[gunsle]

As a long time marijuana user, these pro weed articles always crack me up. Sure it has some limited legitimate medical usages for pain or other applications. Vast majority of users are just addicts in denial, myself included for the longest time. Anthropologists in the future will be studying the effects of drastically increased marijuana consumption on society for decades in the future. I do wonder when the general populace will wake up to the propaganda, for example, how it’s clearly a gateway drug and clearly addictive on some level.

[master-lincoln]

How would it clearly be a gateway drug? I don't think this concept even makes sense. Sure if contact to X also brings you in contact with Y, you could see X as gateway to Y. But what contact to other drugs you have depends on where you acquire the Marijuana. If I home-grow I see none. In a pharmacy I need prescriptions to access their other drugs, so also not a gateway. It's only problematic when acquired via dealers who also sell other stuff. When I tried buying weed on the street, vendors didn't offer me other drugs.

I agree with your other points though.

[matwood]

I think when pot was illegal it was much more likely to be a 'gateway' because it's connecting users to other illegal elements. The pot dealer may also deal in MDMA, lsd, coke, etc...

Now that pot is legal in so many places, it's less likely to gateway to anything - like alcohol.

[gunsle]

I mean in my case, I never even considered drugs until I started smoking weed in college. So it was definitely a gateway drug for me. At first glance, weed has little to no noticeable downsides. This made me think that the other drugs must be the same way. It led me into a drug abuse phase of my life that I still struggle with. Prior to that, I barely did drugs at all and had no real inclination to do so.

I think part of it is the crowd you end up in when you smoke weed. Unsurprisingly, drug use lends itself to putting you in situations with other drug users. These users often completely ignore, leave out, or outright lie about the downsides of these drugs, from chronic weed use to LSD.

[mhitza]

My impression was that it is a well known fact that canabinoids help with neurogenesis. Random article on topic https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/behavioral-neuroscience...

But maybe its a pop-science kind of fact that I've been carring along all this time without factuality?

[gunsle]

I can tell you from years of first hand experience, it certainly makes you far dumber. The biggest factor is loss of memory. Most stoners (myself included) have terrible memory. I used to have near photographic memory, where I’d only have to read things once to remember them nearly verbatim for months after. I genuinely wonder at times where I’d be in my life if I had never got sucked into it years ago. I’m doing great despite the problems it’s caused me, but who knows where I’d be without it.

[AndrewKemendo]

I started medical cannabis at 38 after leaving the military and it has been completely transformative for my Epilepsy/PTSD/CPTSD/arthritis and all of the other bullshit that came from being in the military for 17 years

100% of my doctors say (incl. Director level at Mt Sinai and orthopedic surgeons for the Washington commnders) are more than delighted with my prescription

so like that’s just your opinion man

[hackboyfly]

Ha +1 for the Lebowski reference.

[stingraycharles]

I’m not going to comment on the gateway drug part, but I definitely agree that - as someone who has consumed cannabis daily for about 30 years now - that I always smirks when only positives are being highlighted.

It definitely has negative effects long term. Concentration is impacted. In my case, it can cause anxiety. The impacts are subtle, but they’re there.

The negative side effects are definitely being underrepresented at the “non-scaremongering” parts of civilization.

[gunsle]

I think weed is actually far more insidious than most drugs, because it’s incredibly easy to be a functional stoner. The downsides don’t start to appear until you’re years down the road, and often the marijuana haze keeps you from fully evaluating just how detrimental those downsides have been on you. At that point, you’re legitimately addicted, and your brain begins to sweet talk any attempt at rationality.

For me, the downsides manifest as drarticlsly increased anxiety (I naturally have next to none), extremely poor sleep - I sleep but the sleep is so low quality it begins to feel like my brain barely works right, and the obvious one, the effects on your motivation. I naturally tend towards ADHD style dopamine chasing, and weed makes that about 100x worse. Instead of getting my work done, I will procrastinate with any number of cheap dopamine hits such as video games, internet sleuthing, etc.

[Gud]

Regarding anxiety,

Have you tried blending in CBD?

Typically I smoke small joints with 90% CBD strains and the rest a high THC strain, only thing I can smoke.

[johnea]

After smoking weed for over 50 years, I would definitely say I am not addicted.

When I travel internationally, often for periods of over a month, I don't use any cannabis at all.

During these times I experience no withdrawal symptoms or craving.

