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Cannabis Information | What Is A Whitey | Effects Of Weed | The Mix

BillieTheBotBillieTheBot Posts: 8,721 Bot
edited October 2021 in Articles
imageCannabis Information | What Is A Whitey | Effects Of Weed | The Mix

The Mix discusses everything you need to know about Cannabis. We examine the effects of weed & getting high, what weed feels like and ask what is a whitey?

Read the full story here

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Comments

  • mateynftmateynft Posts: 1 Just got here
    This take on marijuana is refreshing to hear, especially in a country where it is illegal, but, I didn’t see anything about the fact that street weed and medicinal weed are two very different things. I smoke it from time to time but even I think this article is too lax in areas. Starting off the article promoting the health benefits is what a lot of people want to hear but I would maybe slide in a little information about how a lot of studies on weed are conducted with lab grown weed as opposed to street brought marijuana which was probably grown in the home of some sketchy stranger. I’ve had a friend who was 15 years old that passed out walking home (hitting his face on the curb and was hospitalised) because his weed was laced with heroin. Street weed could be tampered in a variety of ways to make it more addictive, to make it heavier (to turn more of a profit) or even to make the high stronger. I’m pro-legalisation but being 100% pro-weed can be dangerous, in summary, always buy it from a trusted source.
  • JustVJustV Community Manager Posts: 5,288 Part of The Furniture
    Thanks for your insights on the subject @mateynft.

    We'll pass your feedback about the article on to our editorial team. :)
    All behaviour is a need trying to be met.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    edited October 2021
    mateynft wrote: »
    I’ve had a friend who was 15 years old that passed out walking home (hitting his face on the curb and was hospitalised) because his weed was laced with heroin.

    No you haven't. Nobody laces weed with heroin. Just like nobody laces ecsatasy pills with heroin. It makes no sense.

    It's quite possible that weed may be adultarated with a substance to make it heavier and therefore more profitable - this is most often done with water. I have seen credible evidence of weed being contaminated with sand, but nobody is going to put heroin or crack in it, and I've seen no evidence of it actually happening.

    Most home grown weed is no different than that grown in the lab - in fact it is likely to be less potent.

    mod note: formatting fix
    Post edited by JustV on
    Weekender Offender 
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    With regards to the article, I think some content is missing with regards to the fact. Anna is use can induce anxiety.
    Weekender Offender 
  • JustVJustV Community Manager Posts: 5,288 Part of The Furniture
    Skive wrote: »
    With regards to the article, I think some content is missing with regards to the fact. Anna is use can induce anxiety.
    Thanks for this @Skive. :) Will pass this on.
    All behaviour is a need trying to be met.
  • JustVJustV Community Manager Posts: 5,288 Part of The Furniture
    @Skive & @mateynft just letting you know we considered your feedback, reviewed the existing content in the article, and consulted with some experts to update it. Here are the changes (new info in green).

    Medicinal vs recreational marijuana:
    A couple of disclaimers

    It’s important to note that cannabis isn’t just for stoners – it can truly help people. Weed is often used for people with long-term conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis and chronic pain as it can help ease pain and relax the muscles. As a result, it can greatly improve their quality of life. This is why weed users and some others argue for the legalisation of weed. A lot of healthy people don’t even use the actual stuff, just products infused with cannabidoil (CBD) which is a compound found in cannabis.

    There’s also a distinct difference between this type of weed (known as medicinal weed) and the stuff you get on the streets. Since you have to have a prescription to get ahold of medical marijuana, it’s a lot more reliable than the weed you buy for a rave. The latter can be laced with all types of nasties, especially considering you don’t know exactly what the dealers done to grow it; We’d wager a guess that medicinal weed is just a tad more regulated in its growing conditions. Just something to keep in mind when you picture someone taking medicinal weed.

    Potential long-term side-effects (e.g. anxiety):
    Long-term effects of weed:
    • Smoking weed can lead to respiratory problems and, if you mix it with tobacco, can lead to cancer
    • There are links between smoking cannabis and low sperm counts in men, and sometimes lower fertility in women
    • Heavy smoking damages the immune system
    • Using it a lot can affect your concentration
    • It can make asthma worse
    • It can cause some long-term mental health issues, including anxiety and psychotic symptoms
    All behaviour is a need trying to be met.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    Hi Mike. There’s no evidence that ‘laced weed’ is a problem. It’s a myth.
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  • AislingDMAislingDM Moderator Posts: 1,666 Extreme Poster
    It's really interesting to see everyone's different takes on this, and I think it's wonderful that we're all learning from each other. It's so hard to know what is 100% fact or fiction when it comes to drugs, especially given their illegal status, which makes a lot of peoples' lives harder. Hopefully, we can continue to learn and share information and aim for easier and safer experiences with drugs =)
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  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    edited October 2021
    "There’s also a distinct difference between this type of weed (known as medicinal weed) and the stuff you get on the streets."

