As weed gets more potent, teens are getting sick • Hacker News Board

Re: As weed gets more potent, teens are getting sick

#111

Post by jayd16 » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 4:39 PM UTC

lacker wrote: post #57

The real danger with cannabis is not that it'll make you sick or have some nasty side effect like this article describes. The danger is simply that you will like it, you'll end up using it every day, all different times of the day, and it won't really hurt your health as much as it will make you live your life in a somewhat dopey, detached, less-intelligent way. As time goes on it won't feel "fun" it'll just feel "no…

If this is "the real danger" then is the potency issue irrelevant? Are we already experiencing peak danger?

Re: As weed gets more potent, teens are getting sick

#112

Post by alexk307 » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 4:39 PM UTC

dcolkitt wrote: post #6

Despite this, high-concentration cannabis is a huge public health risk. The deleterious effects from smoking comes from inhaling the smoldering organic compounds in dried plant material. That health impact scales with the volume of smoke inhaled. If you increase the concentration of THC, users can achieve equivalent levels of intoxication with substantially less smoke inhalation. 30 years ago, THC concentrations were…

I’ve heard this many times on the internet but I cannot find one source that verifies that folks were smoking 5% THC cannabis in 1980 in the United States. It’s simply not true…and trying to measure it now in a 30 year old sample will show that most of it has oxidized into other cannabinoids.

Re: As weed gets more potent, teens are getting sick

#113

Post by hericium » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 4:40 PM UTC

teakettle42 wrote: post #105

slg wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is this topic always brought up regarding weed, but nothing else? Should we make video games illegal because they can cause some people to live a lethargic and less productive life?

Video games don’t make you lethargic, less productive, and significantly less intelligent for days after playing them.

What the hell did you smoke?

Re: As weed gets more potent, teens are getting sick

#114

Post by Bud » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 4:40 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #82

iamdbtoo wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This argument always pops up as if there aren't a wealth of very successful daily cannabis users.

Yes, many successful (ie rich) people smoke pot and do not suffer because of it. Those traits are not related. Rich people do not suffer most of the negative social/financial side effects of drugs use. That's the great thing about being rich. It insulates you against most negative consequences of your actions. Normal (ie poor) people do not have such protections. They suffer massively. A 100$/day habit for a wealthy…

There are certainly consequences to cannabis use, but let's not get carried away.

At least for the vast majority of casual users, this isn't anything remotely close to a $100/day habit. Common sense should inform us of that, even if we aren't intimately familiar with how much pot actually costs.

$5-10 a day is closer to the reality for most users.

Re: As weed gets more potent, teens are getting sick

#115

Post by retrac » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 4:40 PM UTC

slg wrote: post #101

habitue wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Video games are a similar threat to living a fulfilling life, absolutely. Definitely not the exact same kind of threat, since video games don't make you dumber like pot, but there is a real risk that a person substitutes accomplishing things in real life in favor of accomplishing things in a video game. Your comment is kind of whataboutism. You're not really refuting what he's saying, just bringing up a separate topi…

I wasn't trying to refute the idea. The idea is true. The question is whether we should worry about it. Using weed is a recreation activity. Most recreation activities will have a negative impact on your life if they are not done in moderation. I don't think that is necessarily a problem and the fact that this generally isn't discussed in other contexts might indicate that people are subconsciously using this an excu…

I can't speak for other people, but for me, it's not recreational. Not anymore. I need cannabis to simply feel normal. I feel high only when I'm sober, because sobriety is the atypical state. I can't sleep without it. I can't leave the house in the morning without it. After about 24 hours abstinence, I get debilitating headaches and start to vomit, presumably from the withdrawal. It's not fun. There's not much fun left in it at all, really. It's just an addiction.

Weed may be unique in allowing such a constant level of intoxication with relatively mild side-effects. I think that's how it gets people. Such addiction is not that uncommon and I've watched legalization in Canada with a mix of appreciation (I still do believe it should be legally available) and apprehension (I think we're about to see a small but significant % of an entire generation end up in the same place I've been for the last ~10 years.)

Re: As weed gets more potent, teens are getting sick

#116

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 4:41 PM UTC

UncleMeat wrote: post #109

collegeburner wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parents have been complaining for literally decades that videogames make kids lazy or that "tv rots your brain". And I have seen videogame overuse fuck up people's academics and careers. Weed bros get real touchy when anybody suggests something bad about it. Inb4 "alcohol is worse". I'm still for legalization but people need to stop getting so defensive.

