More Americans report near-constant cannabis use • Hacker News Board

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#91

Post by 40acres » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 7:07 PM UTC

I've been a pretty consistent pot smoker since 2014-15, which was when Oregon legalized it. Prices have dropped considerably so it's not uncommon to get a pre-roll of pretty strong stuff (20+ % THC) for $5. I have not noticed any health effects although I have built up a slight tolerance. Using a vape pen got me the biggest high but I decided to get rid of it.

I find that when I'm high I can really think deeply about things, smoking once in a while kinds of recharges my mental state. More than once I've realized "Damn, I'm human, I can do whatever I want.. that's kind of crazy". Seems kind of loosey goosey but its a cool feeling.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#92

Post by ravenstine » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 7:08 PM UTC

samsonradu wrote: post #32

meesterdude wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a false equivalency. opiates and tobacco have vastly higher toxicity than marijuana - which is lower toxicity than aspirin or caffeine.

What's toxic with caffeine?

Caffeine overdose is extremely rare but its LD50 is a lot lower than the THC/cannabinoids in cannabis.

From this page:

https://www.westword.com/news/dear-stoner-how-much-thc-equal...

> For THC, there are varying figures, ranging from 1,260 milligrams of THC per kilogram of body weight down to 666 mg/kg. Even going with the lowest figure, a 175-pound man would have to consume more than 53 whole grams of pure THC all at once. [...] Need more perspective? Caffeine has an LD50 of 192 mg/kg, and nicotine is around 60 mg/kg.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#93

Post by dgzl » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 7:08 PM UTC

magic_beans wrote: post #65

dgzl wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In other words, it made me feel fine just hanging out in my apartment doing nothing. I've experienced this as well, but I don't consider it an inherit downside. To me, this is just my personal self being satisfied and at peace with not needing more than I have. Frequently I like to smoke alone in nature, just so I can rest peacefully.

If I had zero obligations or goals in life, I would smoke pot all day every day. But since, like OP, it makes me want to sit at home and do nothing (not inherently a bad thing), it impedes my goals of producing creative work. There is a fine line, I think, between people who can smoke pot responsibly (every few days or only once a week) and people who cannot go a single day (or even a few hours) without smoking.

As I've said in another post, I smoke about everyday, but I don't have any problem pursuing my goals, producing creative works, or excelling in my career.

The fine line you're talking about does exist, but it doesn't have anything to do with the frequency of usage. Responsibility can be achieved with or without pot.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#94

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 7:09 PM UTC

DmenshunlAnlsis wrote: post #90

ralusek wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everything is a social construction. The default state of life isn't being relaxed and comfortable, the default state is starvation and defending against disease, predation, and conflict. In your world where everyone is cooking and playing, who provides the food? Who staves away conflict? What lifeform on Earth let you to believe that the default state of being was effortless comfort?

Looking at a lot of life, it’s more like long periods of rest interspersed with very short, very high intensity struggle. Big cats sleep most of the day, lizards bask, snakes and crocodiles just hang around. Most non-grazing animals spend a majority of time resting or asleep, conserving energy for big stakes bursts. Hell, lots of mammals sleep through whole seasons!

[deleted]

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#95

Post by lev99 » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 7:09 PM UTC

moosey wrote: post #51

samsonradu wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's toxic with caffeine?

It is difficult but not impossible to overdose on caffeine and die. I'm not sure if this is the toxicity that the previous poster meant, but it could be. It appears that 30 cups of coffee is about the threshold where you get to serious danger, but that sounds insane... I've got terrible nausea after four or five cups of light roast (which has more caffeine). Caffeine pills & powder are far more dangerous. It is very…

> Caffeine pills & powder are far more dangerous. It is very easy to overdose on them, and death is not out of the question. It still isn't common.

Caffeine pills usually come in 200mg. Caffeine has an LD50 of about 200mg/kg of body mass. In US units a 150lb person would have to consume 68 caffeine pills to reach LD50 levels.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#96

Post by lev99 » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 7:11 PM UTC

akvadrako wrote: post #85

rgrieselhuber wrote: post #61

Soma is a key component in keeping people happy when they shouldn’t be.

soma ?

It's a Brave New World (by Aldous Huxley) reference. It's worth reading if you haven't.

EDIT: In the book Huxley imagines a new society. One of the hallmarks of the society is there is no pain or suffering. This is accomplished in part by Soma, a fictional drug perhaps best described as a no negative side effect tranquilizer or opiate.

EDIT EDIT: The society also removes almost all major sources of pain. A person is chemically engineered (was written before the discovery of DNA) to be happy with their job and position in life since conception. There are no parents. There is sex but no romantic love. In avoiding pain almost all the happiness in the society is superficial, coming from sex, drugs and movies. They might be happy, in the most shallow meaning of the word, but there is clearly no joy.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#97

Post by saturdaysaint » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 7:15 PM UTC

I'll take these "findings" seriously when they show that pot smokers are getting divorced and fired at statistically significantly greater rates than the general population. In a country where a huge percentage of marriages end in divorce and many fields are grinds with high turnover, it's naive to just nod our heads and accept self reports of "ruined marriages" at face value.

In our highly regimented, low paid holiday, socially isolated, pedestrian hostile society, doesn't every leisurely outlet result in a fairly large percentage of heavy/habitual users? And yet some will never stop looking for a convenient bogeyman to pin all of our ills on, whether it's addictive videogames or internet porn or pinball machines or weed.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#98

Post by frockington » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 7:17 PM UTC

fithisux wrote: post #53

The new business model of the big tobacco and a ground breaking solution to poverty and unemployment, the handicapped junkie citizen willing to throw away liberty for pot or smokes. I smell a new Nobel in economics.

Pretty soon we'll get a Jule (sounds like jewel, not sure on spelling) combined with weed and we can get the handicapped junkie citizen on pot AND smokes.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#99

Post by nothrabannosir » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 7:17 PM UTC

colemickens wrote: post #84

andbberger wrote: post #34

Alternative headline: citizens of deeply broken society turn to least harmful drug available to them to dull the pain of their shitty lives.

Yup. Americans invented it in the last couple decades and all of us thate use it, at any frequency, are losers and burnouts with shitty lives. Edit: removed the rest of my comment, going to be hopeful and assume the reply I got was correct. Sincere apologies for not reading in better faith.

GP is empathising with pot users. It’s a comment on the unreasonable stresses of life for a majority of people in modern society, and the taboo on medication and drugs policy.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#100

Post by gowld » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 7:20 PM UTC

ralusek wrote: post #86

coldtea wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In other words, it made me feel fine just hanging out in my apartment doing nothing. That should be the natural state of man, though, I'd extend it to meeting with friends, cooking, playing, etc -- that is, being "non-productive". It took a lot of advertising and protestant ethic working hand in hand through opposing ends to move the needle towards full on consumption and full on productivity. "All human evil comes…

Not everything is a social construction. The default state of life isn't being relaxed and comfortable, the default state is starvation and defending against disease, predation, and conflict. In your world where everyone is cooking and playing, who provides the food? Who staves away conflict? What lifeform on Earth let you to believe that the default state of being was effortless comfort?

Your "default" is overbroad.

The default state of life is different in the frozen tundra vs the temperate rainforest. Some people live in areas where there is natural abundance of easily exploitable resources. Modernizing a bit, some people live in areas where the minimal acceptable standard of living can be supported on a few hours of work per week.