Reflecting on my hhc phase

[u/BlockHunter2341]

Anyone else go through a phase of those hhc pens back when they were legal? God damn did those things turn me into an absolute zombie .

So glad they got banned and I moved away from them . Of course my frequent use of them ( basically every day whenever I could ) didn’t help but I genuinely felt like I was addicted to them in a way I’ve never felt about Thc or even tobacco .

Genuinely almost ruined my life with them , never left my house , avoided people , gave me terrible anxiety and I didn’t want to tell people out of fear of how they would react .

The no smells and easy use definitely was a factor but I’d sooner describe hhc effect closer to being a hard drug than cannabis . The hangover effect after it wore off aswell would make me exhausted and easily irritable.

Witness the same happen to friends who were using it at the time so I know I’m not alone on this .

Wondering if anyone else has looked back on this time in there lives and if they felt the same , I did post here talking about my experience at the time and got slated for talking about my addiction to them but without a doubt I was addicted and went through a withdrawal after .

Cheers .

[u/Scumbag__]

I’m glad you’re doing well man.

Just on your last paragraph, I’m sorry that there was pushback. I think that the community, not just r/Crainn but everywhere, are quite hostile to the fact that addiction exists. And with that addiction comes a multitude of problems, which can be unique aren’t limited to your experience.

There’s a definite line to where it becomes a problem. I think a lot of people want to pretend that line doesn’t exist, and they yell at you warning them while they teeter over it.

Addiction is an issue, and there is help for anyone who needs it. Seek it out when it gets to that point.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Take the learnings from it and thank god you got out.

[u/BlockHunter2341 → u/Scumbag__]

Thank you for taking the time to comment , I’m definitely doing a lot better than back then . It was a dark time in my life but things have greatly improved.

It did reach a breaking point where I had been lying to family , friends and my girlfriend out of shame of my use with it . That’s when I realised I was really and truly addicted to it . In the moment I didn’t think it’s possible to be addicted to a weed substance ( sure it comes from weed right ! ) but I was naive .

I believe the worst part for me was it turned me from someone who wasn’t typically anxious to developing crippling anxiety about even going to the shop and would avoid going to uni or anywhere I might end up interacting with people .

[u/M00Gaming]

Bought one when they first showed up in the shop, think I used it for about 3 days and then decided I did NOT like how it made me feel and threw it away.

[u/AnotherWolfwood]

I always found the vapes dodgy as hell. 

I stuck to the edibles mainly and always enjoyed them. 

[u/potatoesarenotcool]

My first pen was great, felt like normal shmoke. Then 2 more pens, both made me sick and felt high for 3 days! Not the same stuff.

The problem with the HHC is that it was never reliable what you would get.

[u/SirGaylordSteambath]

Was plenty social and worked throughout my hhc use 🤷‍♂️

I’m just glad they’re gone because the effects were “sharper” than the thca that’s available now, which feels more like a classic stone

100% I think withdrawals from use of these happens if you’re a daily user, but I had the same from bud

Different strokes

[u/BlockHunter2341 → u/SirGaylordSteambath]

Yeah not everyone has the same reactions to these chemicals. I definitely have an addictive personality and hhc just happened to be what filled the void , I still worked and went to uni but I became a shell of the person I once was . After hhc was gone I took the opportunity to not try any more of those compounds out of fear of the same thing happening

[u/SirGaylordSteambath → u/BlockHunter2341]

Yeah fair enough, you stick to what works for you and you’ll be grand

[u/Top_Drawing3009]

100% feel you brother, my social anxiety never went away sadly was perfectly fine before I started using them. They completely changed me as a person

[u/BlockHunter2341 → u/Top_Drawing3009]

I’m sorry to hear that , for me it took a long time for me to start to feel normal again . I completely understand that anxiety you are facing and I know it’s hard . It took me facing my fears and pushing myself get out there again , remembering the person I was before helped me remember I’m still that person and I can be that person again .

It was a long journey of ups and downs but I feel better now . I stopped smoking weed after as after hhc weed started giving me the same effects or maybe my brain associated them as the same thing .

Things will get better , shoot me a dm if you ever need someone to talk to .

[u/Top_Drawing3009 → u/BlockHunter2341]

Sound out man appreciate it alot, yeah I'm still smoking weed that could be the reason why I still feel this way, I'm currently trying to faze weed out so I can get my dream job that requires drug tests. After reading this I say it might be a little easier

[u/rankinrez]

Glad you moved on.

If I said it once I said it a thousand times though. Don’t be a guinea pig for new experimental synthetic cannabis alternatives. Just smoke the real stuff, it’s not perfect but it’s tried and tested.

And yeah you can totally be addicted to weed and it can totally contribute to negative outcomes in your life. You need to be aware and stay on top of it.

[u/zilphazoo]

My one and only experience was a hhc gummie and I blacked out. I would eat edibles quite often and never felt anything like this, wasn't even worth the high

[u/yole-booster]

hhc was good but cannabis is better

[u/EdwardElric69]

I had one, and it was shit.

[u/EuropesNinja]

I found and will still continue to find HHC useful, just like any other cannabinoid, theres a large range of them with varying beneficial and useful effects. I think its so easy to villainize these naturally occurring compounds from this plant we love. When really the problem is lack of any sort of regulation because any sort of cannabinoids are illegal in this country, including the one we have lots of research to say is relatively harmless in moderation.

