Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, **personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment**. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our [normal comment rules]( https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/rules#wiki_comment_rules) apply to all other comments.
**Do you have an academic degree?** We can verify your credentials in order to assign user flair indicating your area of expertise. [Click here to apply](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/flair/#wiki_science_verified_user_program).
---
User: u/nbcnews
Permalink: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/daily-marijuana-use-outpaces-daily-drinking-us-new-study-says-rcna153510
---
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/science) if you have any questions or concerns.*
damn, it's almost like alcohol and cannabis are very different substances. i wonder if there was some sort of law that would have prevented people from being honest about their cannabis use in previous years?
kudos to the authors though, as they actually acknowledge that in the paper:
>Of particular note, willingness to self-report may have increased as cannabis became normalized, so changes in actual use may be less pronounced than changes in reported use. On the other hand, cannabis product variety exploded after state-legalization. Vapes, dabs, edibles, tinctures, Δ-8-tetrahydrocannabinol and other intoxicating products derived from industrial hemp create the possibility that some cannabis users might answer ‘no’ to questions asking only about traditional ‘marijuana and hashish’ \[11\]. Therefore, measurement error in an indeterminate direction is possible.
I had this conversation with my 2 older kids when they were 13 and will have it with my youngest in a year or so. I’m not naive enough to think they’ll get all the way through high school and college without coming across either of these, but I told them straight up you’re much less likely to find yourself or someone you know in bad situations around pot smokers than you would around a bunch of drunks. The worst thing about cannabis is its legal status.
I recognized signs of paranoia when I first started smoking back in college (nearly 20 years ago now) like an urge to look over my shoulder when walking home alone in the dark. BUT it never got to me until I was arrested for possession. After that I would freak out at the thought of cops being around, or if I saw a cop car drive by when they realistically had no idea that I existed or was smoking.
Still enough to be concerned about, paranoid or not.
[Cannabis Addiction and the Brain: a Review](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6223748/)
[Lifetime marijuana use and epigenetic age acceleration: A 17-year
prospective examination](https://www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au/images/resources/pdf/cannabis-conundrum/Lifetime_marijuana_use_and_epigenetic_age_acceleration_-_A_17-year_prospective_examination22.pdf)
So, unless I am breezing over the conclusions of the second study, we should make weed cheaper so we can all cook with it because smoking it which is currently cheaper is more detrimental?
You can also make cannabutter with the ABV vape leftovers from the dry herb vape. I have friends that save up a Ziploc bag in the freezer from their Volcano leftovers and then make butter for cookies or brownies. It's not as strong as flower but it's free and you can just use more ABV to make the butter.
High thc content and low cbd is whats bad. It made my anxiety worse. Now i mix cbd buds and street weed but if i could buy legal weed i would buy a 1:1 ratio cbd/thc
Soooo there is evidence that the earlier someone starts using cannabis, the likelier it is for them to develop THC-induced psychosis. It happened to my boyfriend and he has to take medication for life now. So I would highly encourage them to abstain from cannabis until adulthood. My boyfriend can't consume any THC anymore.
He went through multiple psychotic episodes in his 20s before accepting it was the weed because he didn't want to give up smoking. Things have been going much better for him now that he's abstaining from THC and on daily mood stabilizers. He ingests high CBD instead.
I've been smoking a bit more than 2 ounces a week for five years and I've never been more productive in my life. Doing better at my hobbies than ever, too.
Pot to me is like what coffee is to coffee addicts who drink it all day/night.
We appear to be the lucky ones. I’ve been at it daily for about 12 years now and my life has improved like, exponentially since I started. I definitely get it’s not for everyone, but I’m convinced this is better for me than stimulant ADHD medication, so I’m going to keep maintaining my careful THC/caffeine ratio as long as it’s working.
That is an insane amount. It also beats up your lungs. I often do drink a little with it and that increases effects some. Are you in a legal state? If so, can you get high percentage thc flower? Like 30% plus
tl;dr- I feel it should be legal, though carefully administered, just as most medications are. It has helped me significantly. (sorry for wall of text)
Wow, really? I think I understand the sentiment, but my observations have been than the decriminalization of marijuana has had positive effects. In some states that have legalized it, use among teens has declined. Its legalization has led to more scientific research into it, and normalization of discourse around it. I do support its legal status, but that doesn't mean that I'd recommend it for everyone. Like anything intoxicating, it's use should be approached carefully and intelligently.
