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I thought the way that South Park put it (in the voice of Randy Marsh) many years ago was just about perfect: “Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn'

I thought the way that South Park put it (in the voice of Randy Marsh) many years ago was just about perfect: “Well, Stan, the truth is marijuana probably isn't gonna make you kill people, and ...it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorists, but... Well son, pot makes you feel fine with being bored and... It's when you're bored that you should be learning some new skill or discovering some new science or... being creative. If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything.” [0] To be clear, I don’t wholly agree, I know too many talented and hard-working stoners, but it does sum up the passive danger of cannabis rather nicely I think. [0] https://southpark.fandom.com/wiki/My_Future_Self_n%27_Me/Script https://southpark.fandom.com/wiki/My_Future_Self_n%27_Me/Scr...

daveslash 4y ago
Yeah. I used the same schpeel (or something similar), with my kid when we found out she was smoking at 15. You know ~ it's not heroine or cocaine, but it can make you content to just do nothing, when you'd be happier doing something. Sometimes "do nothing" is exactly what we need in this crazy, hectic, busy world. Sometimes it's good to be bored. But keep it in check. Also, I have no problem with adults partaking, but kids with their developing brains ~ that's another story in my mind.
- monktastic1 4y ago
  FYI, spiel :)
  - daveslash 4y ago
    Thank you.
  - davidrupp 4y ago
    More info at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spiel https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spiel . Pronounced as you (gp) spelled it phonetically because it's borrowed from German.
    - gowld 4y ago
      It's taken from Yiddish, which took it from German.
      - daveslash 4y ago
        From Yiddish? I didn't know that. Interesting and Thank You. A few years ago, I used the word "Schmuck", and someone asked me if I was Jewish (I'm not). I didn't realize that "Schmuck" was also a Yiddish word until then. I looked it up, and I didn't realize that some Yiddish speaking people consider it to be obscene profanity! So now I use a little more sparingly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmuck_(pejorative) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmuck_(pejorative)
  - detritus 4y ago
    Personally I prefer 'schpiel' :)
marginalia_nu 4y ago
I think this is largely the problem with mobile phones as well. Like you probably aren't going to go mad or get rectangular eyes or whatever, but you can just sort of sedate that sensation of boredom with scrolling reddit or facebook or whatever, which does all of bupkis for making us happy in the long term.
- blowski 4y ago
  This is the same argument with all consuming vs producing. It's why there was a moral panic in the 1800s over Jane Austen style fiction, in the 1930s over radio, and so on. Being addicted to cannabis is not really any different to playing computer games 12 hours a day, doing endless marathons, watching sports, investing, or many similar activities.
  - RajT88 4y ago
    As a (mostly former) distance runner. Running endless marathons is most certainly not harmless. You will face eventually injuries which affect you for the rest of your life.
    - ChristianGeek 4y ago
      I’m a distance runner too; I try to distance myself from running.
    - nradov 4y ago
      There's distance and then there's distance. You can be a serious endurance athlete but focus on shorter races, with judicious use of low-impact cross training to reduce the risk of injuries while still building an aerobic base.
      - RajT88 4y ago
        I only have done a few marathon or longer races. When I was running regularly I would do 25-30 miles a week. It is doing that for decades which messes you up eventually.
vsareto 4y ago
>If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything Hah, that's easily done without smoking pot
eej71 4y ago
This late 80's PSA style ad covers that perspective as well. This style of ads were easy to mock even in the 80s - but I always thought this one had a point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQL9ZzJTX0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQL9ZzJTX0
dfxm12 4y ago
South Park also put it well when they understood that total abstinence is not the only way to deal with the situation. Maybe all it takes is a little discipline. After all, there's a passive danger in many things we do or neglect to do.
- rayiner 4y ago
  > South Park also put it well when they understood that total abstinence is not the only way to deal with the situation. Maybe all it takes is a little discipline. Exercising a "little discipline" doesn't really work for addictive substances. In my experience, high-functioning people with tons of impulse control often don't appreciate that others around them have more limited capacity for that. Despite drinking a lot in grad school, I just stopped after my daughter was born. Not out of any problem functioning, I was a social drinker and was just too busy with a job and baby. But it would be foolish of me to assume that everyone can just exercise "a little discipline" and go from 5+ drinks a night to nothing just like that.
  - runarberg 4y ago
    The south park’s point in that episode wasn’t to deny the existence of substance abuse disorder. Rather the point was that not everyone that does dumb stuff one time while drinking has it. In this episode Randy didn’t have Substance abuse disorder. He took the kids for a drive after drinking. He was caught and the court ordered him to undergo treatment despite there not being any proof that he was an alcoholic. This mentality that anyone that does something dumb or illegal while drunk has a problem does no service for either those that actually have substance abuse disorder, nor for criminal justice. You should be responsible for your own actions, and if you are sick you need treatment. But ordering people to undergo treatment after a crime despite no evidence of a disorder is just plain bad. mkay.
    - areyousure 4y ago
