Let me start off by stating that the point of this article is to encourage people to voice their experiences with cannabis; whether it’s positive or not, life-altering or frivolous – anything as long as it’s YOUR experience and it’s something you’re able to share devoid of finger-pointing , misplaced religious affirmations, governmental propaganda and the like. Furthermore, this is not a debate of whether it would be socially or economically responsible to legalise, regulate or even decriminalise this plant – that discussion has already been engaged with substantial congruence and the regurgitation of what we already know or should know as fact and truth is not the objective or intent of this article. This is purely aimed to give everyone for or against cannabis, an insight on a personal level of the “effects” of cannabis.
I’ll kick things off…
My first cannabis venture was at the age of 19 - double chocolate, chocolate brownies with an unknown strain (I was extremely clueless when it came to derivatives of cannabis, so I can’t really give you specifics of what I had that day). The brownie was delicious and the experience was far more than I ever expected it to be and far more impacting than I realised at the time… it was an amusing escapade to say the least, a paradigm shift from my standardised reality and the onset of unlocking an increasing explorative sense in my perceptions.
After that day cannabis was an on-off relationship – more off than on.
Four years later, I started smoking it regularly – basically every day. Since the age of 13 I've been going through serve depressive episodes, anxiety attacks, self-harming and an eating disorder. Nothing and no one could pull me from the gloomy hole I was slipping into. I was lost, depleted of hope and my thoughts flooded with suicidal fantasies. Basically, over 10 years I fluctuated between life and desolation, but 2 years ago this all changed dramatically with the help of cannabis. In no way am I proclaiming that it “cured” me in one shot; it’s been a long journey and with every joint, bong, vape and pipe it’s just gotten brighter and healthier. I’m a different person because of my green companion, in spite of a doctor’s assertion that I “stay away from dagga by all means” and that it “will only worsen” my psychological state. Bullshit – my life is a techno-coloured adventure in comparison to the morbidity I suffered through for so many years. I was 23 years old the last time I mutilated my body, 23 years old the last time I experienced an unbearable depressive episode, my acceptance of myself today far exceeds the perceptions I clung to just a few years ago – at 23 I found myself in a joint and never looked back since… but these are just the superficial effects that cannabis has had on me.
Besides being happier and having a greater sense of self-worth and understanding, the onset of my cannabis smoking has opened my mind to perceptions and revelations that were otherwise restricted and confined beneath multitudes of distorted “truths” and perspectives force-fed by the conventional expectancies and the self-serving agendas that steer societal manipulation.
It took months, if not a year before I understood or even realised how my cannabis use was changing me…But now, my eyes are open, my mind is free and I no longer live within the bounds of self-defeat or the reprimand of what society wants. Instead I’ve learned to focus on what’s natural and pure, and live my life in ways that are in accordance to that.
That’s a very brief overview of my experiences with cannabis; it’s not just about the “buzz” and the uncontainable hilarity of the most random things, or how unbelievable good the simplest sandwich tastes or the fact that I can play table tennis so much better when I’m stoned… It’s a plant that holds far more significance and power for the human soul and mind than comprehensible. A plant that’s undeniable even in the wake of the greatest adversity.
Now, it’s your turn…
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