When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves • Hacker News Board

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#111

Post by nashashmi » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:33 PM UTC

nobody271 wrote: post #108

Waterluvian wrote: post #67

Maybe this is too reductionist but I once heard someone describe it as, "there's nothing fundamentally dangerous about pot, but one of its (often intended) effects is that is slows our engines down. And some of us need to be firing on all cylinders." School was a tricky time for me. I'm thriving intellectually now, but I was a C- student pretty much 4th-12th grade. I needed those cycles that pot would have robbed me…

If you use it right you don't just vegitate. It makes you far better at many tasks and can be used to do epic amounts of work so long as you get your work that requires a lot of thinking done first.

All drugs work this way: alcohol, cigarettes, weed, facebook, coffee, etc.

The problem is confining to a narrow usage pattern. It is just impossible for 99.99% of people over 30 years of their lives. All will make mistakes at one point.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#112

Post by rv-de » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:34 PM UTC

CosmicSteve wrote: post #8

narzu wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that alcohol and tobacco are legal doesn't mean we should legalise all drugs that are somewhat healthier than alcohol and tobacco. I think we can do much better.

We can do much better? What the hell does that mean? More drug prohibition? Yeah, that's been working out just peachy. Portugal's decriminalization of all drugs has led to a sharp drop across the board in drug usage and an increase in effective rehabilitative outcomes.

I believe that we should expect responsible behavior from adults. Only this way a society can also develop responsibility. By prohibiting everything that is dangerous (or just considered as such) humans never actually get a chance to grow up.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#113

Post by nashashmi » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:37 PM UTC

Nothing news here. We all know kids recover quickly. Their minds are still developing and they can shake off whatever bad effects they have accumulated.

Title might as well be:

When Adolescents Give Up Pizza, their health quickly improves.

When Adolescents Give Up bad habits, their behavior quickly improves.

When Adolescents Give Up Facebook, their social circle quickly improves.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#114

Post by kodablah » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:37 PM UTC

jerf wrote: post #18

narzu wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that alcohol and tobacco are legal doesn't mean we should legalise all drugs that are somewhat healthier than alcohol and tobacco. I think we can do much better.

We have done much better. Look at tobacco usage. It hasn't plummeted because it was outlawed. I don't think we'd necessarily get the same plummet with marijuana, because the health story isn't quite as uniformly bad, and I get the sense that pot users don't get as acclimated as cigarette users, who seem to be smoking not to feel good but to avoid withdrawal. (Just on the drug's own terms, tobacco is a really bad deal…

> Look at tobacco usage. It hasn't plummeted because it was outlawed.

Disagree to some extent. Outlawing of most indoor smoking has decreased usage significantly. Also disagree with reasons for smoking vs not since many do smoke recreationally to feel good as opposed to fear of withdrawal. Sure, most of the addicted are the latter, but the laws are there to target everyone.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#115

Post by naner » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:37 PM UTC

zaarn wrote: post #80

Waterluvian wrote: post #67

Maybe this is too reductionist but I once heard someone describe it as, "there's nothing fundamentally dangerous about pot, but one of its (often intended) effects is that is slows our engines down. And some of us need to be firing on all cylinders." School was a tricky time for me. I'm thriving intellectually now, but I was a C- student pretty much 4th-12th grade. I needed those cycles that pot would have robbed me…

One the other hand, people who feel like their engines are firing on all cylinders all the time (ie ADHD and friends) might find some relief in a drug that allows them to slow down and switch of their head radio while firing on only one cylinder...

Isn't ADHD typically treated with stimulants?

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#116

Post by shawnz » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:38 PM UTC

5trokerac3 wrote: post #59

S0ckpupp3t wrote: post #4

A drug more benign than alcohol. Smoke too much, take a nap. Smoke too often, cut down and get sharp again. Drink too much, you get flu symptoms. Drink too much too often, you get a new liver, or die.

"more benign" !== "benign" Everyone I know that smokes daily (a lot of people) is less cognitive than those I know who don't smoke, in every arena except artistic pursuits. And not everyone reacts to weed the same way. I decided to quit when I recognized a lessened ability to solve complex coding questions the day after smoking.

> Everyone I know that smokes daily (a lot of people) is less cognitive than those I know who don't smoke

Are you saying that the most "cognitive" smoker you know is less so than the least cognitive non-smoker?

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#117

Post by moviuro » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:38 PM UTC

GDPR-compliant link: https://text.npr.org/s.php?sId=662127406

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#118

Post by nabla9 » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:38 PM UTC

Pediatric neurology and neurology are different specialties in medicine because developing brains are very different from adult brains.

I'm all for legalizing pot and it's just natural that young people _experiment_ with drugs. That does not mean that constant drug use during adolescence should be perceived as normal or harmless.

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#119

Post by 49para » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:39 PM UTC

maybe it's due to Canada legalizing cannabis, but I feel like I've been seeing a lot more "pot is bad" messaging lately.

Is this to head off any other countries from thinking about legalization ?

Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

#120

Post by IanCal » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 2:40 PM UTC

rv-de wrote: post #104

Balero wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

South Park put it quite well: "Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorism, but… well, son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored. And it's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything."

> pot makes you feel fine with being bored. How do you define "boredom"? According to Oxford Dictionary it means: "Feeling weary and impatient because one is unoccupied or lacks interest in one's current activity." [1] As far as my observations go this is particularly not fitting the perception experienced under the influence of weed. Weed makes you feel - provided one responds positive to it - not weary, not impatie…

> As far as my observations go this is particularly not fitting the perception experienced under the influence of weed.

And that is the point of what they're saying. Being bored can be uncomfortable. One route out of that is to do something more interesting and productive, another is to alter your perception so that you are ok with it.