Thanks for your reply. I happened to have come across several articles about MDMA and their therapeutic uses recently - some of them on VICE. Most of them are personal anecdotes of how, under influence of MDMA, people are gaining some type of new perspective on life (it's a little hard to condense it into one line), basically they say that the experience helps them be happier or more understanding about their own lives. One of them was written by a woman who did MDMA together with her parents in a sort of therapeutic session, and another wrote about and the positive effects he/she had felt from an experimental MDMA-therapy for thoes suffering from depression. Those articles were pretty interesting to read, I suggest you look for them on VICE if you have not read them already.

Although some stories like these did kind of spike my interest, at this point I'm not really considering actively pursuing experimentation with any of these drugs in the near future. I just like being aware of what's out there and what I might like to try in case the situation arises. The only way I see my self trying it would be if it happens spontaneously, in the company of people I trust and when in a good mood. Obviously I'm not looking for a cool kind of high to chase. Perhaps 'missing out' was the wrong term to use, just that some people say the experience it can enhance your sober life in a specific way that's hard to achieve without it.

If I could ask another question: how did you stop being a pothead? The reason I'm asking is I have two close friends who are smoke weed on an extremely regular basis. I'm not always with them but I'm pretty sure it's on a (near-)daily basis at this point. They have a coffeeshop (that's what a weedcafé is called in the Netherlands) which is their regular hangout, and they basically have a bigger group of friends that hangs out there and smokes. I know that the amount of weed they smoke is their decision but I kind of worry for one of them (also 23), since he doesn't seem to really be able to moderate his substances (it goes for beer as well, and whenever I see him he's mixing the two). His grades are really suffering from it at this point, even though I'm not sure he really believes that the amount he smokes and drinks is purely recreational and not related to his low motivation to do his homework assignments. He already dropped out from his first college programme, and now is pretty close to being booted from his second for not completing the first year's curriculum in time (well into his second study year). Regardless of all that, I literally can't remember the last time I saw him at a social occasion where he was either already high, rolling a blunt (and another couple after that), or on his way to the coffeeshop. Even though he has loads of friends and is really a lot more outgoing and social person than I am, he recently did tell me that he's not really to happy with where his life is going at the moment, and that he is eating less than he used to, due to loss of appetite. I know he has had some personal issues, like the divorce of his parents a few years ago, that could be at the root of it all, but he doesn't seem to relate any of his isues to his excessive (imo) consumption of weed. I personally feel like getting high every day is part of what's holding him back, but I'm not really sure if I should tell him this. He's been smoking weed for years and he knows that some of our mutual friends don't really like it when he does, mostly because it makes him dull, sometimes even make him fall asleep at parties, but I personally never felt too bothered by it or really talked to him about his weed habit. Now that I know he's not been feeling too great I feel like maybe it would be best for him to cut it out. The problem is that it's such a big part of his life now that I don't even know how to say 'I think you should stop smoking weed' without sounding too judgmental or complain-y (like his girlfriend would when he had one), and even if I could I don't know if it's my place. The last thing I want is for him to feel criticized and become defensive, which I'm kind of afraid would happen if I said something.

I know you're not a therapist lol, and sorry for the long post, but I was just wondering about your opinion as an expert and former pothead. Am I right to assume that there is a correlation between his general unhappiness and daily smoking habit? Did anyone ever talk to you about your smoking habits, and how did that make you feel?