Smoking pot while being in a band

[Hawkbone]

He needs some sort of boost of self-confidence. That works wonders. QUOTE]

Losing a woman can devastate a guy. Some people never recover from it. OP, I guess you and your bandmates need to decide how good of a friend this guy is. Do you let him stay and hope to slowly curb his bad behaviour and encourage his good side? Hope that he gets the confidence boost he needs (a new woman would help, but if he's reclusive that's not real likely) and gets back to himself? Do you dump him and hope the shock jolts him awake rather than make him worse? Maybe you can do what Pink Floyd did for Sid before he really lost it - let him carry on as if he were normal but get someone else to fill in for him musically. Maybe you need to tell him he's out of the band until he gets better, but still keep a regular jam session with him just to help him out. No easy answers.

Some here have opined that he is depressed. Too bad there is such a stigma attached to mental illness - makes it hard for those who need help to seek it or accept it. If he really trusts you though, he may accept getting checked out. A long shot - people usually react very negative to the suggestion that they may need professional help. If he had a nasty lump, you would probably feel fine saying "Dude, you better see a doctor about that." but it is a lot harder to say "You're not your old self, man, maybe you should see a doctor, see if you have clinical depression."

Hope the pro-weed vs anti-weed arguments were more helpful than distracting. If not, my apologies for contributing to the distraction!

 

[Roy Vogt]

It is a horrible disease addiction....cunning, baffling and insidious. It has no prejudice of who it can destroy. As you mentioned Roy, it takes its toll on the family and friends surrounding the addict as well. I hope your friend got help and is clean today......there is a better way.

He is Clean and Sober and playing great again. He has lost much, but has managed to create his own business while trying to rejoin the Nashville Music Community. I have high hopes for him.
You're right, there is a better way-one day at a time...

 

[Mystic Michael]

Any advice or simillar stories?

You've got to be putting us on, right? I figure that someone must be making up all these totally absurd "Sad Sack" stories - just for kicks - then posting them to the Band Management forum using fictitious profiles, to see how many TalkBassers will take them seriously and respond. He's probably laughing his @ss off on this one...

I don't get it. You give us this description of who he is and what he does, yet you call him a guitarist.

+ 1,000,000

MM

 

[Bright Midnight]

You've got to be putting us on, right? I figure that someone must be making up all these totally absurd "Sad Sack" stories - just for kicks - then posting them to the Band Management forum using fictitious profiles, to see how many TalkBassers will take them seriously and respond. He's probably laughing his @ss off on this one...

Yes, I'm finding it hilarious dear Aldous.

 

[BassMonstrum]

Make it about the band, not the weed. "We haven't been able to count on you to attend practices and learn the music. Sorry, but we need someone more reliable and committed."

This!

 

[trunkshope6]

dont blame the weed,find another guitarist,thayre a dime a dozen right?

 

[Bright Midnight]

dont blame the weed,find another guitarist,thayre a dime a dozen right?

Nah, we'll go back to three, back to basics.

 

[Bright Midnight]

He needs some sort of boost of self-confidence. That works wonders. QUOTE]

Losing a woman can devastate a guy. Some people never recover from it. OP, I guess you and your bandmates need to decide how good of a friend this guy is. Do you let him stay and hope to slowly curb his bad behaviour and encourage his good side? Hope that he gets the confidence boost he needs (a new woman would help, but if he's reclusive that's not real likely) and gets back to himself? Do you dump him and hope the shock jolts him awake rather than make him worse? Maybe you can do what Pink Floyd did for Sid before he really lost it - let him carry on as if he were normal but get someone else to fill in for him musically. Maybe you need to tell him he's out of the band until he gets better, but still keep a regular jam session with him just to help him out. No easy answers.

Some here have opined that he is depressed. Too bad there is such a stigma attached to mental illness - makes it hard for those who need help to seek it or accept it. If he really trusts you though, he may accept getting checked out. A long shot - people usually react very negative to the suggestion that they may need professional help. If he had a nasty lump, you would probably feel fine saying "Dude, you better see a doctor about that." but it is a lot harder to say "You're not your old self, man, maybe you should see a doctor, see if you have clinical depression."

Hope the pro-weed vs anti-weed arguments were more helpful than distracting. If not, my apologies for contributing to the distraction!

I've had my share of pot so i can digg the comments of pro and con. Seems that the weed of nowadays is something much more powerful than say 10 or 15 years ago. I tried one of his joints a while ago and I was off the planet - not in a relax high manner, but very confused and awkward. This stuff is heavy. I would die smoking this every day, and I do regular sports, eat healthy and whatnot. I could smoke daily before because the stuff would just get you high, but the stuff he smokes is like a trip. It's like it's so strong it controls you rather that let you get high.

 

[Marko 1]

Nah, we'll go back to three, back to basics.