I abstained for over a year during a number of periods during those 50 years, due to specific job requirements and other situations where using weed would be viewed detrimentally.

If anything, I would say cannabis is one of the least "addictive" substances that create a euphoric experience.

Please remember the old adage: gateways work for both getting you out of, as well as into, other situations. I would say that cannabis would be a great substance to use daily for helping people abstain from more harmful substances.

In the US we have the ass-hat social acceptance of: Alcohol, tobacco and firearms, like the little baby jesus intended.

All three of which are VASTLY more dangerous and deadly than cannabis.

A more direct link to the article, which doesn't require "Are you a bot" authentication, or javascript:

https://news.cuanschutz.edu/news-stories/study-finds-cannabi...

[plugger]

> Anthropologists in the future will be studying the effects of drastically increased marijuana consumption on society for decades in the future.

This information is already readily available by studying the Rastafari in Jamaica. If there were serious negative impacts from daily consumption over a lifetime it would have been apparent in that cohort for decades.

[andreygrehov]

My biggest complaint is the smell. I absolutely hate it. The smell is strong and spreads everywhere. Some people in our community smoke marijuana while walking their dogs. At the same time, my wife takes our newborn for a walk. It’s absolutely unacceptable.

Edit: down-voters do not allow me to dislike the smell. Hilarious! I'm at -2 now. Nice! I get it, i get it. I must love it.

[PyWoody]

The hardest part about the conversation with regards to the smell of weed is how quickly you can become noseblind to it.

I don't smoke weed but I had a roommate in college that smoked in the apartment 24/hours a day. The first week was unbearable. I could barely breath, my clothes reeked of weed, even my books reeked of it. But, after that first week, I didn't even notice the smell. Yeah, when he lit up I'd notice it for a second but nothing more than that.

Enough time has passed that I'm no longer noseblind to it but I wish I still were. I can smell it when the car ahead of me is smoking, I can smell it when the person on the other side of the bar recently smoked, hell, I can smell it in my car as soon as I start to approach my neighboring state where it's legal. At my last house I was tearing my hair out trying to catch the skunk or fox that made my yard reek every night during the summer. Of course, eventually I realized it coincided with my neighbors college-aged kid coming home for summer break and smoking in their room.

Anyone that says that cigarette smoke, perfume, car exhaust, people's breath in general, smell to any degree that weed does to non-smokers is incredulous. Just because you smoke and you don't recognize it, doesn't mean that everyone around you can't.

[codybontecou]

That's just smoking in public. It's an issue regardless of what's being smoked.

[ndsipa_pomu]

It's not nearly as ubiquitous as car exhaust fumes/tyre wear pollution which I find to be a lot more objectionable as it's far more dangerous to us.

[chaostheory]

Yeah, people need to switch to edibles as a courtesy

[senectus1]

is smoking it the only way you get these benefits?

Surely edibles work just as well?

[hackingonempty]

I can't stand perfume. I absolutely hate it. The smell is strong and spreads everywhere. Some people in our community wear perfume while indoors. At the same time, my wife takes our newborn shopping. It’s absolutely unacceptable.

[tsunamifury]

I’ve noticed it California since legalization use has skyrocketed and everyday intelligence seems to have gone through the floor. Similar to if we as a society started day drinking regularly.

I see people smoke all day all the time now and while driving and it clearly affects their judgement. I don’t know why legalization lead to “no moderation at all” and “I smoke at work”

[gunsle]

I live in MN where it’s effectively been decriminalized for years. I believe 100% it has had extremely negative effects on the general populace. I see it in myself and all of my Gen Z/millennial friends that smoke regularly. The amount of money I’ve wasted alone on weed is frankly disgusting, and it’s not looked down upon like it would be if I was at the liquor store every other day blowing my paychecks.

Agreed completely on the day drinking point. That’s actually what got me to quit initially years ago. I realized, would I be drinking right now before work? Hell no. So why am I okay with getting high?

[Gud]

Correlation does not imply causation. Society has bigger problems(probably).

[throwfaraway4]

I mean so is sugar, alchohol, synthetic opioids, ect. Pick your poison. Life is about trade-offs.

[zdragnar]

You don't actually have to pick any of them.

[hackeraccount]

Sure but the article seem to be suggesting this is a free lunch.

[gunsle]

Except no one is going to outright lie to you that alcohol is “medicine,” that it’s not addictive, and that it’s entirely healthy to consume.