5 ms·

Pot for Parents

43 points by m_for_monkey 14y ago

carbocation 14y ago
In the news today: some people enjoy getting high. The only remarkable thing in this story, in my opinion, is that it is a reminder that there are cannabis dispensaries in California.
- EliRivers 14y ago
  I think you missed the point in a big way. In the news today; getting high makes some people better parents and, frankly, better people.
  - carbocation 14y ago
    Actually, that result would be newsworthy. But this is not that. This is an anecdote from a pot user saying that he likes using pot. That's really all it is. It's not bad, but it's not something that's going to change management at the level of the medical system, and it's certainly not news that, anecdotally, people on marijuana often behave friendly. If this were a randomized controlled trial (or even a cohort study) showing that pot use actually does improve some measurable parenting outcome, it would actually be hacker news-worthy, in my opinion.
- mistercow 14y ago
  I'm confused. Would you say that someone who takes their doctor-prescribed dose of xanax, vicodin, or ritalin was "getting high"?
  - eric_cc 14y ago
    Yes, of course. Not that I am opposed to getting high...
  - kaonashi 14y ago
    What it really does is conflate the effects of marijuana with that of heroin and other substances targeted by federal drug laws. In reality they each have distinct pharmacological effects.
  - carbocation 14y ago
    First, I'm not saying that getting high is bad, or good. I'm just observing that this particular parent likes to get high, and I don't find that newsworthy. Whether I consider taking a prescribed medication "getting high" depends on the dose and the use-case. Vicodin contains an opioid, so if you are not in pain but take it, you will get high. Actually, its codeine derivative is variably metabolized so you may not get high (or pain relief, for that matter). Xanax (alprazolam) is a benzo, whose effects are similar to alcohol. I don't think most people would consider this a "high", whether or not for therapeutic purposes. Ritalin (methylphenidate) is a stimulant; people do use it to get high, sometimes even people who are prescribed it for a real medical problem. The 'high' is a side effect of many medical therapies that we'd like to get rid of, if possible, to improve our ability to help people without the scourges of addiction and abuse. The same is true of marijuana, for some uses; for this particular person's use, however, the goal is to get high.
smoyer 14y ago
Rolls eyes ... Is anyone else shocked that a CannaMed doctor thought he was a perfect candidate for cannabis? If he'd visited a Chiropractor, I'm sure he would have gotten manipulated and I bet a psychologist would have suggested bi-weekly sessions. I don't want to start a debate about the value of medical marijuana, but you do need to consider the motivation of the people giving you recommendations.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- Fargren 14y ago
  If it seriously improved his life with little or no negative side effects... I'd say he was indeed the perfect candidate. I find too much of medicine is dedicated to make life longer; it's good that some of it is trying to make life better (I'm not saying the balance is off in this matter, I honestly wouldn't know how to measure it).
  - smoyer 14y ago
    I'm not arguing with the results he's experienced ... I'm all for better parents in general.
- davecap1 14y ago
  Just out of curiosity, as someone who agrees with you (and is skeptical by default), how do you typically explain _how_ to actually consider the motivation of such people? For example, chiropractors often offer free assessments which usually entail an X-ray. I'm not sure how risk-free this is, especially for healthy people in their early twenties. Of course, these assessments usually find misaligned vertebrae and lead the person to go back for a paid visit. Sometimes it's hard to compete with a certified practitioner's recommendation...
  - smoyer 14y ago
    That's a tough question and I don't have a great answer. I guess I'd prefer the advice of someone who was a skeptic themselves and who was predisposed to doing nothing over guessing.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
- nicksergeant 14y ago
  Is this any different from drinking coffee because you're a miserable excuse for a human when you haven't been under the effects of caffeine?
  - scrumper 14y ago
    Precisely. At least the author acknowledged that he was a shitty person around his kids most of the time and he took steps to correct that. His bourbon and coke didn't help him relax; many a man would have upped the alcohol intake with predictable results. He found a legal(ish) alternative with fewer drawbacks than booze. From personal experience, he'd have found similar effects from regular, strenuous exercise, though not as quickly and not as powerfully. People love a short cut. A little weed in moderation clearly helps him bond with his very young children. If I were him, I'd be concerned about coming to rely on it and about how my toddlers would perceive me as they got slightly older. Kids are very perceptive and they will notice - and worry - when daddy is unusually attentive, imaginative and happy (and glassy eyed.) Provided his wife remains sober to drive the kids to the ER if they need it, and assuming daddy's stoned playtime with the kids doesn't interfere with his other responsibilities at home I don't see all that much wrong here at the moment. What he's written here is all positive, but then all drug stories start that way.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- GuiA 14y ago
  >What a sorry excuse for a parent. Can you please explain what you mean by this? What I got from this article is that he was stressed to the point of not being able to sleep on occasions and that he felt his relationship with his children was not what it could be; he found a way to address that. It feels to me like a "sorry excuse for a parent" would be someone not considering their children's wellbeing; but this seemed to be one of the author's main preoccupations here. Is he hurting his children in anyway?
zafka 14y ago
I am amazed that this showed up in the NYT. The best line was: "Don’t you just love the shape of this pen?"
- eli 14y ago
  Well, it's just an Op-Ed, but the NYT's has taken official positions in favor of medical marijuana: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/opinion/a-dose-of-compassion.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/opinion/a-dose-of-compassi...
nicksergeant 14y ago
While the first part of the article was satirical IMO, I think in general the point is well taken. Life sucks sometimes. People booze, people drink coffee, people do drugs. All for different reasons. In this case, smoking pot in a controlled manner helps this person exponentially release and enjoy small moments with his kids. Change in scenery is good, and changing your physical location to achieve that is not always necessary. Changing your state of mind can achieve the same effects.
- tsotha 14y ago
  >In this case, smoking pot in a controlled manner helps this person exponentially release and enjoy small moments with his kids. That may be true, but I wonder what the kids will say when they're grown. It might be something like "We loved our dad when we were kids. But he was always stoned."
  - Alex3917 14y ago
    "That may be true, but I wonder what the kids will say when they're grown." I think they'll be much more pissed off about all their childhood pictures having been taken in instagram.
- PhearTheCeal 14y ago
  He doesn't smoke it. "...I use a brownie-based form of the drug to avoid the lung irritation associated with other modes of dose administration."
twodayslate 14y ago
Why is this on the frontpage of HN? It has nothing to do with startups or technology.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
macey 14y ago
This really resonated with me. When I was a kid, my mom had a rather dangerous addiction to Ambien. She would have full conversations with me sometimes that she wouldn't remember. She needed help getting up the stairs. She would sleep for 12+ hours and then couldn't engage with me because she felt like she hadn't slept at all. She wasn't getting high, she was taking a doctor prescribed medication for a very specific problem. She recently detoxed and got a cannabis card instead, and I've connected with her more in the 2 years since than the 20 years prior. Just thought I'd throw this out there from a (now grown) kid's perspective.
devnill 14y ago
"And let’s not forget the health risks, which are rumored to possibly exist. I’ve heard that even a small amount of marijuana can impair short-term memory function. It might also affect short-term memory function."
weecat 14y ago
I'm pro-medical pot, and if this makes this guuy nicer to his kids, great. But if you're stressed and broke, maybe stop after one kid? Three? Why?

