Do studios fire cannabis users if they find out?
polycounter lvl 6
Well, I am in Cali. And probably attend Gnomon with Uncle Sam's pocket starting from this Summer or Fall. And I intend to stay local, job wise.
And...for the last two years, I have been dependent on weed to function.
I gotta confess, I have some deep-seated anger issue and vaping some few puffs of Indica calms me down. I have to vape before bed to function normally on the next day. It gives me more confidence to jump into creative works like drawing and sketching. I can be free from random angry thoughts. I can be really calm and pleasant and very likable. All thanks to the Devil's Lettuce.
I have a feeling that I can be a decent modeler/sculptor after finishing Gnomon. But...I guess the studios are pretty much a corporate environment and I wonder if they do random urine test.
This is a huge confession and I had to post it because I intentionally missed the vaping last night and it was horrible today. For the half of the daytime I couldn't draw or sketch. (Tuesday is my day off.) I was overcome with some random anger. Before dinner I fired up the Banana Kush cartridge and took a nap for an hour and a half.
And now I am functional and content with myself. Now it's almost 10:30pm and I am debating myself if I should pull a midnight oil to draw some characters for the admission interview on Friday. But I will be working the whole day tomorrow.
Sorry for the wall of texts, but I am really curious. Like I said I wanna stay local, but even in CA companies can fire employees over weed use. And I am not sure if I can be a one-man outsourcing studio since I am not good at running MY OWN BUSINESS...
And...for the last two years, I have been dependent on weed to function.
I gotta confess, I have some deep-seated anger issue and vaping some few puffs of Indica calms me down. I have to vape before bed to function normally on the next day. It gives me more confidence to jump into creative works like drawing and sketching. I can be free from random angry thoughts. I can be really calm and pleasant and very likable. All thanks to the Devil's Lettuce.
I have a feeling that I can be a decent modeler/sculptor after finishing Gnomon. But...I guess the studios are pretty much a corporate environment and I wonder if they do random urine test.
This is a huge confession and I had to post it because I intentionally missed the vaping last night and it was horrible today. For the half of the daytime I couldn't draw or sketch. (Tuesday is my day off.) I was overcome with some random anger. Before dinner I fired up the Banana Kush cartridge and took a nap for an hour and a half.
And now I am functional and content with myself. Now it's almost 10:30pm and I am debating myself if I should pull a midnight oil to draw some characters for the admission interview on Friday. But I will be working the whole day tomorrow.
Sorry for the wall of texts, but I am really curious. Like I said I wanna stay local, but even in CA companies can fire employees over weed use. And I am not sure if I can be a one-man outsourcing studio since I am not good at running MY OWN BUSINESS...
Replies
You may want to examine the reasons for being dependent on weed, maybe get help looking into the anger issues if at all possible.
Try looking for alternatives such as a MediPen which contains a high % of CBD but no THC. That may give you what you are looking for. All the best with your applications and kudos for being brave enough to have a open talk about it!
There are people here that smoke weed. Every day. Everyone knows. No one cares.
If they deliver the quality they should, by the time they should, it's not an issue.
I am not sure that can be said for all studios, of course.
Weed is a bit funny as overtime you might get more paranoid. That might spell bigger problems in the future especially if you have anger issues.
If you mix anger issues with paranoia it might be really bad.
But, on topic, I have seen people fired/"let go" because of obvious use of cannabis around the workplace during work hours, on work property, and was arguably causing some issues with work ethic and production. Though, I can't see recreational use out of the work place being too much of an issue in this industry.
Writing about a dependence on it for anger management, being functional, with the tone you have (i.e the devil's herb versus medical marijuana) in a industry forum might put hiring people off though, and worry people if you were already hired. You will be googled. Think about your tone and what you say and how it might be construed in the context of this forum. Personal blogs are probably fine, but have to conduct yourself professionally in an industry place or you will for better or for worse get judged by people that may or may not hire you.
TLDR: weed is a useful support, but if you get to the point where you can't support yourself without it, it's become a dependency issue that employers will worry might affect work. What happens if you can't get your fix at the most crucial time in a project? Just deal with you spending the day in irritable mental agony? Or hire someone who never has that problem?
We're an industry of creative types, drug use is all over the place. Its less about whether you're taking drugs, and more about whether or not you can act responsibly, appropriately and not have it impact work, which your post could be construed to indicate you might struggle with that.
Of course, if you show up to work high, smelling of it, not getting your work done, I`d say chances of getting fired are much greater.
Even in places that it's legal, it's going to be treated like alcohol, as mentioned above.
definitely not one for the interview to bring up when they ask what you consider your weaknesses.
As for the anger issue, it...runs in the family, at least for 4~5 generations. So I am not sure if there's a good solution beside vasectomy. And I used the term Devil's Lettuce as a joke. I do believe in the healing power of weed.
I am surprised by the avalanche of responses. Thank you folks.
Or
That's what you do in your down time away from work?
Either way, it's legal in a handful of states and it's pretty low priority for law enforcement in a lot of states so it really comes down to how uptight is your employer.