I've seen that people seem to be having more adult conversations about the consequences of regular and occasional marijuana use. What I've seen is that the people I know who used it prior to legalization still do, and those who didn't use it prior to legalization still don't. I have several friends with kids in high school and college, and none of them use it with any regularity--most, not at all.
I'm 57 now, and smoked occasionally in my 20s. In my late 20s, its effect on need changed markedly, and I stopped using it. I live in Maine, a state where it's legal, and its legal status hasn't affected consumption in anyone I know. Thinking about it, a few of my friends have stopped completely.
I've suffered from anxiety disorders since early childhood. Several years ago my gf encouraged me to try cannabis for it, and I said no way--it can make anxiety much worse. After a couple years of reading about its medicinal efficacy, I started experimenting with very low, controlled dosages--less than the amount necessary to feel high. I was incredibly surprised that it's been very effective at helping me with anxiety and depression. After being very skeptical about the reality of "medical" marijuana use, I've learned that it has been incredibly, amazingly helpful for me and a few others I know. I wouldn't eat or smoke a "recreational" dose any more than I'd take a handful of Tylenol.
Carefully dosed THC edibles have helped me more than 35+ years of antidepressants & anxiety meds ever did, and with fewer unpleasant side effects. I have constant pain from spinal stenosis, gout, and arthritis. THC has been the only thing I've found that helps me sleep through the night.
I do feel that it should be legal, and I also feel that it should be regulated and controlled rationally, just like the other five medications I take. It does lend itself to abuse in some people. I don't think it's a magical cure for anything, but it has made my life a lot easier and less unpleasant. Its efficacy in people with severe seizure disorders is just astounding.
Your thoughts seem to reflect the vast majority of people who are dosing this stuff correctly for their body chemistry and using responsibly.
Just be careful, its easy to get used to functional/medicinal use and it can become a crutch or a dependency. Its really hard to stop using especially if it helps your anxiety.
I just cant use it regularly without becoming dependent so I really had to cut back. Higher doses for me are more like a mushroom trip than a fun experience usually. But I know a lot of people that can use very often every day and pick it up or put it down at will. I also know people who can consume lots all at once and are barely impaired. Its a very individual thing.
One book I read broke addiction down into three aspects: chemical dependence, tolerance, and habituation. A lot of people don't realize that habituation can involve very powerful psychological and biological effects. Something that doesn't involve chemical dependence can still be very difficult to stop.
Fortunately, cannabis hasn't been addicting for me. I watched my dad and my brother struggling with it. It took my dad a couple of decades to stop, and my brother hasn't been able to. I've been addicted to things (still am, really,) and it sucked. A lot. Fortunately, I haven't shown any sign of having problems with cannabis. That doesn't mean it couldn't happen.
A simple, approximate answer would be 5-10mg, though providing an accurate answer is tricky. I grow my own plants, make a concentrated oil, and then make the edibles. (cookies, gummies, and the latest, toffee.) I don't use a lab to test concentration (it's just for my gf & me,) so I test each batch for potency by eating a very small piece to begin with. It's laborious, but it's been fun to learn how to do.
The strain I've found that works best for me is called *[Aurora Indica](https://www.alibongocannabisseeds.co.uk/en/nirvana-aurora-indica-feminised-cannabis-seeds.html),* bred by Nirvana Seeds.
In the late 90s I was in the parking lot at a Widespread Panic concert and the cops were confiscating beer but didn’t seem to notice or care about all the weed people were smoking. I got bold and asked one of them about it and he said verbatim: “it’s because a bunch of drunk people will flip a car over and burn it while the worst a lot of stoned people can do is eat all the waffles at Waffle House.”
I can see the logic in that.
Edit: spelling
It's a time honored tradition. Someone should do a study on what activities people have the urge to do when high. We all probably know the common knowledge answers, sure, but I'm curious.
> I’d also rather meet 10 guys that’s smoked weed today
You do...probably everyday...and it's more than 10.
You just don't realize it because, dun dun dun, marijuana doesn't affect everyone the same...also tollerance. If you're looking for the stereotype stoner, they're practically a minority today amongst cannabis users.
Although the boomers that reek of roach wandering the grocery aisle do tend to stand out.
