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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

#311

Post by pushrax »

darawk wrote: post #281
fhood wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lotta people talking about heroin in this thread, but lets be clear, unless you have tried heroin, or are otherwise intimately familiar with its affects, you are probably not qualified to talk about what it feels like. Not trying to single out parent, just felt like it should be mentioned.

As someone who's done quite a bit of heroin...All of these comments are sort of correct in their own way. On its own turf, no, nothing will ever feel as good as heroin. Normal life experiences can't compete with that, not directly. But there is a one-dimensionality to its goodness that allows you to have experiences that, though i'm not sure they feel "better" than heroin, feel good in different ways that can be more…

The dimensionality is the key part. It's not just a metaphor, it's a physical quantity. Like cheesecake, the neurological response to heroin follows a specific profile of activation. However, (most) humans find fulfillment in far more dimensions than any single activity provides.

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

#313

Post by SuspiciousSwan »

darawk wrote: post #281
fhood wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lotta people talking about heroin in this thread, but lets be clear, unless you have tried heroin, or are otherwise intimately familiar with its affects, you are probably not qualified to talk about what it feels like. Not trying to single out parent, just felt like it should be mentioned.

As someone who's done quite a bit of heroin...All of these comments are sort of correct in their own way. On its own turf, no, nothing will ever feel as good as heroin. Normal life experiences can't compete with that, not directly. But there is a one-dimensionality to its goodness that allows you to have experiences that, though i'm not sure they feel "better" than heroin, feel good in different ways that can be more…

I was trying to get to this with good versus rewarding, but it's one of those things that is so obvious when you feel it, but hard to communicate with people who haven't.

As far as drugs go though, there is a lot of personal preference involved too. For me, MDMA in unhealthy quantities is still the best that I've ever felt, and I know some other people prefer the meth high, but I don't think that's exactly what you are arguing against :)

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

#314

Post by darawk »

andai wrote: post #301
darawk wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who's done quite a bit of heroin...All of these comments are sort of correct in their own way. On its own turf, no, nothing will ever feel as good as heroin. Normal life experiences can't compete with that, not directly. But there is a one-dimensionality to its goodness that allows you to have experiences that, though i'm not sure they feel "better" than heroin, feel good in different ways that can be more…

As someone who's been through many different addictions, I'm starting to appreciate freedom from craving (a specific form of inner peace) more than the pleasure of indulging in a craving. (As well as the subtle benefits to mind and mood that come with it!)

Ya. It's sort of hard to explain to people who haven't experienced it, right? They like to ask "does not cheesecake ever taste as good as cheesecake?" and of course the answer is no: Cheesecake always tastes better than not-cheesecake. But there are other dimensions to experience that aren't captured by the immediacy of taste in that sense.

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

#315

Post by the-dude »

atom-morgan wrote: post #265
the-dude wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, sorry about. Hashish : light high. Contemporary weed : heavy stoned.

Is it a lighter high in general? Is the THC actually lower or what? I don't know too much about it. I've only smoked hashish once and it was offered to me.

I think it is the ratio THC to CDB. Not sure about it. But maybe this is true for true outdoor weed as well, see my other comment.

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

#316

Post by smogcutter »

kadendogthing wrote: post #270
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."

The problem with this quote is that it's too vague and can be applied to general entertainment and leisure time, no drugs needed. You shouldn't be listening to music, you should be creating it. You shouldn't be playing video games, you should be designing them. You shouldn't be just eating food, you should be the one cooking it. You shouldn't be lazing around at the pool, you should be swimming laps. It's disgustingl…

Clearly sitting around on the couch playing video games all day can be just as destructive as sitting on the couch smoking pot all day. Also clearly, there are tons of skilled, industrious people who also smoke pot. I don't think anyone here is saying you should never entertain yourself, but maybe also don't make yourself a slack jawed victim of Infinite Jest.

Moderation is the thing, and for young people in particular that can be a lot to ask.

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

#317

Post by _b4ut »

_dczq wrote: post #283
rv-de wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the prevalent assumption on HN is that every regulation can be traced back to some accident or mistake. It is impossible to put safety rails everywhere (both literally and metaphorically). Some people will try to make selfies on the edge and fall to their death - very tragic - but why do I have to keep those people alive with my tax payments or even be annoyed from the sight of a rail in the middle of nature.…

==I think the prevalent assumption on HN is that every regulation can be traced back to some accident or mistake.== My experience on HN is quite the opposite, but that is besides the point. ==why do I have to keep those people alive with my tax payments or even be annoyed from the sight of a rail in the middle of nature.== This is libertarian ideology in the real-world. Your argument is that your annoyance is as valu…

Well, I am not a Libertarian. I am for regulation in many cases. The difference between a safety rail and traffic lights are this. When I approach an intersection then my health depends more the prudence of the car's driver also approaching the intersection and crossing my path. So putting traffic lights people at least know who can drive and who should stop. But a cliff is an obvious threat. There is nothing insidious about it. If that cliff would be close to an elementary school - then I would be for safety rails, though. Because children are not responsible and hence have to be protected from them self.

Regarding safety belts - I think you didn't get my point. I didn't say they aren't saving lives. I said that back when they didn't exist people drove more careful. With all those protection in place in cars - many people drive more reckless having those protections in mind.

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

#318

Post by kadendogthing »

thinkingemote wrote: post #288
kadendogthing wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with this quote is that it's too vague and can be applied to general entertainment and leisure time, no drugs needed. You shouldn't be listening to music, you should be creating it. You shouldn't be playing video games, you should be designing them. You shouldn't be just eating food, you should be the one cooking it. You shouldn't be lazing around at the pool, you should be swimming laps. It's disgustingl…

I understand the quote to mean that pot makes people okay with being bored. Other recreational activities don't have that same effect. You might do them to stave off boredom, or you won't be bored when doing them, but it's not really the same thing. Video gaming is an interesting one, a form of dopamine addiction. Pot isnt about dopamine I think?

>Other recreational activities don't have that same effect.

I'm sorry what do you think leisure activities are?

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

#319

Post by dmix »

parf02 wrote: post #279

I took pot when I was 22 and it had disastrous effects on my life for over a year after. Had to seek psychiatric help because of it. Had intense depersonalization and panic effects triggered from the one bad pot experience. It's unfortunate that pot is perceived as being so benign. The psychiatrist told me that cases like me are actually not that rare unfortunately.

Just to be clear you never had anxiety or panic attack issues before? You weren't seeing a psychiatrist before but this experience made you seek one out?

I had panic attacks start out of no where when I was around the same age (~21). There was no obvious moment where/why it started but it would keep happening every once in a while.

I first used medication (lorazepam, cipralex) but eventually learned mental tactics to deal with it and now I never have them. Although antidepressants did help a lot early on, they killed my sex drive which wasnt a good trade off.

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

#320

Post by galvin »

framebit wrote: post #278

A therapist friend recently attended a conference where a big group of doctors and health professionals focused around adolescents presented on the link between pot and the development of psychosis and even schizophrenia in users under age 32 or something like that. I've definitely heard about this colloquially with people reacting very differently to the same strain ("we were all fine but she was just freaking out")…

As I understand it THC aggravates symptoms in people predisposed to psychosis. CBD is antipsychotic and can have a balancing effect but unfortunately growers have been selectively breeding and optimizing for high THC at the expense of CBD for decades. The result is that cannabis is more "incompatible" with certain people than it used to be.
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