IMO: Cannabis rewards you for doing nothing.
The people I know who regularly smoke pot are motivated, usually have good jobs or run successful businesses, have hobbies and good social lives that don't revolve around smoking pot.
Don't get me wrong I've certainly met the 'lazy unmotivated stoner' types. But at least in my experience, those tend to be more rare than the 'smokes weed and does pretty well at life' people.
I smoke a lot of weed regularly and have no problem maintaining a job I work six days a week, several productive hobbies, a long term relationship, and friendships even with people that don't smoke weed or who are even opposed to it. Honestly, if you met me and you don't smoke weed there's a good chance you'd never know. I don't talk about it with people that aren't interested, I don't sit around smoking in public, I don't go around wearing or buying weed leaf clothes and paraphernalia and things like that. I've surprised more than one person when they find out I smoke weed after knowing me for a long time.
I would say my usage would qualify as habitual but in the end if I can't get some weed or smoke or whatever in a day or for a bit it's all good. Ya I know I rely on it for stress relief, helping with sleep and I honestly just find it enjoyable. I mean I also rely on coffee to wake me up in the morning, food and water to survive and generally many other things that either make my life better or act as a crutch.
But in the end, compared to other crutches people rely on, the impact of weed in my life is fairly minimal.
I know a guy last year who was addicted to coke who's mom ended up dying in the night because instead of taking her to the hospital when she asked him he wanted to get high and jerk off.
I've got a 25 year old cousin with pancreatitis because of his alcohol problem.
My brother's just finished rehab for his drinking.
I have a friend who came close to death last year.because.of her coke and crack addiction and basically fucked her life. She lost her job, her home for a while, didn't see her kid for months and it basically took ending up in the hospital for close to the tenth time last year, near death with the threat of permanently losing custody of her kid to finally quit after years.
I've got another friend who was recently prescribed seroquil and a couple anti-depressants for his anxiety over maybe one day having thoughts about walking into traffic. Last time I seen him he was bragging about the thousands of dollars he was making by double or triple depositing his disability cheques into multiple banks, both his short and long term memory seemed totally messed up he couldn't keep the flow of a conversation, had no idea what had happened only 10-15 minutes previous and he stayed at my house and spent all night awake staring at a wall hallucinating that he'd been watching tron 2 all night. When I got up the TV was off, the internet had been unplugged sometime hours before and he didn't have the TV remote. He had a job interview that day he did not make it to.
I dunno i've seen a lot of people abuse substances or even just need something to get by. In the course of my life, pot is pretty much the most harmless thing i've seen. I've watched people going crazy over lack of coffee, cigarettes and booze plenty. Never once seen someone doing that over weed.
I'm pretty sure almost any drug is not very good for you if you do it every single day, including the legal ones.
I can't consume cannabis and sit still. I really have to be out doing something.
It affects everyone differently.
Marijuana makes you feel good, without needing to do anything else. This can be great in some environments.. such as enjoying a serene natural scene. But if you've got deadlines to meet it can feel challenging to "get up off the couch".
Some people have no problem with that, but other people will sit around doing nothing all day.