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Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

addictionjournal.org

471–480 of 568 posts

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To cut it short, I think a tiny amount of alcohol can be a superb bargain. It allowed me to stay a bit neutral in parties (instead of crippled by anxiety and phobia). And being around people, even like a wallpaper had strange positive effect on my moral. I don't know if doing that long term (even tiny amount of beer) would harm your body, but having zero social life is also very very damaging.

Perhaps slightly TMI, but it's HN so let's share some fun ideas I have about this. __Stress is most likely super linear__ Not a doctor, but from what I know, the biggest negative effects of alcohol occur with binge drinking. From a logical perspective it makes sense that the negative effects are super linear, because that is the case with many forms of stress. When it comes to stress, there is always some threshhold…

What is "super linear" ?? Even more linear than linear?

It's OK everyone. You don't have to endlessly add superlatives to your ideas to make them sound more exciting. Just say linear. It's SUPER effective!

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another view, is that, except for the extremely strong willed, getting used to a serene state of mind is addicting and kind of counter productive. Perhaps, addictive is not the right word. But it seems to me (purely from a human nature perspective) its similar to obesity (Eating food is not "addictive", but there is a definite element of "craving" and inability to overcome that craving). All in all, such substances a…

> unchecked use, might put a whole society in danger. So you mean that if, for example, over 50% of the population was using a known mind-altering drug, society might go to shit? Do prescription psychiatry medicines count? You might want to take a look at what % of the western world has such a prescription. Between opiods, amphetamine, and anti-depressants, I think the US passed the 50% mark some time ago.

I worked in a pharmacy as a tech for a couple years. The amount of drugs the general population is on was *mind blowing*.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#473

Since the article and the study are light on the details of "persistent" Here's the supporting data's in a bit more detail[0]. Overall this makes sense to me as an individually who personally enjoys it. The whole point of getting high is to be impaired (for me). So it's not really telling me anything new. Like drinking, I can't expect myself to be 100% functioning the next day so plan accordingly. The question is how…

I use it as a sleep aid via CBD pills with an equal amount of THC. THC just knocks me out. Dosage is consistent and there’s no smell. I don’t enjoy the high from THC vs alcohol, so I just sleep through it. THC’s high feels like my brain is being “underclocked” which isn’t a pleasant experience for me personally. I’ve tried living without it during the lockdowns since working from home saves hours. From eight months o…

THC to make my brain shut up.

Melatonin to put me deep under and keep me from waking up 5 hours in and not being able to fall back asleep.

Best sleep of my life. Wish I'd found the combo years ago. Had trouble falling asleep since I was a little kid. Prescription sleep aids I've tried (or, god forbid, alcohol) don't work as well and make me feel shitty in the morning. That combo? Feel like a million bucks. It's great.

I worry about the long-term effects, but they'd have to be pretty bad to be worse than years and years of chronic bad sleep.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#475

Since the article and the study are light on the details of "persistent" Here's the supporting data's in a bit more detail[0]. Overall this makes sense to me as an individually who personally enjoys it. The whole point of getting high is to be impaired (for me). So it's not really telling me anything new. Like drinking, I can't expect myself to be 100% functioning the next day so plan accordingly. The question is how…

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…

how do you define “high functioning”?

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#476
post #78

I've known many people in silicon valley who smoke cannabis regularly (several times a week if not daily). They all seemed to be cognitively normal. Some of them function on a level I only wish I could attain. I think regular cannabis use attracts a certain type of person. That type of person can vary in their ability and intelligence, just like any type of person. This is also true of say, hardcore fans of fantasy f…

There's a theory that drug use is often about self-handicapping: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-handicapping E.g. if someone in college does poorly because they got high all the time, maybe the reason they got high all the time was that they felt (rightly or not) that they would have done poorly anyway, and now they have the drug to blame. And maybe those who smoke a bit and still do well, do it sort of to have t…

Self-handicapping is a huge effect, I’m surprised we don’t see it more frequently discussed in tech. This effect is really about creating a narrative and identity for ourselves. People attempt things and fail all of the time. If we put too much of our ego into the attempt it can be emotionally devastating when failure happens. So we protect ourselves by crafting alternative narratives. “If I succeed then great, but if I fail it’s because i choose to […]”. You are more likely to accomplish your goal if you put yourself fully into it, and the more you feed alternative narratives the less successful you’ll be. The way to live is to be fully committed and focused on your goals, and to have good skills on knowing how to recover from failure when that occurs.

[some definitional text] The purpose of self handicapping is to protect your self identity. “I could have x, but I didn’t because of y” is the narrative story. I could have gotten an A on the exam but I didn’t because I partied instead of studied is a classic example. For it to be true self-handicapping y needs to be a choice.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#477
Weed is great for enhancing consumption, but pretty terrible at any kind of production .

A play a few games of online chess most days, and you can tell if I'm smoking by my chess rating. There is obviously a big hit when stoned, but more interestingly is it takes a few days abstinence to fully recover and play at the previous level.

The Beatles used to ban weed from creative writing sessions where any kind of decision making was involved, but enjoyed it copiously during listening sessions.

I love practicing piano stoned, but if want to make any kind of progress, a clean mind is key.

So yes of course it can be enjoyed responsibly. But I highly doubt anybody who smokes doesn't take a performance hit, no matter how creative the activity is or otherwise.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#478

Since the article and the study are light on the details of "persistent" Here's the supporting data's in a bit more detail[0]. Overall this makes sense to me as an individually who personally enjoys it. The whole point of getting high is to be impaired (for me). So it's not really telling me anything new. Like drinking, I can't expect myself to be 100% functioning the next day so plan accordingly. The question is how…

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…

I'm a mathematician. Back in the day, cannabis was a source of impairment. Now, a minimum effective dose of Indica from a vape pen helps me sleep. Except when it doesn't.

We value disruption in tech industries but our normative language for concentration, "focus" is lethal to creative thought. Reading math or daydreaming about research, one wants discursive ideas to intrude. This tool could be used for that... One wants to see with a generality not found in the source material, not be a good little "Simon Says" player.

Daytime consciousness is cognitive impairment. I wish the middle of the night could last forever.

There's the old trope that cannabis simply makes us believe we're being fantastically creative. So what? We're creatures who need affirmation. Interest, not raw technical reasoning ability, is the primary driver for creative research. Cannabis in moderation enhances interest.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#479
post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I have been a heavy user for well over a decade and I'm attaining not only promotions including greater responsibility at work in tech but high educational achievements as well so YMMV

Nearly all my friends who smoked it didn’t have any major issues until about 20 years in. YMMV also. Do not assume that short term trends apply in the long term.

People can be quite different neurologically. Some may see issues while others see benefits. I'm not neurotypical and I actually get a great degree of benefit from my cannabinoid use.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you give more details about what happened? I took way too much many many times the worst that happened was: vomiting+awful headaches then falling asleep/"passing out". At which point can it cause PTSD?

I'm not sure exactly what OP means, but depersonalization disorders are PTSD symptoms, often linked to trauma, and can be induced from cannabis[1]. My personal opinion is that legal states are making a mistake at treating concentrates (and edibles to a degree) as being as benign as their flower counterparts. 1. https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp-rj.20...

I've had depersonalization for over 10 years now after an incredibly intense experience from the first time I smoked weed(age 16.) Looking back I was a very anxious/depressed kid but theres no argument weed affected me in a very damaging and permanent manner.

I'm sure I would have been far more successful in life had I not smoked at all, but at the same time, I'm guessing I would have been much more narcissistic and judgemental towards people who struggle with mental illness. Win? Idk.

Had it been opiates instead of weed I probably would've died already.

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