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More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

theatlantic.com

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Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#301

Post by mirimir »

The title is clickbait bullshit. Here's the money quote:

> Public-health experts worry about the increasingly potent options available, and the striking number of constant users. “Cannabis is potentially a real public-health problem,” said Mark A. R. Kleiman, a professor of public policy at New York University. “It wasn’t obvious to me 25 years ago, when 9 percent of self-reported cannabis users over the last month reported daily or near-daily use. I always was prepared to say, ‘No, it’s not a very abusable drug. Nine percent of anybody will do something stupid.’ But that number is now [something like] 40 percent.”

I mean, "daily" is not "constant". And the quote only claims "daily or near-daily use". I have, on occasion in Mexico or Amsterdam, smoked constantly, except while asleep. And that's a very different trip than a few hits before sex and sleep.

And perhaps worse, there's not much to the article than anecdotes, which have obviously been selected for negative experiences.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#302

Post by aldoushuxley001 »

RichardCA wrote: post #298
aldoushuxley001 wrote: post #116

Has anyone else taken notes while they were high? I started taking notes when smoking around 10 years ago and it's probably the single thing that's most dramatically increased my intellectual development. The simple act of writing down my ideas helped solidify them and turned them into a foundation for future evolution of the idea. I now have 5500 notes on my computer and 2000 on my phone and you could effectively tr…

You're in good company. http://marijuana-uses.com/mr-x/

wow, thanks for the link! Found this incredible quote from Carl Sagan that describes it perfectly:

> "There is a myth about such highs: the user has an illusion of great insight, but it does not survive scrutiny in the morning. I am convinced that this is an error, and that the devastating insights achieved when high are real insights; the main problem is putting these insights in a form acceptable to the quite different self that we are when we’re down the next day. Some of the hardest work I’ve ever done has been to put such insights down on tape or in writing. The problem is that ten even more interesting ideas or images have to be lost in the effort of recording one. It is easy to understand why someone might think it’s a waste of effort going to all that trouble to set the thought down, a kind of intrusion of the Protestant Ethic. But since I live almost all my life down I’ve made the effort – successfully, I think. Incidentally, I find that reasonably good insights can be remembered the next day, but only if some effort has been made to set them down another way. If I write the insight down or tell it to someone, then I can remember it with no assistance the following morning; but if I merely say to myself that I must make an effort to remember, I never do."

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#303

Post by cpncrunch »

psychedelic wrote: post #237
01100011 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went back after nearly 2 years clean. I don't recommend it. Once again I'm lacking in mental energy. I'm all for MJ if you need it, but I think a lot of us are fooling ourselves into thinking it's benign. Sure, it's better than alcohol, but I don't think that's a useful benchmark. Sobriety can be boring, but until someone invents a better drug I think it's my only option until I retire.

As someone who has never smoked, I feel like this is the argument I always had with my friends who all have/do. Ultimately, their argument for smoking basically boiled down to the lack of scientific evidence that there are lasting consequences and that it was nowhere near as bad as alcohol. My argument was that there was a lack in scientific evidence, and that comparing the utility to alcohol was stupid.

It seems unlikely that a drug that affects neurotransmitters wouldn't result in tolerance, and the scientific evidence and anecdotal reports seem to confirm this. Anything that gives you a 'high' will ultimately have the opposite effect when you're sober. So in the end you'll just wind up wasting money smoking to feel normal, and you'll feel like shit when you've been sober for a while.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#304

Post by nandemo »

throwaway493948 wrote: post #207

Posting with a throwaway for obvious reasons. I started smoking weed in College. Since then, I've developed a habit of smoking almost daily. Not all day, but usually a few tokes from a vape at the end of the night. When people ask, I usually reflect that weed has been a very positive addition in my life. I became VP of Eng. for a well known software company within 3 years of graduating. We did a lot of things right a…

> Posting with a throwaway for obvious reasons.

Not obvious to me at all. Weed is already legal in several states in the US; weed use is far from taboo on HN; you have FU money. So why the throwaway? (Of course you have right to your privacy, I just wonder what are the "obvious" reasons ...)

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#305

Post by aldoushuxley001 »

JL-Akrasia wrote: post #248
aldoushuxley001 wrote: post #116

Has anyone else taken notes while they were high? I started taking notes when smoking around 10 years ago and it's probably the single thing that's most dramatically increased my intellectual development. The simple act of writing down my ideas helped solidify them and turned them into a foundation for future evolution of the idea. I now have 5500 notes on my computer and 2000 on my phone and you could effectively tr…

I have a similar usage pattern. I have 200+ essays (1000+ words) on interesting thoughts. Often they are more incomplete than I would like. These aren't necessary notes but more ideas sparked by recent literature I have read. Lets take this offline? - Would be delighted to chat.

Hey, that's fascinating. Would love to chat more.

