Should persons with Asperger's consume Cannabis?

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I don't think it's necessarily a good thing for aspies to consume open-ended quantities of marijuana out of boredom and for no particular reason, because it's pretty well established that chronic, daily consumption of large quantities does bad things to motivation, short-term memory, ability to learn, and one's general ability to earn a living and/or succeed in life.

HOWEVER...

In moderation, and particularly as an adjunct to facilitate learning how to pretend to be social, it can be invaluable. When I started college, and for most of my first two years, I was a stubborn, hardcore, die-hard self-righteous aspie nerd who was totally off the "geek" scale. Then, somehow, a miracle occurred, and I managed to become involved with Greek (as in, fraternities) social life, and one guy in particular made teaching me how to be social his personal project. Without assistance from pot, he never would have made it to first base, let alone gotten me to let down my guard and chill enough to listen to him and take him seriously.

I'll be the first to admit there's a slippery gray line between therapeutic and recreational use, and I'm not going to act righteous and pretend that probably 40-60% of my collegiate pot use wasn't 'recreational' in nature or had higher motives at the time. Really, though, pot in the abstract never really did much for me. It served its purpose, and served it well, but the fun factor just isn't high enough to risk losing my drug-tested job over it now. If it were unambiguously legal (or I went to Amsterdam for a few days), I'd probably try it again, but I can't really imagine going out of my way to get it, or spending large amounts of money and/or risking arrest over its acquisition. It was fun, but it wasn't that fun.

Actually, thinking back, I still remember the first time I smoked pot -- I spent almost an hour watching the minute hand on a wall clock move. In complete fascination.

That said, I think pot should be unambiguously legal, and regulated no more tightly than alcohol.

Why can't we just f##king legalize it and act like mature adults... *Facepalms*

I smoke it all the while, if it wasnt for cannabis i would have been dead years ago, it keeps me going in this intolerable world.

A lot of people ask me why i smoke it so much and i say perhaps if you have had to deal with the kind of s**t i have had to in life then you would probably be doing the same. Im actually in the process of rolling a good one at the moment. This type is called 'powerplant' and it is high-grade.

If I can throw my hat into the ring, I have no problem with Marijuana. It's no more harmful than any other mind altering substance out there, such as alcohol or nicotine. In fact, it is much less harmful than any of these things, THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) does not cause a high like other drugs in which it alters brain chemistry, it is a neurotransmitter that provokes a relaxed sensation (hence why aspies absolutely should be permitted it for its anxiety countering properties).

But right now you're asking yourself "if it's so harmless why does the government not permit it, surely it has some negative aspects" if so, you are absolutely right, marijuana can cause paranoia, schizophrenia and, famously, the munchies. In excessive doses. I said earlier that it's a neurotransmitter, lets elaborate on that, THC is a chemical that binds with a receptor in your brain and causes the release of endorphins that give it its euphoric effect, if the glands that produce these endorphins are stimulated too much, they become "tired" and can no longer function as well (and if you can't be calm, you're anxious" but this is only if excessive amounts are consumed (along the same quantities as an alcoholic takes in alcohol actually) So, all marijuana requires is moderation to be safe? No.

Another reason the government does not permit marijuana is because it can be a "gateway drug" that leads those who use it to become introduced to more powerful and legitimately dangerous narcotics(heroin, cocaine etc.). Now, I'm not a politician, and I'm certainly not an anthropologist but, surely the best way to stop people from being led into dangerous drugs by drug dealers is to...stop people from getting drugs from drug dealers, how do we do that? Sell it in actual stores! Correct me if I'm wrong here but I see no problem in this system.

And, just as an added side note, marijuana is not only useful as a relaxant. I have a set of hemp clothing that is of brilliant quality, texture and durability.