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Long-Term Cannabis Use, Cognitive Decline, and the Hippocampus

psychologytoday.com

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Re: Long-Term Cannabis Use, Cognitive Decline, and the Hippocampus

#81

Post by nebulousthree »

newsclues wrote: post #16
fallingknife wrote: post #7

I smoked weed constantly in college, and when I stopped, it was like a fog lifted. Its danger was comically exaggerated in the anti-drug propaganda they force fed to kids in the US for so long that a lot of people have a reactionary tendency to assume it's harmless, but they will soon be proven wrong. Still has nothing on America's number 1 hard drug, alcohol, though.

I've found it's possible to get high every night, and be clear headed and functional in the morning. A weekend of heavy smoking and edibles can leave me feeling a bit sluggish on Monday. But also refreshed for the rest of the week.

The deciding factor for that next-day sluggishness, in my experience, has been whether or not I fall asleep while still noticeably under its influence. If you wait it out and then sleep near the end of the come-down, you may avoid it entirely. But then, I never use it to sleep, so YMMV.

Re: Long-Term Cannabis Use, Cognitive Decline, and the Hippocampus

#82

Post by red-iron-pine »

iLoveOncall wrote: post #54
SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This associative effect is interesting in that there’s not a causal proven relationship albeit many common alternatives have been ruled out. It could very well be the kind of people who partake in weed were already predisposed to losing iq and developing dementia risk factors for some other abstract reason, and we can use weed smoking as a signal of something else being wrong. Fascinating stuff tho

People will really try anything to make it seem like Cannabis is perfectly harmless even in the face of cold hard evidence, it's laughable.

It has drawbacks. No one is saying it doesn't, but now we have a gasp on them.

Like, wait until I tell you about how bad alcohol, sugar, or sleep deprivation is for you...

Re: Long-Term Cannabis Use, Cognitive Decline, and the Hippocampus

#83

Post by kilgnad »

broast wrote: post #51
kilgnad wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before legalization in many states, even on HN even the suggestion that cannabis was unhealthy could get you voted down. People refused to believe it. Now that it's legal peoples' objectives have shifted and it's now ok to talk about it. It's a literal example of the stupidity in human psychology. People don't use logic to make conclusions about the world, they use logic to justify their conclusions so they can fulfi…

I use cannabis daily, and I also follow all the studies suggesting cognitive decline, alzheimers, and heart issues, etc. However, having not started till I was in my mid 20's, I do find that maybe I benefited from that cognitive decline with decreased anxiety, more physical energy, and more success in life. But now that I'm in a better place, I do intend to stop for a decade or two though, for the sake of my longevit…

>and more success in life.

There's merit in the idea that stupidity correlates with success. Anecdotally you see the correlation among academia and celebrities. Celebrities are richer and happier then academics who are poorer but smarter. Therefore doing something that contributes to your stupidity could possibly increase your success and happiness.

What anecdotally makes you think that cognitive decline contributed individually to your success? I'm curious.

I too value my happiness and wealth over my intelligence, and I would gladly take a stupid pill if such a pill made the trade off between the two attributes.

Re: Long-Term Cannabis Use, Cognitive Decline, and the Hippocampus

#84

Post by gaganyaan »

clbrmbr wrote: post #66
legitster wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

*Very hard to find a young person. But you find enough people after 10-15 years of using who will tell you they have noticed some effects. I think it's important to point out that marijuana is certainly less dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes. But it's weird how people try to argue that there shouldn't be any sort of moderation when it comes to weed. Like, even alcoholics won't argue that they shouldn't be drunk a…

The longer duration and fat solubility of canabinoids makes the alcohol comparison difficult. Many people have a glass of red wine with dinner daily, and are not drunk in the daytime, but even very light cannabis consumption nightly seems to result in a permanent low-level stonnedness.

Do you have a source for permanent low level stonedness? TBH that sounds completely made up.

