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Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

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Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#161

Post by lolc »

dylan604 wrote: post #108
elefanten wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I smoke, but this is dense. Smoking the natural substance is an unnatural use, by that use of the word. “It grows from the earth” Yeah so does hemlock.

So don't smoke. There are other ways of consuming with out inhaling the aftermath of burning. Yes, I know the effects are different in how one is affected. The smoking of anything has always been a curious "ritual" to me as it is so against everything the body is made to do.

I have developed this pet theory that humans have grown fond of fire and will feel secure in its presence. How do they know they're at a fire instead of just basking in the sun? When they are inhaling, I mean smelling, its fresh smoke of course!

I don't find it far-fetched to assume that an affinity to fire was selected for over the last millennia. Why, we even have a mutation that makes us less susceptible to carcinogens in smoke compared to other mammals. That would make smoking, and smoking indoors, an activity that replaces the open fires we're accustomed to.

Standard disclaimer for evolutionary theories: They are ill-suited to determine social policy.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#162

Post by jabbany »

gumby wrote: post #11
hackly wrote: post #6

First alcohol, now this?! How else will we drown our sorrows and numb our pains?

Exercise and a healthy diet. I typed this in jest but instead of closing the tab I realize that yes, this is a good alternative, perhaps the best, if you can do it . Not everyone can, and typically it’s not their fault if they can’t.

I'd say it's really a time tradeoff.

In my experience, the main reason to not eat healthy or exercise is because doing those things takes time, easily a LOT of time (e.g. cooking and cleanup easily account for 2-3 extra hrs/day and the numbers are similar for exercise [both active (dedicating time to it) and passive (walking around everywhere)]).

In the same vein, use of psychoactive substances is probably also a tradeoff between taking time to properly conduct mental maintenance v.s. a quick and dirty solution.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#163

Post by pbhjpbhj »

dathinab wrote: post #72
fshbbdssbbgdd wrote: post #4

My personal experience certainly agrees with this. I definitely shouldn’t smoke on a work night, and it’s not a good idea on Sunday either. The more hours until I need to perform cognitively, the better. I abstained for months before the last time I did job interviews. On the other hand, I know people also gainfully employed at top companies who code while high and claim to have no issues. Your mileage may vary, I gu…

> code while high I sometimes feel I code better when I'm slightly mentally impaired, because my mind stops getting in the way of getting things done and over analyzing problems. But then I'm very rarely mentally impaired, as I normally neither drink nor consume cannabis or anything like that, so idk. EDIT: Oh, just realized the answer is probably simple => less stress.

Or, you code worse but don't have the 'reflective' threads of cognition running at the time to notice?

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#164

Post by amarant »

isoprophlex wrote: post #101
jimsimmons wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like more work. How do bootstrap?

My personal take Go to bed/wake up at the same time everyday: might be easy Learn to cook: might sound more difficult, learn to make 3-4 healthy but easy "cant go wrong" dishes (pulled chicken and broccoli eg.) You'll love eating your own food soon enough. Exercise: hardest for me as I hate exercise. No silver bullets, just gotta stick with it.

The trick with exercise, I find, is to find something that is fun first, exercise second.

What that is will be different for different people: if you're a social person, you might try dancing(think salsa or other pair dances), or if you're the competitive kind, try some competitive sport that doesn't rely solely on physical fitness: anything where technique is as or more important as physical form will help you forget you're exercising and just focus on having fun/winning the game.

The perfect exercise is the one where you don't realize you've been exercising until you stop and smell the sweat!

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#165

Post by cthalupa »

flats wrote: post #24
tibbar wrote: post #3

> The study found that cannabis intoxication leads to small to moderate cognitive impairments in areas including > making decisions, > suppressing inappropriate responses, > learning through reading and listening, > the ability to remember what one reads or hears, and > the time needed to complete a mental task. I've no first hand experience here, but I can imagine there being tradeoffs. For example, I think creativi…

I have a decent amount of first-hand experience myself, and while I agree with you (there are definitely benefits!), the sort of creativity that cannabis can induce is of a particular variety. Specifically, cannabis-induced creativity for me, while tons of fun, tends to be very myopic. I focus more on minutiae and more immediately rewarding things like satisfying textures than on a overall composition and development…

I would generally agree that it does focus me pretty specifically on minutiae type details, which is sometimes exactly what I need.

Other times I find myself in a "stoner revelation" moment, which is not some groundbreaking breakthrough into the underlying fundamentals of how the world works, but instead where I will have something that I know, and is generally well known, but because it's so well known, not something I ever give much thought. The impaired state I'm in will force me to think about it at a more-than surface level, and sometimes those things that I normally take for granted get that surface stripped away and I'll end up with a useful thought. I've definitely had some successful changes to both my personal relationships and work organizational processes that have come about because smoking pot put me in the right state of mind. And, obviously, pot was never a requirement for those thoughts to be possible - they just didn't occur to me in my normal mode of operation.

