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Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

addictionjournal.org

31–40 of 568 posts

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#31
post #18

How long do they persist? 1 day, 1 week, a year, ten years? I used to be a daily smoker and was horribly addicted. Now, at least ten years after I quit, I find myself having trouble remembering things. I lose my train of thought a lot too, really annoying. I don't know if that was attributed to my cannabis use, or just my brain in general.

It's a bit distressing how many people don't think weed can be addictive, clearly it is, just not in the same way as something like cigarettes.

That said, my friend, 10 years of life make you forgetful sometimes.

That's just called living.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#32

It seems virtually all stimulants used as a crutch to counter anxiety, depression, physical pain etc wind up killing off a lot of brain cells. My concern with modern (incredibly strong) Cannabis/THC is that some regular users seem to struggle with withdrawal if they don't smoke their bowls regularly, run short on weed etc.

And that is why you should only take one or two puffs and not smoke a whole joint like 15 years ago. Also, I'm strongly convinced you should not be consuming it everyday, maybe 3 times a week max and even then that is hectic. People are way to chilled out about cannabis/thc dosages.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#33
post #11
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.

Chop wood, carry water.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#34
post #6

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

Seriously. Am I supposed to just work and have a boring milquetoast existence hiking or whatever to make it to 80? When it really comes down to it, the most euphoric moments and best memories of my life have been messed up on weed and alcohol with people and music. Itd be depressing to move on and just reminisce about when times were better…

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#35

Somewhat of a hot take but I think about this every now and then - simply put, Marijuana is a drug that makes people lazy. It tanks personal productivity. So we extrapolate where large swaths of populations in various states where Marijuana is legalized, wouldn’t that have a huge negative impact on the GDP? Literally neutering people’s productivity. It’s not just careers but I’ve seen addicted people (including mysel…

If people were less career obsessed, it would vastly reduce the amount of evil in the world tbh. Most large scale evil is done by career obsessed freaks. I heard a talk show host once speculate that one reason weed has been illegal for so long is it would make the various motivational sticks and carrots the ruling class uses with white collar workers less effective in aggregate.

That’s crazy man. I’m very career focused and I want to improve the world. I work extremely hard, all day and everyday. I’m evil?

Here is some context, I commented elsewhere on my work ethic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29895639

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean I don't, but I take the blame for that. Not god's fault I'm lazy.

> Not god's fault I'm lazy. It is though isn't it? [Insert free will debate here]

God is your supplier, I'd say he was at fault for sure. You're probably out of the warrenty period though...

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#37
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weed withdrawals can be very hard. I had to borderline force feed myself in the past right after quitting because my appetite was dead. You’re insomniac as hell, tired, irritable, and just generally uninterested

Weed withdrawals can last months for me, severe depression / anhedonia / executive function impairment; duration depending on how much/long I used. I'll bounce back but man does it suck going through the repair process. Nothing is enjoyable, life just feels dull and flat, and it's hard to get anything done.

That is not withdrawal. That is a preexisting condition.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#38

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…

I totally agree. Have recently decided to abstain from smoking on nights before work. I’m never as sharp the morning after and edger going several weeks without smoking, the productivity differences are pretty noticeable for me.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#39
post #21

I didn't see anything in the full text on the dosage amounts. I feel like with anything in life, the amount matters. 1-2 drinks a week does not give noticeable long-term effects. 20+ yeah that might be an issue. Maybe I didn't find the right info in the full text?

I get a kick out of the new weed addiction ads and billboards

I would like to know more about it but I just can’t find anything objective

I am very skeptical of my friends that make weed use their whole identity, Its not fun when they’re not doing it “recreationally” like the rest of us, but they seem decently functioning even though they use the term “microdose” quite liberally and abstractly. Not judging yet, I just know I wont consume weed that often. They all are suppressing anxiety or depression, from unrelated things theyve told me.

Re: Cannabis use produces persistent cognitive impairments: meta review

#40
post #11
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.

Those suggestions might hold up for some people but even those seemingly innocuous avenues might cause things to go awry when used as tools for emotional regulation. And, maybe my counter-arguments falls outside of the scope of the qualifier "healthy". But, I'd be mindful of the two devolving into exercising too much, which isn't fun to deal with (persistent injuries), and eating disorders that cause anxiety of their own. At least, that's what happened to me.

For some of us, the way to deal with numbing stuff means changing our lives so there is less numbing needed.

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