7 ms·

This is ultimately a good thing, but as a country we also need to talk about the effects of cannabis use on neurodivergent folks. Its not as harmful as other dr

• nkohari 6mo ago
  This is absolutely true, but it's also difficult to square the legal restrictions around cannabis while alcohol is freely available (and significantly more dangerous and habit-forming), and nicotine use is on the rise again thanks to vapes and Zyn. (To be clear, they're all drugs, and they should all be used responsibly if at all.)
  • dmix 6mo ago
    Anything that impacts sleep like habitual alcohol or weed use. Nothing more important than sleep quality for health.
    • chucksta 6mo ago
      Coffee?
    • wookmaster 6mo ago
      Caffeine and alcohol affect mine way worse than cannabis
  • kstrauser 6mo ago
    That’s the crux of it for me. I don’t use weed but I enjoy a small amount of alcoholic beverages, like a really good beer once a month or so. I can’t go along with any law that allows me to enjoy my intoxicant of choice but throws someone else in jail for enjoying their less dangerous one.
• chneu 6mo ago
  Multiple large studies and metanalysis show very little support for the notion that marijuana treats most mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. It's definitely not the "cure all" that a lot of folks think it is.
  • lern_too_spel 6mo ago
    In a significant fraction of users, there is a risk of marijuana induced psychoses. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2829840 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle...
    • deleted 6mo ago
      [deleted]
  • thinkingtoilet 6mo ago
    I am hippy among hippies and the only people who ever talk about it as a 'cure all' are the people really far gone. People who think crystals can cure sicknesses. Those type of people. It's literally a god send to people with stomach problems, it can help you go to sleep but I would bet everything I own it's not as deep and good a sleep as sleeping sober. I've heard people say the ointments can help with certain pains. That's about it.
    • hn_throwaway_99 6mo ago
      You say it's just people who are "really far gone", but when I look at the type of marketing at CBD stores, it's marketed for nearly everything, so I suspect a lot more people are falling for this than you might suspect. Plus, any individual doesn't have to believe it's a "cure-all" - they just have to believe it cures their specific random ailment. I've seen it marketed to help with sleep, anxiety (despite it causing anxiety in a lot of people), depression, any type of pain you can think of, nausea, hoarders of chronic conditions, etc. I agree with the top comment - I think it's great that we're starting to deal rationally with cannabis, but we need to be realistic about. It can be beneficial but can also cause real harms, especially in children and young adults, and cannabis use disorder is a real thing.
• pier25 6mo ago
  As someone who abused cannabis in my 20s and had my fair share of issues I can only agree.
• bitshiftfaced 6mo ago
  > we also need to talk about the effects of cannabis use on neurodivergent folks. "Neurodivergent" lacks a well-defined meaning. What is it about someone for whom you would define as neurodivergent that makes cannabis more harmful than someone someone for whom you wouldn't label as neurodivergent?
• R_D_Olivaw 6mo ago
  I think a significant portion of this has to do with the absolute insane levels of THC that is being circulated these days. ~20% minimums of THC is bonkers
  • everdrive 6mo ago
    This isn't meant a as a challenge to your point. I'd be curious for your opinion about what constitutes an excessive and a proper amount of THC in milligrams. I see the measurements on drinks and such at the gas station but I don't have any personal gauge for what would constitute a large amount.
    • thewoodsman 6mo ago
      It's heavily tolerance dependent, and tolerance grows quite quickly with any kind of regular use, so it's really hard to come up with one number.
• mekdoonggi 6mo ago
  I agree, though if the end result of this change is that people use cannabis at concerts and clubs instead of alcohol, I believe that's a harm reduction.
  • nozzlegear 6mo ago
    Not a harm reduction to the olfactory though =p
• muyuu 6mo ago
  this is what gives me pause about this issue it's easy to just look at the upside of something that doesn't hurt you and you just have an extra choice, but knowing that it can and does wreck the lives of many, I feel that it's a painful thing for me to vote for, or against
• bombcar 6mo ago
  There's a general and larger question than just "weed for autists" that needs to be discussed - and it touches on large amounts of the population and "freedoms". We've seen from the gambling legalization, drug legalization, and even things like loot boxes, etc, that there is a subset of the population who just cannot handle these things at a level most people would consider "responsible". We last had this nation-wide conversation around drinking, and prohibition had its problems, but we're going to have to support this group somehow, or let them be exploited by advanced companies as if they're subhuman.
  • lenerdenator 6mo ago
    Unfortunately, you'll never get it to where people aren't going to become addicts to these things. You can only reduce harms by regulation and social support. Gambling is a decent example of where we've lost touch with this in the last decade. In my state, it used to be that if you wanted to play games of pure chance, you had to go to a physical casino, present an ID, and be subject to the rules and regulations of the state which were enforced by actual state LEOs who were always on-premises. If you wanted to, you could sign an affidavit that would ban you from the casino floor on the risk of a misdemeanor trespassing charge. Now, you can open an app on your phone and place sports bets. There's no harm reduction at all. The apps are designed to be as addictive as possible, minors can sign in under their adult guardians' accounts, and there's no way to ban yourself from the apps. It's destroying people's finances from a very young age. That's what happens when you don't regulate on the rationale that regulations keep line from going up.
    • Throaway199999 6mo ago
      Yes, previous regulation was built on the principle that we actually did understand the risks, as rational adults, and so we would have reasonable protections but in for people around those. Today's regulation seems to be dependent on the principle of not talking about risks at all.
      • superxpro12 6mo ago
        Today's regulations are solely "deregulation". Corporations are racing to maximize exploitation before the deregulation snaps back to reality.
