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U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

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Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#301

Post by dkersten »

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #241
xena wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cannabis addiction is a bitch. It also is really tough to get off of. If you use too much too often, you can get crazy sweats, horrifying nightmares (that are more real than being awake), irritability and headaches that make you want to relapse. The worst part about cannabis addiction is it's mostly psychological.

Cannabis addiction, if that even exists, isn’t a bitch at all. Nicotine addiction is kind of a bitch. Opiate addiction is a bitch.

> if that even exists

Of course it exists. You can be addicted to anything: caffeine, chocolate, sugar, video games. It just means you have a dependence on it that is tough to break. It could be a physical addiction like nicotine or alcohol, but it could be a mental addiction or even just a routine that's hard to break.

Anything that either provides stimulation or that numbs you is, in my opinion, pretty addictive: all you need is someone who is somewhat susceptible to it (maybe they have a stressful job and like a distraction. After a while it becomes routine and hard to break out of).

Just because there are worse addictions doesn't mean its not a big problem and causes people hardships. Your comment seems very callous to me.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#302

Post by dkersten »

o-__-o wrote: post #259
wolco wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does exist. It is a 'bitch' but those others are bastards.

You get addicted to dopamine release, not weed. Nicotine has addictive properties. Opioids have addictive properties. No one has ever sucked dick for a dimebag.

po-tay-toes po-tah-toes

If weed gives you the dopamine release that you're addicted to, then there's no real difference to the user. There are also other mental reasons to get addicted, eg, to the escape from a stressful or unfulfilling or depressing reality.

When taking opioids you are also addicted to a dopamine release, just because it affects that more directly doesn't really mean much beyond that the addiction happens quicker and more intensely.

People can and do get addicted to gambling or video games too and those can destroy lives as well. Maybe not as often as heroin, but it certainly does happen.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#303

Post by dijksterhuis »

silvat wrote: post #285
lawnchair_larry wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That friend was already a deadbeat, with or without the weed. The weed didn’t make them that way. Deadbeats are often attracted to weed, as are many others who want to self-medicate. The deadbeat examples are just more readily available, because the upstanding successful folks are aware of this misconception and the stigma. They tend to keep quiet about it, except among their own. As I get older, I keep discovering “…

You're characterization of these people simply as deadbeats trying to avoid responsibility is both extremely insensitive and simple minded. How deep a person can gets caught up in addiction is usually a reflection of their emotional health. They're not trying to escape responsibility, they're trying to escape being alive.

I really wanted wanted to reply to the parent comment too, but you’ve done a better job than I ever could. Thank you.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#304

Post by meiraleal »

ksaj wrote: post #256
lawnchair_larry wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correlation, not causation

That doesn't apply in this case, because the causation is well documented. The developing brain can suffer various types of delays when thc or just about any other intoxicant is distracting said developing brain's ability to actually develop. Problems occur when the brain is too preoccupied in La La Land to develop optimally for the real world. There's a huge difference between the "thinker" and the "space cadet" whe…

Funny point: I do think that we have a better ratio of Carl Sagans/Tommy Chong in the universe of pot smokers than in the non-smokers universe. Maybe the tommy chongs that don't smoke are a little bit smarter, but they probably are more sad/depressed.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#305

Post by decoyworker »

meiraleal wrote: post #188

I smoke heavily for 10 years and if I could say something about the cognitive changes, it was for better. I learnt two foreign languages, more programming languages that I can count with one hand and got out of depression by means of self-awareness and meditation after a joint. Weed+Youtube surely is harmful, but so it is only Youtube (with less fun).

So if you did not smoke you would not have accomplished those things?

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#306

Post by lm28469 »

thermonot wrote: post #161
lm28469 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't OD as in heroin/cocain OD but you can definitely take doses that will make you sick, trigger paranoias, &c. It's virtually impossible for an adult/teenager to die due to the direct effects of cannabis.

Does suicide count? > The terrifying timeline of how a Colorado teen ate a pot cookie and then jumped to his death https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/0...