      In case anyone is curious, the South Park Archives fandom page on Randy Marsh has a section entitled "Alcoholism": https://southpark.fandom.com/wiki/Randy_Marsh#Alcoholism https://southpark.fandom.com/wiki/Randy_Marsh#Alcoholism
SoftTalker 4y ago
Can confirm. Two of my kids use THC pretty regularly and they seem content with a life that is paying the bills but not really leading anywhere. The third does not (AFAIK) and is on a much higher trajectory. All had pretty much the same upbringing, rules, experiences, and discipline. I've never used it, so don't have personal experience.
- nshung 4y ago
  To me, a life that is in content and has meaning trumps all those whatever higher trajectory means. I mean.. isn’t achieving those higher trajectories the goal of being content and having achieve the meaning if it exits at all?
  - worker_person 4y ago
    Watching your child being content to work at Taco Bell for the next 50 years is not something to be proud of. Regardless of contentment.
    - s5300 4y ago
      Why? Billions across the world would be incredibly happy with their kids getting to do something like this. If you aren’t happy with a content child, sounds like you had children for all of the wrong reasons & would be a horrible, potentially abusive parent.
      - monktastic1 4y ago
        I understand the underlying sentiment, but this is an awfully aggressive way to get your point across. The irony is that we tend to be aggressive when we're triggered due to unresolved traumas in ourselves -- which we then pass on to our own kids. I'm not here to psychoanalyze you, but food for thought.
        gowld 4y ago
        Fair, but the context was a parent publicly shaming their children for living peaceful, eco-friendly, simple lives, which is far worse.
jamal-kumar 4y ago
I think it's a substance that can lend itself really well to the creative aspects if used in moderation and with something like taking continuous notes so you don't lose those thoughts and ideas. I've come up with some really great stuff while moderately stoned, and while I don't consume it on a daily anymore, I can't understate the importance of having some way of recording those thoughts as soon as you come up with them be it a notepad, notepad.exe or even a voice recorder if logging things on paper or text isn't your thing because it tends to mess with your short term memory enough to forget whatever interesting point of view you've arrived on within a minute or so. I think I learned this from comedians actually, George Carlin used to work like this. I bet there's plenty of writers on South Park and may other comedy shows who do, too. Obviously taking it on a wake-and-bake basis throughout the day is going to give you problems though. Don't use it like that unless you're trying to manage serious illness like to keep your chemotherapy meds down or arthritis or whatever. Hell I don't even drink caffeine on a daily anymore because I find WAY more utility out of it once every couple of weeks or so. Oh yeah and if I'm going to agree with anything in this article it's that extracts are kinda too turbo, but I've also tried them in small amounts in drinks (Around 5-10mg) and that was pretty amazing compared to smoking in terms of lack of side effects from inhaling crap.
- xvedejas 4y ago
  Drug use can be a good excuse to put some time aside to let your mind wander, so I see why people end up getting creative on THC. And if you practice creativity while stoned, it makes sense that you'll be more creative while stoned. Like my friend who learned to juggle high, and yet cannot do it when he's sober.
  - jamal-kumar 4y ago
    I think it's a bit more than that. It makes your mind wander in different directions, in a way that lends itself to things like writing original jokes or coming up with a different angle on problems or ideas that can be solved with more 'out of the box' solutions. It does something to the associative memory in which it makes associations which you wouldn't normally assert (Which is where I think a lot of people who don't enjoy it end up paranoid - a healthy dose of critical thought and reasoning going into these experiences may be helpful, along with keeping the dose relatively low). That said since it does have a thought-scattering thing going for it that if you don't bother to try and focus on getting those scattered thoughts on to something which records them, it's kind of a waste of time if we're talking about using it for purely utilitarian reasons.
cultofmetatron 4y ago
weed is a godsend for me. I normally aways feel a bit guilty if I'm not doing something productive. To the point where its a significant source of anxiety and insomnia. when things start getting to hot in the brain, a few puffs and I'm content to relax, watch some anime and sleep early. completely agree with the op in general though. def not good of for kids who should be working on establishing themselves.
kerabatsos 4y ago
I guess. But anecdotally, I learned JavaScript, read philosophical text, organize my goals, play games with my children, go for walks outside…while consuming a moderate amount of thc. My creativity goes up. Rarely do I just sit and do nothing but sometimes that’s fine too. Moderation works.
throw7 4y ago
> it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorists Afghanistan?
- dghlsakjg 4y ago
  I don't know if it is the same in Europe, but Marijuana in North America tends to be produced in the country it is consumed. In most places where it is legalized in the states and canada you can even find out exactly what farm it was that produced it. More than I can say for the food I eat.
__s 4y ago
clip of that scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G83G0EDE2RY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G83G0EDE2RY
ineptech 4y ago
For anyone interested, there's a support community around quitting pot at /r/leaves (that name being a humorous reference to /r/trees, a large subreddit for pot users).
INTPenis 4y ago
I'm doing what I love buzzed right now, building a cluster for my homelab, creating a hybrid cloud solution to host some services and saving on money by leveraging cheap compute at home. But yes, Randy Marsh was absolutely right. I've had periods of my life where I've abused it and I regret every one of those days.