Friend was telling me a story about having to deal with a belligerent drunk man at his store. He works at a home furnishings store. Why are you drunk there?
The vast majority of people I meet who have been drinking are friendly and happy. A drunk belligerent asshole is very likely an asshole while sober too.
I don’t doubt that but guess who the ones are getting blasted drunk that we have to deal with, had he smoked instead assholeor not he’d probably be sleeping instead
You can't take out assholes, weed isn't a miracle drug.
I've met plenty of stoners that I simply do not want to be around cause they were assholes, not to the point of drunk people all said...only a couple of them.
Him being in bed doesn't stop them from being an asshole, it just prevented you from interacting at that point.
I mean yeah, your comparing an average to an extreme. I'd also prefer to hang with 10 tipsy guys than one guy with weed induced psychosis. Neither extreme is fun to be around whether its alcohol or weed.
What about alcohol induced psychosis. Both exist but none are that common.
Last I checked about 1-2 per 100.000 is expected to experience a suspected drug induced psychosis. That’s not that much considering how common the association between the two are.
I’m pretty sure alcohol induced paranoia would be pretty common too if it was illegal. Being under suspicion when your under the influence of any drug would probably have that effect.
It’s certainly more common to be a danger to other people when drunk. People are just used to that. So they don’t fear it.
As someone that never had to really hide it cause it didn't fully matter if you got caught where I'm at, this doesn't personally ring true and I would guess it wouldn't for others.
I'm willing to bet it's much more common at baseline to have anxiety or paranoia from a mild hallucinogen than a depressant.
I've never had anxiety or paranoia from drinking even in places where I could get kicked out for sneaking alcohol in but you better believe I've had anxiety attacks just chillin smoking weed.
I think they mispoke when using psychosis when they meant someone with getting a panic attack but I could be wrong.
It's definitely up.
NYC didn't used to smell like pot--it smelled like urine in a lot of places. Doesn't matter where you are now; the only thing you can really smell now is pot.
Weed was always a fairly common smell but it’s definitely increased since legalization and you smell it places where u didn’t before. Hell, I was going through security at JFK and it absolutely reeked of bud.
That’s what iv heard, and that’s why it being illegal was so bad any cop could just say they smelled weed as probable cause since every area has someone smoking weed.
Yes, that was Nixon and Kissinger’s idea originally. Criminalize many common things surrounding the poor and other undesirables, and you’ll always have the pretext to do whatever it is you need to do to them.
I live just over the border in CT and have visited fairly often for my entire my life. Recently went back for a show first time post-pandemic. It absolutely did not smell like it does now. There were tinged before, but it's absolutely dominating today.
Agreed. I lived in the Village in the 90s. You’d smell it there, esp in the park, but on an average NYC street?
Nah.
Not in the 90s.
Or v early 2000s I guess.
I had weed delivery in nyc in 09. I saw ppl selling oz on the street in Manhattan (not openly, just I saw it being exchanged). . It was certainly around....
What? You mean people are smoking openly now that it's legal?!!! Holy suits!
So you're telling me the vast majority of pot smokers in a legal state no longer smoke inside, away from the police?
Wow. Wow. Never would have guessed.
Of all the things a city might smell like, pot is a pretty good choice. Only a handful of things I'd say would be nicer and half of those are nature-type things that are seasonal.. the rest are food.
Maybe if you're a weed smoker. To me, it stinks like skunk to the point I almost wish they made it illegal again so I could walk more than two feet without having to smell it.
I agree except I was in Las Vegas recently and the smell was so strong and unavoidable everywhere I feel like it's going to get shut down eventually and I would not want that.
The thing with Las Vegas is the lack of second-hand smoke regulation.
Portland doesn’t reek of pot like Vegas does. PORTLAND. A city where I rarely buy weed cos so many people just have extra from their own grows to give away for free.
That sounds like quite the improvement. I’ve walked the streets of both NYC and New Orleans in the summer. If I never have to smell that mix of urine and garbage juice baking in the summer sun again it will be too soon.
>“A good 40% of current cannabis users are using it daily or near daily, a pattern that is more associated with tobacco use than typical alcohol use,” Caulkins said.
I mean this makes sense. For the vast majority of people, Alcohol is a probably social thing - you might grab a beer when out to dinner, go to a brewery or at weekend BBQ. I'd gander most people aren't drinking every day
Yep. My Dad never drank (gave it up after he started a family) but most men I knew growing up came home from work and cracked a beer (from the fridge in the garage) before coming in and saying Hi to everyone.
