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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

#201

I 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.

It is, but harder to get in non-legal markets (most of the US right now). I work in the industry and the trend seems to be more towards purer concentrates like wax and oil - the margins on those are incredible

I did a bit of thinking why I have preferred hashish and it might have to do with the way the weed is grown : outdoors in large fields in Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon etc.

In other words : not made from indoor/artificial light/heavy strain. Weed sold here in NL is incredibly strong. Too strong.

Outdoors / hands off is much smoother.

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

#202
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…

Or a matter of definition? For me banal means reading a novel or playing a game. Maybe that's because the term "banal" in German means just almost the same as in English. The German "banal" just means "nothing special", "ordinary", "not ingenious".

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

#203
post #43
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And?

And? It's ok if you do not care. But I wanted to make clear that for the body there is a difference between alcohol and other drugs as alcohol, to the body, is mostly just another nutrient (I mean almost all ripe fruits contain a certain amount of alcohol, yet we eat them without problems).

You have that entirely backwards. Our body has receptors for cannabinoids, and our bodies treats ingested sources just as though they were the endocannabinoids we produce naturally.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocannabinoid_system

Meanwhile we don't know of any specific "alcohol receptors", and it seems to just interfere with other standard processes.

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

#204
post #180
post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Maybe weed only helps them feel more creative.

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

#206
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's sort of a balancing act between building safety rails so that people don't accidentally fall off cliffs while hiking while also allowing people the agency to free climb El Cap if they so choose...

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

#207
post #171

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.

Depending on the condition of the patient and the specifics of the palliative care prescribed, that's exactly what happens. Just using morphine minus the extra additves used to make heroin. Add pure oxygen to the mix and I'm not sure the patient notices much of a difference - they're high as a kite regardless.

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

#208
post #39
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Legalizing is doing better. Also society doesn't has the right to keep some drugs illegal while keeping others legal. Stop criminalising someone who chose another drug than you prefer. Illegal should it be when it harms others.

There is a big difference between criminalising/punishing people and hyping drugs as all those cannabis activists do. Smoking may be your personal choice - but I honestly think it would be bad for society if the majority did it. There is a reason that under current law using/selling drugs is punished: society as a whole might suffer.

"There is a reason that under current law using/selling drugs is punished: society as a whole might suffer."

Hate to break it to you, but the "war on drugs" was and is really a war on minorities, and a war against alternatives to prescription drugs (among about a half dozen other nefarious reasons).

When I was 12 I would have believed that "drugs are bad and what's why they're illegal" - I'm no longer 12.

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

#209
post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Sometimes, often, in fact, we need banality to reset ourselves, to rest and recuperate. We're not all Elon Musk, working 90 hours a week and always starting up a new start up. Banality will ensure we don't burn out before we're 40.

Relevant note here is that Elon actually smokes it himself

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

#210
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with "banal" activities?

There is nothing wrong. It's just that they don't contribute to success. Now you might ask, what's wrong with not striving for success? Nothing, I suppose. It's nice however to be able to reach one's fullest potential.

That's such a proud and confident thing to say. No need for a throwaway account.

I would argue that striving for success is often the best way to actually not reach one's fullest potential.

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