• tombert 6mo ago
  I've never actually touched weed, but I would see this with my friends in high school and college. In the better case, they just become insufferable and pseudo-intellectual because they started watching Alan Watts and Carl Sagan while stoned and would become convinced that they know everything about physics and philosophy. In a lot of cases though, and this is more obvious in hindsight, it feels like they were using weed as a means of dealing with the fact that they were deeply unhappy and depressed people. Instead of confronting their problems and seeing a therapist/psychiatrist or any of the other things that they could do to actively improve their life, they would spend their evenings and weekends getting high. I don't inherently have an issue with people using recreational drugs; I've gotten drunk before [1], but it should be done in moderation. [1] I never did it that much and I haven't had anything to drink at all in years.
  • iinnPP 6mo ago
    On the opposite end of that is the plethora of psychiatry/psychology professionals whom are terrible at their profession and are likely causing more harm than good. I see it along the same lines as brands, your typical Great Value psychologist will greatly underperform the Kirkland psychologist who will greatly underperform the ... and so on. Then there's the subset of the population whom have been abused in the most horrific ways by psychologists. Not to counter your point, just as additional discussion.
    • tombert 6mo ago
      Sure, I've had my share of issues with therapists, but I think the solution is to fix the therapists, not to YOLO it by self-medicating with weed.
      • saulpw 6mo ago
        Great, how does one fix the therapists? Or is this another one of those tricky systemic generational problems that means that I'll have to YOLO something for my own life before they're fixed?
• david38 6mo ago
  You don’t have to be neurodivergent. Weed is bad. Not going to jail is one thing, actively pushing it is another
• GordonS 6mo ago
  Just one data point, but I'm neurodivergent, and suffered with depression from childhood. A few years ago I was prescribed medical cannabis to treat chronic pain, and aside from being great for pain - wow, it's changed my life! The right cannabis strains can do wonders for my mood, but it also makes me feel... less autistic, for want of a better way of putting it; suddenly I can understand why somebody said something, or how something I said could be taken the wrong way. For the first time in my life, I can really try to see things from someone else's perspective, and I'm thinking about other people far more than I ever have - I feel empathic. Over time, cannabis has also allowed me to analyse and think on the past, which, has greatly helped me. For the first time in my life, I would no longer describe myself as having depression (it may come back if I stopped cannabis treatment, so maybe I should say I'm in remission). Cannabis use may of course pose some risks for a small percentage of the population, but I'd wager it's in general far less dangerous than alcohol. And of course, my experience will not be universal.
  • Aloha 6mo ago
    Benzos do the same thing for me, they slow the brain enough so you’re not overthinking everything.
    • GordonS 6mo ago
      I've had diazapam prescribed a few times, but it doesn't help my mind, and I don't feel like it makes me any more empathic.
  • throw0101d 6mo ago
    > The right cannabis strains can do wonders for my mood, but it also makes me feel... less autistic […] Is it the same strain(s) for everyone, or does each person need to figure out which ones work for them?
    • GordonS 6mo ago
      It's a bit of a mix. Some strains affect most people the same way, while others don't - in particular, neurodivergent people often seem to have a different experience. And some strains are better at different times of the day too - some can be stimulating, for example. I'd say it's best for individuals to experiment and find what works best for them, to treat their specific symptoms.
• iamnothere 6mo ago
  Perhaps now that the government no longer claims it to be as dangerous as heroin, we can start realistic public education efforts that distinguish responsible use from abuse. Not sure we’re there yet, though.
• justonceokay 6mo ago
  Point out the neurotypical people, I’ll wait. Your brain isn’t that special.
• joemazerino 6mo ago
  Agreed. The same scrutiny applied to alcohol and nicotine should be applied to cannabis. A positive about this DOJ change is science labs can now legally start dissecting the plant to create CBD, CBN and/or CBG products.
• nozzlegear 6mo ago
  Agreed, I don't use it myself but my brother is a heavy user and it's done more harm than good for him.
• 999900000999 6mo ago
  No. Let adults do what they want. A much better argument could be made for banning corn syrup. This cheap fake sugar is behind so many health issues. Even just a switch to real sugar would do wonders. However I don’t believe the government should ban it.
  • acidtechno303 6mo ago
    I'll bite. Corn syrup represents a derivative of a necessity for life and is not psychoactive. Either of these is sufficient to classify it completely differently from cannabis and break your analogy. Also, apologies for attacking your character, but it's necessary for continuing the discussion in context. Your comment is the exact brand of "immature" that they're saying is wrong. Their comment, to which you are replying, is simply a plea for exactly what your comment is not: relevant, informative, and practical discourse.
    • 999900000999 6mo ago
      It’s a moot point since prohibition doesn’t work regardless. Adults are going to do what they want.
      • acidtechno303 6mo ago
        I just realized that you think the comment we're talking about is advocating for restricting access to cannabis? You're part of the problem, bucko
• trychanging 6mo ago
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• iugtmkbdfil834 6mo ago
  Agreed. What was largely lost is nuanced discussion around the topic. Usually, the way it progresses, you get strong detractors and strong proponents each with wildly incompatible ideas on what it is. Proponents are ignoring the risks. Detractors are ignoring the benefits. It gets us, collectively, nowhere.
• jjk166 6mo ago
  I mean the issue there is the intense need for a coping mechanism in the first place because our society is horribly set up for accommodating neurodivergent people's needs, and there is a general lack of really good, readily available options to deal with the situation.
• d3rockk 6mo ago
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