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.)
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.)