Earlier quoted context omitted.
Invent better drugs?
Invent a better way of life so reality is the coolest thing possible.
Drugs are the some of tools I use to make reality the coolest thing possible.
When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves
151–160 of 543 posts
Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves
#152Maybe 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…
Well, same can be said about watching television, playing games or staring at your phone.
Now, if there is no adverse health issue other than making you a little dumber, shouldn't we also ban a host of other habits that cause just a bit of harm to you? What about eating sweets that may give you a bit of pleasure but are also unhealthy if ingested regularly? What about driving car to cinema when you could watch the movie in safety of your home without causing pollution or risking getting your kids in an accident?
Or maybe, just maybe, the freedom is value in itself and we should allow people to make decisions even if they are not optimal for themselves and for others who may have to chip in to pay for somebody elses mistakes?
Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves
#153Earlier quoted context omitted.
I definitely benefit from this. I find pot to be a great context switcher. Formerly after working on a problem for long hours, when I would go home I would still be immersed in the problem and unable to take my mind off it. Now when I come and have my things in order I warm up a vape bag and put on some jazz and am able to completely detach from work and really just enjoy my nights.
I have never understood this concept of detaching from work only to wake up the next day and having to face it. Why would you detach so much? Relaxing is overrated. It deprives you of powers you have developed or will develop, only to make you a more powerless person. And a powerless person can never and should never relax.
And I never understood slaving away for your employee while you're not getting paid for it.
Relaxing is not overrated at all, it improves your ability to focus, and even makes you more productive. Far from depriving you of any powers or skills.
Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves
#154A 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"
Can we just ... not? Everyone I know who consumes cannabis on a regular basis is very successful, smart and thoughtful ... now what?
Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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?
Within the middle of the cognition bell curve, yes. Pattern recognition, organizational skills, general personal awareness and motivation are all higher in the non-smokers I know compared to the daily smokers.
So then actually you're just talking about the average, right? If that's the case, then I think it's a bit harder to justify that cannabis use is the cause of those symptoms and not an effect of them.
Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves
#156Maybe 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…
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."
These are the kind of honest explanations for drugs that we need more of. Most people that do heroin don't become prostitutes to fund the habit. But once you've done it, no matter what happens in your life, it's not as good as that time you did heroin in your friends basement. And that's really sad.
edit: I'm being rightfully called out. I haven't done heroin and didn't mean to authoritatively say that there is only one realistic outcome. I only meant that painting the picture of drugs completely ruining your entire life isn't accurate, we all know very successful people that regularly do drugs.
Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves
#157I gave up pot and switched to hashish. Big difference for me.
Is hashish commonly available in the US? I get the impression all discussions are about weed/pot.
Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Within the middle of the cognition bell curve, yes. Pattern recognition, organizational skills, general personal awareness and motivation are all higher in the non-smokers I know compared to the daily smokers.
So then actually you're just talking about the average, right? If that's the case, then I think it's a bit harder to justify that cannabis use is the cause of those symptoms and not an effect of them.
I mean excluding exceptional cases. Someone who has an IQ of 150 who starts smoking daily will still probably be more cognizant than a sober person with an IQ of 80.
Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
I definitely benefit from this. I find pot to be a great context switcher. Formerly after working on a problem for long hours, when I would go home I would still be immersed in the problem and unable to take my mind off it. Now when I come and have my things in order I warm up a vape bag and put on some jazz and am able to completely detach from work and really just enjoy my nights.
I use a completely different method (to detach from whatever it is - work or something else). I pick an instrument and play some music. Something anyone can do, as long as you don't fret about being good or not.
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Re: When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Unfortunately not. If you spend a long time smoking you'll end up permanently slower in the brain. I'm sorry, but what? You can't make claims like that without providing evidence to back it up.
Here you go: https://www.drugabuse.gov/news-events/nida-notes/2016/09/reg...
"Permanent" implies that you'd have to look at people who did pot a while ago and then stopped. This data (and any data on current users) is consistent with the alternative hypothesis that the changes are temporary and will revert after ceasing use.