I thought that the anger issue was a fairly common problem for creative types. Well, although I am the only creative/artistic one in the entire family, the anger issue runs in the family. I am doing my best to suppress the temper. Don't many potheads start out because they want to control their temper? To me it does have a great therapeutic effect.
EDIT: For the last 2 years I consistently vaped nightly basis. Come to think of it, the anger didn't really spring up whenever I missed the dose. And if it did, it went away after a few days. Seems like the 'steam' must be vent out every now and then, and weed seems to simply suppress the steam.
Truth be told, anger was not the main reason why I got my medical card. It was insomnia and mood stabilization was a secondary concern. Actually I missed the dose a few days ago because...I wanted to dream.
Sorry for the wall of texts.
EDIT2: I think I mistook the withdrawal symptom with deep seated anger issue, which I could endure well before getting my medical card. Yes, looks like it's the withdrawal symptom!
I don't mean to say this in a way to shame you for wanting to have this conversation, it's certainly a good thing for you to be thinking about, I just think you should have it with a professional rather than random people on polycount, as it is unlikely anyone here is qualified to give you meaningful advice.
You should try ZMA. I took ZMA for a few years when I was weightlifting and it helps you stay in a deep sleep. Be prepared for some intense dreams.
I am with the VA healthcare system, that means the healthcare providers won't be that helpful when it comes to cannabis use. (they are federal employees and usually can't give us positive outlook on weed use...) That means I have to do my own research myself.
I think I confused the withdrawal with something deep seated. Maybe I shouldn't have brought up the anger issue. Well, originally I got my medical card for insomnia and...blood sugar control. Things about anger was what I found out later on.
EDIT: One positive effect I found out was that I can actually reduce the overall sleep time with weed. All I have to do is to go to bed around 1am after vaping. This is rather surprising. My wakeup time is always consistent, and weed actually helps me cope with less sleep time. Even with nighttime coffee!
Well, I know that many artists drink ungodly amount of caffeine, usually through energy drink. To me, coffee is much better. Isolated caffeine does more harm than good. Coffee has more pleasant effect.
And...years ago I was prescribed with Trazodone because I had insomnia. Around fall 2009, I went to a meditation workshop to see if it works. After just a couple of sessions, I could sleep well without any medication for next few years. But eventually the sleep problem came back.
I talked to my VA psychiatrist this morning, before work. She told me that I should not be tied with perfectionism, which causes enormous anxiety. Fortunately, she concluded that I am fit for intense schooling. I think many people in the artistic field are dependent on some sort of psychological/psychiatric help. We are not some fine artists and productivity is an important asset we need to possess.
blaze that shit
That is the bit that will worry potential employers. It's not the fact that you smoke weed, its the fact that you seem to be an addict. If on a particular day you can't get your fix you're going to be useless and potentially impact other people too. Or not turn up. I have in the past been dependent on weed, and I can tell you if you're at that point, its time to stop and suffer the withdrawal so you can sort yourself out, clear headed and flushed of substances. There's many great things about weed, I still love it, but you must not allow yourself to be dependent on it. Have it as a reward for good work, or the last weekend of the month etc.
Don't be an addict for very long, it gets harder to fix. Don't fool yourself into thinking the weed is fixing anger - the same way that regular, heavy coffee drinkers think that the coffee makes them more alert in the morning when actually, it brings them back to a normal level, after withdrawing all night. Never having had coffee, they would not be feeling the effects of withdrawal.
I was given this simple nugget of advice, passed down from grizzled hippies throughout the ages:
Don't let your life revolve around the weed, have the weed revolve around your life.
Or something. I was stoned at the time so it's hard to recall, but you get the jist.
Also, continual weed use is shitty. You don't get high the same way, you kind of forget what high even is. Take a month-long break and come back to it and get blown away by the potency. Tolerance is a hell of a thing.
As for sleep, weed significantly reduces the quality of sleep - you don't dream/REM as much - there's little understanding of REM in the scientific community, but the one thing that is known is that we need it, and if you avoid it, you eventually have to pay up. Interrupting REM sleep one night will mean more REM the next night. Basically, the body needs to do it, and delaying it for long periods really has an impact on the organisation and structure of your memory, and the quality of your thinking. You regress slowly to child-like impulsivity and lose the ability to make smart decisions.
TLDR: weed is great, but don't let it run your life or it'll run it into the ground. Just like Booze, nicotine and the rest - they all have positive effects, but becoming dependent on them gives rise to more negative effects.
Like I mentioned before I never did hard drugs and never will. In fact I don't need anything stronger than a couple of inhales and it has been like that. As for the mood stabilization there's not enough serious researches on this, but mostly anecdotal stories.
I swear that weed doesn't control my life as you fear. No it doesn't. One excuse, though, is that bad temper runs in my paternal family, and I don't want to be associated with that kind of family traits. My family name, especially my bloodline, is notorious for being ill tempered by my people. (believe it or not) I just want to distance myself from that kind of notoriety.
In general, it's 'don't ask, don't tell'. I mean, we are talking about an art department...
...instead of asking for advice from a bunch of online forum profiles.
You should really seek help from a health professional...probably ASAP!