    There's no real difference between weed grown in a lab and weed gown in a bedroom or weed grown in the garden.

    While a more controlled environment might produce more potent weed it's not necessarily the case. And there are thousands of different strains with differenet levels of THC and cannaboids, but to suggest there is a distinct difference between 'medical weed' and blackmarket weed is simply not correct.

    All weed purhcased in the UK is illegal and sold via the blackmarket. Whilst some growers/sellers may attempt to increase the yield weight with water there's little evidence of a problem with them adding anything else.

    And it's an absolute myth to suggest that dealers lace weed with other more expensive drugs. The suggestion above that weed is laced with heroin is quite absurd. Apart from the fact there is absolutely no evidence of this ever happening, why would a dealer lace a cheaper drugs with a more expensive one, when it would be more profitable selling them seperately.

    These are myths that have been ciculating for years. Doesn't happen.
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  • JustVJustV Community Manager Posts: 5,288 Part of The Furniture
    Skive wrote: »
    "There’s also a distinct difference between this type of weed (known as medicinal weed) and the stuff you get on the streets."

    There's no real difference between weed grown in a lab and weed gown in a bedroom or weed grown in the garden.

    While a more controlled environment might produce more potent weed it's not necessarily the case. And there are thousands of different strains with differenet levels of THC and cannaboids, but to suggest there is a distinct difference between 'medical weed' and blackmarket weed is simply not correct.

    All weed purhcased in the UK is illegal and sold via the blackmarket. Whilst some growers/sellers may attempt to increase the yield weight with water there's little evidence of a problem with them adding anything else.

    And it's an absolute myth to suggest that dealers lace weed with other more expensive drugs. The suggestion above that weed is laced with heroin is quite absurd. Apart from the fact there is absolutely no evidence of this ever happening, why would a dealer lace a cheaper drugs with a more expensive one, when it would be more profitable selling them seperately.

    These are myths that have been ciculating for years. Doesn't happen.
    Appreciate you taking the time to write this @Skive. :) I'll pass it on in the usual way and check back here with any resultant changes. The Mix is always happy to get more input with these things.

    I guess just a general disclaimer that the information we publish is always either informed by The Mix's own research or produced in collaboration with a qualified or experienced third party. So we'll bring this feedback and our existing article to our collaborators to make sure it's accurate.
    All behaviour is a need trying to be met.
  • JustVJustV Community Manager Posts: 5,288 Part of The Furniture
    edited November 2021
    Me again with a final update on this. :)

    We consulted with some experts from a leading substance support service to make sure this information is accurate, and they gave us some additional context on the issue of drugs being cut with other drugs. We've added a new bit to the article which talks about that:
    Why are drugs laced with other substances?
    It’s quite a common practice for people selling drugs to lace them with other substances. This is because it helps them to save some of their drugs to make them last longer or go further, which means they can sell more and also create different ‘highs’. Stronger or different highs will then also encourage the user to go back for more. Anyone selling substances could potentially do this, so if you are prescribed weed then it’s almost definitely safer than the weed you might buy from a drug dealer.
    All behaviour is a need trying to be met.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    edited November 2021
    Mike wrote: »
    Me again with a final update on this. :)

    We consulted with some experts from a leading substance support service to make sure this information is accurate, and they gave us some additional context on the issue of drugs being cut with other drugs. We've added a new bit to the article which talks about that:
    Why are drugs laced with other substances?
    It’s quite a common practice for people selling drugs to lace them with other substances. This is because it helps them to save some of their drugs to make them last longer or go further, which means they can sell more and also create different ‘highs’. Stronger or different highs will then also encourage the user to go back for more. Anyone selling substances could potentially do this, so if you are prescribed weed then it’s almost definitely safer than the weed you might buy from a drug dealer.


    I appreciate the reply Mike but I don’t think that offers any clarification.

    It’s important not to treat all drugs as one.

    Drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy are often cut with other adulterants to make them go further, sometimes these adulterants are simply food ingredients, and other times they’re cut with other cheaper more available medication such as ephedrine or caffeine or other cheaper more available Illicit drugs.
    The freebase for of cocaine (crack) is far purer and rarely cut with anything.

