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When Adolescents Give Up Pot, Their Cognition Quickly Improves

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

#171

Post by kaybe »

ngngngng wrote: post #156
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."

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…

That makes it sound as if we should let people that only have a few days to live take all the heroin they want, actually. Maybe we should.

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

#172

Post by AlwaysRock »

narzu wrote: post #5
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.

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.

Why? Why shouldnt we legalize all drugs that are healthier than drugs we have already deemed healthy enough to be legal?

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

#173

Post by engineeringwoke »

unethical_ban wrote: post #146
rv-de wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with "banal" activities?

You're right, it's a matter of values. Banal: Overeating/overdrinking/overconsuming, sitting around, reading reddit/HN for hours, playing video games or twitch. Not banal: Challenging yourself to new activities or hobbies that require skill. Seeing the world, interacting with other people IRL. Learning (new topics, reading, etc). Building things. Getting out of your comfort zone. Essentially, being passive/not learni…

Banal is a pretty negative connotation for activities that I think are pretty core to human happiness

Some of the unhappiest people I know obsess over optimizing every second to be productive

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

#174

Post by carbocation »

kaybe wrote: post #171
ngngngng wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

That makes it sound as if we should let people that only have a few days to live take all the heroin they want, actually. Maybe we should.

There is extensive research and clinical practice on the topic of comfort-measure care at the end of life. Opioids are, indeed, often felt to be helpful at the very end.

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

#175

Post by nicoburns »

Balero wrote: post #86
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…

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."

I have a similar attitude to MSG. It's probably not going to give you cancer, or cause any serious health problems, but it makes you ok with eating non-nutritious food that would otherwise be bland and tasteless.

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

#176

Post by BearsAreCool »

kaybe wrote: post #171
ngngngng wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

That makes it sound as if we should let people that only have a few days to live take all the heroin they want, actually. Maybe we should.

That pretty much already happens with painkillers in many cases.

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

#177

Post by 3pt14159 »

naner wrote: post #115
zaarn wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

It is.

This topic is more complex than simple HN comments are going to cover. There are different types of ADHD and though ADHD is good for software development (because of hyperfocus) it's also correlated with having a lower IQ. So high functioning ADHD people are a rarity and they're often in software or something similar for a multitude of reasons.

What you read here is how smart people with ADHD feel about their condition. It's dangerous to extrapolate to the broader public. You're also going to miss much of the conversation because most people that have tried pot once or twice aren't going to comment on it because they know how it's going to end up in a database somewhere. So you're going to see more pro-pot arguments than "I tried it and it didn't work for me" arguments.

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

#178

Post by Analog24 »

nashashmi wrote: post #113

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.

What are you talking about? That's a ridiculous overgeneralization. There are plenty of things that kids do NOT recover from and we now know that moderate marijuana use is NOT one of them.

edit: emphasized the double negative to prevent further confusion. It could have been phrased better.

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

#179

Post by engineeringwoke »

GrumpiNerd wrote: post #141
rv-de wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how is that bad? Okay - so you normally would feel unpleasant. Now you don't because of weed. Of course you can argue weed is unhealthy - totally possible. But regarding the perceived state change. How is that causing harm? Because s/he's not going to become wealthy or "successful"?

Being able to not rely on government assistance for ANYTHING, including health care, would be a start.

As a young, successful stoner living in Western Europe, I salute your ignorance

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

#180

Post by dredds »

rv-de wrote: post #123
IanCal wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

I think it depends on your definition of boredom. What does feeling bored mean to you?

Most people say that weed helps them be more creative, which is the opposite of the South Park quote. Having creative thoughts and dreams but not acting on them can lead to depression. "Being in the moment" is doing what you are thinking, and not letting worry or doubt stop you. Hence the creative energy people often get when high.
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