71–80 of 120 posts
"The most rigorous study yet" I searched the article for placebo and didn't find any mention.
How would you propose a placebo in this context?
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…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Would love to see the same experiment repeated somehow, but for alcohol / partying. Then compare the two.
But people (leaving alcoholics aside) drink alcohol for relaxation and for stimulation. For example, some see it as "liquid courage" and after a buzz, do things that they wouldn't have sober, some of these things even end up being a net positive. And then there's the culture of drinking, in which people work hard and play hard. Removing alcohol from that situation might give people more headache-free Mondays, but might have a negative effect on morale.
I'm sure many of us who drink can also say that some of our best memories/experiences happened after a few beers/shots. Again, I wasn't a pot smoker, but I'm having a hard time thinking of anytime I've done anything exciting with people who were stoned.
Unfortunately any real controlled studies are going to be difficult as long as Marijuana remains such a vilified topic, which results in studies like this being used as ammo rather than another point of data.
I quit smoking weed years ago when I noticed when I was reading that I had forgotten the meaning of some words that I once knew. Smoking is great until it makes you stupid.
It's amazing what you can forget, even stuff that has been drilled into you. I'd forgotten how to do long division until recently, despite doing it over and over again in primary school to pick one example. The brain is very much "use it or lose it".
Seems like no one's commenting that the study isn't actually about marijuana - it's regarding the access to the cafes. My instinct tells me that they're probably not entirely off on the conclusion but it seems like a more complicated relationship - if I couldn't get into the place where all my friends hung out, of course I'd have more time to study!
From the study:
We find no change in reported study hours, which suggests
that we can eliminate effort adjustments as one channel of
our results. [1]
[1] http://www.restud.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/MS20610manu...
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Humans: still acting like humans, film at 11. It also shouldn't need saying that this is hardly unique to pot. Also, it won't change. How many millennia have been spent since someone figured out fruit ferments into something that makes you feel good? And yet people continue to slide into alcoholism every day, in every culture. Even the ones where it is illegal. That said, sure, I can see a temporary effect where lega…
> And yet people continue to slide into alcoholism every day, in every culture. Even the ones where it is illegal. This is a strange thing to "even". You'd expect alcohol to be illegal where it was more of a problem, not where it was less of a problem. In cultures where nobody succumbs to alcoholism, why would alcohol be prohibited?
I'll save you the first half of that effort: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_alcohol...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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,…