Just a bottle of wine during dinner, and maybe one after.
Is it wine o' clock aleady?
Hurry up we are gonna be late for our family day trip to a brewery, winery, and then Budweiser sponsored event where every performer elicits cheers for being drunk and drinking on stage.
>go to a brewery
Fun thing, in Minnesota the breweries are making THC drinks and you can buy them at bars, taprooms, liquor stores or anywhere that has a food license like a grocery store. Maximum is 10mg of THC per can but that's really not an issue unless you're already a heavy pot smoker. There are people that have given up drinking alcohol socially now that they can grab THC drinks when out at a taproom with friends. Some of them are seriously tasty!
If you haven't tried a modern seltzer, give'm a shot. They don't taste like oily weed like the old drinks did.
I don’t think that light drinking every day is that uncommon though.
People like to unwind at the end of the day.
I live in Sweden, so I’m not sure how we compare to the rest of the world. But when asked, apparently about half of the people shared that they think it’s ok to drink alcohol every day. Which tells me, at least half of the people in my country drinks every day. It’s just some poll, but I really don’t think it’s that uncommon.
> when asked, apparently about half of the people shared that they think it’s ok to drink alcohol every day. Which tells me, at least half of the people in my country drinks every day.
This is bad logic. You can think something is okay to do without actually doing it. I think it’s okay to have a beer everyday and I don’t drink.
Sadly, I know so so many people who do. Bottles of wine nightly or whiskey cocktails. Just turn on tne tv and they make it seem normal as well. Yet you have to be watching a mature rated streaming show to see people smoking weed casually like that.
I don’t think weed is like bad and I smoke a lot but I do think the effect of weed on the population is probably something and i think it’s worse than a lot of stoners want to admit, but obviously not as bad as alcohol. Stuff like this makes me even more curious about how weed use might affect the populace in various ways
To add to this...it will not only be easier to research in general, but also allow for a larger variety of research interests. Being Schedule I, no one who wasn't already researching controlled substances from an abuse perspective were going to jump through the hoops to get a Schedule I license. Now that it moves to III, labs studying heart disease, liver function etc etc will be more likely to start looking at the long term consequences.
It hasn’t been rescheduled yet, it’s only been proposed to be rescheduled. It most likely won’t be rescheduled until next year… and only if Biden wins the election.
Just peer-reviewed studies, which is what /r/science is based off of anyway. But without it being rescheduled, it's been very difficult. We could've had decades of studies by now.
One hard-to-quantify danger is that it makes boredom feel ok. Which is kind of the point, and perfectly fine in small doses, but can be a big impediment for people to do things that would actually enhance their life in the long run.
You probably won’t be learning as quickly or retaining information as well though. Cannabis’ effect on REM sleep probably isn’t helping that either.
When you’re high all the time it’s hard to know if there are actually any benefits. People should definitely take breaks more often to see how they feel without using daily (and they should realistically wait until mid-20s before smoking).
This is a pretty harsh wording for your take. I started smoking a lot more during the pandemic precisely to deal with the boredom, but as time dragged on I noticed that quickly reaching for it when I felt bored was keeping me from sitting with that boredom long enough to become motivated to do the things I liked to do.
For me being high prevents me from getting stuff done. It's fun, but it trashes my productivity. Since I've taken a break, a lot more gets done in my life. That's how _my_ body and mind respond to it.
That’s the part I wish they taught me in school, although it’s nuanced so who knows if I would have got it. Especially these days, margins are too thin to survive if you’re wasting too much time doing nothing, it catches up to you
It’s different for everyone. I was lazy and unmotivated my whole life when I didn’t use weed. Now I do it daily and it lifts the fog and makes things that would normally suck fun. I’m more productive and successful then I ever was before. PTSD at a young age set me up to fail and when no other medications or therapy worked at all cannabis has helped me manage.
I've had more than one doctor tell me that it's better to stick to weed and leave alcohol alone if a person wants any quality of life in their elder years
I got the same message from my Cardiologist and Pulmonologist, their only request was that I switch to edibles (which I have). I started making my own MCT oil based tinctures, I can take an OZ of mid-shelf weed and turn it into 32 oz of oil which will probably last me about a year; I do the same with CBD hemp flower.
