4 ms·

In my experience (that is, anecdotally) i'd say the rate of pot use in Silicon Valley (that is, the tech community) is lower than average. I've seen one startup

by nikcub 14y ago

In my experience (that is, anecdotally) i'd say the rate of pot use in Silicon Valley (that is, the tech community) is lower than average. I've seen one startup where employees openly smoked pot in the office, and i've seen pot smoked at parties etc. and a handful of friends smoke every now and then, but it isn't anything near how prevalent pot smoking is in other parts of the USA and the world. The big one is smart drugs - Modafinil/Provigil and Nuvegil. I met a sales rep at a party who told me the bay area was one of the highest selling areas for Modafinil. That is a bit better than anecdotal evidence that there is something there. On top of that I know[0] that a lot of users are importing it from India using online stores. There are then the pharma stimulants, adderall and ritalin, spread out through the colleges, where usage rates are high. I knew one person who couldn't wait for each years batch of interns to show up at his company because he knew at least some would have a connect to get Adderall. Then you get the standard illegal class A stimulants, which I don't think are used any more or less in the tech community than in most other communities of similar social-economic standing (that is to say, quiet a bit). [0] Techcrunch wrote about Modafinil in 2008, I was at TC at the time: http://techcrunch.com/2008/07/15/how-many-of-our-startup-executives-are-hopped-up-on-provigil/ http://techcrunch.com/2008/07/15/how-many-of-our-startup-exe... There were a lot of interesting follow-up comments and conversations after it was published, least not the intro to the sales exec.

lutusp 14y ago
> In my experience (that is, anecdotally) i'd say the rate of pot use in Silicon Valley is lower than average. For an average of all Californians, probably true. For an average of the entire country, probably false.
brd 14y ago
I'd be surprised if Silicon Valley wasn't leading the charge on contraband use of nootropics. I'd imagine that the only populations with a higher frequency of use would be students at top tier law schools and other rigorous academic programs.
- rdl 14y ago
  Tangentially, I've been messing around with aniracetam + choline for the past week or so. It did seem to disrupt my sleep cycle (but maybe that was RSA Conference and a higher-than-usual level of stress and human interaction), but made me feel more focused. It's entirely possible it was psychosomatic. I figure I'll give it a month. Modafinil, nicotine patches, and other stimulants seemed superior. Modafinil enough that I'd seriously consider getting an Rx at some point -- virtually no downside as far as I could tell. High-dose caffeine and other stimulants had far higher negative effects, and wouldn't be worth it long term.
  - sneak 14y ago
    > Modafinil, nicotine patches, and other stimulants seemed superior. Modafinil enough that I'd seriously consider getting an Rx at some point -- virtually no downside as far as I could tell. How many times did you take it? Everyone I know that's taken Modafinil seems to have a similar experience: It appears to do something drastically different the first 1-3 times you take it versus the rest.
    - rdl 14y ago
      Once, after being awake for 18-24h, I went with modafinil (I forget the dose...50 or 100mg I think?) every 8 hours for another 2 days. Cognitive performance wasn't impaired too much, and mood/etc. was good. It was amazing. Maybe 5 other times (single dose each time) since then (over maybe the past 10 years?).
      - powermeat 14y ago
        Keep your modafinil use sparse and don't drink on it.
alistairSH 14y ago
"pot use in Silicon Valley... is lower than average. I've seen ... employees openly smoked pot in the office, ...pot smoked at parties etc. and a handful of friends smoke" Based on my experience in the DC metro area, pot use in Silicon Valley is FAR higher than here. Aside from a few friends who smoked in the their teens and early-20s, I don't see it much at all. Maybe DC is even lower than average because of the high concentration of government jobs (and the accompanying clearance process)?
- doktrin 14y ago
  By comparison, DC is a pretty conservative area for precisely the reason you mention. The fact that so many tech jobs require clearances causes engineers to self-select in or out depending on their temperaments and leanings, as well as curbing the behavior outright. Compare to California, where it is largely decriminalized and possible to acquire legally and it's no wonder there is a significant difference.
- addlepate 14y ago
  Almost nobody in DC does it, DC is not a good comparison.

by nikcub 14y ago

lutusp 14y ago

> In my experience (that is, anecdotally) i'd say the rate of pot use in Silicon Valley is lower than average. For an average of all Californians, probably true. For an average of the entire country, probably false.

brd 14y ago

I'd be surprised if Silicon Valley wasn't leading the charge on contraband use of nootropics. I'd imagine that the only populations with a higher frequency of use would be students at top tier law schools and other rigorous academic programs.

rdl 14y ago
Tangentially, I've been messing around with aniracetam + choline for the past week or so. It did seem to disrupt my sleep cycle (but maybe that was RSA Conference and a higher-than-usual level of stress and human interaction), but made me feel more focused. It's entirely possible it was psychosomatic. I figure I'll give it a month. Modafinil, nicotine patches, and other stimulants seemed superior. Modafinil enough that I'd seriously consider getting an Rx at some point -- virtually no downside as far as I could tell. High-dose caffeine and other stimulants had far higher negative effects, and wouldn't be worth it long term.
- sneak 14y ago
  > Modafinil, nicotine patches, and other stimulants seemed superior. Modafinil enough that I'd seriously consider getting an Rx at some point -- virtually no downside as far as I could tell. How many times did you take it? Everyone I know that's taken Modafinil seems to have a similar experience: It appears to do something drastically different the first 1-3 times you take it versus the rest.
  - rdl 14y ago
    Once, after being awake for 18-24h, I went with modafinil (I forget the dose...50 or 100mg I think?) every 8 hours for another 2 days. Cognitive performance wasn't impaired too much, and mood/etc. was good. It was amazing. Maybe 5 other times (single dose each time) since then (over maybe the past 10 years?).
    - powermeat 14y ago
      Keep your modafinil use sparse and don't drink on it.

alistairSH 14y ago

"pot use in Silicon Valley... is lower than average. I've seen ... employees openly smoked pot in the office, ...pot smoked at parties etc. and a handful of friends smoke" Based on my experience in the DC metro area, pot use in Silicon Valley is FAR higher than here. Aside from a few friends who smoked in the their teens and early-20s, I don't see it much at all. Maybe DC is even lower than average because of the high concentration of government jobs (and the accompanying clearance process)?

doktrin 14y ago
By comparison, DC is a pretty conservative area for precisely the reason you mention. The fact that so many tech jobs require clearances causes engineers to self-select in or out depending on their temperaments and leanings, as well as curbing the behavior outright. Compare to California, where it is largely decriminalized and possible to acquire legally and it's no wonder there is a significant difference.
addlepate 14y ago
Almost nobody in DC does it, DC is not a good comparison.