Good idea.

I was going to suggest this earlier, but in the context of working/writing the material to a three-piece, then your buddy can jam or not, instead of “firing” him.

If he’s not into it, there’s no pressure on him to deliver or make excuses to get out of it, and you don’t need/miss him in his absence.

If he comes around or things change, it’s not difficult to find something he can add.

 

[makkE]

I've had my share of pot so i can digg the comments of pro and con. Seems that the weed of nowadays is something much more powerful than say 10 or 15 years ago. I tried one of his joints a while ago and I was off the planet - not in a relax high manner, but very confused and awkward. This stuff is heavy. I would die smoking this every day, and I do regular sports, eat healthy and whatnot. I could smoke daily before because the stuff would just get you high, but the stuff he smokes is like a trip. It's like it's so strong it controls you rather that let you get high.

Same observation here. It's ridiculous how high powered that stuff is these days.

 

[NKBassman]

Maybe he's doping his weed with something else?

 

[Bright Midnight]

Maybe he's doping his weed with something else?

Nope, that he won't do. Can vouch for that.

 

[plankspanker13]

Chronic's expensive, and not just to your finances. A little does go a long way. It's great for facilitiating initial creativity, but not so much for micro-adjusting arrangements, and definitely not for gigs, until the afterparty.

 

[remainthesame]

its not the pot. pot can create better musicians as well. its him. the player, hes lazy and not dedicated and you should boot him out because he will always be like that.

 

[Hawkbone]

I admit to being a bit cautious with the new weed. In fact, I avoid it as long as I can get hash - that buzz hasn't changed in the past 25 yrs - nice and mellow, as always. I guess they haven't switched to making hash from the new weed. When I do smoke weed now, I take one puff and wait to see where that takes me. Not interested in melting my brain anymore, happy to leave that behind with 20's me! Funny though, I think it's all a matter of what you get used too. like I say, the new weed really messes me up, but several friends smoke it all day every day, but are a little apprehensive about smoking my hash. Messes them up.

 

[Akami]

I've had my share of pot so i can dig the comments of pro and con. Seems that the weed of nowadays is something much more powerful than say 10 or 15 years ago. I tried one of his joints a while ago and I was off the planet - not in a relax high manner, but very confused and awkward. This stuff is heavy. I would die smoking this every day, and I do regular sports, eat healthy and whatnot. I could smoke daily before because the stuff would just get you high, but the stuff he smokes is like a trip. It's like it's so strong it controls you rather that let you get high.

It is a lot stronger, but just like beer and whiskey, you don't have to consume the same volume.
If I was to smoke the modern bud in the same manner I did when I was a teen, I'd be in a coma. If you have a hit, I just take what you need and don't feel obligated to make sure the whole joint gets smoked all at once. Better yet, micro bong hit.
I seldom ever even see the stuff anymore, but if I do, I'm the one in charge of how much I take.

 

[MatticusMania]

I've had my share of pot so i can digg the comments of pro and con. Seems that the weed of nowadays is something much more powerful than say 10 or 15 years ago. I tried one of his joints a while ago and I was off the planet - not in a relax high manner, but very confused and awkward. This stuff is heavy. I would die smoking this every day, and I do regular sports, eat healthy and whatnot. I could smoke daily before because the stuff would just get you high, but the stuff he smokes is like a trip. It's like it's so strong it controls you rather that let you get high.

Same observation here. It's ridiculous how high powered that stuff is these days.

As someone who has been smoking regularly for 10+ years I can tell you its the same stuff as it was 10 years ago. Thing is, there are two majorly different types of herb that tend to bring about different highs. Cannabis Indica tends to give a more relaxed, sleepy type of high, whereas Cannabis Sativa will give one a more active, "paranoid" type of high.

I admit to being a bit cautious with the new weed. In fact, I avoid it as long as I can get hash - that buzz hasn't changed in the past 25 yrs - nice and mellow, as always.

Actually, Hash has a much higher concentration of THC than either Indica or Sativa and will get a person much higher, much more quickly.

 

[Bassman8416]

He is Clean and Sober and playing great again. He has lost much, but has managed to create his own business while trying to rejoin the Nashville Music Community. I have high hopes for him.
You're right, there is a better way-one day at a time...

I have lived to tell the same experience as your friend, I am blessed to have been given a second chance at life.

 

[bassbully]

I just went thru a drug training class for work and seen the long term effects of pot on the brain from nuclear brain scans...not pretty at all.

 

[Hawkbone]

Actually, Hash has a much higher concentration of THC than either Indica or Sativa and will get a person much higher, much more quickly.

That's how it was around here 20+ years ago, when weed was ~3% and hash was double or triple that, but the numbers I'm hearing for the BC bud are in the 20%+ range. Of course, that's all hearsay - I have nothing to back it up.