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I know both. I have family members who smoke routinely for basically their lives. You would never know, they don't let it interrupt their life. To them it is mo
by 67726e 10y ago
I know both. I have family members who smoke routinely for basically their lives. You would never know, they don't let it interrupt their life. To them it is more like coming home and having a glass of wine and relaxing on the couch with a good book.
I also know and lived with roommates for whom marijuana was a real problem. The kind of person who would smoke every day, even coming home on their lunch break and taking some bong hits. I've seen them get fired from work. I've seem them completely disregard the things that need need done. I've seem how irritable they can be when they're not blazed. They may not be chemically addicted, but they surely feel as though they need to smoke for whatever reason.
None of this is to argue for or against, but the "harmless marijuana" trope is a little much. Any substance will be abused by some and will cause harm to some.
- Retric 10y agoWe seem to be ok with people dropping out and becoming monks, but somehow living a relaxed lifestyle is somehow a major problem. Is it ok for people not to be a cog in the machine that makes your lifestyle possible or not? Sure, I might be happier if my past self saved even more money, lived a vegan lifestyle, or learned to play an instrument. But, I don't think it's a problem that I have failed to optimize for making this second of my life be the best it could be.
- saulrh 10y ago> We seem to be ok with people dropping out and becoming monks, but somehow living a relaxed lifestyle is somehow a major problem. Thank you for this reframing! I believe that it is useful and will likely use it in the future.
- mercer 10y agoI totally agree with the statement itself, but my experience around many stoners is similar to IsaacL's: they're generally not happy or relaxed at all, and smoke weed because they're stuck somehow (or vice versa, perhaps). More often than not, the 'relaxed lifestyle smokers', myself included, did so primarily to numb the stress in their head, whether caused by work stress, personal issues, social anxiety, etc. Basically, it's often more to cope than to relax, at least in my experience and that of my surroundings. But exceptions always exist, of course. I just think it's good to be cautious with anything that seems to offer a quick solution to a difficult problem (being at peace / relaxed).
- raihansaputra 10y agoI think the problem is not that people shun them that those people want to live a more relaxed life, but more that some of these people haven't done the necessary steps to do it properly (bouncing from job to job because you can't function due to psychological addiction in a high-cost city is not good). As anything else, I believe that the individual should be responsible for what they do, yet proper knowledge of potential effects and how to face them is needed to avoid wasted years of their life.
- bko 10y agoI would rephrase be a cog in the machine to "contributing to society". If someone wants to live a hedonistic carefree life, more power to them. But this is often coupled with abusing the social safety net designed for people who are down on their luck and can't contribute enough to society due to no fault of their own.
- lettergram 10y agoWhich is why many people support removing public safety nets (or reducing them). I feel like anyone who wants to opt out of society should be able to do so, but they also lose societal support
- Retric 10y agoPot is an expensive habit in large quantities which is not really conducive to staying on welfare. The issue is self sufficiency is not really enough without 2.2 kids thing break down long term. Further without economic growth our system is completely unsustainable. So, if parity is not enough and everyone must be a net contributer, well that's a cog.
- caub 10y agoexpensive cost for the body
- IsaacL 10y agoHaving known both drop-out monks and drop-out stoners, they're very different. Long-term meditators seemed to be very psychologically healthy, self-aware, cheerful, disciplined, etc whereas long-term stoners tended to be delusional, paranoid and irritable. (Many people into meditation had at some point used drugs, but eventually decided they were at best a distraction and at worst actively harmful).
- tamana 10y agoDid you know that many religions use drugs as part of meditation?
- Noos 10y agovery few people drop out to become monks, and to be blunt that is dangerous too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acedia Kathleen Norris wrote a book titled with the same name, and one of the things you notice about monastic life is that it's very spiritually dangerous, and often leads to a lot of abuses.
- Clubber 10y agoThere is a huge confirmation bias. You only hear about the horror stories, while people who are perfectly fine are afraid to admit so much, because of social stigmas and prejudices. Hell most companies require a drug screening as a condition of employment. People who smoke pot aren't going to come out and mention it at the water cooler for fear of retribution. I was talking with a co-worker about US laws in general and he mentioned something I'd never thought of. Many of the laws we pass, speed limits, alcohol tax, prohibition, .08 legal driving limit, etc are designed for the lowest common denominator. Meaning, we pass laws based on the worst case scenario. It seems like it's illegal to do just about anything these days.
- lisivka 10y agoYeah, we are hearing only horror stories about people walking on red signal, while majority of people are perfectly fine. It's time to legalize walking on red sign.
- subway 10y agoI think this is a great example. Walk on red -- just be aware of your surroundings and responsible for the outcome when you do.
- vertex-four 10y agoMany of us in other countries (almost anyone without kids with them) do just this. People rarely die. We learn how to look out for cars as soon as we're able to walk.
- roywiggins 10y agoThe UK doesn't have jaywalking laws and it seems to work okay. Not sure about crossing directly against a light, but in general if it's safe to cross, it's legal to cross.
- tamana 10y agoYes, cars should drive slower when near pedestrians.
- at-fates-hands 10y ago>> I've seem how irritable they can be when they're not blazed. This is a symptom of this: >> They may not be chemically addicted When people who smoke weed on a regular basis stop, the effects are similar to nicotine withdrawal - irritability, anxiety, fatigue and difficulty concentrating. >> but the "harmless marijuana" trope is a little much. I agree and would also add that when people are forced to consider statistics of people driving while high has increased dramatically in places like Washington and Colorado, their only response is, "Well drunk drivers kill way more people than people driving high." as some way to justify that it's ok.
- tamana 10y agoWhat are those statistics?
- longhairedhippy 10y agohttp://wtsc.wa.gov/News/marijuana-increased-in-2014-as-a-factor-in-deadly-crashes/ http://wtsc.wa.gov/News/marijuana-increased-in-2014-as-a-fac...