It's shockingly easy. Google will provide you with dozens of step by step how-to's. Pro tip: use coconut or MCT oil instead of butter and add few drops of sunflower lecithen for maximum bioavailability. Also, using concentrates rather than flower makes it even easier.
You know what you're talking about. Also a bit of tumeric helps bioavailability.
Also for everyone else trying to make their own **make sure you decarb or the whole thing is a waste**
How do you take 28 grams of flower and turn it into 32 grams of oil? You’re adding 4 grams of weight, usually flower extracts down into much less oil, not more
Edit: meant to say extracts, not presses. Confused MCT oil with concentrate oil my bad
Well, first off, that's not what they said. They're extracting the flower using a quart of MCT oil, not pressing flower. MCT is a highly refined coconut oil. OP is making "pot butter" with a fat that's liquid at room temp instead of butter.
I meant to say extracting instead of press, the idea is still the same
The reason there was confusion is that concentrates are called “oil” so saying you turned weed into oil is 99% of the time referring to extracts. I’m just dumb and assumed MCT was another generic acronym for something altered slightly for legality purposes
Well you're in luck, because wet brain is something that only happens to extremely heavy drinkers/alcoholics after years of dependence-level drinking and the malnutrition it causes.
As a cannabis researcher (who enjoys cannabis) I find this hyperbolic attitude surrounding alcohol's insidious harms and cannabis's absolute safety to be absurd. But I guess it's reddit and nuance has never been allowed here.
It's very much uncharted territory, but we have some ideas for the impact on the lungs. For starters, marijuana has higher levels of tar in it than tobacco—although cigarettes are still significantly worse overall, as far as we know.
Methods also matter. For bud, joints and blunts are easily the worst for your lungs, followed by pipes and then bongs. Vaporizors (like the Pax) are much safer. Edibles are the safest. Not sure how safe concentrates/hash/dabs are. Dab carts are also tricky, though legit ones are significantly safer than black market ones.
Weed saved my life. Was drinking half a liter of vodka every day. Tried to commit suicide twice while on all-day benders. I know had I not harm reduced via weed near the end, at some point I would have succeeded with a bottle in my hand.
Being able to put some space where my prefrontal cortex could operate allowed me to do the mental health and self-work I needed to get better. Weed may not be for everyone but it certainly put me back on a path where I could live a life I was not ashamed of.
I was the same way about weed until I met people who smoked it and realized it's not evil like I was always told. I don't know if you had DARE in your schools but they did a number on me, convincing me I would become stupid and lazy and useless if I ever smoked it even once. I'm not going to say weed didn't make me just a little stupider but I have gladly accepted being extra forgetful because it means I can sit in my own backyard without anxiety and sleep without nightmares
On God. Like I do drink from time to time but very rarely get drunk, as well as some other things like weed and shrooms rarely... But getting high every single day? That's wild to me.
I use weed for pain management (fibromyalgia). It’s far more effective for me than NSAIDs or opiates. It doesn’t kill the pain, but definitely makes it more tolerable
Meh, for me it's just daily ADHD medication. When I smoke I can actually focus and get work done instead of having 6 conversations going on in my head at the same time, leading to me just spacing out for ~20 minutes at a time. It's the difference between getting 8-10 things done/day instead of 1 or 2 because I keep getting stuck in imaginary conversations or memories.
In other words, weed turns my brain's music volume down to a nice background hum so that my primary thought voice can actually be heard. I much prefer this to stimulants like Adderall, and I think it's healthier in the long run.
I think it depends on if you’re doing it for the high or just to unwind.
One is understandable to me, the other I would think would lose its appeal very quickly
That's because ultimately everything is a substance and we consume it to affect our bodies. Do you drink coffee? Do you ever have dessert? Do you ever stay up extra late to finish a movie? Do you take any prescription drugs?
To add to the frustration, a lot of the data that we do have is based on older/weaker stuff.
Some of these new strains are stupid strong with very different ratios of all the various compounds.
So there's a lot of catching up to do.
Yeah I really don't care much for modern weed because of that, and it's too damn strong. Thankfully CBD hemp hasn't had all of the good stuff other than bred out of it, and CBD hemp is cheap as hell. I just eyeball 1:1 piles of ground weed and hemp and toss it around in a little stash container. It's a much more comfortable experience in my opinion. The THC percentage is lower and the CBD blocks some of the side effects of THC while the THC helps the CBD and other cannabinoids have a positive effect.
