Gemma Speck

But when should we be worried about it?

When

I'd say you should be worried individually or in terms of your relationship with somebody when weed starts to change your behavior in a very clear, observable way to you.

Not observable to everybody else, to you.

Like you can notice it.

That might mean you keep using more than you planned.

You find yourself smoking earlier in the day, smoking on days you said you wouldn't, building your routine around when you can get high next.

one of the clearest signs is loss of control and that's what all of these come down to you feel like your life is orientated and centered around this this substance and when you're going to consume it how much with who when is the next available time or period where you can do it and you no longer feel in control of your relationship to it you kind of know deep down like

I keep saying I could stop.

I keep saying I don't need this.

But every time I'm given the opportunity, every time I'm not given the opportunity, I just always find myself saying yes.

I always find myself back here.

You should also pay attention to when weed starts affecting you emotionally in a way that is more about reducing negative emotions rather than increasing only positive ones.

Basically, if getting high is no longer mainly about the pleasure aspect and about elevating experiences and making experiences better, and it's more about not wanting to feel a certain thing, not wanting to feel stressed, bored, awkward or overwhelmed, then

That is a different relationship with the substance.

That is a negative driven or a removal of negative feeling driven like relationship where again, we're experiencing negative reinforcement.

We want to be experiencing positive reinforcement where we're like, oh, this is making things better for me rather than it's meaning that things aren't getting worse.

At that point, weed is not just something you enjoy.

It's something that you lean on.

And it's something that you specifically rely on to regulate inner well-being, whether you realize it or not.