Pothead Ph.D. - This is most definitely not a cautionary tale • Hacker News Board

Re: Pothead Ph.D. - This is most definitely not a cautionary tale

#41

Post by oz » Mon, Jul 07, 2008, 5:27 PM UTC

Alex3917 wrote: post #36

hugh wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

teetotalism is as bad for your health as being morbidly obese That just sounds really unlikely. Got anything to back that up?

"In a study of more than 80,000 American women, those who drank moderately had only half the heart attack risk of those who did not drink at all, even if they were slim, did not smoke and exercised daily. Moderate drinking was about as good for the heart as an hour of exercise a day. Not drinking at all was as bad for the heart as morbid obesity." The overall risk curve for alcohol is J shaped. In other words, your t…

Yes, IIRC, there is a phenomenon called the "French Paradox," i.e., the French consume a lot of fatty foods (gourmet culture), yet have relatively low incidence of heart disease. It was found that that their high wine consumption kept their arteries clean.

As the Bible says, "A little wine for the stomach's sake" and "brandy to give you cheer."

Re: Pothead Ph.D. - This is most definitely not a cautionary tale

#42

Post by tyn » Mon, Jul 07, 2008, 5:36 PM UTC

tyn wrote: post #34

Marijuana actually impairs memory and learning http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn10607

I wonder which of the following describes best the downvoter's reasoning:

a) The study is flawed, thus it shouldn't be cited b) You misinterpreted the study c) The study is valid but it's bad news for me, so I decided to shoot the messenger.

Re: Pothead Ph.D. - This is most definitely not a cautionary tale

#43

Post by patrickg-zill » Mon, Jul 07, 2008, 5:38 PM UTC

If the roughest thing in life you ever encounter are the "rigors" of a PHD program in a non-scientific field like whatever CritLit field this guy is in, then you are truly living a blessed life.

Re: Pothead Ph.D. - This is most definitely not a cautionary tale

#44

Post by IsaacSchlueter » Mon, Jul 07, 2008, 5:42 PM UTC

utefan001 wrote: post #35

petercooper wrote: post #10

Before anyone starts taking this guy seriously, consider the impact that drug use could have on your life in terms of the social effects rather than the drug itself. Being arrested for possession (or, worse, dealing) could invalidate you from easy worldwide travel (merely having been arrested - let alone charged - invalidates you from many visa waiver programs), numerous professions, and delay certain opportunities.…

During high school, I worked with a guy who loved weed. Today, he has a type of skin cancer that has been traced to pot use. He is currently losing his fight with cancer.

Sorry, anecdotes ≠ statistics.

Re: Pothead Ph.D. - This is most definitely not a cautionary tale

#45

Post by anamax » Mon, Jul 07, 2008, 5:45 PM UTC

Alex3917 wrote: post #29

cmos wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US the consequences will vary depending on what state you live in. In upstate NY, sitting in traffic court for an evening I learned that every single case for 'possession' (all small amounts - not 'intent to distribute') was given a $50 fine and nothing on their record. What would the 20's have been if everyone was too scared to go to a speakeasy?

The actual NY state law as explained by NORML: "Possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana is punishable by a fine of $100 for the first offense." 25g is .88 ounces, which is what a recreational smoker might consume in an entire year. It's worth noting though that the punishments are much harsher if you get caught smoking or displaying weed in public.

> 25g is .88 ounces, which is what a recreational smoker might consume in an entire year.

Then all of the smokers that I knew were professionals.

Re: Pothead Ph.D. - This is most definitely not a cautionary tale

#46

Post by menloparkbum » Mon, Jul 07, 2008, 5:48 PM UTC

petercooper wrote: post #33

neilk wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's see what the risks are. I'm going to guess most readers here are from the USA, and besides, it has some of the harshest laws in the developed world about marijuana. According to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_cannabis_use_by_country http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7370 12.6% of the US population annually uses marijuana. Out of a population of 304 million, tha…

My point is not necessarily the risk of incarceration or the inconvenience of being arrested, but in being able to accept any risk (and clearly there is one, even if it's small) of what problems it might cause in your life if you were to be arrested or have even a minor offense on your file (and considering how deep those files go and how easily they are shared nowadays, that could be a big issue). For example, the U…

This is something to consider. It is relatively easy to avoid being busted if you're in a relaxed place like the Bay Area. However it is easier to get busted in other places. Unfortunately, if you're poor or not white, you're also more at risk for being busted. Two of my friends are barred entry to Canada because of previous possession charges, and Canada has some of the most relaxed pot laws in the world. Also, if you have a pot bust on your record, it is hard(er) to get your passport renewed. If you want to become a heavy pot smoker, it is a good idea to be white and rich enough to afford a good lawyer. Whatever you do, if you're black, you or your friends smoke pot, and you travel to Dubai, make sure you clean off your shoes.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512815/Briton-jailed...

