Why I Changed My Mind On Weed • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#101

Post by artagnon » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:40 PM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #90

artagnon wrote: post #83

[I'm not talking about most parts of the US, where weed is harder to obtain; I'm talking about most poor countries, where it is readily available] I've seen many of my friends waste years of their college lives running around like stoned hippies, overeating junk food, and watching absolute trash with loud sounds and bright colors. To make things worse, it's considered a great "social activity", much like going to a b…

Weed is easier to get hooked onto than alcohol? Do you mean in some hypothetical universe where weed is legal and widely available? Because that's definitely not the case right now.

It's illegal in most places, but it's quite widely available in many poor countries; not everyone lives in the US.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#102

Post by clint » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:40 PM UTC

leke wrote: post #86

I really can't understand it when people claim to be addicted to weed. From what I hear, it's not chemically addictive, so can it really be claimed so if the addiction is placebic?

People probably are not actually chemically addicted to weed, but rather habitually inclined to keep doing an activity that gives them pleasure or has positive benefits in their life. Not too much different from what happens with "runner's high" and eating potato chips :)

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#103

Post by stcredzero » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:40 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #69

jgrahamc wrote: post #12

After I saw Gupta in Japan talking about protection against gamma radiation ( http://blog.jgc.org/2011/03/cnn-sounding-authorative-while-t... ) I stopped listening to him at all.

Highly educated people, especially medical doctors, love to opine on topics outside their field of expertise. So I'm willing to give Gupta a pass on the gamma radiation bit--it's just how surgeons are. That said, this article is about physiology. Gupta is a medical doctor licensed in three states, a member of the faculty of Emory Medical School, etc, so I think this one is within his domain of expertise.

> Highly educated people, especially medical doctors, love to opine on topics outside their field of expertise. So I'm willing to give Gupta a pass on the gamma radiation bit--it's just how surgeons are.

Programmers are that way as well, even if they are not highly educated.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#104

Post by wozniacki » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:41 PM UTC

jgrahamc wrote: post #18

tptacek wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's a practicing neurosurgeon with published research, but, like half of HN, doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to radiological safety; therefore, his opinions on pharmacology are irrelevant to you? That seems like a surprisingly dumb argument for you, John, but maybe I just misunderstood it. At any rate, the importance of the piece isn't Gupta's authority on the subject. After all, vis a vis cannabi…

He's a practicing neurosurgeon with published research, but, like half of HN, doesn't know what he's talking about when it comes to radiologic safety; therefore, his opinions on pharmacology are irrelevant to you? I guess. I guess you are right. I probably should listen to his opinion about this. I just have a hard time with media personalities who are willing to spout crap when they don't know what they are talking…

Perhaps you are venting your outrage about U.S. based armchair experts in lieu of tackling your own homegrown quacks and associations promoting quackery in your country, because moronic English scofflaws forbid you from so much as expressing your frustration, much less dishing out a sound shellacking.

The British Chiropractic Association has sued science writer Simon Singh for a piece written in the Guardian's comment pages criticizing the association for defending chiropractors who use treatments on children with conditions such as colic and asthma, when there is little evidence such treatments work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Singh#Chiropractic_lawsui...

"English libel law is so intimidating, so expensive, so hostile to serious journalists that it has a chilling effect on all areas of debate, silencing scientists, journalists, bloggers, human rights activists and everyone else who dares to tackle serious matters of public interest.

In the area of medicine alone, fear of libel means that good research is not always published because those with vested interests might sue, and bad research that should be withdrawn is not pulled because the authors might sue the journal, and in both cases it is the public that loses out because the truth is never exposed. My victory does not mean that our libel laws are OK, because I won despite the libel laws. We still have the most notoriously anti-free speech libel laws in the free world."

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2010/apr/15/simon-singh-l...