- hirvi74 4y ago
  > I've had periods of my life where I've abused it and I regret every one of those days. I think I am starting to wake up to this. I do find enjoyment in it, and there is such a sunk cost fallacy I keep factoring in too. I mean do I take occasional breaks, but probably not enough. It had definitely helped me lower my inhibitions enough to introspectively identity some issues that were deeply hidden under the surface of my everyday life. However, it's killed my motivation and in some ways it's starting to negatively affect other areas of my life. Regardless of my dependence, I am thankful to not feel clinically addicted or anything. I will say, it wasn't my first choice of treatment. I tried the mental/medical health professional route. I'm still on that train, and it's been 8 years. Nothing has really improved, so I am not sure what else to do and where else to go. I adopted cannabis around the age of 29 with very limited experience prior. The kind I use is not like the variety in this article either. I use 1:1 THC:CBD hemp because high thc products are illegal in my area. So maybe the damage isn't "as bad." If all the medical/mental health treatments I tried work as well as the medical research and doctors claim then I probably wouldn't have ever began to use cannabis in the first place. But like I said, what else am I to do? It's exhausting and stressful trying to force yourself to be a way your body naturally fights against. It's apparent that I cannot function well without some sort of chemical assistance. I guess the only difference is where I get it from (doctor vs. plant), the side-effects, and the societal views that accompany said chemicals.
  - INTPenis 4y ago
    The way I see it, throughout history I'm sure millions of people have just gone crazy by the everyday burdens of life. We might have more availability to forms of therapy but in the end it's up to you to balance your life. Soul controller.
farnsworth 4y ago
This quote stuck in my brain for a long time and I resonate with it and how I used it at a certain period in my life. It doesn't have to be like this if you approach it differently but in a certain context and state of mind, it's like an anti-adderall. Makes the day go by in comfort and nothing at all gets done.
- ipaddr 4y ago
  Until you train yourself to get more things done when stoned which is step 2.
  - farnsworth 4y ago
    Yes, it just takes the right mindset and some effort (for me)
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
tr1ll10nb1ll 4y ago
Moderation is key here, I believe. If you’re looking at successful people who get high all the time, it’s safe to assume they increased their marijuana (or any other substance) intake after having a skill they’re really good at. Most don’t and that’s why we see a correlation with drugs and being not good at much.
- seadan83 4y ago
  Do we see that correlation? Until recently, anyone over 40 was underground about marijuana usage. It turned out, tons of people use cannabis, many executives, plenty of people that we view as successful. One problem with black markets, it's very difficult to get good data, hence - do we really see a correlation? Or do we just perceive a correlation (ie: confirmation bias)
  - tr1ll10nb1ll 4y ago
    I'm not disagreeing and you can be wildly successful with or without it, I'm just pointing out heavy usage on a regular basis before you ever get to sustain that lifestyle can be detrimental to your success. But yeah, it could very well just be me perceiving a correlation here.
babypuncher 4y ago
I think it highlights why we put age restrictions on things like this. A developing brain is far more likely to fall into this trap than and already functioning adult brain.
bennysomething 4y ago
I always remember that quote as well, the bored part of it really stuck with me. Unfortunately I smoked my first joint at 13, I'm pretty certain it damaged my short term memory. I think had it been legal I wouldn't have got hold of it until much older plus it would have lost some of its cool factor. It was mostly hash in my day, I actually never liked weed , it was all super skunk loaded with thc that caused paranoia. Alcohol, cocaine and mdma are rough drugs too but there's something about weed/hash that makes me think it's overall mental effects might be worse. It's odd that it's written off as harmless quite often. (Btw I think all drugs should be legal, but I also now think they are all horrible and have nothing to do with them , well apart from beer and wine!)
- dogman144 4y ago
  Ya this is what I haven’t understood about weed advocacy and the discussion around it. I think that people who were in the scene in middle/high school, which unfortunately is very very common in my view but just not well known, know more than enough lives torpedoed by getting into it. Sure, “surprise, doing drugs at 13 is bad,” but I don’t know a lot of teenage drinkers who stopped at drinking (vs further in) in the same bad spot as the teenage smokers I knew (who stopped at smoking). The difference of smoking at 13 vs 30 is likely different, but idk if I really buy starting in adulthood and trending towards habitual is meaningfully immune from its bad impacts I’ve seen peers deal who stuck with it.
Terry_Roll 4y ago
Actually I'd say its got some sort of anticholinergic effect. The whitey that people experience, usually first time users or infrequent users, is a release of glutathione, and obviously its messing with the endocannabinoid system. Its also got a very potent memory wiping effect, which makes it useful for criminals doing stuff to you, like raping you in your sleep if you have been spiked with prescription sleeping pills and/or off the shelf anti histamines sold to aid sleep. Its a very nasty combination of drugs, when that sort of stuff has been done to you in your sleep, and criminals never tell you what they plan to do to you! Dont make it easy for them, the legal system wont help you!
analog31 4y ago
I had a friend who was a heavy pot smoker, and was insistent that there were no health affects. I asked him: "What about motivation?" He said: "OK, motivation."
majani 4y ago
Conversely you could argue that that's probably a good way to go out after you get an empty nest