43 points by m_for_monkey 14y ago

In the news today: some people enjoy getting high. The only remarkable thing in this story, in my opinion, is that it is a reminder that there are cannabis dispensaries in California.

EliRivers 14y ago
I think you missed the point in a big way. In the news today; getting high makes some people better parents and, frankly, better people.
- carbocation 14y ago
  Actually, that result would be newsworthy. But this is not that. This is an anecdote from a pot user saying that he likes using pot. That's really all it is. It's not bad, but it's not something that's going to change management at the level of the medical system, and it's certainly not news that, anecdotally, people on marijuana often behave friendly. If this were a randomized controlled trial (or even a cohort study) showing that pot use actually does improve some measurable parenting outcome, it would actually be hacker news-worthy, in my opinion.
mistercow 14y ago
I'm confused. Would you say that someone who takes their doctor-prescribed dose of xanax, vicodin, or ritalin was "getting high"?
- eric_cc 14y ago
  Yes, of course. Not that I am opposed to getting high...
- kaonashi 14y ago
  What it really does is conflate the effects of marijuana with that of heroin and other substances targeted by federal drug laws. In reality they each have distinct pharmacological effects.
- carbocation 14y ago
  First, I'm not saying that getting high is bad, or good. I'm just observing that this particular parent likes to get high, and I don't find that newsworthy. Whether I consider taking a prescribed medication "getting high" depends on the dose and the use-case. Vicodin contains an opioid, so if you are not in pain but take it, you will get high. Actually, its codeine derivative is variably metabolized so you may not get high (or pain relief, for that matter). Xanax (alprazolam) is a benzo, whose effects are similar to alcohol. I don't think most people would consider this a "high", whether or not for therapeutic purposes. Ritalin (methylphenidate) is a stimulant; people do use it to get high, sometimes even people who are prescribed it for a real medical problem. The 'high' is a side effect of many medical therapies that we'd like to get rid of, if possible, to improve our ability to help people without the scourges of addiction and abuse. The same is true of marijuana, for some uses; for this particular person's use, however, the goal is to get high.

