Cannabis Experimentation And Peer Pressure.

What motivates a person to want to try cannabis? What thought processes go on in someone’s head that results in them deciding it is worth experimenting with? For many people I would say social ‘peer pressure’ plays a major part in this. Who hasn’t, in the past or even now, been in a group of friends and felt they needed to ‘fit in’ or taken part in activities they wouldn’t normally have initiated themselves for the purposes of being ‘one of the crowd’? This to me has got to be a one of the first exposures to cannabis young people experience.

A typical scenario (and one I can relate to) would be when an older relation (brother, sister, cousin etc) who already indulges in cannabis, offers it to the younger brother, sister cousin etc. In turn, ( and assuming the first experience is a good one) this person introduces into their peer group. The ensuing ‘peer pressure’ facilitates its use amongst the group. In my case, my older brother, having spent several years in the merchant navy came home and shared his experiences of cannabis during his travels around the world. Tales of different cultures, beliefs and attitudes towards it. Some tolerant, some not. Hearing these stories I came to the conclusion that; if it is acceptable in many countries then, even though it was illegal in mine, it can’t be all that bad.

In social encounters, certainly in a ‘one to one’ where there is trust and respect between the two parties I believe that we either influence or are influenced. So when my brother said to me ‘ here....smoke some of this...it’s great fun’ I believed him and didn’t want to miss out on this fun. And I can genuinely say, after little hesitation, it was fun. Within minutes (after approx 4 puffs of a cannabis joint) I was laughing uncontrollably, longer and louder than I could remember (except maybe when I was being tickled as a small child!)

So there you go, it was as easy as that for me, someone I trusted offered it to me and I tried it. I suspect that this is the same for many new initiates of marijuana. Trusting someone they know and respect who was already using it.

Then what? Well it all depends on what the first experience was like. In 25 years of knowing people and discussing their initial exposure to cannabis I can say only a handful have said they did not enjoy it and it made them feel sick (usually because they had drunk lots of alcohol beforehand. A real no no when it comes to the first time. The resulting ‘shift’ of awareness and subsequent feelings can often be too much when drunk and people often describe a feeling of ‘spinning out’). The majority of people who enjoyed their first experience still smoke today. Not in an addictive ‘I can’t stop’ way, but in a mature ‘there’s a time and a place for it’ kind of way. Thankfully my first experience was enjoyable and after 25 years I can honestly say it still is.

To conclude then, I can say with authority that peer pressure can play a major role in people’s first introduction and experimentation with cannabis and even though this is the case, the majority of these people still enjoy its use and more importantly its effects.

By: Stealth Monkey

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The author has 25 years experience of cannabis related issues and works in web design mallorca as well as running legal online cannabis seedbank in the UK selling cannabis seeds. He is an advocate of sensible recreational cannabis use and supports the legalise cannabis campaign.