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Younger cannabis users have reduced brain function, finds largest study yet

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Re: Younger cannabis users have reduced brain function, finds largest study yet

#111

Post by ziddoap »

iforgot22 wrote: post #101
ziddoap wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In 1998, a grant from the National Institute of Justice to the University of Maryland resulted in a report to the NIJ, which among other statements, concluded that "D.A.R.E. does not work to reduce substance use." [...] The evidence suggested that, by exposing young impressionable children to drugs, the program was, in fact, encouraging and nurturing drug use. > A ten-year study was completed by Donald R. Lynam and…

Kids didn't listen to it, but it was right. It painted weed and harder drugs as pointless and dangerous, which they are.

>It painted weed and harder drugs as pointless and dangerous

It painted weed as something that if you took a single toke you'd end up shooting heroin shortly after.

The hyperbole, similar the parent comment insinuating that smoking weed is a guarantee of a shitty life, is ridiculously counter-productive.

Re: Younger cannabis users have reduced brain function, finds largest study yet

#112

Post by tombert »

SomaticPirate wrote: post #83
tombert wrote: post #66

I've never done any drugs outside of alcohol, and I didn't do that until I was 21 and I never really drank that much even when I did. I never smoked weed as a teenager because I had heard horror stories of people spiking illegal drugs with really horrible stuff. I have no idea if those stories were true, mostly likely they were exaggerated by law enforcement, but it worked to make me too much of a coward to try it. B…

Unironically, the superior tone likely has done you worse than a single joint.

No argument here, I'm definitely judgmental on this stuff. I probably shouldn't be, hence why I said that my hatred was borderline irrational.

That said, I still find potheads completely insufferable.

Re: Younger cannabis users have reduced brain function, finds largest study yet

#113

Post by throw18376 »

cannabis is pretty safe for the average person, even heavy users. it's not good for you, but i think most of the effects like this are explained by selection effects. unhappy people use it to self-medicate.

however, using cannabis comes with a very big tail risk. if you are susceptible to psychosis, cannabis can cause it or make it much more severe. this is undoubtedly causal.

people take all kinds of worse risks in life which everyone agrees should be acceptable, so I think cannabis should be legal. but I also think that if people clearly understood this risk, most would choose to avoid cannabis.

Re: Younger cannabis users have reduced brain function, finds largest study yet

#114

Post by jrockway »

iforgot22 wrote: post #99
ghfhghg wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of the smartest programmers I know smoke marijuana quite regularly. I don't know if they all smoked at an earlier age but I know that 2 of them did.

I knew some top students in college who started smoking weed then and continued. They're still programmers or scientists now, which isn't surprising given their education and talent, but something's wrong every time I talk to them. They seem scatterbrained and unable to remember what either of us said a minute ago. Edit: Forgot to specify, they're in their late 20s now.

> They seem scatterbrained and unable to remember what either of us said a minute ago.

I've never used weed and definitely have moments like this from time to time. I think I'm old. And that having 3000 Slack channels piping content into your brain 8 hours a day isn't real good either.

That said, I kind of understand the effect this thread is talking about. My youngest brother was doing a lot of smoking in high school and I definitely wonder about the long term effects.

Re: Younger cannabis users have reduced brain function, finds largest study yet

#115

Post by ameister14 »

ziddoap wrote: post #71
bearjaws wrote: post #22

This is such an obvious problem to anyone who is above the age of 25. All of my friends who were real big into weed in high school are all pretty bad at remembering things, most work dead end jobs and are generally unmotivated The ones who started the youngest are in rough shape mentally. Every single one of my friends who still lives with their parents smokes multiple times daily. Out of all of them, only one is suc…

I have plenty of anecdotes in the other direction. Perhaps there are other factors involved. Weed isn't going to give you a leg up in life, but it's not a guarantee that you're going to end up in a dead end job and live with your parents forever either. Painting it as such reminds me of D.A.R.E.

You have a bunch of anecdotes where the only successful people from the same school and friend group are the ones that regularly smoked and still smoke weed? They have the best memories of the people you know?

>Weed isn't going to give you a leg up in life, but it's not a guarantee that you're going to end up in a dead end job and live with your parents forever either.