So next time around, practice what you preach, perhaps.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#105

Post by gee_totes » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:41 PM UTC

angersock wrote: post #43

tptacek wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems clearly safer in some respects, and I agree with you on the policy implications, but I think the apples-oranges safety comparison that gets made between MJ and (alcohol, tobacco) is misleading and a little dangerous. MJ is not purely benign. There's some evidence that it reacts very badly with a small subset of the population. That's obviously true of alcohol too, and if you want to argue that it's "as safe…

I'll go one further--it's clearly safer (in all respects) than either alcohol or tobacco. My only fear with legalization is that it will get pulled from the grassroots production into industrial methods, and that in turn will lower its safety (as was the case, for example, with cigarettes and the additives in the paper for them).

I share the same fear about legalization: Phillip Morris will swoop in and start mass-producing packs of joints or find crafty ways to put small grow-ops out of business.

I think the "medical" route is the best way to go. Yes, it is a bit of hassle to go and get a green card, but I hope it will help slow the corporate industrialization of marijuana.

Furthermore, I think that marijuana's proper position in society should be that of a medicine, not as a general intoxicant.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#106

Post by ferdo » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:41 PM UTC

> "We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that."

It takes a large soul to admit, in public, that you've been wrong about something that has to do with your profession.

And he's right, Americans have been misled about hemp and its products:

http://cannabis.neocities.org/

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#107

Post by thedigitalengel » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:43 PM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #90

artagnon wrote: post #83

[I'm not talking about most parts of the US, where weed is harder to obtain; I'm talking about most poor countries, where it is readily available] I've seen many of my friends waste years of their college lives running around like stoned hippies, overeating junk food, and watching absolute trash with loud sounds and bright colors. To make things worse, it's considered a great "social activity", much like going to a b…

Weed is easier to get hooked onto than alcohol? Do you mean in some hypothetical universe where weed is legal and widely available? Because that's definitely not the case right now.

I'm from the same place as the artagnon. Anti-weed laws are almost never enforced, and weed is incredibly cheap (you'll get enough weed to get 10 people stoned out of their minds for the price of a bottle of beer). And the ease of storage means you can easily maintain a huge stash.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#108

Post by ronaldx » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:43 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #16

dave_sullivan wrote: post #11

Better late than never I guess, but what changed his mind really? "I actually did more research and was shocked, shocked by what I found!" or "I'm making a documentary and the tides of public opinion continue to shift, writing's on the wall, time to change my tune..." Maybe (probably) I'm being overly cynical, but people like him have lent support and legitimacy to a machine that literally destroys people's lives for…

He wrote that he's "shocked, shocked" at what he found as a device to get more people to read the piece. I'm sure that editorial decision was commercial and not public-spirited, but still. Yes, you are being overly cynical. My guess is that you agree with virtually everything in the article, and, instead of being pleased that someone has not only come around to your position in the most public fashion possible, but a…

>He wrote that he's "shocked, shocked" at what he found as a device to get more people to read the piece.

I felt a strong impression that he had written this article for the same reason as he wrote the exact opposite 4 years ago, i.e. self-serving commercial interest.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#109

Post by Raphmedia » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:44 PM UTC

artagnon wrote: post #83

[I'm not talking about most parts of the US, where weed is harder to obtain; I'm talking about most poor countries, where it is readily available] I've seen many of my friends waste years of their college lives running around like stoned hippies, overeating junk food, and watching absolute trash with loud sounds and bright colors. To make things worse, it's considered a great "social activity", much like going to a b…

In my opinion, alcohol is very much easier to get hooked on to. Why? Because it's legal. Want a beer? Sure, grab a pack when you get back from work. Buy a bottle of wine while you are at it too!

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#110

Post by tptacek » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:44 PM UTC

mikeash wrote: post #97

madaxe wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HFCS reacts badly with the majority of the population, inducing adiposis. So does MSG. Don't forget about the pesticides you chow down on with every meal, or the chloride in your water, or the phthalates in your soda, or the BPA in your nalgene, or... The US is terrible for substance safety. Dire. Awful. Hell, on the note of colouring, you still use bloody anthracine red, which has been banned for decades in the rest…

MSG reacts badly with the majority of the population? Source?

It's unlikely they'll find a good one. (For the thread): The initial studies on "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" seem to have conflated overconsumption of sodium with MSG. MSG has the misfortune of being known primarily by an acronym, which makes it sound scarier than it actually is (ie, not remotely scary).