I have to imagine there's a boom of people trying it for the first time when it becomes legal who then realize it's not as universally enjoyable of a high as alcohol.
It's weird how most of the discussion I hear about weed is how it just makes movies funny and you get hungry. But then most people I've talked to about it one-on-one don't have nearly as good of an experience, myself included. It makes me paranoid and depressed, and if I try watching a movie I can't remember what happened a scene ago so I can't follow the story. My passage of time gets screwed up, adding to the paranoia/fear, and I occasionally realize I'm clenching my jaw, and I've experienced jaw pain the next day from it. Not to mention how it saps all your energy/motivation. At least talking to your friend when you're drunk can lead to some funny conversations. Conversations/socialization between people who smoked weed is just nothing.
> I have to imagine there's a boom of people trying it for the first time when it becomes legal who then realize it's not as universally enjoyable of a high as alcohol.
I know a number of people in the same boat as you who don't enjoy it and that's perfectly normal. Biochemistry is super complex and even well tested and regulated prescription drugs hit people differently.
I also think we grossly overstate how "universal" the high from alcohol is and as a society often overlook or blame problem drinkers rather than the substance itself. Alcohol intoxication can have wildly different impacts based on lots of factors. If you go to a bar and someone spends the night crying after getting drunk, no one goes, "well, par for the course alcohol is a depressant after all". We just chalk it up to a bad night. Personally, my experiences with alcohol overall are as negative as yours with THC.
There's also a ton of variance in between type of plants, delivery methods, concentrations, etc when starting with THC. You might be grabbing something off the shelf that's the equivalent of drinking 2/3 a bottle of cheap tequila for your first experiment.
>"At least talking to your friend when you're drunk can lead to some funny conversations. Conversations/socialization between people who smoked weed is just nothing."
This is a very individual experience which I don't think can be applied to everyone. I've listened to some pretty funny and interesting weed fueled conversations. I would much rather be the sober guy with some stoners than the sober guy with a bunch of drunk people. Like with any drug tho, there's often a line between happy and functional and wrecked.
At the end of the day tho, we can all choose which substance we want to partake in based on what we individual want or need. The danger is in using ones individual experience as the measuring bar for everyone else.
Hello - I am sorry that you've had those unpleasant experiences. I, too, have experienced similar feelings. Through legalization (in my state) and experimentation, I determined the root cause (certain types of weed and percentage of THC) of my paranoia/bad feelings. Now, I know what will make me feel good and how to avoid the negative outcomes of weed consumption.
FWIW, high CBD, low THC if I am smoking flower and for edibles I know my limit is a measly 5mg, and I usually start at 2.5mg.
Yep, different drugs for different sorts (or at least different moods and different days).
If you are seeking some general advice:
From my experience context is important. Alcohol is more technically a depressant given what we know of how the chemical interacts with the brain and most people greatly underestimate its depressive qualities, in part because culturally we've built a lot of contexts in which it is safe (for mental health at least) to drink and easier to engage with the fun sides of alcohol and avoid many (but not all) of the triggers/traps that lead to bad (mental health) outcomes.
THC from all the years it has been illegal has nowhere near as much shared cultural context. A lot of "best practices" have been quiet word-of-mouth things rather than background "everyone knows" "common sense". Legalized states are just now starting to find the sorts of contexts that work best for people and how to spread those not just as covert word-of-mouth but as overtly well documented best practices and built-safe environments. (And yeah, there's clearly a lot of bad first impressions which would lead to a noticeable "boom" cycle.)
I've found (because I can be prone to the paranoia myself), some of counter-balancing the paranoia/fear is about support structures. Use a buddy system if you need it. (I think even plush animals sometimes count.) Stick to places that are "safe" or "home" with lots of layers of trust built up already in your sober life. (I've found it is best to avoid liminal spaces like airports or train stations.) One of my fears is apparently that my heart feels like it is racing because of that weird sense of time passage, and wearing a fitness watch helps. I can check the metrics and see things are just fine, very quickly. Eventually you may find you can trust just wearing the watch and don't need to check much/at all.
> if I try watching a movie I can't remember what happened a scene ago so I can't follow the story
There are some old stereotypes about the sort of media that stoners enjoy, and many of them exist for this reason. Following the story of a movie or TV can be tough indeed. Things that don't need that sort of focus to recent past events where you can focus on "the endless feeling present" can be a blast though because every next scene feels like a wild surprise: nature documentaries, kids shows, absurdist comedies, events with lots of "spectacle" (fireworks shows, awards shows, magic shows).
> Conversations/socialization between people who smoked weed is just nothing.
Some of my best conversations have been with stoned friends (while I was sober). There's a stereotype of "stoner wisdom" and it comes from an interesting place. Drunk is often associated with "dumb" and "makes stupid decisions" in the way it plays with the brain and stoned has a "wisdom" to it. It's not always "smart", but it often makes surprise leaps and leads to real, interesting advice. (Some of the best advice in my life has come from stoned friends.)
It's weird how most of the discussion I hear about weed is how it just makes movies funny and you get hungry. But then most people I've talked to about it one-on-one don't have nearly as good of an experience, myself included. It makes me paranoid and depressed, and if I try watching a movie I can't remember what happened a scene ago so I can't follow the story. My passage of time gets screwed up, adding to the paranoia/fear, and I occasionally realize I'm clenching my jaw, and I've experienced jaw pain the next day from it. Not to mention how it saps all your energy/motivation. At least talking to your friend when you're drunk can lead to some funny conversations. Conversations/socialization between people who smoked weed is just nothing.