I meant that you can die from the direct physical effects (as in just having it in your system will kill you) of drugs like heroin, cocaine, caffeine, alcohol, &c. but drugs like cannabis can't be consumed fast enough to kill you (or you'd have to do it on purpose by injecting thc extract straight to your veins or something like that). It's the same with lsd actually, the lethal dose is 0.2-1mg/kg, the usual dose is 100-200ug. So a 75kg adult would need to consume 15mg of lsd = 15000ug = 150 normal sized blotters, which would cost you at least 150*5$, no way to accidentally OD on that.

But yeah if you're unstable in the first place, one too many beer or one to many joint and you'll do stupid shit. Anyway, always research, buy from renown sources, test your drugs (kits are available on amazon, ebay, &c.), do it in a safe environment with people you trust, don't use drugs when depressed or suicidal.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#307

Post by sharadov »

dkersten wrote: post #298
sharadov wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's profoundly sad. But I don't blame the drug, people need to figure out boundaries.

One thing to note is that most weed strains now are very high in THC and low in CBD. Naturally, they were much more balanced and I think high-THC might be part of the problem and consuming more balanced (and lower percentage) strains may be much better. Anecdotally, I definitely find that higher less balanced strains give me more of a brain fog than weaker more balanced strains (less balanced strains but taking CBD p…

I read somewhere that the percentage of THC now is almost 10X what it used to be in the 70s.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#308

Post by emteycz »

dkersten wrote: post #299
TomMarius wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chronic weed usage changes the way you're high. The time distortion nearly goes away and you can control your attention pretty well. I'm not endorsing driving high of course.

From watching chronic weed smoking friends... I do not believe this. If anything, they're much worse and much scarier more dangerous while driving. They definitely should not ever drive high.

Isn't that because they're also thinking they're invincible and can handle it, so the weed usage does not actually cause their driving behavior? At least that's the case with my own acquintances who drive high. As I said, I also don't think it should be allowed to drive high, however the effect long term usage has on a person is genuine, albeit definitely not generalizable - I'm pretty sure the strain is an important factor.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#309

Post by lawnchair_larry »

dijksterhuis wrote: post #296
lawnchair_larry wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cannabis addiction, if that even exists, isn’t a bitch at all. Nicotine addiction is kind of a bitch. Opiate addiction is a bitch.

I’m in recovery for drug and alcohol abuse and spent a lot of time with other recovering drug addicts. None of us look down on stoners as “having it easy”. Addiction and the destruction it can bring to a person’s life is universal. The choice of drug is irrelevant. The (elevator pitch) point behind addiction is that I, as an addict, have avoided reality by using, rather than actually facing reality as it is. Paying m…

Addiction is not universal at all. Not even close. It’s charitable of you not to look down on them, but they aren’t addicted to weed, and weed isn’t destroying their life. Their own choices are. You cannot even compare this with opiates.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#310

Post by lawnchair_larry »

silvat wrote: post #285
lawnchair_larry wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That friend was already a deadbeat, with or without the weed. The weed didn’t make them that way. Deadbeats are often attracted to weed, as are many others who want to self-medicate. The deadbeat examples are just more readily available, because the upstanding successful folks are aware of this misconception and the stigma. They tend to keep quiet about it, except among their own. As I get older, I keep discovering “…

You're characterization of these people simply as deadbeats trying to avoid responsibility is both extremely insensitive and simple minded. How deep a person can gets caught up in addiction is usually a reflection of their emotional health. They're not trying to escape responsibility, they're trying to escape being alive.

We’re saying the same thing. I am not concerned with being sensitive, sorry. Facts don’t care about feelings. I think this mentality that we can’t speak the truth out of fear that we’ll hurt their feelings, and encouraging a victim mentality only makes things worse.

Recognizing that you are a deadbeat, and deciding that you don’t want to be is the only way to even begin recovery. I’ve seen this up close. Anyone who has any experience helping addicts will tell you the same thing. That’s why forced treatment doesn’t work and will never work.

Trust me, you’ll look at this differently after you have pulled family members out of crack houses that you thought only existed like that in the movies, had them steal your motorcycle and sell it for drugs, had them give your address to their crackhead friends where your wife and kids sleep, etc. Some of us are way past worrying about hurt feelings.

And this isn’t something that happens with weed users at all, which is why I don’t think people really understand what it means to be a drug addict when they mention weed. There is just no comparison.

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