Sure, and smoking doesn't guarantee lung cancer. It sure as hell makes it more likely, though.

Re: Younger cannabis users have reduced brain function, finds largest study yet

#116

Post by amrocha »

op00to wrote: post #53
throwaway314155 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

We don’t do personal attacks here, please.

The original comment implies their “friends” are failures, which i don’t know about you but I wouldn’t say that about any of my friends, and wouldn’t expect any of my friends to say that about me.

Pointing that out is not a personal insult.

Re: Younger cannabis users have reduced brain function, finds largest study yet

#117

Post by DiscourseFan »

Smoked a reasonable amount of weed in my life, starting as an adult. I have some issues with working memory, but minor ones; doesn’t effect my day-to-day. I was friends with a lot of top students in my undergrad, we all smoked fairly regularly.

Brain is like a muscle: smoking pot isn’t good for it, but there are plenty of daily ciggarette smokers who can run miles without a break; in the same way, if you need your brain for daily tasks, and you smoke pot every day, yes you would probably be better off without the weed, but you’re not going to be much worse than anyone else at your job.

Re: Younger cannabis users have reduced brain function, finds largest study yet

#118

Post by milkshakes »

bearjaws wrote: post #22

This is such an obvious problem to anyone who is above the age of 25. All of my friends who were real big into weed in high school are all pretty bad at remembering things, most work dead end jobs and are generally unmotivated The ones who started the youngest are in rough shape mentally. Every single one of my friends who still lives with their parents smokes multiple times daily. Out of all of them, only one is suc…

I believe that your perspective is harmful. I'm an accomplished staff engineer who has worked at multiple megacorps and valley darling companies including MANGAFANGA or whatever you call it and am highly goal oriented and passionate contributor. I started smoking weed at 13. I own multiple homes and live a well adjusted life with my wife. I support my parents and sisters. Without weed, I can get tunnel vision, or looped, trapped in the many contradictions and highly irrational layer 8 issues that permeate high stakes corporate decision making surrounding my technical efforts. Weed helps this all bother me less. I vape every day. Often on balconies at work. I'm afraid of schizophrenia, but besides that, weed has been a miracle drug for me. I have a psychiatrist, I've had pharmaceuticals, but really the plant has been the best thing for me and I wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as I have without it.

Re: Younger cannabis users have reduced brain function, finds largest study yet

#119

Post by okiebiokie »

ghfhghg wrote: post #51
bearjaws wrote: post #22

This is such an obvious problem to anyone who is above the age of 25. All of my friends who were real big into weed in high school are all pretty bad at remembering things, most work dead end jobs and are generally unmotivated The ones who started the youngest are in rough shape mentally. Every single one of my friends who still lives with their parents smokes multiple times daily. Out of all of them, only one is suc…

Some of the smartest programmers I know smoke marijuana quite regularly. I don't know if they all smoked at an earlier age but I know that 2 of them did.

Did you ever think you’re just really dumb and think they are smart?

Re: Younger cannabis users have reduced brain function, finds largest study yet

#120

Post by ziddoap »

ameister14 wrote: post #115
ziddoap wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have plenty of anecdotes in the other direction. Perhaps there are other factors involved. Weed isn't going to give you a leg up in life, but it's not a guarantee that you're going to end up in a dead end job and live with your parents forever either. Painting it as such reminds me of D.A.R.E.

You have a bunch of anecdotes where the only successful people from the same school and friend group are the ones that regularly smoked and still smoke weed? They have the best memories of the people you know? >Weed isn't going to give you a leg up in life, but it's not a guarantee that you're going to end up in a dead end job and live with your parents forever either. Sure, and smoking doesn't guarantee lung cancer.…

>You have a bunch of anecdotes where the only successful people from the same school and friend group are the ones that regularly smoked and still smoke weed?

I have a bunch of anecdotes where people I knew who regularly smoked weed throughout high school now range from successful to wildly successful.

I know a bunch of people that abstained and yet they work dead end jobs, have developed mental issues, and/or live with parents still.

Hence my conclusion that there might just be some other (more important) factors.

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