Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 396 posts

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#41

Post by Simulacra »

originalsimba wrote: post #33
Simulacra wrote: post #21

IMO: Cannabis rewards you for doing nothing.

That's a clever phrase but it's not entirely accurate. Marijuana makes you feel good, without needing to do anything else. This can be great in some environments.. such as enjoying a serene natural scene. But if you've got deadlines to meet it can feel challenging to "get up off the couch". Some people have no problem with that, but other people will sit around doing nothing all day.

Fair point, and you better elucidated what I was wanting to convey with a pithy statement. In my experience, it has had the effect of rewarding me for doing nothing. Deadlines don't matter. The pressing realities of job, life, and productivity, don't matter. It feels so much better to just...sit here...and ...

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#42

Post by dfsegoat »

sv123 wrote: post #25
dfsegoat wrote: post #3

I know people that have kicked opiates and tobacco cold turkey - but who could not give up using cannabis if their lives depended on it. This is a legitimate concern in the current tide of de-criminalization / legalization.

That's more than a little bit anecdotal, physical and psychological dependence on cannabis ranks well below opiates, tobacco, even alcohol. Not to mention the fact that people's lives literally do depend on quitting opiates and tobacco, while cannabis not at all.

Totally anecdotal. My point is that I think that addiction in general runs deeper than we currently understand and that we shouldn't underestimate the potential for people to become dependent on something newly available just because it is broadly conceived as harmless.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#43

Post by drew1492 »

samsonradu wrote: post #32
meesterdude wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a false equivalency. opiates and tobacco have vastly higher toxicity than marijuana - which is lower toxicity than aspirin or caffeine.

What's toxic with caffeine?

The word "toxic" is overloaded and there are at least two main types of "toxicity" - acute and chronic. Caffeine is indeed more acutely toxic than cannabis in the sense that one could die from taking waay too much caffeine at once, but no deaths from THC overdose have ever been observed. Caffeine however seems to be almost entirely non-toxic chronically. Aside from addiction, regular caffeine intake doesn't seem to harm one's body or mental functioning in any way. Frequent habitual cannabis use has more negative effects, such as impaired memory.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#44

Post by coldtea »

insickness wrote: post #17

In the past I was addicted to pot. I was addicted in the sense that pretty much everything felt better when I was high. I was more relaxed and had less anxiety. Sex was better. Food tasted better. I was more creative. I thought about much deeper things. I spent less time online and in front of screens. The biggest downside for me--and the reason I ended up quitting--was that my sober life just sucked in comparison. I…

>In other words, it made me feel fine just hanging out in my apartment doing nothing.

That should be the natural state of man, though, I'd extend it to meeting with friends, cooking, playing, etc -- that is, being "non-productive". It took a lot of advertising and protestant ethic working hand in hand through opposing ends to move the needle towards full on consumption and full on productivity.

"All human evil comes from a single cause, man's inability to sit still in a room." - Blaise Pascal

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#45

Post by gamache »

samsonradu wrote: post #32
meesterdude wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a false equivalency. opiates and tobacco have vastly higher toxicity than marijuana - which is lower toxicity than aspirin or caffeine.

What's toxic with caffeine?

The LD-50 of caffeine is around 2.5g, or about 25 strong cups of coffee. (Marijuana has no known lethal dose.)

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#46

Post by wafflesraccoon »

peterwwillis wrote: post #11
sonnyblarney wrote: post #2

It's unconventional given the liberal/libertarian aspects of the current movement, but this is a problem. I know at least two people very well, and a few more less well who smoke - all - the - time. They vape it like tobacco. They are basically permanently 'kind of high' - completely functional, you'd never really know it to meet them ... but this is more than a little distressing. One is in finance, the other a heal…

One in six Americans takes psychiatric prescription drugs, mostly antidepressants. Weed is basically an antidepressant and pain killer. I think the bigger question is, why are Americans self-medicating so much?

Is this an American only issue? I was under the impression that marijuana is very popular everywhere.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#47

Post by zkomp »

idoh wrote: post #29
e40 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You didn't list what you think the problem is.

The problem isn't listed because it viewed as self evident to some people. I'd list the problem of having high functional people who use marijuana everyday as: A - MJ, while a mild drug, is still a drug, and it seems like people who use it everyday are addicts. B - On the one hand I'm OK with people making their own decisions as to how they want to live their life, but on the other hand if we are talking about the ty…

Why does using somehting everyday make you automatically an addict. Are really people who are prescribed and use anti-depressant addicts. I think its more similar than not.

Using alcohol everyday on the other hand, that can make you addicted in ways pot never can...

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#48

Post by jeremy7600 »

It was strange how the article kept talking about the downsides, and the downsides were just anecdotes, and nothing else. Did I miss something in the article, or was I just supposed to know the downsides before I read this? Risks like "budtenders providing medical advice" have zero to do with near-constant cannabis use.

Re: More Americans report near-constant cannabis use

#49

Post by Chardok »

I cannot help but think the Federal government is fully at fault for this one. So much time and effort spent to misinform, lie, and skew the truth on the consequences of cannabis (including extraordinarily disproportionate legal consequences) that the actual consequences in comparison seem much more benign and subtle. Its sad that South Park had to properly describe the true negative effects of cannabis before any reputable organization would touch it.

If there is a true concern for "public safety" then the only choice is to remove it as a schedule I, educate the populace on the true consequences, regulate as any other consumable substance, and provide assistance and help for those looking to quit.

Post reply on HN