use. While I'm still completely functional, the activities that I enjoy most all require abstract thinking and are greatly impaired. I was never brazen enough to smoke in the days before a major exam at school, but I imagine that the impairment would cause a dip of about ten points in test scores.

While this 'fogginess' seems to be a common attribute of cannabis users, most users that I know either appear to experience a greatly attenuated version of my set or symptoms, or deny it entirely. Some even claim that marijuana use helps them think more clearly. Whether this is a testament to the manifold effects of cannabis or evidence of some sort of intellectual bravado, I do not know.

Cannabis is not the only substance that affects me in such a way. Both alcohol and nicotine cause similar cognitive impairments of similar duration, if completely different qualitatively, and in both cases the 'haze' following use seems to be proportional to the degree of intoxication. It may seem strange to say that I feel 'intoxicated' when using nicotine, but it seems that each time I use nicotine, it is like a first time. I experience nausea, heightened perception of color, dizziness, disorientation, and slight sedation. Following nicotine use, I have trouble thinking abstractly, and my ability to articulate myself is also impaired. The impairment following alcohol use is similar.

With regards to major hallucinogen use, salvia gives me visual aftereffects but not cognitive impairment and mushrooms give me both. With both substances, the aftereffects usually last weeks.

My use of prescription drugs is either incidental or medically advised, but I have experienced distinct fuzziness in the days following painkiller use - the effects of which, combined with residual wisdom-tooth pain, may have caused of a poor mark on a Calculus exam in high school.

None of these impairments have been permanent. In periods of abstinence, I fully regain my faculties - which, in and of itself, can be quite a trip - and I have maintained a very good GPA at a competitive university. These experiences have not been debilitating, but instead simply frustrating, and I hope that I'm not the only one with a fragile CNS.

Exp Year: 2008	ExpID: 80187
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 19
Published: May 4, 2020	Views: 589
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Cannabis (1) : Hangover / Days After (46), Retrospective / Summary (11), Not Applicable (38)