Why I Changed My Mind On Weed • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#121

Post by rhizome » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:51 PM UTC

rorrr2 wrote: post #27

Just a hype for his movie. This all reminds me of how some famous supposed atheists convert to a religion X and then write books about it selling millions of copies. Same shit. You're being manipulated. We don't need a mediocre surgeon to tell us weed is OK. Any idiot with internet access knew that for the last 15 years.

This all reminds me of how some famous supposed atheists convert to a religion X and then write books about it selling millions of copies.

What is this referring to?

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#122

Post by lotsofcows » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:51 PM UTC

wozniacki wrote: post #104

jgrahamc wrote: post #18

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 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 commen…

Did I misunderstand something here? Are you really saying that because the country he happens to be from has some problems in a certain area, he can't criticise similar problems in countries he happens not to be from?

The Singh case flagged up a problem which drew massive support (which is still ongoing and should improve the situation some epoch). Also, he won.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#123

Post by stcredzero » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:51 PM UTC

gadders wrote: post #57

"Much in the same way I wouldn't let my own children drink alcohol, I wouldn't permit marijuana until they are adults. If they are adamant about trying marijuana, I will urge them to wait until they're in their mid-20s when their brains are fully developed." Good luck with that.

Show them the research, summarize it in plain language if needed, then let them make their own choice. Really, you can't do much more than that.

I wonder if one could synthesize cards that change color when exposed to MJ fumes? I bet you could sell those like crazy.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#124

Post by j2d3 » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:52 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #22

Shivetya wrote: post #19

I found it interesting they did not comment on the means of using weed. Smoking it cannot be much better for you than smoking cigarettes. Even after the Feds remove it from the list there will be regulation governing its sale. You can grow tobacco all you want; most people don't because prep is much harder than marijuana; but run afoul of a few laws should you try to sell it. It would certainly reduce the jailed popu…

It's an article of faith that cannabis is a major contributor to US incarceration, but I think that's a belief worth questioning. I looked into this briefly for a thread a year ago and in the states I researched, domestic violence was far and away the leading cause of incarceration. In many major metro areas, you're more likely to be ticketed for cannabis than arrested. I haven't taken the time to come up with a conc…

"In many major metro areas, you're more likely to be ticketed for cannabis than arrested." - as long as you are white and not wanted by the authorities for some other issue.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#125

Post by pdeuchler » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:52 PM UTC

gadders wrote: post #60

gregpilling wrote: post #51

I am a medical marijuana user. I have fibromyalgia (a catch all label for constant pain), and it helps some with neuropathic pain. My doctor is kept informed about how much I am using, and I have to get my card renewed each year. MJ works, but at best it dulls the pain, and also helps to make the pain less 'front and center' and instead kind of makes it more something that is in the background. I was never a stoner,…

Interesting that you don't get high any more. I wondered whether MMJ would fall into the category of "do not drive or operate machinery" whilst using.

This is a really good article (despite it's admittedly biased source) on driving while under the influence of marijuana:

http://norml.org/library/item/cannabis-and-driving-a-scienti...

It's also important to note the most dangerous thing you can do, bar none, is to drive tired and unfocused. Which is very much legal.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#126

Post by cjdrake » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:52 PM UTC

I had no idea the startup community was so interested in the subject of marijuana. Well, I guess it's just about as interesting as reading a daily blog about somebody's impressions of the Go programming language.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#127

Post by zmic2 » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:52 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?

I can safely claim that people can get addicted to weed because I've known people addicted to weed.

And what does "not chemically addicted" mean anyway? Is there anything else inside a human brain except chemicals?

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#128

Post by michaelwww » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:53 PM UTC

rhizome wrote: post #96

michaelwww wrote: post #67

I think people are forgetting his target audience, which is probably older. I doubt many young people watch CNN. Even the title "Why I Changed My Mind On Weed" sounds like it was written for the Readers Digest, which I used to read as a kid because my grandmother would give me her copies.

What does his audience have to do with him being unprincipled and self-promoting?

I think being borderline unprincipled and very self-promoting comes with the territory of being a TV personality, so if we factor that out, he's actually doing marijuana advocates a huge favor by speaking to the older generation of voters who have endured decades of propaganda against marijuana and who now, by listening to the most credible TV doctor in America, might vote to legalize.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#129

Post by stcredzero » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:54 PM UTC

beambot wrote: post #88

tptacek wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Being pleased about a new opinion and being cynical about its motivations are not mutually exclusive. I think it's perfectly acceptable to question a public figure's motives when their changing outlook (regardless of stated reasons) are highly correlated with changes in public opinion.

Correlation does not prove causation.

Re: Why I Changed My Mind On Weed

#130

Post by mistercow » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:55 PM UTC

300bps wrote: post #115

mistercow wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The license to prescribe drugs is largely useless as an indicator of pharmacological expertise. We let chiropractors prescribe drugs in this country (Edit: I was mistaken; we don't). The government has no idea what it's doing in its process for deciding who gets that power. I have encountered plenty of doctors who clearly had no idea what they were doing when it came to pharmacology, to the point of prescribing drugs…

We let chiropractors prescribe drugs in this country. What country is that, mistercow? Here in the United States, they cannot prescribe drugs with one notable exception in New Mexico for chiropractors that have received "advance practice" training. In fact, prescribing drugs actually goes against the chiropractic philosophy that involves physical manipulation of the body and your body's ability to heal itself. Source…

Hmm, it seems I was mistaken. We do let osteopaths prescribe medicine though, and that's almost as dumb. The rest of my point still stands.