Irresponsible loose-leaf use and how to use it responsibly

In the age of increasing consumption, it’s easy to fall prey to wanting more from anything you use on a daily basis. Food, alcohol, relationships, and activities are easy to overdo and despite the famous adage “Weed isn’t addictive bro”, a significant chunk of people who smoke pot tend to get addicted, mostly psychologically. How? Due to its comparative non-addictive nature or the classic side effects that cigarettes and alcohol have (lack of physical withdrawals), it’s difficult to understand how exactly someone might become addicted to weed.

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However, addiction to loose-leaf isn’t the only parameter for irresponsible use. Driving under the influence is very common, under-reported, dangerous and is on the rise. Public smoking is another issue that’s not covered enough and edibles can very easily be misunderstood as regular food items and can pose a serious (and even fatal) risk for unsuspecting people and children. These are just some of the issues that surround the use of loose leaf in our day to day and this article will cover some other issues as well.

Loose Leaf addiction

Addiction to pot is a very real phenom that very few people talk about, most likely due to the misconception that it’s impossible to get addicted to it. And there’s a good reason it exists: it’s almost impossible to overdose on pot and some would argue that there are no symptoms of withdrawal. However, both these points can be contested: there have been several cases of psychosis, excessive vomiting and heart arrhythmias observed (at least partially) due to overuse of loose leaf.

With regards to symptoms of withdrawal, loss of appetite and irritability are some of the most common symptoms that have been widely observed, most likely because the perennial “high” feeling one feels when smoking up all the time disappears. While these aren’t nearly as dire as some of the symptoms and ill effects from other harder drugs, the psychological impact of psychosis and from overuse, in the long run, can prove to be negative.

Withdrawal symptoms include loss of appetite and moody behaviour, while an “overdose” can lead to heart arrhythmias and uncontrollable vomiting

Obviously, chomping down on how much loose leaf you use will help, but in cases where you feel like “I’m having a heart attack/I think I’m dying”, getting to the hospital is important. If you live in a place where cannabis is illegal and are hesitating from visiting one, know that most hospitals don’t get law enforcement involved in cases of substance abuse.

Aside from reducing pot use, it’s important to build a life outside of weed. Most people tend to build hobbies, passions and sometimes even careers out of loose-leaf, and while there’s nothing wrong with doing that, in cases where it has a negative impact on you, figuring yourself out without using pot is important. Therapy can be very useful as well and there are many psychologists and psychiatrists that deal with substance abuse and dependency.

The importance of labelling edibles

We’ve covered how beneficial edibles are and one of the main reasons why so many people use them is because of how discreet they are.

In office environments and even at home, this proves to be a boon but there’s another side to the same coin, where it’s discrete nature also proves to be disadvantageous because it’s nearly impossible to distinguish normal food items from edibles, especially for unsuspecting people who don’t use loose leaf but also for children who are nowhere nearly equipped to deal with a potent high that one gets from edibles.

Labelling your edibles helps unsuspecting people to refrain from accidentally having edibles and storing them away from children and pets is a bonus.

Another issue that can arise is animals having edibles, which is much harder to deal with because there’s a complete lack of communication. Dogs can be double victims with chocolate-based edibles, which can be fatal. Gummy-based edibles in Colorado can’t be in the shape of fruits because of how difficult it is to differentiate between the edible version and the normal version.

In such cases, buying airtight, childproof containers is very important. While storing edibles in a high (hehe) up cabinet can be a deterrent, it’s still advisable to use childproof containers.

Why not stone and drive?

Getting stoned and driving is a very common sight these days with the increasing legalisation of cannabis in states and relaxed attitude of law enforcement authorities in both legal and illegal states. Many people swear up and down that they can drive while high, but anything that impairs your judgment and perception is not something you should use to help you get from point A to B. Legal states have seen an increase in the number of cases of stoning and driving and it has also led to an increase in motor accidents on the road, which is never a good sign.

Most states use the same breathalyser used for alcohol, which has proved to be inconsistent. Many companies are developing breathalysers for THC, which means that the number of reported instances of DUIs for weed will probably increase further.

Booking an Uber/Lyft or having a designated driver isn’t very difficult. Make sure to not drive while high, as you endanger yourself, your passengers and other vehicles on the road.

Do you mix loose-leaf with other drugs?

While mixing a certain drug that has a Beatles song based on it and loose-leaf isn’t such a bad idea, mixing pot with something like alcohol, while fun on some occasions, can spell disaster when done wrong, and it goes wrong more than it goes right. Alcohol tends to affect how cannabis receptors (cannabinoids) in the hypothalamus absorb the compounds of loose-leaf, namely THC and CBD.

On the other hand, loose leaf tends to inhibit feelings of nauseousness, so when you’re crossed it’s difficult to assess just how drunk and high you are and whether you should stop. Which is why unless you have a bad hangover and lots of puking on your mind, try not to cross-fade even if it’s really tempting. Your liver, brain cells and body will thank you later.

Public intoxication from loose leaf

Again, similar to laws revolving around alcohol, in states where cannabis is legalized for private use, it’s (usually) explicitly stated that smoking loose leaf in public places is illegal, which means that places like streets, public parks, pathways, alleys etc are all areas where smoking/vaping loose leaf is illegal. It’s still unclear if forest areas, for example, are exempt from this rule and despite how calming and tempting it can be to smoke up in such a spot, abstaining from doing so would be a good idea. However, legal grey areas can be exploited for personal or communal benefit, if you catch the drift :)

Also, while most public parks in the city/state could see some leniency, federal parks, even if on state lines can see you being arrested for possession, given that weed is still illegal on a federal level.

Responsible smoking habits take a lot of discipline and to an extent, self-control to master. We live in an age where customers are constantly being pushed to buy more things and to develop feelings that are against establishments. With a younger adult demographic, there’s a want for being cool, because of which there’s a lot of peer pressure to do something reckless. All we want to say is that despite all of that, if you maintain responsible cannabis use, that’s a pat on the back you deserve.