    But although these types of drugs ARE commonly cut, myths around them still exist.
    A popular myth years ago was that ‘speckled’ ecstasy pills contained heroin to get people ‘hooked’. This has always been and still is complete rubbish. First because the amount of heroin you can fit in a pill simply doesn’t do anything if taken orally. Secondly, the price of heroin is about 50% more by weight than that of ecstasy. It makes no financial sense to cut ecstasy pills with heroin.

    Similar myths exist regarding the lacing of weed, but some of these are even more ridiculous for the same reasons.

    Weed isn’t laced with lsd or cocaine. Smoking either of these drugs does nothing. Lsd breaks down incredibly easily in air. And cocaine is only smokeable if it’s freebased.

    Weed isn’t laced with heroin either. Given the disparity in price it makes no sense to do so, dealers would lose money and consumers would get a crap experience, likely making them itchy and giving them a undesired effect. This idea that you smoke a bit of heroin and you’re instantly an addict wanting to score more is boogeyman nonsense.

    Weed is not commonly cut with anything. There’s is no evidence that it is. And it is inaccurate to suggest otherwise.


    Weekender Offender 
  • JustVJustV Community Manager Posts: 5,288 Part of The Furniture
    I don't disagree with you @Skive and I hear your point about not treating substances as one, when there are obviously key differences between them and how they're used and distributed. I'm also not personally informed enough to challenge what you're saying myself.

    I guess the sticking point here is that The Mix is working with official bodies to produce and verify our content. When we get feedback from community members and readers, our process is to take that into consideration and attempt to verify anything factual with the help of experts. We took your initial feedback to our editorial team who then went through this process.

    Do you have any reputable sources for the claims made in your post? If we have something sourced, that could give us grounds to make the changes you're suggesting.
    All behaviour is a need trying to be met.
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    Unfortunately, the government and offical bodies have historically been a bad source of honest information. Any of us old enough to remember the "Just Say No" campaign know that. Even 'Talk to Frank' has been a source of incorrect information.

    In fact when The Talk To Frank website was first launched almost 20 years ago it was full of inaccuracies, and many of the regulars from the drug forum here, did a lot to change that website, even going as far to write to their MP. There might even be some old posts about it in the drug forum.

    It's very hard for me to prove that something didn't happen (to prove a negative), I feel the burden of evidence is on the one making the claim, but because this myth is repeated so easilly and so often, nobody appears to be asking for the evidence, and they take it for granted that it's true.

    If weed is commonly (or even rarely) laced with Heroin, Cocaine or LSD, it should be relatively easy to provide evidence for it happening, and yet I've never seen a confimred report for it.

    But then there's the logical arguments as to why it doesn't happen.

    1. You can't smoke cocaine or LSD. It doesn't do anything. It would be a complete waste of money, time and effort to lace weed with either drug
    2. You can smoke heroin, but why would a dealer hid a more expensive drug in with a less expenive drugs, effecitively throwing their money away. It doesn't make any sense.

    Unscrupulous dealers will sometimes add things like water or sand to weed to increase the weight, but adding other drugs without telling the customer and charging extra just flat out doesn't happen.
    Weekender Offender 
  • SkiveSkive Posts: 15,282 Skive's The Limit
    In short; contaminated weed exists, but there is no evidence that weed is commonly laced with other drugs like heroin, cocaine and lsd.
    Weekender Offender 
  • JustVJustV Community Manager Posts: 5,288 Part of The Furniture
    Hmmm I hear you @Skive and I can appreciate the point you're making, and on principle I agree about the burden of proof being on the person making the claim. There's some good feedback here that we'd be foolish to ignore, but I also don't want to give false hope that we can publish content that contradicts what The Mix's consultations are saying.

    The article doesn't currently specify cocaine, LSD or heroin in the section about weed being contaminated. But if I understand your point correctly, you're saying there's no evidence to suggest it's a pervasive problem at all with weed - is that right?

    I will make sure I take this to our editorial team again, but we may need to take a look at the way we source our information on substances and who we consult with, which would take more time.
    Skive wrote: »
    In fact when The Talk To Frank website was first launched almost 20 years ago it was full of inaccuracies, and many of the regulars from the drug forum here, did a lot to change that website, even going as far to write to their MP. There might even be some old posts about it in the drug forum.
    As an aside, this is very cool.
    All behaviour is a need trying to be met.
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