daveslash 4y ago

Yeah. I used the same schpeel (or something similar), with my kid when we found out she was smoking at 15. You know ~ it's not heroine or cocaine, but it can make you content to just do nothing, when you'd be happier doing something. Sometimes "do nothing" is exactly what we need in this crazy, hectic, busy world. Sometimes it's good to be bored. But keep it in check. Also, I have no problem with adults partaking, but kids with their developing brains ~ that's another story in my mind.

monktastic1 4y ago
FYI, spiel :)
- daveslash 4y ago
  Thank you.
- davidrupp 4y ago
  More info at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spiel https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spiel . Pronounced as you (gp) spelled it phonetically because it's borrowed from German.
  - gowld 4y ago
    It's taken from Yiddish, which took it from German.
    - daveslash 4y ago
      From Yiddish? I didn't know that. Interesting and Thank You. A few years ago, I used the word "Schmuck", and someone asked me if I was Jewish (I'm not). I didn't realize that "Schmuck" was also a Yiddish word until then. I looked it up, and I didn't realize that some Yiddish speaking people consider it to be obscene profanity! So now I use a little more sparingly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmuck_(pejorative) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmuck_(pejorative)
- detritus 4y ago
  Personally I prefer 'schpiel' :)

marginalia_nu 4y ago

I think this is largely the problem with mobile phones as well. Like you probably aren't going to go mad or get rectangular eyes or whatever, but you can just sort of sedate that sensation of boredom with scrolling reddit or facebook or whatever, which does all of bupkis for making us happy in the long term.