And, of course, I've had plenty of "stoner revelations" that upon further inspection while sober, were completely stupid.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#167

Post by musicjohn »

playcache wrote: post #123
hooande wrote: post #78

I've known many people in silicon valley who smoke cannabis regularly (several times a week if not daily). They all seemed to be cognitively normal. Some of them function on a level I only wish I could attain. I think regular cannabis use attracts a certain type of person. That type of person can vary in their ability and intelligence, just like any type of person. This is also true of say, hardcore fans of fantasy f…

It's really no different to people using caffeine (aside to the legality). They are both drugs, the main difference being I bet more folks suffer from the effects of caffeine (anxiety, loss of sleep, stress), than the do cannabis.

Caffeine is one of the few stimulants that seems to be beneficial to the human health. Moderate use is linked to a lower likelihood of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, liver and endometrial cancers, Parkinson’s disease... Certainly more beneficial than smoking cannabis (in most cases together with tobacco). Damage to the lungs is one of the first thing that comes to my mind.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#168

Post by kumarvvr »

mellavora wrote: post #152
kumarvvr wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another view, is that, except for the extremely strong willed, getting used to a serene state of mind is addicting and kind of counter productive. Perhaps, addictive is not the right word. But it seems to me (purely from a human nature perspective) its similar to obesity (Eating food is not "addictive", but there is a definite element of "craving" and inability to overcome that craving). All in all, such substances a…

> unchecked use, might put a whole society in danger. So you mean that if, for example, over 50% of the population was using a known mind-altering drug, society might go to shit? Do prescription psychiatry medicines count? You might want to take a look at what % of the western world has such a prescription. Between opiods, amphetamine, and anti-depressants, I think the US passed the 50% mark some time ago.

Absolutely. What ever I have read or heard about those drugs (most of it from peoples experiences on reddit and all), it is clear to me that they don't actually solve any issue, and simply make the mind numb. In some cases, perhaps that is required.

But why is it that the worlds richest country need to keep 50% of its population on drugs?

That is a societal flaw, and worryingly a self sustaining one at that.

I also attribute it to the hyper-velocity lifestyles, lack of stable marriages, excessive consumption of media in general and social media in particular. And most importantly, a materialistic point of view where the whole purpose of life is for pleasure, partying and enjoyment.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#169

Post by can16358p »

kunai wrote: post #125
playcache wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really no different to people using caffeine (aside to the legality). They are both drugs, the main difference being I bet more folks suffer from the effects of caffeine (anxiety, loss of sleep, stress), than the do cannabis.

Nicotine and caffeine are both mild stimulants and have nootropic effects. Weed hasn't done anything for me besides give me bad panic attacks and making me feel like I'm detached from reality. It does not have the same kind of nootropic and cognitive-enhancing effects of caffeine, not at all. Like David Lynch, I'll stick to the coffee and cigarettes (even if the latter will probably kill me eventually, at least I can…

Personal anectode but might help:

I also have anxiety and panic attacks triggered. Though when it's over and I can think calmly, I ALWAYS see those panic attacks are my subconscious' way of telling something wrong with my life/where I'm going etc. and I need to fix things. When everything's on track I never have panic attacks regardless of the amount of substance.

In that sense it's actually telling me, in a brutal yet true way, to fix my life, by facing me feelings or thoughts that I've been subconsciously running away from.

Might not be the same case with you, surely, but this is my 2 cents.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#170

Post by TylerE »

rex_lupi wrote: post #107
serial_dev wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All in all, such substances are not natural... But they are natural, aren't they? No less natural than the watermelon we are all eating (it might be cultivated), and I don't see anyone wanting to criminalize eating watermelon. Weed, tobacco, alcohol, coca leaves, poppy, they are all natural. Also, even if it's natural, it has nothing to do with its dangerousness, so I don't follow your argument. With regards to leg…

They are not "natural" in the sense that humans don't consume ethyl alcohol to survive, in fact it is often quite damaging to biological systems. Apart from some microbes I'm not aware of any other organisms that use alcohol as their energy source. Alcohol/thc/caffeine/nicotine (you name it) do not fall in the "natural" diet of humans. Most psychoactive substances are metabolites which plants/fungi store in them to d…

For thousands of years humans routinely (e.g with every meal, even children) consumed low alcohol beer/wine), because it could be safely stored for extended periods, unlike water.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_beer

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