"Harvard and Heroin"

[Rule]

Hmm.. I think the pre-heroin consequences were fairly important: 1) he was very unhappy, 2) his family felt betrayed, and 3) he lost his ambition.  I think it's impossible to feel addicted, like he was, and be happy -- and happiness is really all that matters, isn't it?  (And he retrospectively describes himself as quite depressed).  Besides, if he was checking himself into a rehab/detox program at the hospital, then he was not in good shape. Also, the family stuff, like you said, is important.  And then his ambition.  He didn't seem to really care how he did once he reached college, and his interest in writing seemed to fade; pot and alcohol seemed to become the focus of his life.  That's an important consequence, regardless of whether he got some good marks.

It's hard to say whether he looks on his previous drug use in a darker light, now that he has recovered.  He obviously thought there was a problem, to check himself into rehab.  In any case, denying there is a problem does not necessarily mean there isn't one.

[truste1]

Haven't read the article yet, but saw this quote in Rule's post and wanted to comment. Also, did anybody read his mother's article (listed on the left side)?

In November of sophomore year, something snapped.I would smoke pot, and five minutes later need to smoke again.I would drink, but as Tennessee Williams so accurately described it in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," I never got the click. So, at 19, I checked into an inpatient drug detox and rehab program at McLean's Hospital in Belmont.

This part kind of surprises me and makes me question how much he's exaggerating his marijuana addiction. I can understand wanting to smoke another bowl to get higher or something, but it seems like he went way beyond this..."something snapped"; "need". It just seams fishy, because once you're high enough you typically just enjoy the high, get lost in conversation or whatever it is that you're doing. And the high lasts a significant amount of time, or at least much longer than 5 minutes. It's not like crack where the peak and comedown is shortly after intake.

[MyndFyre]

This part kind of surprises me and makes me question how much he's exaggerating his marijuana addiction. I can understand wanting to smoke another bowl to get higher or something, but it seems like he went way beyond this..."something snapped"; "need". It just seams fishy, because once you're high enough you typically just enjoy the high, get lost in conversation or whatever it is that you're doing. And the high lasts a significant amount of time, or at least much longer than 5 minutes. It's not like crack where the peak and comedown is shortly after intake.

Yeah, it's absolutely inconceivable that it might affect someone else differently.  What a douche that guy is for lying.

[truste1]

This part kind of surprises me and makes me question how much he's exaggerating his marijuana addiction. I can understand wanting to smoke another bowl to get higher or something, but it seems like he went way beyond this..."something snapped"; "need". It just seams fishy, because once you're high enough you typically just enjoy the high, get lost in conversation or whatever it is that you're doing. And the high lasts a significant amount of time, or at least much longer than 5 minutes. It's not like crack where the peak and comedown is shortly after intake.

Yeah, it's absolutely inconceivable that it might affect someone else differently.  What a douche that guy is for lying.

I didn't say he was lying I said he was exaggerating. Weed's just not that type of drug.

[Rule]

At that point, he'd smoked it about 5 times a day for 7 years.  Maybe he wasn't getting high anymore, or he was intensely craving the sensation he used to get while smoking pot?  I've heard of this happening.  It's hard to question his description, without having as much as experience with the drug as he has.  (Unless you have smoked that much?)

He also describes a similar thing happening simultaneously with alcohol.  So his feeling that he wasn't getting the 'fix' he wanted, could be mostly psychological.  e.g. building false expectations of relief, and then being disappointed.

[iago]

I suspect it's just about tolerance -- you eventually build a tolerance to most (all?) drugs (including legal ones), and you need more to get over that tolerance.

[Armin]

Tolerance generally describes the condition of requiring larger doses of a drug to attain consistent effects. While tolerance to marijuana has never exactly fit the classic definition, some form of tolerance to pot does develop.

Source and more info: http://www.marijuanalibrary.org/brain2.html

[truste1]

At that point, he'd smoked it about 5 times a day for 7 years.  Maybe he wasn't getting high anymore, or he was intensely craving the sensation he used to get while smoking pot?  I've heard of this happening.  It's hard to question his description, without having as much as experience with the drug as he has.  (Unless you have smoked that much?)

He also describes a similar thing happening simultaneously with alcohol.  So his feeling that he wasn't getting the 'fix' he wanted, could be mostly psychological.  e.g. building false expectations of relief, and then being disappointed.

No, not for that length. He may have been 'chasing a high' but I can't believe that something in him "snapped" and he needed or craved more hits of weed. If you're smoking good weed, you're still going to get high off of the same amount.