blowski 4y ago
This is the same argument with all consuming vs producing. It's why there was a moral panic in the 1800s over Jane Austen style fiction, in the 1930s over radio, and so on. Being addicted to cannabis is not really any different to playing computer games 12 hours a day, doing endless marathons, watching sports, investing, or many similar activities.
- RajT88 4y ago
  As a (mostly former) distance runner. Running endless marathons is most certainly not harmless. You will face eventually injuries which affect you for the rest of your life.
  - ChristianGeek 4y ago
    I’m a distance runner too; I try to distance myself from running.
  - nradov 4y ago
    There's distance and then there's distance. You can be a serious endurance athlete but focus on shorter races, with judicious use of low-impact cross training to reduce the risk of injuries while still building an aerobic base.
    - RajT88 4y ago
      I only have done a few marathon or longer races. When I was running regularly I would do 25-30 miles a week. It is doing that for decades which messes you up eventually.

vsareto 4y ago

>If you smoke pot you may grow up to find out that you aren't good at anything Hah, that's easily done without smoking pot

eej71 4y ago

This late 80's PSA style ad covers that perspective as well. This style of ads were easy to mock even in the 80s - but I always thought this one had a point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQL9ZzJTX0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQL9ZzJTX0

dfxm12 4y ago

South Park also put it well when they understood that total abstinence is not the only way to deal with the situation. Maybe all it takes is a little discipline. After all, there's a passive danger in many things we do or neglect to do.

rayiner 4y ago
> South Park also put it well when they understood that total abstinence is not the only way to deal with the situation. Maybe all it takes is a little discipline. Exercising a "little discipline" doesn't really work for addictive substances. In my experience, high-functioning people with tons of impulse control often don't appreciate that others around them have more limited capacity for that. Despite drinking a lot in grad school, I just stopped after my daughter was born. Not out of any problem functioning, I was a social drinker and was just too busy with a job and baby. But it would be foolish of me to assume that everyone can just exercise "a little discipline" and go from 5+ drinks a night to nothing just like that.
- runarberg 4y ago
  The south park’s point in that episode wasn’t to deny the existence of substance abuse disorder. Rather the point was that not everyone that does dumb stuff one time while drinking has it. In this episode Randy didn’t have Substance abuse disorder. He took the kids for a drive after drinking. He was caught and the court ordered him to undergo treatment despite there not being any proof that he was an alcoholic. This mentality that anyone that does something dumb or illegal while drunk has a problem does no service for either those that actually have substance abuse disorder, nor for criminal justice. You should be responsible for your own actions, and if you are sick you need treatment. But ordering people to undergo treatment after a crime despite no evidence of a disorder is just plain bad. mkay.
  - areyousure 4y ago
    In case anyone is curious, the South Park Archives fandom page on Randy Marsh has a section entitled "Alcoholism": https://southpark.fandom.com/wiki/Randy_Marsh#Alcoholism https://southpark.fandom.com/wiki/Randy_Marsh#Alcoholism

SoftTalker 4y ago

Can confirm. Two of my kids use THC pretty regularly and they seem content with a life that is paying the bills but not really leading anywhere. The third does not (AFAIK) and is on a much higher trajectory. All had pretty much the same upbringing, rules, experiences, and discipline. I've never used it, so don't have personal experience.

nshung 4y ago
To me, a life that is in content and has meaning trumps all those whatever higher trajectory means. I mean.. isn’t achieving those higher trajectories the goal of being content and having achieve the meaning if it exits at all?
- worker_person 4y ago
  Watching your child being content to work at Taco Bell for the next 50 years is not something to be proud of. Regardless of contentment.
  - s5300 4y ago
    Why? Billions across the world would be incredibly happy with their kids getting to do something like this. If you aren’t happy with a content child, sounds like you had children for all of the wrong reasons & would be a horrible, potentially abusive parent.
    - monktastic1 4y ago
      I understand the underlying sentiment, but this is an awfully aggressive way to get your point across. The irony is that we tend to be aggressive when we're triggered due to unresolved traumas in ourselves -- which we then pass on to our own kids. I'm not here to psychoanalyze you, but food for thought.
      - gowld 4y ago
        Fair, but the context was a parent publicly shaming their children for living peaceful, eco-friendly, simple lives, which is far worse.

