Daily marijuana use outpaces daily drinking in the US, a new study says | Hacker News Reader

Daily marijuana use outpaces daily drinking in the US, a new study says

medicalxpress.com

32 pointsjdmark43 comments

I think cannabis is a great harm reduction tool, compared to harder and more dangerous drugs like Alcohol, Heroin, etc. It is truly a blessing compared to those.

But there is an aura of "harmlessness" going around it and I think it is detrimental to public health, because people think it is okay to smoke weed everyday all day long - the same people that will condemn "daily drinking" as it should be condemned (as a terrible, health wreaking habit).

Many people, including me in the past, use or have used something (food? drugs? you know your shit) as a daily coping mechanism to "issues" or "stuff". If that's your case, seeking help and changing your environment the best way you can is way better than sweeping it all under the rug with a daily something that makes it all good for some hours, and then you refill. It takes fortitude to step up and change, but you can do it if you change your frame of mind. I'm rooting for your change out there.

I have no issues with cannabis at all and I think it's way, way superior as a chill out, relaxation thing than alcohol. But I also think that daily "wake and bake" could be a sign that something is off, so please be mindful of your surroundings, environment, and listen to how you feel.

My hope is the rescheduling will permit proper research into the pros/cons so we have a better idea of all this. It's hard to do most clinical trials on a Schedule 1 substance.

When my wife and I do our morning walks around downtown Phoenix in the early AM, we're always amazed at how much weed we can smell. I mean, 6:30am -- a good part of the city smells like a Bob Marley concert -- how do people get anything done these days?

I wonder how much of that smell comes from night-shift workers, for whom it's their "evening downtime" period.

Turns out the proletariat needs more than a minimum wage to survive.

Different strokes. Something about smoking a specific hybrid strain helps me focus and keep my energy level way up so in the morning when I know ill have a busy day, I have coffee and a joint.

Genuinely curious about this - in my naive and uneducated understanding it seems regular use of anything that activates reward circuity as effectively as marijuana seems like an overall "bad thing" longterm?

Anecdotally, I've noticed with friends and acquaintances that this leads to what basically comes down to a de-motivating effect, i.e. the "reward" via built-in mechanisms (like productivity, exercise, etc) gets attenuated over time as marijuana activates similar reward mechanisms very quickly and reliably via something as simple as inhaling. Basically "why bother going for a run, smoking makes me feel even better and I don't have to do anything".

I don't want to seem critical or anything of the sort, I've just seen it myself in multiple cases and it "makes sense" to me.

Your anecdote seems to counter this. Do you find the effectiveness of this strategy reduces over time?

That said it's obvious daily drinking has similar reward system impact with significantly greater overall health consequences.

One commonly overlooked facet of Cannabis is the big difference between indica and sativa. The cannabinoids, and ratios of them, can be vastly different which leads indica to be a ‘downer’ and sativa to be an ‘upper.’

An indica can put me into a lethargic state while a good sativa gives me as much energy as a cup of coffee but provides 2-4x the head rush.

I will frequently hit a sativa vape before going on a run or doing chores because it makes it a more pleasant experience with no downsides. If I were to swap to an indica it would not be enjoyable whatsoever.

So, you mean tolerances and addiction? Definitely occurs in some people I think. I personally did anabolic at a young age and understand the importance of cycling on and off any and all drugs. I do the same with marijuana. Things like running give me same high.

Menial, repetitive tasks and related chores like cleaning become more bearable if you don't smoke yourself stupid.

> how do people get anything done these days?

Many tasks don't need 100%. I find laundry and dishes more palatable with a buzz, and I don't mind them taking a bit of extra time.

I suspect you'd be similarly aghast if you could smell alcohol consumption.

You can in places with lots of partying, there is the smell of puke and piss from all the drunk people.

The lazy stoner stereotype is a false myth

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19485506241245744

If it's a 'myth', then why have I met so many lazy stoners in my life.

confirmation bias?

Are you genuinely attempting to refute evidence presented in a study with personal anecdote?

One of those things has far greater generalizability and statistical significance than the other. I'll leave it to you to guess which is which.

>how do people get anything done these days?

Looks like you've answered your own question for people in pain who have finally gotten a legal non-toxic alternative to their former overly toxic pharmaceutical consumption.

Maybe these statistics also are influenced by workers who have now dropped alcohol in favor of cannabis too, and are accomplishing more as a result?

I don’t do marie but smoking as an everyday thing sounds more pleasant than drinking as an everyday thing. But I’m from a binge drinking culture.

What's worse: what drinking does to your liver or what smoking does to yours lungs?

I'd just note that there are readily available non-smoking forms of marijuana.

Almost certainly drinking, because it doesn’t just affect your liver but your blood pressure, resting heart rate, bowels, sleep, etc. smoking marijuana is negative to the lungs but somewhat limited to that.

All I’m worried about marie is my brain. Given that you don’t have to smoke it.

I've got access to both and still prefer drinking. Maybe it's an addiction, not sure.

Probably to be expected, after years of suppression usage spikes, then comes back down to 'normal' levels once people decide the like or hate it.

I initially mis interpreted the title as "... outpaces daily drinking OF WATER" and was stunned.

A full circle, re: Opium Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars

Not sure I follow, mind elaborating a bit?

That's a good thing. Will also probably help move the needle of politics to the left a bit.

You need to do drugs to think politically left? Why?

Psychological trait: Openness. It's associated with Liberalism and the political left.

Also see [Big Five personality traits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits).

A lot of my right of center friends have seemed to justify drug use just fine these days.

That's the needle moving.

yeah, libertarianism/classic liberalism used to be considered left-wing in the usa, but now is a right-of-center position.

You've got it backwards.

It's a feedback loop.

If you do drugs, you think politically left?

Those who think politically left do drugs?

Not the original poster, but I'd imagine something similar to gay marriage; after decades of "it'll collapse society if people can do x" warnings, it becomes clear they were wildly overblown.

I don't think that is what they were implying. Conservatism tends to be about not changing or considering new things. It tends to be more "I was raised that X was wrong, so X is wrong". (It is how I was raised for sure.) So, if a historically conservative person tries weed and it doesn't turn out to be the all encompassing evil they were lead to believe, it may open them up to forming new personally verified opinions on other issues too.

Yeah, I don't think it comes down to left/right as much as the orthogonal spectrum of conservativism to (small l) libertarianism. People across the left/right spectrum are anti-drug for public safety, decency, or religious reasons, but equally there are those who feel individuals should be able to do what they want to themselves.

Yep sounds awful.

Every listened to the political opinions of a stoner? Theyre typically exceedingly dumb.

That using marijuana would make someone more left is a logical non-sequitor and, I feel certain, not empirically demonstrated, at least not rigorously. And the fact that you'd want to live in a world where consuming different substances was what dictated people's beliefs is baffling to me. Think of the consequences.

Might seem absurd for a light substance like marijuana. But I would be surprised if, say, someone took mushrooms and then it was a 50/50 chance as far as going right or left (if any change).

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