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College students lost access to legal pot and started getting better grades

washingtonpost.com

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Re: College students lost access to legal pot and started getting better grades

#61

Post by aaronbrethorst »

wyclif wrote: post #58
bigspider421 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing is absolute - I'm a medical user (with anxiety/ADHD/depression) and it's been a complete lifesaver for me, working where pharmaceuticals did not. I did not respond well to traditional stimulants (they only made me more anxious and racy) but medical cannabis is literally the only reason why I was able to function through my PhD program which I had completed two years ago at a top-tier U.S. institution. FWIW, I…

only certain types actually help Out of curiosity, what are those? I'm not an expert and I'm really only aware of the sativa/indica divide.

From the GP: "higher CBD-strains"

Here's a description of how CBD differs from THC: https://www.leafly.com/news/cannabis-101/whats-the-deal-with... and I can attest to what it says. I don't like feeling high, but I do like feeling mellow. It's sort of like the difference between having a glass of wine and pounding shots to me.

Re: College students lost access to legal pot and started getting better grades

#62

Post by siliconc0w »

I knew a couple of semi-heavy users that were great students but they were probably the exception. Similar to alcohol, young people tend to fall into the 'more is better' fallacy and overdo it. Especially with things like concentrates or edibles. I think there is a bit of a 'ballmer peak' to help with certain tasks but it requires some diligence around strain and dosage and it's not for everyone.

Re: College students lost access to legal pot and started getting better grades

#63

Post by devrandomguy »

hyperdunc wrote: post #32
devrandomguy wrote: post #4

I bet banning refined sugar products would have a more significant effect.

I bet not consuming refined sugar would help, but there's no way it would help more than not consuming marijuana. At least for certain subjects. If you're doing fine arts then getting high is almost mandatory. If you're studying math or anything that uses math then getting high regularly will significantly degrade your performance.

What if you are coding a 3D demoscene program for your thesis, because it illustrates a beautiful mathematical proof?

Re: College students lost access to legal pot and started getting better grades

#64

Post by threatofrain »

danso wrote: post #38
sundvor wrote: post #9

Would love to see the same experiment repeated somehow, but for alcohol / partying. Then compare the two.

In college I was a residence hall advisor in a dorm that was advertised as being more studious, including a zero-tolerance policy on alcohol (students could be kicked out if seen even holding an empty beer can). I'm sure the grades in the dorm were higher, but hat dorm tended to attract students who were going to be more studious/less drunkenly already.

I have an anecdote about a religious college that bans alcohol, and students would get drunk outside and drive back drunk, so there's a lingering question about whether the policy saves more lives in sum.

I don't see the same complexities or side effects with banning video games, TV, or even weed.

Re: College students lost access to legal pot and started getting better grades

#65

Post by jumbopapa »

siliconc0w wrote: post #62

I knew a couple of semi-heavy users that were great students but they were probably the exception. Similar to alcohol, young people tend to fall into the 'more is better' fallacy and overdo it. Especially with things like concentrates or edibles. I think there is a bit of a 'ballmer peak' to help with certain tasks but it requires some diligence around strain and dosage and it's not for everyone.

There are obviously exceptions - the last bit of the article kind of explained that.

>But what the Maastricht study can do is provides highly credible evidence that marijuana legalization will lead to decreased academic success — perhaps particularly so for struggling students

Basically good students will continue to.be good, but the bad students will suffer.

Re: College students lost access to legal pot and started getting better grades

#66

Post by thescribe »

chickenfries wrote: post #41
ellyagg wrote: post #36

I believe it. However, there's more to life than squeezing maximal efficiency and productivity out of human beings.

Exactly. You could probably do the same thing for alcohol. Or video games.

This is not data, but in my peer group there is a strong connection between those who dropped out and those who had self control issues with any of those.

Re: College students lost access to legal pot and started getting better grades

#69

Post by ntsplnkv2 »

snuxoll wrote: post #54
ntsplnkv2 wrote: post #33

It's sad to see such a brigade of hate/insecurity around any pot study. It's a shame. Every time there is some inkling of negativity the panic sets in, they criticize the study (which is valid, but how often is the criticism valid), they bring up how alcohol is worse, when this wasn't even a comparison to alcohol. Marijuana should absolutely be legalized. But we can't just ignore its effects. I get it-weed helps a lo…

I mean, who would have thought a distraction would affect grades? Video games, alcohol, parties, weed, whatever - you think any of these benefit your grades? Of course not. The results of this study aren't surprising, but the potential for it to be used as political ammo rightfully annoys pro-marijuana advocates. Personally, I'm all for legal weed - but trying to shuffle this study under the deck doesn't benefit anyo…

It's a study. It should be released regardless of agendas or politics or if it didn't agree with someone's worldview. If there are any negative effects from weed, I (and everyone) should want to know about it first or as soon as possible.

We need more studies on everything to expand our knowledge. But this study compared people who smoked pot and people who didn't. I imagine many of them played video games, partied, or were drinkers. Yes, everything should be studied, but just because something else is bad, doesn't make everything else okay, and this is my main concern with this line of thinking.

My main point is that highly politicized issues cloud science and fact. Another example is climate change. It's just frustrating to see both sides of this argument use anecdotes, logical fallacies, etc, just because something somewhat threatens their worldview.

Re: College students lost access to legal pot and started getting better grades

#70

Post by mejari »

43224gg252 wrote: post #46
ntsplnkv2 wrote: post #33

It's sad to see such a brigade of hate/insecurity around any pot study. It's a shame. Every time there is some inkling of negativity the panic sets in, they criticize the study (which is valid, but how often is the criticism valid), they bring up how alcohol is worse, when this wasn't even a comparison to alcohol. Marijuana should absolutely be legalized. But we can't just ignore its effects. I get it-weed helps a lo…

>Every time there is some inkling of negativity the panic sets in, they criticize the study Source? Is there any empirical evidence that this is happening or is this just what you're telling your self? IMHO, it's quite the opposite -- anytime cannabinoids are shown to have medical value people claim "correlation does not imply causation" and "we need more studies" and "this only works in a lab!!1".

>Source?

The bottom half-dozen comments on this article?

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