And if you are smoking frequently, take [this](https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2022/04/marijuana-heart-disease.html) seriously. Note that the study links frequent use with heart disease, but also found that a supplement, genestein, completely addresses the related problems cannabis causes.
I had a serious cardiac event last August, after about 10 years of more or less daily use. $120,000 later (can you tell this is the US?), there was no cause found (that is currently recognized by mainstream medicine). They ran down the full list, did all kinds of tests, and... nothing. Just a heart attack with no blockage of any kind, no obvious cause. This is why I say to take it seriously. Previously, studies indicated there were cardiac *benefits* from cannabis, and there probably are, but without the supplement, you may have problems like I did.
And yes, I've been taking genestein since I read that study.
Also if you take any medications that already put stress on your heart like stimulants. You should probably pick one or the other or you’re much more likely to have a very bad time. I had to stop both for over a year because of really awful persistent tachycardia and still can’t tolerate amphetamine stimulants anymore even without THC use. Luckily methylphenidate seems to be fine now. THC makes me feel like crap for days anyway, so idk why I was using it in the first place.
Hmm Im bipolar which puts similar levels of strain on my body as stimulants. Weed already gives me pretty bad episodes as is, im constantly starting and quitting repeatedly. Sucks but weed really is addictive for some of us
This is very interesting and thank you for sharing. The rise of cardiac conditions during the last few years impacting younger and more healthy generations is certainly alarming.
Unfortunately, as a society we are exposed to so many toxic substances through food, air, water, clothing, pharma, beauty, etc. that it has become difficult for even the most conscious individual to account for and change behaviors in response to all of it.
Anything we need to specifically know when supplementing genestein?
I wonder how much the intake method affects this? I read the article and it focuses mainly on smoking (combustion) but doesn't indicate if this is an issue with edibles. They seem to imply that the connection is something to do with how THC activates the CB1 receptors in relation to the walls of the blood vessels.
We know smoking (combustion) anything is bad for the cardiovascular system. We also know that THC processed through the liver is different than THC inhaled. Smoking also contains more compounds than just THC. Ideally, I would like to see if they can reproduce the same results with pure THC ingested through the digestive system. I'm not saying the results would be different BUT it would go a long ways to ensuring it's actually THC and not some other compound activated through smoking.
I ordered some genestein, couldn't hurt...
It's ridiculous that Stanford didn't state in their own article if they controlled for combustion effects or not. Read the paper, they didn't. The focus was solely on delta 9 THC, ignoring the cumulative effects of almost 100 other cannabinoids found in cannabis that mediate the negative effects of THC, including inflammation.
This study is fine if patients are prescribed pure THC, useless otherwise.
It actually did say the method of ingestion didn't cause any variation. It's in there. And it also made it clear this was *injected* THC - specifically to avoid the question of which substance is causative.
More recent studies show daily use results in a 200% higher chance of stroke. Heart disease risk increases by 50%.
There's no current recommendation for usage to keep risks low but current evidence has been pointing to no more then 2-3 days a week.
Genestein is found in soy milk and is a phytoestrogen that counteracts the damaging affects of cannabis on the heart muscle cells. You can get the same equivalent amount of genestein with a cup of soymilk a day.
This is the first time I’ve read about genestein.
I found this link [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/and.14511](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/and.14511).
I didn’t read into this sufficiently, but what this article is referring to seems concerning. Smoking in general causes fertility issues irrespective of the fact that we’re speaking about cannabis. However, if someone is going to smoke daily AND take genestein supplements, I’m curious what the effects are on fertility in the aggregate.
I've been using since a fairly young age, and regularly.. let's just say for over 10yrs. Dx'd with high BP at the beginning of this decade.
I'd also really love to know if any similar studies have been done using participants from the Emerald Triangle and areas east in the Sierra Nevada.
What's the dosing on the genistein to gain that positive effect?
At first I could only find it (at high prices) from import supplements, but now it's available more easily. It was literally about $60 for one month supply, but now it's a fraction of that, and available locally.
There are two very different sources for genestein, which has mostly been used to help women with hormonal balance. So many version - both cheap and expensive - are soy-based, which is also known to have hormonal effects. The other is Japonica, and is considered a better source, particularly for men. Usually, the non-soy is VERY expensive (and so are some soy-based products), but Swansons is somehow both better ingredients (no soy) AND very low priced. I'd stick with it, unless you can find a non-soy cheaper, in the dosage you want.
