I think a lot of the associated anxiety stems from judgement, expectations and societally accepted ideas of intelligence. When I told people in my classes in college that id study/ take tests high, they thought it was crazy, but depending on the subject matter, I did significantly better. If the thinking was abstract, philosophical and not rooted in memorization I’d do very well. Whereas a physiology exam where I’m just grinding note cards, absolutely not.

When I really think about why smoking ends up leading people to having anxiety after long term use, I think it’s because people’s perception of you changes and as you age your perception of your own time changes. You can be forgetful, space out, even say something that seems odd while high in a public setting. All of these things make you seem slow or impaired, even though your just enjoying the fluidity of your thoughts.

What other people are perceiving makes you self conscious and weed seems to be the cause. When I need a creative streak, or some out side the box non-limited thinking it’s perfect. Maybe even when I pick up a new fictional novel and I really take my time reading it and imagining all the environments to escape a little, weed is the perfect tool. It’s just that in average day to day life that’s not actually what you need to be productive. To be productive you need to perform memorized tasks at a high efficiency and you don’t have time to think abstractly about each task. As you get older, the efficiency directly relates to the free time you have. There’s just not as much opportunity to float around and enjoy every thought, no matter how odd.

I think Post is on that tail end, where his creativity let him explore his music, his mind and his world freely. It led him to making incredible music and changing lives, but now that he’s established, the expectations on him are different. He’s a professional, he has a brand, a business centered around himself. The anxiety is the pressure to stay where he is, now that there’s so much riding on his effectiveness as an artist. I just imagine Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. He’d had all this time to experiment, play, be creative and explore, but when it came time to paint that piece, it was about being effective and grinding a rigorous routine.

So part of the anxiety is personal, but I think a lot of it is societal as well. Creative thinking isn’t always what’s necessary for success. Don’t get me wrong, you can be effective while high, but it’s learned and a little less natural. You’re better off not being high, unless you have chronic pain or something else that would inhibit you more than being high would.