jamal-kumar 4y ago

I think it's a substance that can lend itself really well to the creative aspects if used in moderation and with something like taking continuous notes so you don't lose those thoughts and ideas. I've come up with some really great stuff while moderately stoned, and while I don't consume it on a daily anymore, I can't understate the importance of having some way of recording those thoughts as soon as you come up with them be it a notepad, notepad.exe or even a voice recorder if logging things on paper or text isn't your thing because it tends to mess with your short term memory enough to forget whatever interesting point of view you've arrived on within a minute or so. I think I learned this from comedians actually, George Carlin used to work like this. I bet there's plenty of writers on South Park and may other comedy shows who do, too. Obviously taking it on a wake-and-bake basis throughout the day is going to give you problems though. Don't use it like that unless you're trying to manage serious illness like to keep your chemotherapy meds down or arthritis or whatever. Hell I don't even drink caffeine on a daily anymore because I find WAY more utility out of it once every couple of weeks or so. Oh yeah and if I'm going to agree with anything in this article it's that extracts are kinda too turbo, but I've also tried them in small amounts in drinks (Around 5-10mg) and that was pretty amazing compared to smoking in terms of lack of side effects from inhaling crap.

xvedejas 4y ago
Drug use can be a good excuse to put some time aside to let your mind wander, so I see why people end up getting creative on THC. And if you practice creativity while stoned, it makes sense that you'll be more creative while stoned. Like my friend who learned to juggle high, and yet cannot do it when he's sober.
- jamal-kumar 4y ago
  I think it's a bit more than that. It makes your mind wander in different directions, in a way that lends itself to things like writing original jokes or coming up with a different angle on problems or ideas that can be solved with more 'out of the box' solutions. It does something to the associative memory in which it makes associations which you wouldn't normally assert (Which is where I think a lot of people who don't enjoy it end up paranoid - a healthy dose of critical thought and reasoning going into these experiences may be helpful, along with keeping the dose relatively low). That said since it does have a thought-scattering thing going for it that if you don't bother to try and focus on getting those scattered thoughts on to something which records them, it's kind of a waste of time if we're talking about using it for purely utilitarian reasons.

cultofmetatron 4y ago

weed is a godsend for me. I normally aways feel a bit guilty if I'm not doing something productive. To the point where its a significant source of anxiety and insomnia. when things start getting to hot in the brain, a few puffs and I'm content to relax, watch some anime and sleep early. completely agree with the op in general though. def not good of for kids who should be working on establishing themselves.

kerabatsos 4y ago

I guess. But anecdotally, I learned JavaScript, read philosophical text, organize my goals, play games with my children, go for walks outside…while consuming a moderate amount of thc. My creativity goes up. Rarely do I just sit and do nothing but sometimes that’s fine too. Moderation works.

throw7 4y ago

> it most likely isn't gonna fund terrorists Afghanistan?

dghlsakjg 4y ago
I don't know if it is the same in Europe, but Marijuana in North America tends to be produced in the country it is consumed. In most places where it is legalized in the states and canada you can even find out exactly what farm it was that produced it. More than I can say for the food I eat.

__s 4y ago

clip of that scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G83G0EDE2RY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G83G0EDE2RY

ineptech 4y ago

For anyone interested, there's a support community around quitting pot at /r/leaves (that name being a humorous reference to /r/trees, a large subreddit for pot users).

INTPenis 4y ago

I'm doing what I love buzzed right now, building a cluster for my homelab, creating a hybrid cloud solution to host some services and saving on money by leveraging cheap compute at home. But yes, Randy Marsh was absolutely right. I've had periods of my life where I've abused it and I regret every one of those days.

hirvi74 4y ago
> I've had periods of my life where I've abused it and I regret every one of those days. I think I am starting to wake up to this. I do find enjoyment in it, and there is such a sunk cost fallacy I keep factoring in too. I mean do I take occasional breaks, but probably not enough. It had definitely helped me lower my inhibitions enough to introspectively identity some issues that were deeply hidden under the surface of my everyday life. However, it's killed my motivation and in some ways it's starting to negatively affect other areas of my life. Regardless of my dependence, I am thankful to not feel clinically addicted or anything. I will say, it wasn't my first choice of treatment. I tried the mental/medical health professional route. I'm still on that train, and it's been 8 years. Nothing has really improved, so I am not sure what else to do and where else to go. I adopted cannabis around the age of 29 with very limited experience prior. The kind I use is not like the variety in this article either. I use 1:1 THC:CBD hemp because high thc products are illegal in my area. So maybe the damage isn't "as bad." If all the medical/mental health treatments I tried work as well as the medical research and doctors claim then I probably wouldn't have ever began to use cannabis in the first place. But like I said, what else am I to do? It's exhausting and stressful trying to force yourself to be a way your body naturally fights against. It's apparent that I cannot function well without some sort of chemical assistance. I guess the only difference is where I get it from (doctor vs. plant), the side-effects, and the societal views that accompany said chemicals.
- INTPenis 4y ago
  The way I see it, throughout history I'm sure millions of people have just gone crazy by the everyday burdens of life. We might have more availability to forms of therapy but in the end it's up to you to balance your life. Soul controller.

