Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

addictionjournal.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

361–370 of 568 posts

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#361

Post by vict00ms »

post-it wrote: post #286
musicjohn wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Caffeine is one of the few stimulants that seems to be beneficial to the human health. Moderate use is linked to a lower likelihood of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver and endometrial cancers, Parkinson’s disease... Certainly more beneficial than smoking cannabis (in most cases together with tobacco). Damage to the lungs is one of the first thing that comes to my mind.

> smoking cannabis (in most cases together with tobacco) In most cases? Where in the world? In Canada at least, frequent cannabis smokers and frequent cigarette smokers are nearly disjoint groups.

There are definitely places where "spliffs" (weed+tobacco) are the norm, but it's definitely atypical.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#362

Post by hughrr »

jacquesm wrote: post #357
hughrr wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Best way to look at this is to wait until you’re at least 50 and compare with your peers who used it regularly for the last 30 years or so if you didn’t. There’s a 100% correlation on what you suggest. I’m glad I didn’t bother with it at this point.

The people I'm talking about are in positions where being smart isn't optional. One poster here provides a nice datapoint to the contrary, and there are probably others. But the interesting thing to me about the people that I know is that they themselves are not aware of it. They attribute their changes to a host of other factors but never to their Cannabis use.

Well there’s smart and there’s smart. It seems to drive obsessive and paranoid tendencies in people which can be a positive impact on work and a negative impact on social behaviour at the same time.

I have seen the same lack of association before as well. A friend’s relationship has broken down due to his paranoia but that according to him doesn’t come from the 25 years of smoking cannabis but her behaviour. She doesn’t smoke and is perfectly normal in any way and I feel really sorry for the poor woman.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#363

Post by otherme123 »

schwartzworld wrote: post #336
otherme123 wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of drugs make you more social, but sadly they are all outlawed except alcohol. MDMA was used for years to lubricate psicotherapy sessions, until the FDA found out that some people was having "too much fun", banned the thing, and denied it has any possible positive effect. Only two years ago it seems that it is going to be reseached again. Thomas Szasz has some books about drug history and the paths that turns a…

I am surprised to learn that Szasz was in support of any drug use in therapy, given that he went on to cofound CCHR, a branch of the church of scientology whose mission it is to ban psychiatry. These are the people who claim "psychs" killed Kurt Cobain

No post body was provided.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#364

Post by jimsimmons »

hypertele-Xii wrote: post #252
musicjohn wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Caffeine is one of the few stimulants that seems to be beneficial to the human health. Moderate use is linked to a lower likelihood of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver and endometrial cancers, Parkinson’s disease... Certainly more beneficial than smoking cannabis (in most cases together with tobacco). Damage to the lungs is one of the first thing that comes to my mind.

Vaporization of cannabis without tobacco makes lungs a moot point though.

Does it? Smoke is still smoke

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#365

Post by t-3 »

geocrasher wrote: post #199
playcache wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really no different to people using caffeine (aside to the legality). They are both drugs, the main difference being I bet more folks suffer from the effects of caffeine (anxiety, loss of sleep, stress), than the do cannabis.

When I drink a lot of coffee I can still function 100% normally (and because of ADHD, even better than my usual) and I am in no way impaired. That cannot be said about cannabis. They are not the same.

Your subjective experience as a caffeine addict is not really applicable. Caffeine definitely impairs me. I can't sleep, can't sit still, can't poop, can't focus on anything. Weed, on the other hand, keeps my thoughts focused and doesn't interfere with sleeping or bowel movements. See? Our personal experience is irrelevant to the discussion.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#366

Post by im3w1l »

eecc wrote: post #231
kumarvvr wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. What ever I have read or heard about those drugs (most of it from peoples experiences on reddit and all), it is clear to me that they don't actually solve any issue, and simply make the mind numb. In some cases, perhaps that is required. But why is it that the worlds richest country need to keep 50% of its population on drugs? That is a societal flaw, and worryingly a self sustaining one at that. I also a…

That’s a very reactionary attitude… you’re simply blaming all the “unknown” “new stuff” for everything negative in life. I bet people blamed excessive reading of books, or “a materialistic point of view” during the Romans, the Middle Ages… modernity… hey, who coined the phrase “o tempora! O mores!”

If we agree that there is a mental health crisis (I'm on the fence on that honestly, but if), then it becomes natural to consider the causes of it. And where else would we find the causes than in the "new stuff"? A useful question may be what "new stuff" is more and less likely to be the cause? Trying to think of something new that is definitely not the cause might be interesting.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#367

Post by penjelly »

querez wrote: post #350
dr_dshiv wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, impairment is not my intention at all. But, to not impair myself takes careful moderation and preparation. For cognitive benefits or "virtuous pot smoking", I need to have exercise, sleep, right intentions, a clean room and music. If I do it right, I have transformational ideas. If I don't write them down, they are gone. The first hour is often a wash. I expect little. I often combine with coffee. Then, after an…

what kind of music do you use? Any playlists you can share?

brain food on spotify. or anything with no/low lyrics that has a steady energy to it. deep house, lofi, even piano and strings.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#368

Post by bregma »

ALittleLight wrote: post #269
SirHound wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone who has ever crashed in a car first entered a car.

Do you dispute that getting into a car is a gateway to car accidents?

Getting into a car is necessary for having an accident, but it is insufficient.

The "gateway drug" argument is that any amount of cannabis is sufficient for becoming a skin-popping fentanyl junkie, but it is not necessary.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#369

Post by 0xTJ »

eddyerburgh wrote: post #60
fshbbdssbbgdd wrote: post #4

My personal experience certainly agrees with this. I definitely shouldn’t smoke on a work night, and it’s not a good idea on Sunday either. The more hours until I need to perform cognitively, the better. I abstained for months before the last time I did job interviews. On the other hand, I know people also gainfully employed at top companies who code while high and claim to have no issues. Your mileage may vary, I gu…

So why smoke at all? Don’t you want to operate in life at your cognitive best?

You don't need to be at your absolute peak every second of your life. It's no different than having a drink.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#370

Post by sdze »

mschuster91 wrote: post #316
sdze wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I drink about 6-9 cups of coffee per day. The withdrawal journey that is published in the lying internet is not true (at least for me). I get all sorts of diffuse pain in the legs and lower back area. Not to speak of the killing headache and depressed mood.

How can you actually sleep with that much coffee?! A single cup after ~1600 and I can't fall asleep until 0200 or later...

That is impressive. I wish I was like you.

I drink coffee up to 2130. And I sleep like a baby from 0000.

Post reply on HN