Re: Long-Term Cannabis Use, Cognitive Decline, and the Hippocampus

#85

Post by AnEro »

starkd wrote: post #68
AnEro wrote: post #13

I also wonder what their lifestyles are in general, and if it would have an effect. I feel like weed puts my brain into autopilot to a degree and makes me 'okay' with w/e I am doing. So recreational usage I could see making you 'dumber' cause weed lets you feel okay doing nothing and doing nothing is a good way to be dumber My anecdotal opinion for someone that smokes a lot compared to their long-term cannabis users,…

Physical excercise can give you many of those benefits too. A good strenuous workout or run will give you a high without any of the harms.

That's why I also lift and do jogs! That's why I'm interested in the lifestyle peace because I have a pretty healthy lifestyle outside of smoking weed. I think I could be doing better micro nutrient wise and get a better omega and mushroom stack rather than w/e veggies are on sale lol

Re: Long-Term Cannabis Use, Cognitive Decline, and the Hippocampus

#87

Post by red-iron-pine »

mckirk wrote: post #9
AlanYx wrote: post #2

What's most interesting about this article IMHO is that these results were found with "long-term cannabis users" defined as those who use "typically 1-4 times weekly". That seems like relatively casual use.

That highly depends on your frame of reference, I suppose. In most of Germany that would be considered fairly 'heavy' use already, whereas most of the West Coast would probably consider that to be rookie numbers.

I had roommates at UCSC where 1-4 times a day was a minimum.

Dude eventually quit cold turkey for a 6+ months. Also quit booze, coffee, and tobacco, dropped out of Uni and hung out at an uncle's cabin in the mountains, real Walden Pond sorta stuff. Did him a world of good, but then he got a job w/ a FAANG and went back to the "smoke two joints" routine again.

Re: Long-Term Cannabis Use, Cognitive Decline, and the Hippocampus

#88

Post by defrost »

gameman144 wrote: post #78
nebulousthree wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't really inspire confidence given the recent reproducibility crises.

Wait, but the IQ/intelligence link is reproducible. Are you just saying that "most reproducible" is a low bar? (If so, that makes sense.)

Just as something to ponder, this caught my eye:

> The correlation between IQ and general intelligence is one of the more reproducible results in psychology.

and raises the question;

How do you measure | rank 'general intelligence' in a reliable and reproducable manner fully independantly of IQ measures in order to claim a correlation

.. there's just a smattering of chicken and egg there.

Re: Long-Term Cannabis Use, Cognitive Decline, and the Hippocampus

#89

Post by starkd »

nebulousthree wrote: post #79
starkd wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Everything that exists in reality, from the observable beginning to the projected end, follows a pattern of abstraction that is exact and single. Drugs give you access to "suspension of disbelief" in experiencing fiction that is larger than reality. Thats a fancy way of saying it gets you stoned. You can intellectualize it all you want, but its just words. I can think of any number of ways to "suspend my disbelief…

Your description of your experience with cannabis is telling. If you're frustrated with not being able to hold a thought for more than 5 seconds, then that might mean that you went into it with expectations of how it should go, and then spent your time being high trying to retain the "control" you had sober and bring those expectations to reality. This is a common mistake. The good parts of cannabis come from letting…

But theoretically, the cannabis should have helped that. I also felt a lot of nerve twitches all over. It might have been too high THC, but it was not an experience that I cared to repeat.

For the kind of experience you are talking about, I would think psychadelics would probably be the better fit.

Re: Long-Term Cannabis Use, Cognitive Decline, and the Hippocampus

#90

Post by Llamamoe »

m0llusk wrote: post #42

It might be interesting to give this more context. Does five points of IQ loss in later life actually change outcomes? And what about the rest? In my experience older cannabis users tend to be more centered, pleasant, easygoing, and are better at retaining their social support networks over long periods. My cannabis use has made my life tolerable, so if there really is a loss in IQ then that might not be such a bad p…

This isn't standalone "five points of IQ loss", this is "brain volume loss culminating in five points of IQ loss among others". 12% hippocampal volume loss is half of what happens in Alzheimer's, it's nothing to scoff at.

Does this imply that cannabis is never worth using and we should "protect" people from it? Probably not, but it's sorely needed in light of the "weed is harmless and a medicine for many" narrative that's getting blasted everywhere.

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