farnsworth 4y ago

This quote stuck in my brain for a long time and I resonate with it and how I used it at a certain period in my life. It doesn't have to be like this if you approach it differently but in a certain context and state of mind, it's like an anti-adderall. Makes the day go by in comfort and nothing at all gets done.

ipaddr 4y ago
Until you train yourself to get more things done when stoned which is step 2.
- farnsworth 4y ago
  Yes, it just takes the right mindset and some effort (for me)

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

tr1ll10nb1ll 4y ago

Moderation is key here, I believe. If you’re looking at successful people who get high all the time, it’s safe to assume they increased their marijuana (or any other substance) intake after having a skill they’re really good at. Most don’t and that’s why we see a correlation with drugs and being not good at much.

seadan83 4y ago
Do we see that correlation? Until recently, anyone over 40 was underground about marijuana usage. It turned out, tons of people use cannabis, many executives, plenty of people that we view as successful. One problem with black markets, it's very difficult to get good data, hence - do we really see a correlation? Or do we just perceive a correlation (ie: confirmation bias)
- tr1ll10nb1ll 4y ago
  I'm not disagreeing and you can be wildly successful with or without it, I'm just pointing out heavy usage on a regular basis before you ever get to sustain that lifestyle can be detrimental to your success. But yeah, it could very well just be me perceiving a correlation here.

babypuncher 4y ago

I think it highlights why we put age restrictions on things like this. A developing brain is far more likely to fall into this trap than and already functioning adult brain.

bennysomething 4y ago

I always remember that quote as well, the bored part of it really stuck with me. Unfortunately I smoked my first joint at 13, I'm pretty certain it damaged my short term memory. I think had it been legal I wouldn't have got hold of it until much older plus it would have lost some of its cool factor. It was mostly hash in my day, I actually never liked weed , it was all super skunk loaded with thc that caused paranoia. Alcohol, cocaine and mdma are rough drugs too but there's something about weed/hash that makes me think it's overall mental effects might be worse. It's odd that it's written off as harmless quite often. (Btw I think all drugs should be legal, but I also now think they are all horrible and have nothing to do with them , well apart from beer and wine!)

dogman144 4y ago
Ya this is what I haven’t understood about weed advocacy and the discussion around it. I think that people who were in the scene in middle/high school, which unfortunately is very very common in my view but just not well known, know more than enough lives torpedoed by getting into it. Sure, “surprise, doing drugs at 13 is bad,” but I don’t know a lot of teenage drinkers who stopped at drinking (vs further in) in the same bad spot as the teenage smokers I knew (who stopped at smoking). The difference of smoking at 13 vs 30 is likely different, but idk if I really buy starting in adulthood and trending towards habitual is meaningfully immune from its bad impacts I’ve seen peers deal who stuck with it.

Terry_Roll 4y ago

Actually I'd say its got some sort of anticholinergic effect. The whitey that people experience, usually first time users or infrequent users, is a release of glutathione, and obviously its messing with the endocannabinoid system. Its also got a very potent memory wiping effect, which makes it useful for criminals doing stuff to you, like raping you in your sleep if you have been spiked with prescription sleeping pills and/or off the shelf anti histamines sold to aid sleep. Its a very nasty combination of drugs, when that sort of stuff has been done to you in your sleep, and criminals never tell you what they plan to do to you! Dont make it easy for them, the legal system wont help you!

analog31 4y ago

I had a friend who was a heavy pot smoker, and was insistent that there were no health affects. I asked him: "What about motivation?" He said: "OK, motivation."

majani 4y ago

Conversely you could argue that that's probably a good way to go out after you get an empty nest