smoyer 14y ago

Rolls eyes ... Is anyone else shocked that a CannaMed doctor thought he was a perfect candidate for cannabis? If he'd visited a Chiropractor, I'm sure he would have gotten manipulated and I bet a psychologist would have suggested bi-weekly sessions. I don't want to start a debate about the value of medical marijuana, but you do need to consider the motivation of the people giving you recommendations.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
Fargren 14y ago
If it seriously improved his life with little or no negative side effects... I'd say he was indeed the perfect candidate. I find too much of medicine is dedicated to make life longer; it's good that some of it is trying to make life better (I'm not saying the balance is off in this matter, I honestly wouldn't know how to measure it).
- smoyer 14y ago
  I'm not arguing with the results he's experienced ... I'm all for better parents in general.
davecap1 14y ago
Just out of curiosity, as someone who agrees with you (and is skeptical by default), how do you typically explain _how_ to actually consider the motivation of such people? For example, chiropractors often offer free assessments which usually entail an X-ray. I'm not sure how risk-free this is, especially for healthy people in their early twenties. Of course, these assessments usually find misaligned vertebrae and lead the person to go back for a paid visit. Sometimes it's hard to compete with a certified practitioner's recommendation...
- smoyer 14y ago
  That's a tough question and I don't have a great answer. I guess I'd prefer the advice of someone who was a skeptic themselves and who was predisposed to doing nothing over guessing.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

nicksergeant 14y ago
Is this any different from drinking coffee because you're a miserable excuse for a human when you haven't been under the effects of caffeine?
- scrumper 14y ago
  Precisely. At least the author acknowledged that he was a shitty person around his kids most of the time and he took steps to correct that. His bourbon and coke didn't help him relax; many a man would have upped the alcohol intake with predictable results. He found a legal(ish) alternative with fewer drawbacks than booze. From personal experience, he'd have found similar effects from regular, strenuous exercise, though not as quickly and not as powerfully. People love a short cut. A little weed in moderation clearly helps him bond with his very young children. If I were him, I'd be concerned about coming to rely on it and about how my toddlers would perceive me as they got slightly older. Kids are very perceptive and they will notice - and worry - when daddy is unusually attentive, imaginative and happy (and glassy eyed.) Provided his wife remains sober to drive the kids to the ER if they need it, and assuming daddy's stoned playtime with the kids doesn't interfere with his other responsibilities at home I don't see all that much wrong here at the moment. What he's written here is all positive, but then all drug stories start that way.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
GuiA 14y ago
>What a sorry excuse for a parent. Can you please explain what you mean by this? What I got from this article is that he was stressed to the point of not being able to sleep on occasions and that he felt his relationship with his children was not what it could be; he found a way to address that. It feels to me like a "sorry excuse for a parent" would be someone not considering their children's wellbeing; but this seemed to be one of the author's main preoccupations here. Is he hurting his children in anyway?

zafka 14y ago

I am amazed that this showed up in the NYT. The best line was: "Don’t you just love the shape of this pen?"

eli 14y ago
Well, it's just an Op-Ed, but the NYT's has taken official positions in favor of medical marijuana: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/opinion/a-dose-of-compassion.html http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/opinion/a-dose-of-compassi...

nicksergeant 14y ago

While the first part of the article was satirical IMO, I think in general the point is well taken. Life sucks sometimes. People booze, people drink coffee, people do drugs. All for different reasons. In this case, smoking pot in a controlled manner helps this person exponentially release and enjoy small moments with his kids. Change in scenery is good, and changing your physical location to achieve that is not always necessary. Changing your state of mind can achieve the same effects.

tsotha 14y ago
>In this case, smoking pot in a controlled manner helps this person exponentially release and enjoy small moments with his kids. That may be true, but I wonder what the kids will say when they're grown. It might be something like "We loved our dad when we were kids. But he was always stoned."
- Alex3917 14y ago
  "That may be true, but I wonder what the kids will say when they're grown." I think they'll be much more pissed off about all their childhood pictures having been taken in instagram.
PhearTheCeal 14y ago
He doesn't smoke it. "...I use a brownie-based form of the drug to avoid the lung irritation associated with other modes of dose administration."

twodayslate 14y ago

Why is this on the frontpage of HN? It has nothing to do with startups or technology.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

macey 14y ago

This really resonated with me. When I was a kid, my mom had a rather dangerous addiction to Ambien. She would have full conversations with me sometimes that she wouldn't remember. She needed help getting up the stairs. She would sleep for 12+ hours and then couldn't engage with me because she felt like she hadn't slept at all. She wasn't getting high, she was taking a doctor prescribed medication for a very specific problem. She recently detoxed and got a cannabis card instead, and I've connected with her more in the 2 years since than the 20 years prior. Just thought I'd throw this out there from a (now grown) kid's perspective.

devnill 14y ago

"And let’s not forget the health risks, which are rumored to possibly exist. I’ve heard that even a small amount of marijuana can impair short-term memory function. It might also affect short-term memory function."

weecat 14y ago

I'm pro-medical pot, and if this makes this guuy nicer to his kids, great. But if you're stressed and broke, maybe stop after one kid? Three? Why?