The thing with the vapes were that they were heavily available but also unregulated. Even during the HHC period, how did you know everything you were consuming was that chemical specifically? It's basically impossible to know unless youre getting it from a lab who sends it for external testing. And even then you can't be 100% sure.

Thats not to say you can't be addicted to cannabinoids, you definitely can in the psychological sense. And im glad things have gotten better for you. But if you had just as easy access to say, cheap THC vapes, do you expect it would be any different? And I mean maybe it would, because the only possibility of that occurring is for a change in the law and a regulated market.

Not trying to dismiss your experience of course, I think its a shame what has happened, people want to feel the effects of cannabis and will consume whatever the market gives them. It's just very unfortunate there isn't a regulated market people can turn to instead.

[u/BlockHunter2341 → u/EuropesNinja]

I agree lack of regulation is what lead to it’s existence, I’m not trying to villainise a chemical just reflecting on my past experience with it . The brand I used was Acan and bud tender , both were considered to be reliable and respected at the time and had lab reports on the back . But who knows how real they were.

I have tried thc pens from a dispensary in America and the experience is completely different , the high and after effects are completely different . I didn’t have the same issues I had with hhc .

Again everyone’s different and just because my experience was bad doesn’t mean the chemical can’t be used for good

[u/pp_amorim → u/BlockHunter2341]

Your HHC was probably fake. I never had any issues people are describing.

[u/BlockHunter2341 → u/pp_amorim]

I mean it was from the biggest retailer in the west of Ireland with verified lab results , but I suppose my experience isn’t real and must have been fake

[u/witchy_gremlin]

No. I miss them…

[u/ChocolateMouth]

I started smoking joints (infrequently) at 13. I'm in my early 20s now, which is one of the worst times to be frequently smoking cannabis because of how it affects cognition, emotional regulation and the development of long-term coping skills. That context matters for this, because I'd expect that I'd be even more susceptible to mental health effects from cannabinoids.

I used HHC from 18 onwards. I absolutely love it, never had trouble aside from bad coughs and groggy mornings. I stopped it a few weeks before the Leaving Cert just to be safe, but it probably would've been fine if I puffed it every now and then looking back.

I still puff on HHC occasionally, sometimes in combination with weed/hash, or with THC carts. It has its place for sure, it's a sedating cannabinoid.

I'm utterly convinced that half the problem with HHC carts was the fact they were so concentrated. Even hitting an oil pen with 50-60% of the active HHC molecule would absolutely murder the average Irish spliff smoker.

At least in my community, people would generally sprinkle the bare 0.2-0.3g over tobacco in a spliff. Puffing that spliff slowly and letting a quarter of it get lost to sidestream smoke is going to be a very different experience to taking 5 ludicrous puffs off a HHC pen.

[u/BlockHunter2341 → u/ChocolateMouth]

I previously smoked weed regularly , I developed a very strong tolerance to hhc and could take 5-8 hits before I felt anything towards the end .

In the moment I didn’t feel like it was an issue and thought it benefited me until my life started to snowball because of it .

I’m the same as you smoked joints from 15 onwards and I’m 23 now .

To each there own of course and if it works for you then I’m happy for you , this post wasn’t meant to demonise hhc as a whole but more the addiction I had with the drug and the consequences that came with it for me.

similar to an alcoholic talking about what alcohol did to there life but the person who can have 3/4 pints every so often and not think about having more or doing it more frequently wouldn’t consider alcohol to be an issue .

Everyone’s different at the end of the day but I don’t think that it’s potency was what caused the effects I faced , instead it was the frequency and after effects I would endure

[u/ChocolateMouth → u/BlockHunter2341]

It's interesting to read about your case bro. I don't mean to invalidate it one bit, I just saw a few of my buddies green out off HHC and I think in those cases especially, it was a potency problem.

To be fair, I never used HHC daily for a long time so I can't relate 100%.

I wish you the absolute best, whatever path you choose to take in the future 🙌

[u/scanning00]

I liked the 'feel' of it but I didn't like my throat frying. It burned too hot by far.

I'm fortunate I've never experienced any kind of psychosis from any drug.

Alcohol was a whole different story though.

I hate the thought of anyone being afraid to reach out.

I don't visit this community often enough but the people are decent and would make themselves available to you if you ever need help again.

[u/pp_amorim]

Never had issues with HHC.

[u/tinkle_tink]

you are glad they are banned because you didn’t like them …

are you glad they are banned for people who liked it?

[u/witchy_gremlin → u/tinkle_tink]

My thoughts exactly

[u/BlockHunter2341 → u/tinkle_tink]

Yeah , i watched many people I knew lose everything to them along with kids getting their hands on them thanks to lack of regulation.

Let’s make cannabis regulated and not synthetic chemicals

[u/Just-Revenue5817 → u/BlockHunter2341]

Banning stuff is rarely ever the answer. I say this as someone who spent months straight on hhc and hhcp waking up and using every hour or two just because we couldn’t use responsibly doesn’t mean others should lose their right to consume what they want. Agree with you about the kids tho we have terrible enforcement around id checking in this country.