Re: Pothead Ph.D. - This is most definitely not a cautionary tale

#47

Post by edw519 » Mon, Jul 07, 2008, 5:53 PM UTC

josefresco wrote: post #15

edw519 wrote: post #11

Oh you poor baby! You have trouble reading and writing and 'rithmetic, so you need a little chemical help. You pussy. Get out of cocoon, er I mean school, get a real job, get married. have a couple of kids, get a mortgage and a couple of car payments, raise those kids without worrying too much about the evils around them, visit Mom in her nursing home, do things for others in need, and, if you have time, have a nice…

I'm grown up, have kids, mortgages (3 in fact!) and car payments and this weed ignorant college kid didn't strike me as whiny. Just slightly ignorant as I pointed out above. Let me guess edw519, you probably drink, both coffee and alcohol, you probably also consume your fair amount of sugar and possibly (although unlikely) smoke cigarettes. Why is it that smoking weed (to help you work/play) makes you winy and a poth…

"Let me guess edw519, you probably...*

You guess wrong, josefresco. But it doesn't really matter anyway because I never "advertised" my habits to the world. This guy did.

Just slightly ignorant as I pointed out above.

Ignorant I can live with. But this was also irresponsible.

This is hacker news, where people post and learn and share together about doing difficult and exciting work. I realize that OP had no idea where his essay would end up, but it ended up here (at #1 no less) so that's where it warranted a response.

I really don't care what anyone's personal habits are, but as soon as you write about how you use drugs to take the easy way out, and that post ends up on a site where people bust their butts to do good work and add value to other people's lives, you're fair game.

Re: Pothead Ph.D. - This is most definitely not a cautionary tale

#48

Post by edw519 » Mon, Jul 07, 2008, 5:59 PM UTC

neilc wrote: post #17

edw519 wrote: post #11

Oh you poor baby! You have trouble reading and writing and 'rithmetic, so you need a little chemical help. You pussy. Get out of cocoon, er I mean school, get a real job, get married. have a couple of kids, get a mortgage and a couple of car payments, raise those kids without worrying too much about the evils around them, visit Mom in her nursing home, do things for others in need, and, if you have time, have a nice…

I don't see why the vehemence is warranted; I also don't think the author of the article is "whining". He's just talking about how and why he smokes pot, and how that connects with graduate school in the humanities. It is refreshing to hear something in the mainstream media about someone who smokes pot and isn't an intellectual vacuum. Which part of the article did you think was "whining"? Your rant about graduate sc…

I don't see why the vehemence is warranted

You're probably right. If this hadn't made it to #1 so quickly (no fault of OP of course), I may not have even responded at all. But it did, so I did, and I didn't hold any punches.

I just found it ironic that many of us who do good work 80 to 100 hours per week and come here for a break among our peers find a student who needs to resort to drugs to cope (or whatever) with his difficulties at #1.

Without even entering a debate about the pros and cons of drugs in general, I found the essay wimpy and irresponsible. Since I can't vote it down, I shouted it down. No apologies.

Re: Pothead Ph.D. - This is most definitely not a cautionary tale

#49

Post by astine » Mon, Jul 07, 2008, 6:00 PM UTC

palish wrote: post #40

st3fan wrote: post #19

Personally I think smoking is disgusting and smoking pot is dumb . Thinking that smoking pot is good for you is even dumber. Health Issues of Marijuana - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana#Health_issues

Chewing tobacco is also disgusting and possibly dumb (because it causes mouth cancer), but it is not illegal. Pot is though. That's my problem with the anti-drug tirade: Nicotine is a drug and is not illegal, but THC is also a drug and is illegal. (I should probably note that I've never smoked pot.)

Tobacco is a local industry. Marijuana is not.

The US was built with the money from Tobacco, not Marijuana.

So we can't criminalize Tobacco any more than Columbia can do away with cocaine or Afghanistan can out opium. Personally, I think that marijuana use is probably harmful, as is most drug use, but isn't worth the cost in criminalizing it.

Re: Pothead Ph.D. - This is most definitely not a cautionary tale

#50

Post by steveplace » Mon, Jul 07, 2008, 6:01 PM UTC

neilk wrote: post #30

petercooper wrote: post #10

Before anyone starts taking this guy seriously, consider the impact that drug use could have on your life in terms of the social effects rather than the drug itself. Being arrested for possession (or, worse, dealing) could invalidate you from easy worldwide travel (merely having been arrested - let alone charged - invalidates you from many visa waiver programs), numerous professions, and delay certain opportunities.…

Let's see what the risks are. I'm going to guess most readers here are from the USA, and besides, it has some of the harshest laws in the developed world about marijuana. According to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_cannabis_use_by_country http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7370 12.6% of the US population annually uses marijuana. Out of a population of 304 million, tha…

>the hammer comes down hardest against poor people and ethnic minorities. I don't have a citation for this, but I think this is the case. Can anyone improve on my stats here?Compare average prison sentence for possession of cocaine (rich white) versus crack-cocaine (poor black).

The discrepancy is unnerving.