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Sounds to me like Alcohol has more potential to be abused and cause damage in the short term (bad decision making, drunk driving, risk of addiction), while Mari

by SeoxyS 12y ago

Sounds to me like Alcohol has more potential to be abused and cause damage in the short term (bad decision making, drunk driving, risk of addiction), while Marijuana has has less high risk outcomes but more long-term negative effects when used casually (likely to lead to a less productive and successful life). Basically: pot makes you moderately dumber for the rest of your life, booze increases the small risks of catastrophic outcomes for short periods of time. I've tried pretty much everything; and then decided that Marijuana is something I don't want to - haven't had any in 5+ years. I drink Alcohol regularly, but seldom getting more than tipsy. I know my limits, and even if I do get drunk, I'm smart enough to not put myself in bad situations: I don't drive & drink, I know when to stop, and pay attention to my surroundings. I prefer that to the idea of losing 20% of my intelligence.

ux-app 12y ago
> I know my limits, and even if I do get drunk, I'm smart enough to not put myself in bad situations: I don't drive & drink, I know when to stop, and pay attention to my surroundings. At 34 I'm the same. But when I think back to all of the incredibly stupid and dangerous things I did under the influence of alcohol I realize that I'm lucky to be alive. There's no way to really know, but I think that in an alternate universe where pot is legal and alcohol is not it would be a net positive for society. Alcohol makes many people aggressive and drastically lowers inhibitions. In my experience pot makes people mellow and keen for some Donkey Kong and pizza!
- sliverstorm 12y ago
  Alcohol makes many people aggressive and drastically lowers inhibitions. In my experience pot makes people mellow and keen for some Donkey Kong and pizza! This is too narrow a viewpoint. Alcohol makes me mellow, friendly, hungry, and more into games. I know people for which pot makes them aggressive (I think as a result of paranoia).
  - ux-app 12y ago
    > I know people for which pot makes them aggressive (I think as a result of paranoia). Fair enough. I think the general consensus is that alcohol leads to aggression more so than pot, but your own personal experience may differ. Are these people only using pot, or are they mixing with alcohol or other drugs? This is all anecdotal of course, but I've personally never seen 2 people high from pot act aggressively or want to fight etc.
    - sliverstorm 12y ago
      your own personal experience may differ That's indirectly my point. You cannot make absolutist statements about alcohol (or anything really) like you did earlier, based only on your own observations. For you, I, and everyone have different experiences. My experience does not disprove your experience, of course, but it does show your experience is only a partial view.
mikegioia 12y ago
Basically: pot makes you moderately dumber for the rest of your life, ... I prefer that to the idea of losing 20% of my intelligence. Where are you getting this from? You're entirely within your right to not use marijuana, but it sounds like you have this idea in your head that you treat as fact.
- mbrubeck 12y ago
  The New York Times article links to scientific studies on the long-term effects of marijuana use, measuring factors like memory loss. ("Lose 20% of my intelligence" is not supported by any of those studies, though.)
  - mikegioia 12y ago
    Neither of those claims are supported by any study or evidence; they don't even pertain to memory loss. They're totally subjective but it gets tossed around like fact, that's why I'm wondering.
malandrew 12y ago
IIRC, some dispensaries in the Bay Area report that more than 40% of their customers are tech workers. That said, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a population that does more to increase the general productivity of the human race than tech workers. Anecdotally, many many engineers I know smoke weed. Some are productive while high some are not. Most of those who I know that acknowledge that they are not productive while high, will often decline opportunities to get high because they want to code later and be productive.

by SeoxyS 12y ago

ux-app 12y ago

> I know my limits, and even if I do get drunk, I'm smart enough to not put myself in bad situations: I don't drive & drink, I know when to stop, and pay attention to my surroundings. At 34 I'm the same. But when I think back to all of the incredibly stupid and dangerous things I did under the influence of alcohol I realize that I'm lucky to be alive. There's no way to really know, but I think that in an alternate universe where pot is legal and alcohol is not it would be a net positive for society. Alcohol makes many people aggressive and drastically lowers inhibitions. In my experience pot makes people mellow and keen for some Donkey Kong and pizza!

sliverstorm 12y ago
Alcohol makes many people aggressive and drastically lowers inhibitions. In my experience pot makes people mellow and keen for some Donkey Kong and pizza! This is too narrow a viewpoint. Alcohol makes me mellow, friendly, hungry, and more into games. I know people for which pot makes them aggressive (I think as a result of paranoia).
- ux-app 12y ago
  > I know people for which pot makes them aggressive (I think as a result of paranoia). Fair enough. I think the general consensus is that alcohol leads to aggression more so than pot, but your own personal experience may differ. Are these people only using pot, or are they mixing with alcohol or other drugs? This is all anecdotal of course, but I've personally never seen 2 people high from pot act aggressively or want to fight etc.
  - sliverstorm 12y ago
    your own personal experience may differ That's indirectly my point. You cannot make absolutist statements about alcohol (or anything really) like you did earlier, based only on your own observations. For you, I, and everyone have different experiences. My experience does not disprove your experience, of course, but it does show your experience is only a partial view.

mikegioia 12y ago

Basically: pot makes you moderately dumber for the rest of your life, ... I prefer that to the idea of losing 20% of my intelligence. Where are you getting this from? You're entirely within your right to not use marijuana, but it sounds like you have this idea in your head that you treat as fact.

mbrubeck 12y ago
The New York Times article links to scientific studies on the long-term effects of marijuana use, measuring factors like memory loss. ("Lose 20% of my intelligence" is not supported by any of those studies, though.)
- mikegioia 12y ago
  Neither of those claims are supported by any study or evidence; they don't even pertain to memory loss. They're totally subjective but it gets tossed around like fact, that's why I'm wondering.

malandrew 12y ago

IIRC, some dispensaries in the Bay Area report that more than 40% of their customers are tech workers. That said, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a population that does more to increase the general productivity of the human race than tech workers. Anecdotally, many many engineers I know smoke weed. Some are productive while high some are not. Most of those who I know that acknowledge that they are not productive while high, will often decline opportunities to get high because they want to code later and be productive.