All people want is for weed to be legal. These arguments about wasted lives are used to justify keeping it illegal.

[deleted]

Re: As weed gets more potent, teens are getting sick

#117

Post by TaylorAlexander » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 4:41 PM UTC

lacker wrote: post #57

The real danger with cannabis is not that it'll make you sick or have some nasty side effect like this article describes. The danger is simply that you will like it, you'll end up using it every day, all different times of the day, and it won't really hurt your health as much as it will make you live your life in a somewhat dopey, detached, less-intelligent way. As time goes on it won't feel "fun" it'll just feel "no…

Counter point: I am 37 years old. I quit marijuana three or four months ago, but before that I was vaping marijuana nearly every day for four years. During that time I’ve achieved more success in my career than any other time. I think it was good for me to quit. I feel more alert and more productive now. More level and less tired. Maybe I would have been more successful without it, so perhaps you are right. But then, life shouldn’t be just about success. And then, I still got where I am today, with the best career I’ve ever had. So it doesn’t feel like it held me back at all.

Crucially, I used relatively small amounts of pure sativa. I wasn’t stuck on the couch while I used it. Still, this to me suggests self control is more important than abstinence.

Re: As weed gets more potent, teens are getting sick

#118

Post by unethical_ban » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 4:41 PM UTC

AndrewVos wrote: post #63

ellopoppit wrote: post #58

Is there any doubt that alcohol, or sugar for that matter, makes far more people (teens especially) sick than cannabis? In fact, cannabis is an excellent treatment for alcohol hangovers.

There is no doubt. This article is BS. One hundred percent bad faith. Maybe they should think to mention the millions of people on cannabis prescriptions who have had massive benefits.

Did they say alcohol and sugar aren't health risks? Are you calling them liars for pointing out the struggles of teenagers who are taking huge amounts of mind-altering substances? Did they say Cannabis doesn't have health benefits for people who take it for prescribed reasons? Did the article itself advocate or give voice to advocates of "re-prohibition" outright?

Re: As weed gets more potent, teens are getting sick

#119

Post by mesofile » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 4:41 PM UTC

lacker wrote: post #57

The real danger with cannabis is not that it'll make you sick or have some nasty side effect like this article describes. The danger is simply that you will like it, you'll end up using it every day, all different times of the day, and it won't really hurt your health as much as it will make you live your life in a somewhat dopey, detached, less-intelligent way. As time goes on it won't feel "fun" it'll just feel "no…

I thought the way that South Park put it (in the voice of Randy Marsh) many years ago was just about perfect:

“Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and ...it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorists, but... Well son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored and... It's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or... being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything.” [0]

To be clear, I don’t wholly agree, I know too many talented and hard-working stoners, but it does sum up the passive danger of cannabis rather nicely I think.

[0] https://southpark.fandom.com/wiki/My_Future_Self_n%27_Me/Scr...

Re: As weed gets more potent, teens are getting sick

#120

Post by y-c-o-m-b » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 4:41 PM UTC

redisman wrote: post #71

standardUser wrote: post #68

The way most Americans consume weed is basically a guaranteed overdose for anyone without a high tolerance. The regular "weed" we buy from dealers has been getting stronger for years because the consumers spending most of the money on weed demand it be strong. Once retail stores opened where I lived, I started buying weed with 10-15% THC instead of the standard 20-30%. It can feel like the difference between having a…

I’m sorry but why don’t you just put less weed in if it’s too strong?

You'd think that would work, but it doesn't and I don't know why. Maybe because you still get the same % in the hit but it just doesn't last as long? For people that use vaporizers like mine, you also need to have a certain amount for the vaporizer to be effective otherwise you get nothing out of it which leads to inserting even more weed and suddenly you have more in your system than you meant to. The higher percentage stuff is an instant panic attack for me whereas the low percentage allows me to actually enjoy it. I have an extreme sensitivity to cannabis though, so this doesn't apply to everyone, but I'm also far from alone on this. I personally don't care if they sell high % concentrations as long as they make the lower concentrations available too for people like me. Unfortunately finding the low-dose stuff seems to be very difficult. I ended up growing my own low-dose strain though and it's been excellent so far.