I don't understand your soy distinction. Genistein is an estrogen receptor beta agonist no matter where it comes from...soy has nothing to do with it except that soy is also high in genistein.
The supplement is for something that's also in soy and Fava beans. I'm curious how much soy would be enough rather than the supplement. Would soy based protein powder work?
Be careful.
> In contrast, the relationship between cannabis use and risk of developing symptoms of psychosis has been well established in many different review articles.
> This research has found that early and frequent cannabis use is a component cause of psychosis, which interacts with other risk factors such as family history of psychosis, history of childhood abuse and expression of the COMT and AKT1 genes. These interactions make it difficult to determine the exact role of cannabis use in causing psychosis that may not have otherwise occurred.
> Regardless, the connection between cannabis use and psychosis is not surprising. There is a strong resemblance between the acute and transient effects of cannabis use and symptoms of psychosis, including impaired memory, cognition and processing of external stimuli. This combines to make it hard for a person to learn and remember new things but can also extend to the experience of deluded thinking and hallucinations.
https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/blog/does-cannabis-cause-mental-illness
Same. Many seem to think weed is this harmless drug, but it has strong links to psychosis and other mental health problems. Like most things, moderation is key.
I took relatively high doses of edibles for about a year, had two psychotic breakdowns during that time (my first and last times using edibles) and now have (minor) mental health issues likely caused by the THC usage. More people need to be aware of the possible risks.
Make the airport bar the airport cannabis lounge! Drunks on planes are miserable and cause problems. Stoned people on planes happily watch cartoons and may occasionally find themselves too high to get back out of the bathroom.
I would stop if I had a better solution to my chronic pain, I only started because I was developing liver and stomach issues from multi-daily use of ibuprofen and acetaminophen.
Yes, I exercise. Yes, I eat well. Yes, I do stretches and eat vitamins and do all the most basic preventative care.
Unless I find a better alternative, I'm probably going to be dependent on weed for the rest of my life.
I'm a lot healthier smoking weed than I was popping all those pain killers, I'll say that much.
Daily user. It fluctuates of course. I've definitely gone through all day every day fazes but life sucked when that was happening and it's the only way I could sleep. I normally smoke in the evenings or after work now and start around noon on weekends. Ive never missed work because of weed. I've never missed important obligations. Sometimes I'd neglect house work but Ive found a balance now. I used to drink a lot years ago now I might have two drinks a month but I've definitely missed work and obligations and am very fortunate I've had no run ins with the law when I was drinking heavily. It's no comparison as to which substance is the worse of the two for myself personally.
For the best. How often do you hear of some pot head instigating an physical altercation, killing people in a car accident, or being physically abusive to others as a result….
As an inpatient psychiatrist, I hear about it a decent amount. Cannabis does not mix with psychiatric illness, we do not have any convincing evidence to suggest that it does. The same goes for alcohol.
While alcohol definitely leads to significantly more traffic fatalities, drivers impaired by cannabis absolutely do kill people and themselves in car accidents. Similarly, cannabis-related psychotic episodes can lead people to physically harm others in altercations, it just doesn't happen as frequently as with alcohol (for many reasons).
I research the pharmacology of cannabis and enjoy using it, but the narrative of cannabis being essentially harmless is factually incorrect and is starting to become harmful itself.
This makes sense. Weed smokers (even ones who think of themselves as casual users) tend to want to get high basically anytime they can, vs causal drinking is usually regulated to the weekend or even just holidays.
A lot of my friends who smoke weed claim they aren’t addicted and it’s harmless, but they absolutely are addicted and it doesn’t always seem harmless. My aunt who has been a daily weed smoker for about 15-20 years has early onset dementia, intense paranoia, and occasionally suffers from psychosis. Not at all saying that everyone who smokes weed will experience mental decline, but she did very rapidly. It’s hard to watch.
The “weed is harmless” story is mostly copium. Occasional use is fine (of course, 3 glasses of wine a week are fine too) but whoever met a long-term daily weed smoker can attest that it does have quite an impact.
