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Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

today.duke.edu

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Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#241

Post by zelon88 »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #182
legitster wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But we still do have studies that compare cannabis users to non-users. The concern for marijuana is less about the toxicity of it as a substance, and more the psychological effects of being high.

And the psychological effects of consuming a taboo substance.

I started smoking pot later than a lot of my peers. All through high school I was cringy and weird and judgemental and adversarial and entitled.

Then I started smoking pot. And I experimented with a ton of hard psychedelic drugs. And it absolutely took a toll on my cognitive abilities. But it had a much more profound effect on my personality. A positive effect. Especially LSD.

It was like a light switch went on in my personality. I suddenly was much more "tuned in" to the world around me. I became mindful and considerate. My judgement faded. My outlook had changed to one that was seriously more healthy. Today I don't drink or do hard drugs. Just Marijuana. And I'm happy with myself.

I don't know what to make of that but I do know that I've seen things and felt things and understood things from perspectives that people who have never taken drugs can literally not imagine. You couldn't even dream the things I've seen.

I believe there could be clinical uses for taboo things like psychedelic drugs. I hate to think that without them I probably would have eventually been red pilled or turned into a fascist. It was that much of an eye opening experience for teenage me.

So while it probably did cost me about 15% of my cognitive ability, it also gave me 100% of my critical thinking ability.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#242

Post by dylan604 »

giobox wrote: post #188
dylan604 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It does no harm to a user, to third parties, nor to society, Except it opens doors in people's minds which allows them to think differently for themselves. This results in them behaving less like sheeple. Why would that ever be scary for society?

My experience is it opens the door to not thinking much at all, but your mileage may vary. Is there anything more "sheeple" like than a bunch of stoned people sitting around not motivated to do much? Sure, not all mj users may experience it this way, but a lot do! I certainly wouldn't be arguing it opens the door to a bunch of usefully profound thinkers in society.

To paraphrase Bill Hicks, if you think marijuana/drug use has never had a good effect on society, take all of your favorite music and throw it in the trash. All of the musicians recording that music were "reaaaaalllll fucking high".

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#243

Post by Tenoke »

legitster wrote: post #136
Tenoke wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>We are already seeing studies that show regular marijuana use is correlated with permanent decreases in intelligence, memory loss, motivation, and mental health. I can maybe believe it but I am yet to see a convincing Meta-Analysis or at least a large RCT. In general, people seem to recover from a lot of drug usage if they stop for long enough and weed isn't one of the heavy ones. Can you share what studies you are…

The study in the linked article found that lead reduced the IQ of exposed Americans 3-6 IQ points. A New Zealand study found that persistent cannabis users had a 6-8 point decline, even if they had given up cannabis : https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.1206820109 Here's a meta review that found a 2 IQ point drop across a wider range of usage types: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medici..…

I hadn't seen the meta-analysis, thanks. 2=3 IQ points drop is pretty significant and enough to be worth consideration but it's not too worrisome.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#244

Post by eloff »

jl6 wrote: post #223
eloff wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair there are also studies showing alcohol has similar effects on the brain. I saw one just yesterday: "A large study of more than 36,000 high-quality MRI brain scans has found that drinking four units of alcohol a day – two beers, or two glasses of wine – causes structural damage and brain volume loss equivalent to 10 years of aging." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28735-5 I always said I would ne…

I don’t think it should come as a massive surprise to anyone that alcohol isn’t exactly good for you.

You'd be surprised. I don't know many people who understand it's actually a carcinogen. And I was unaware it's doing permanent damage to my brain.

It's just so ingrained in society, many don't even question it at all. But it's one of the more dangerous drugs. It destroys a lot of lives.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#245

Post by nickpp »

zelon88 wrote: post #215
shagmin wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to [0] peak marijuana usage was in the 70s. I don't think with a smaller/more stable subset of the population partaking there's going to be many more people saying "we should have known better" than there currently are. https://www.mlive.com/resizer/G7WZuDwdu5D2eCujzIi_RYGWYkc=/7...

I wasn't there in the 70s, but from what I understand potency of the 70s wasn't nearly what it is today. I have no source for this, but I've been in countless circles with long time smokers who all correlate the same story; that modern day mids was literally the best quality Marijuana you could find in the 70s. So that's probably about 10% THC compared to 30% THC which is not uncommon today.

If it’s a matter of dosage then who knows how many joints they smoked in the 70s vs how many hits today?

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#246

Post by hash03x »

gordian-mind wrote: post #43
ch4s3 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rate of violent crime nearly quadrupled between 1960 and its peak in 1991 in the US. Even with the COIVD bump, rates are comparable to the mid 60s, and aren't tracking the previous climb.

What's the big change that happened in the 60s and started this trend?

No post body was provided.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#247

Post by dqpb »

Be careful buying kids toys from china. Many of them contain lead. In fact, it's probably best to not buy anything from a culture of people who hate you.

Also, get a lead test for your child at every checkup, not just the ones where they offer it to you. The finger prick doesn't bother them nearly as much as the vaccinations do.

Re: Lead exposure in last century shrunk IQ scores of half of Americans: study

#250

Post by howinteresting »

giobox wrote: post #188
dylan604 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It does no harm to a user, to third parties, nor to society, Except it opens doors in people's minds which allows them to think differently for themselves. This results in them behaving less like sheeple. Why would that ever be scary for society?

My experience is it opens the door to not thinking much at all, but your mileage may vary. Is there anything more "sheeple" like than a bunch of stoned people sitting around not motivated to do much? Sure, not all mj users may experience it this way, but a lot do! I certainly wouldn't be arguing it opens the door to a bunch of usefully profound thinkers in society.

Marijuana is very different from psychedelics in this regard.
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