I am a high school teacher and one of my close friends (who is a colleague at the same school) has a very unique "issue". My friend claims that he can't be around the smell of weed because it causes him to have a panic attack. Evidently this goes back to a childhood experience he had after smoking. Anyway, it is not uncommon to smell weed on the students in our building but to have such a reaction to it? He has seen a psych (prescribed ssri meds) and I keep teeling him it is all in his head but he is convinced he can get a "contact" high just by smelling it on a student. Is that really possible? I mean, I have been into the restroom right after some kids had obviously burned one and it had no effect on me. What's your take on this?

Thanks

Yeah that seems a bit weird to have panic attacks.

Your colleague should smoke one now and see how it affects him... maybe that would sort it out.

May sound stupid but just a suggestion.

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Skyhighatrist
4:19 Got a minute?

His childhood experience conditioned him to have a panic attack when exposed to a negative stimulus. The stimulus is, of course, the smell of cannabis. The smell was once a neutral stimulus without a response, but after the incident, his brain paired this harmless stimulus with that of a psychological and physiological response: his panic attacks.

This is different from a "contact high" in which enough THC reaches the brain to give you a high.

There's a behavioral-approach therapy known as systematic desensitization. Not sure if it could work in this case - try it out!

I assume his traumatic experience was getting really high and having a severe panic attack?


*edit* typo

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Nutrient Deficiencies

Smoke him out dude. If he is your close friend you need to find a way to bring him back into the light.

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