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

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

#371

Post by b1r6 » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:33 PM UTC

stochastic_monk wrote: post #183

icebraining wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not my experience; plenty of productive artists (musicians, actors and photographers) among the smokers I know.

I have also known a number of very bright, productive, motivated, successful scientists, engineers, and developers who consume cannabis. Some have spoken highly of brainstorming while stoned, fleshing out the details and narrowing their scope and intentions as they sober up, while others say that it helps them concentrate by slowing down their racing thoughts. And while I've known people who've used it to waste their…

Same here. I know people who bum out with it much like many other vices. I also know many analytical and intellectual minds that enjoy it's effect for more open-ending brainstorming (architecting code for a solution, etc), then they sleep on it, wake up sober, and flesh-out the work from there. It's the balance that makes this work so well.

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

#372

Post by b1r6 » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:35 PM UTC

tekproxy wrote: post #82

5trokerac3 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

Don't big chief on the daily home slice. Save cashing bowls for the weekend and between 5 and 8 pm and you're fine as frogs hair.

While I understand what you mean, many here will not. Cheers!

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

#373

Post by LrnByTeach » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:36 PM UTC

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."

These are the kind of honest discussions we should have.

> 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".

All high school weed smokers are not equal. There are many occasional smokers. For the sake of simplicity, let me put a number here.

High schooler between 9th to 12 grade who smoke weed at least 10 times a week all four years will settle in LIFE below 50% of his potential (compared to how he would have done without weed)

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

#374

Post by thecatspaw » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:39 PM UTC

IMTDb wrote: post #302

josefresco wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

88,000* people die each year from alcohol-related causes in the United States. Clearly there's more to worry about than your "self healing liver". Also, citation needed for your claim about MRI/brain activity. * https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-co...

I never ever said that alcohol is nothing to worry about. I just said that the liver heals better than the brain Please refrain from putting word in my mouth (or anyone) in the future. Sample Citation for the MRI : https://academic.oup.com/schizophreniabulletin/article/40/2/... And if your next point is "yeah but we know nothing about the long lasting effects after your stop", nature has you covered : https://www.nat…

Nature seems to cover you for 3 days after smoking, but what about longer times?

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

#375

Post by Buldak » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:44 PM UTC

thecatspaw wrote: post #338

LrnByTeach wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let us say there are 100 teens in your neighborhood, 65 of them tried eating peanuts and 20 of them liked very much and started eating multiple times a week on a regular basis. Now 5 of those 20 started developing health/mental problems which are noticeable by parents, teachers & doctors. What are the chances of the majority of those 5 stop eating peanuts, It is very high. Now, what are the chances of similar 5 teens…

The same? You can rationalize peanuts beeing unhealthy for you exactly the same way you can rationalize away health issues due to marijuana. "All other people eating it are fine" "I've been eating peanuts for 5 years, and look, Im still alive"

People harmed by peanuts generally aren't interested in eating peanuts and don't do it except by accident. That's not true for drugs.

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

#376

Post by DougN7 » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:44 PM UTC

thecatspaw wrote: post #363

LrnByTeach wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The same? It is not the same. Look at the opioid epidemic in teens across USA, talk to health care providers in that area, there is very well recorded evidence "a BIG percentage" of kids who personally noticed "Learning problems and other mental problems" are UNABLE to STOP using weed. Vs. There is recorded clinical data evidence throughout USA hospitals. Millions of kids across the country were found having various…

Yes, but a food allergy is something you can feel. You feel sick, you might have to go to the hospital once or twice if you ate something which contained peanuts. It is a much tighter feedback loop. Eat some peanuts -> feel sick -> go to hospital. As far as I am aware this loop is very quick. If you extend this feedback loop to span multiple years, the connection between trigger and result is a lot more blurry, and i…

> Peanuts are also not (mentally) addictive, and neither do they alter your mental state.

That is exactly why weed and peanuts should be treated differently.

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

#377

Post by zahrc » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

bitzun wrote: post #365

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")…

Fun anecdote, my Bipolar disorder didn't manifest itself until immediately after the first time I consumed marijuana, and it is now a lifetime endeavor.

I know a lot of people who tried out marijuana as a medication for depression. (well, illegal / no prescription) It helped in the beginning, but most of them just became addicted, paranoid and incredible slow thinkers and figuratively numb.

Depression is hell, but it's not worth giving up your sanity and intellect.

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

#378

Post by warent » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:47 PM UTC

thecatspaw wrote: post #250

warent wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have diagnosed ADD/ADHD. Would hardly consider myself a "victim." It has pros and cons just like everything else in life. Personally I don't take medication and am totally sober. Mindfulness meditation helps tremendously

What pros are there? I havent found any personally.

There's a few that I've found!

1. Hyperfocus. It has been tremendous for programming or even reading. There's sort of an ADD threshold that I break through after ~30 minutes of self discipline and pain. Then I'm suddenly in the zone, some kind unshakeable state, for hours on end. Most people I know seem to need a break after 30-60 minutes, right when I'm just getting into it.

2. Fun and physical activity. I use extreme difficulty of maintaining attention as an indicator that what I'm doing is just not stimulating or interesting enough. Of course this might not be good when you're with other humans, but I find I'm often able to focus on things better when my body is moving. That means when I take someone out on a date somewhere, it's usually very interesting and unusual.

3. Fast context switching. This may be more of a coping mechanism than a benefit, but often times rather than focusing on a single task, I'll "procrastinate" by switching between multiple important tasks repeatedly or working on things that are peripherally related. As a result, I have a breadth of knowledge that helps me think creatively and still get work done as needed.

4. Creative thinking. I believe (anecdotally, no evidence) that people with ADD are less likely to get stuck in a rut, or get bogged down with repetitive, boring, familiar things, because we simply don't have the attention span for it.

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

#379

Post by smileysteve » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:47 PM UTC

LrnByTeach wrote: post #330

BurningFrog wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't think we can treat pot as totally harmless for people under 30 and teens in particular because it seems like it's very harmful for some. You're right, of course. But the same is true of peanuts.

Let us say there are 100 teens in your neighborhood, 65 of them tried eating peanuts and 20 of them liked very much and started eating multiple times a week on a regular basis. Now 5 of those 20 started developing health/mental problems which are noticeable by parents, teachers & doctors. What are the chances of the majority of those 5 stop eating peanuts, It is very high. Now, what are the chances of similar 5 teens…

1 of those 100 peanut eaters would have had to have paramedics immediately, another would have required a benedryl.

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

#380

Post by xkcd-sucks » Wed, Oct 31, 2018, 5:48 PM UTC

leesec wrote: post #85

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...

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 always end up coming home from work, eating dinner, showering, queuing up a movie, smoking weed, having some random insight on a work related problem, and never getting around to the relaxing activity I had planned!