"In many cases one drug leads to another, harder, one."
This is a common misconception about pot, that it somehow induces the user to want to get into harder stuff.
I think what it really is is the fact that pot is classified as "illegal"--so the idea is, once you tasted one "forbidden" fruit, you get more brave to try other "forbidden" things... but that's all just basic psychology, nothing to do with the properties of THC....
I would actually say that drinking underage, thus another "forbidden fruit" for a minor, very well also has this psychological effect--again not due to the alcohol itself, but due to the illegality for the minor.
When I started doing meth and/or coke (there was a period I got into both those things, not anymore), I hadn't smoked pot in YEARS. Never when I did pot did I necessarily "want" for anything else--although I DID drink quite a bit then too.... I've done shrooms and stuff like that now and then (and once the magic shrooms got me in the frame of mind to quit coke before I became permanently hooked--they can be a good spiritual tool), but discovered these LONG after I discovered pot.
So was pot ever a "gateway drug" for me? NOPE. I suspect that for others, it is primarily the "forbidden fruit" factor of ALL illegal drugs that provide an extra thrill at trying them, if they're young and rebellious like most teens.... They may simply start with pot because it is usually the easiest to come by--but I'll bet nowadays in some areas kids start with crack instead of pot.
"The short term effects of marijuana use include problems with memory and learning;"
Actually that depends on the setting, and your focus. I can be stoned and get totally absorbed in some fascinating documentary on TV, or (more commonly) in a discussion with somebody. If I CHOOSE to focus on it (I find great interest in it or something), I can actually get all I can out of it that I would normally, PLUS a whole bunch of new ideas out of it. Pot, as many people know, can inspire great creativity.
Now if you do NOT choose to focus on something, or you're just not very interested in something, it DOES become harder to pay attention. This is why I NEVER come to work stoned.
"distorted perception;"
Mainly of time. (My depth perception doesn't suffer like it does with alcohol.) Time seems to slow WAY down--not physically (you certainly don't hear lower, prolonged sounds than normal or anything like that), but mentally--and you can actually take advantage of that. The effect is basically that MANY things can be processing through your mind, and you're conscious dialog is going through all of these and linking them in complex ways, and you realize that only 30 seconds or so went by (I find this happens when I focus away from the TV during commercials--a standard TV commercial is usually 30 seconds, and in that time of ONE commercial, I expect the program I was watching to be back on because I just did 3 minutes worth of thinking--3 minutes is the standard length for a block of commercials). Anyway, there are uses for this ability, whether it be for a quick wit in an argument, composing a poem or other creative work, or even working on a difficult problem you've chosen to focus on.
"difficulty in thinking and problem-solving;"
Read above. The key phrase is "chosen to focus on". If you CHOOSE to devote all your high-speed mental energy (characteristic of a pot high) to a particular task or problem, you can get it done, in many cases even quicker--particularly if intuitive ability can help in that particular problem....
But if you don't "focus", like when you're at a party and you're just having fun--"laughing stoned" I call that--then all that high-speed mental energy just bounces about chaotically (or in interesting unanticipated patterns), to your amusement. If someone came along and tried to give you a lecture at that point, unless you became instantly interested in the topic to bring it into focus, you probably wouldn't get much out of it because you're not interested in it, you just wanna have fun....
"loss of coordination;"
I've never observed that happening with ANYONE (myself, or others I observed, whether I was stoned or not). I could play pinball machines and pickup football stoned or not. I have no trouble walking like I do when I'm drunk. And I have a keener sense of rhythm actually--good for dancing and, well, YOU know....
"and increased heart rate, anxiety, and panic attacks."
I have noticed my heart beats quicker when I smoke weed, but have never heard of anyone's heart blowing out on them like it can with cocaine. Anyway, cigarettes (I used to smoke them) do the same thing as far as heart rate, but for more sustained periods because you're smoking them more frequently....
As for "pot makes you paranoid," it does do that for some people, but it doesn't for me. I think it has to do with the user's basic outlook on life--if he is pessimistic or generally afraid of people (or hateful), those (sometimes hidden) emotions could be augmented by the accelerated mental energy of a pot high.
It's like acid or shrooms--the frame of mind you enter that state with will determine how your trip will go, and whether it will be good or bad.... With pot, it will determine where you will tend to focus your thoughts....
So think GOOD thoughts!
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