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

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#171

Post by superfamicom » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 8:40 PM UTC

I use marijuana every single day, either via a vape pen, a dab pen, or drinking it. I don't really count topical use but you can if you like.

Something I see many people fall into is expecting the high to be something, or, to do something for them. This expectation will lead to resentment and feeling let down by the high (possibly much worse when you go seeking a "stronger" high) when the user really went in with no intention in mind. With no intention in mind you will end up doing nothing, much like having no intention in mind and going into a social network only to emerge 2 hours later not feeling satisfied.

Unlike several of the comments here I found that I was more social, more active, and more willing to take risks in all aspects of life than I would when I was sober. It has led to a sustained and growing yoga practice, which also led to something of a "spiritual" side I had never noticed. Projects I had dropped over the years have been picked up and completed without the fear or failure or ridicule that comes from an incredibly high anxiety while sober.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#172

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 8:43 PM UTC

dustingetz wrote: post #137

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.

social interaction is how we cooperate as a species so from the species’ perspective this is a downside

[deleted]

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#173

Post by prithee » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 8:50 PM UTC

lvspiff wrote: post #142

After legalizing it in Vegas I've noticed a constant lingering smell from a couple neighbors in my neighborhood. Its gotten to the point where its getting to be annoying cause most of them don't want to make their own house smell bad so they smoke outside. I'm for pot legalization and thought it was a fair idea, but like with regular smoking if your doing it within 20 ft of someone who's not and doesn't want to smell…

I have the same issue with my neighbors and it is a drag. Doesn't even repel mosquitoes or anything useful, just cuts into my summer.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#174

Post by illegalsmile » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 8:50 PM UTC

yesdocs wrote: post #64

I have been smoking pot since I was 14 years old, I am 51 now. I would stop smoking from time to time, sometimes to prepare for football, sometimes because society wanted me too. I am not a lazy person, I smoke a sativa strain to get me motivated, it acts like a stimulant that can help me focus.. laser like focus to drown out daily distractions. I'll smoke an indica strain to sleep well at night. I have been a highly…

This isn't directed at you but all heavy decade-plus smokers I know say similar things. This makes me wonder, if you've smoked for 30+ years with minor breaks due to football/society how do you really know what your baseline is sober for a long period of time if you started as a young adult?

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#175

Post by Herodotus38 » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 8:51 PM UTC

omegaworks wrote: post #60

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.

With that framing, you're omitting the most important part of the article: All of the most powerful, most predatory actors in that society are gearing up to make that drug more widely available, experiment with its potency, and capitalize on the notion that it is "the least harmful." I'm grateful they quoted a Stanford professor speaking truth: "We’ve learned enough about capitalism to know that’s very dangerous."

I agree with you. When I read articles like this:

https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/time/5368243/coro...

I feel like we are repeating similar mistakes we made with the tobacco industry.

That company will be doing everything it can to try and increase cannabis use to make more money. Just like the alcohol and tobacco companies.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#176

Post by abraham_lincoln » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 8:52 PM UTC

sevensor wrote: post #140

nate_robo wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was always curious about the mental sharpness / memory portion. I know the short-term memory impairment is well documented but in regards to mental sharpness, that's a bit more nebulous and hard to hone in on. Is there any evidence that the use of cannabis effects cognitive ability while not under the effects or "high" of the drug?

As an unscientific experiment, compare the rate of spelling and grammar errors in the comments on this article to the error rate in HN comments overall. I think I see a pattern, but it may be that all I'm seeing is my own biases.

So, the phone's autocorrect is smoking?

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#177

Post by dsnuh » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 8:54 PM UTC

Confiks wrote: post #160

I think it's a mistake to legalize cannabis and continue to treat it like any other consumer product, opening the floodgates to gratuitous advertisements and dubious health claims. Instead, the sale of cannabis (and perhaps other drugs) should be treated as a public health issue, where the sale is permitted as long as it isn't advertised and proper information is given about the product. The Netherlands partly has th…

As long as you are also willing to do the same with alcohol, which I would absolutely argue is a much more damaging drug to both the individual and society at large.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#178

Post by heurist » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 8:56 PM UTC

nate_robo wrote: post #59

insickness wrote: post #17

In the past I was addicted to pot. I was addicted in the sense that pretty much everything felt better when I was high. I was more relaxed and had less anxiety. Sex was better. Food tasted better. I was more creative. I thought about much deeper things. I spent less time online and in front of screens. The biggest downside for me--and the reason I ended up quitting--was that my sober life just sucked in comparison. I…

I was always curious about the mental sharpness / memory portion. I know the short-term memory impairment is well documented but in regards to mental sharpness, that's a bit more nebulous and hard to hone in on. Is there any evidence that the use of cannabis effects cognitive ability while not under the effects or "high" of the drug?

I think the worst change I made after I began regularly smoking was ceasing my regular workouts. I felt that I was making more intellectual and emotional progress with regular meditation while high than I was with my body during workouts, which I struggled with at the time for various reasons. My life has become much busier since I began smoking (much of which I positively attribute to the creativity I felt while smoking), and I haven't been able to get back into a regular workout schedule, despite not smoking often anymore. I am thinking now that the biggest detrimental impact on my memory and happiness came from losing my exercise routine more than the marijuana itself.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#179

Post by froogie » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 8:56 PM UTC

dgzl wrote: post #93

magic_beans wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Edit: If this sounds like a off-place rant, it was not my intent. :)

If you haven't smoked from dawn till dusk day in day out, you can't really say people can achieve responsibility with it.

What I am saying is not to disagree, but to state that if you're a person who ends up smoking 12-16 times a day, there isn't much willpower left to handle anything but immediate responsibilities.

You may not use much, and you may not notice how your pot use affects you. But of you ever end up using more regularly, more pot per unit of time, do not fool yourself and believe it doesn't have its adverse effects.

But if you do really think that pot doesn't really impede your motivation, drive, social life etc., then show yourself. Quit for a while, if you can. If you've been deep enough into the hole, coming out will feel like a constant mental overdrive. I've heard it feels kind of like similar bliss people say they might get from meditation, or if you were under very mild psychedelics. Ideas, people, arts, everything feel more innately interesting. As if depression lifts, and the whole experience of being feels more vibrant or vivid. And slowly but surely it all fades away, if you go back to regular smoking.

Yeah, anecdotes from some other life.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#180

Post by tree_of_item » Mon, Aug 20, 2018, 8:59 PM UTC

Animats wrote: post #153

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…

"All human evil comes from a single cause, man's inability to sit still in a room." - Blaise Pascal Now that's out of date. Between TV, video games, and the Web, there's now way too much ability to sit still in a room.

No, I don't think TV, video games and the Web really count as sitting "still". They don't fulfill the spirit of that quote. "Sitting still" in this context is about being contemplative, not being distracted by a glowing box.