Maybe send me an email at: aldoushuxley1@protonmail.com

Or if you have another idea, let me know

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#306

Post by drewmol »

MFLoon wrote: post #154
phillc73 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There have been very positive studies regarding cannabis use to treat epilepsy.[1][2] [1] https://www.newscientist.com/article/2172683-first-cannabis-... [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4157067/

It turns out these are basically the only conditions for which medicinal use is roundly supported by the data. Everything else is basically "Well, weed makes lots of people feel good, couldn't hurt to use it for [pain/nausea/anxiety/whatedver]."

True as it is, the limited data is mostly due to criminalization in the US preventing comprehensive analysis. This is especially true for the less severe conditions (of which you mentioned several) where well studied alternative remedies are effective and plentiful. The severity of suffering assosiated with epilepsy, the limited effectiveness and heavy side effects of previously available treatments and the peculiar effectiveness of cannibus eventually resulted in conscientious objection and civil disobedience which resulted in much more of that data becoming available.

I'm not disagreeing, just noting that opium made lots of people feel good long before the why was well understood (and well capitalized...). I look forward to reading more about it years from now, once we get past the Rumspringa phase of gummy bear concentrates at the gas station and drizzled over you're starbucks latte :-<

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#307

Post by scarecrowbob »

BaronVonSteuben wrote: post #283
scarecrowbob wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm always glad to hear that people find a balance. One thing that is difficult for me, however, is to understand how things affect me without long periods of abstinence. Like, I'm an alcoholic, though I've become more and more functional. I pretty much only drink on the weekends and around other humans, now. But I went through about 6 months of total abstinence from drinking and I can say with a great deal of certai…

It's always interesting to hear about people that can scale the alcohol back. I can't do it. I can (usually) get through work sober, but the second I get home I'm grabbing a beer, or downing a shot. The only thing that worked for me was complete sobriety. Been sober 10 years now. Still think about drinking all the time tho.

I'm glad you found a thing that works.

My feeling is that we have dysfunctional behaviors and that alcohol is a tool we use to deal with that.

Its easier to not drink now, because I don't want to drink. I think that I know why I drink most of the times (and is scares me when I drink and don't know why); even when I don't know why, I can usually figure out why.

I did not want to quit drinking before my wife left me. She certainly did not make me drink. It was a way of coping with her demanding personality that I chose.

It's good if you can make not drinking work for you. I may be way off base, but if you can figure out why you are wanting to drink and if you can change that thing in your life, then that situation is far better.

If I could choose, I would still be married and have developed a different coping mechanism and just be completely sober, but that's not my choice... the fact that I don't want to drink and only do it for social expediency is cold comfort.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#308

Post by slashdev »

sktrdie wrote: post #119
ralusek wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everything is a social construction. The default state of life isn't being relaxed and comfortable, the default state is starvation and defending against disease, predation, and conflict. In your world where everyone is cooking and playing, who provides the food? Who staves away conflict? What lifeform on Earth let you to believe that the default state of being was effortless comfort?

I'd argue that would be the state of men when they lived in forests. But we live in a society where most of our natural instincts are "suppressed": living in square boxes with just 2-3 people we trust; having to spend time at "work" in order to afford a living; looking at screens; the instinct to hunt; etc etc. So in a way we do need something to help us "relax" in a world where we can't naturally.

You're hopelessly romanticizing the past. Life back then, in those forests was short, violent, and on the edge of starvation. There actually isn't a lot of food for people animals in a forest, especially the older it is.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#309

Post by throwaway413 »

01100011 wrote: post #271
dgzl wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the thoughtful input, and I'm certainly taking your anecdotes as advice. In fact, taking a break seems like a good idea, I'll have to work this into my life sometime soon. However I have to be honest, my life has never been more successful than it currently is. Not to say it would be more so if I wasn't a daily user, but hopefully you see my point. No need to respond if you're not comfortable, but in what…

It's tough.. Not only was I a pothead, I was an advocate. I grew and supplied dispensaries with flowers and edibles. I'm not saying weed should be banned but I think we need a rational discussion on it. I understand your feelings. My salary peaked in the midst of my binge. I was a (in my circle) somewhat of a rockstar, making tons of money, working an easy job. It's the classic story of the tortoise and the hare thou…

As a 25 year old, going on 31 days quitting cold turkey after blazing every hour for the past 5 years, having gone through a divorce 10 months ago...thank you for your post. Seriously, thank you. I attributed a lot of my successes to my weed smoking habit, but I have been catching whiffs of what you said in my own life, and to hear someone else express it so clearly...you’re really helping by sharing your experiences. I truly wish you the best.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#310

Post by mindgam3 »

prolikewh0a wrote: post #159
rhcom2 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Another nice benefit of minimizing daily THC intake is I have started dreaming and remembering dreams again. THC tends to suppress dreaming activity. I had the same experience with increased dreams but they were just all anxiety dreams for a month or so, it was very unpleasant.

I took a 2.5 week break about a month or more ago after 3 years of continuous use, and my dreams are WILD in a good way.

I've also experienced this. Intense dreams are a common withdrawal symptom, apparently.
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