Hacker News Reader

Comment by chillwaves | Hacker News Reader

Did you ever compare the side effects of marijuana to the popular antidepressant, antianxiety and ADHD medications being given to children?

> There is a growing mistrust of pharmaceutical companies and mainstream psychiatry that mirrors the rise of things like anti-vaxxers

This statement seems to ignore the crisis brought by narcotic drugs. People should be skeptical of pharmaceutical companies. There is a long history of their drugs killing people. It's really not worth my time to post it all, but feel free to do a little research yourself.

Comparing them to antivaxxers is inflammatory and inaccurate.

View on HN

There’s a lot of “whataboutism” when it comes to marijuana, but it doesn’t negate the fact that heavy daily marijuana usage is a net negative for mental health and produces worse long-term depression scores than abstaining.

And yes, she generally refers people to psychiatric treatment under the guidance of doctors who can monitor and adjust medications over time. Outcomes on mainstream depression and anxiety medications are far more positive and the people do much, much better after getting proper treatment with proper medications.

There is no comparison. Marijuana is not an effective depression treatment even though it may temporarily dull feelings and emotions. Long-term studied outcomes are poor.

>Marijuana is not an effective depression treatment even though it may temporarily dull feelings and emotions.

That describes how my teenage Lithium prescription felt far better than it does marijuana use. Though perhaps they have better pharmaceuticals now than they did 20 years ago.

> the fact that heavy daily marijuana usage is a net negative for mental health

citation required.

There is no comparison because you are speaking in anecdotes, not data.

Even if it is a "net negative" is it a bigger net negative than the cognitive effects of anti depressants?

How is it "whataboutism" when the two are being used to treat the same illnesses, but you only look at the negative effects of marijuana in a vacuum, while at the same time lauding pharmaceuticals.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com