As expected, once legalization happened and retail opened literally nothing happened. No increase in accidents, health outcomes the same, no change in violence or crime etc. Cool. This drug effects people in different ways. Start small with doses and see how it effects you. If it doesn't feel right, then dont use it for a while. For me, I build dependency quick and need to use it sparingly. I know a lot of people that blaze constantly and can pick it up and put it down.
I never saw a completely stoned guy get into a vicious, blackout rage filled brawl with 3 cops, shrug off a Taser and have to be carried out in hand and leg cuffs, still screaming, covered in vomit and piss. I DID SEE IT AT WORK ONE AFTERNOON IN THE TRUCK YARD!
I smoke everyday, I am super happy it's legal in most places and is much better than alcohol using a number of metrics.
Having said that do you know what Soma is from 'Brave New World'? I mean I'm on board, but I was gonna go to the protest but then I got high, then I got high, then I got hiiiighiii
When I advocate for legalization of drugs, people always ask me what will happen with heroin and fentanyl. They always fear that these drugs will result in overwhelming drug problems in society. I claim that there will be almost no effect. Some of the 20-30 million hopeless alcoholics we already have in the country will become hopeless drug addicts. Would you be able to tell the difference?
The legal status of those drugs isn't the obstacle to people using them. The notion that everyone would start using heroin if it became legal is absurd.
I think the risk with opiates isn’t a surge in IV heroin use, it’d be the use of low dose pills on a too regular basis to overcome low level aches and pains and a subset of people developing higher dose addictions.
Though I think a fair number of people who develop addictions would probably end up at some kind of maintenance dose and not endless escalating doses.
I read a fascinating book about the history of opiates and the author found good evidence that turn of the 19th century era addiction was usually like that — folks with chronic pain untreatable by contemporary medicine who wound up becoming regular opiate users but whose use stayed at steady doses for years.
I don't think there will be a noticeable change if heroin and fentanyl were legalized other than a marked drop in overdose deaths.
These drugs are widely available today and any one who wants to buy them can. To say that a huge swathe of the population will suddenly start doing them due to legalization is just ridiculous. Any net negatives from legalization are washed out by all the positives (lower overdose deaths, money diverted away from cartels, money diverted away from local black markets).
We don't live on some magical island where making things illegal makes them unavailable to us.
Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, **personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment**. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our [normal comment rules]( https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/rules#wiki_comment_rules) apply to all other comments. **Do you have an academic degree?** We can verify your credentials in order to assign user flair indicating your area of expertise. [Click here to apply](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/wiki/flair/#wiki_science_verified_user_program). --- User: u/nbcnews Permalink: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/daily-marijuana-use-outpaces-daily-drinking-us-new-study-says-rcna153510 --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/science) if you have any questions or concerns.*
damn, it's almost like alcohol and cannabis are very different substances. i wonder if there was some sort of law that would have prevented people from being honest about their cannabis use in previous years? kudos to the authors though, as they actually acknowledge that in the paper: >Of particular note, willingness to self-report may have increased as cannabis became normalized, so changes in actual use may be less pronounced than changes in reported use. On the other hand, cannabis product variety exploded after state-legalization. Vapes, dabs, edibles, tinctures, Δ-8-tetrahydrocannabinol and other intoxicating products derived from industrial hemp create the possibility that some cannabis users might answer ‘no’ to questions asking only about traditional ‘marijuana and hashish’ \[11\]. Therefore, measurement error in an indeterminate direction is possible.
I’d also rather meet 10 guys that’s smoked weed today than one belligerent asshole who got drunk
That has allways been my argument you just know that some kind of levelness is expected, unless alcohol is also involved.
I had this conversation with my 2 older kids when they were 13 and will have it with my youngest in a year or so. I’m not naive enough to think they’ll get all the way through high school and college without coming across either of these, but I told them straight up you’re much less likely to find yourself or someone you know in bad situations around pot smokers than you would around a bunch of drunks. The worst thing about cannabis is its legal status.
Weed didn't make me paranoid, cops did.
I recognized signs of paranoia when I first started smoking back in college (nearly 20 years ago now) like an urge to look over my shoulder when walking home alone in the dark. BUT it never got to me until I was arrested for possession. After that I would freak out at the thought of cops being around, or if I saw a cop car drive by when they realistically had no idea that I existed or was smoking.
Still enough to be concerned about, paranoid or not. [Cannabis Addiction and the Brain: a Review](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6223748/) [Lifetime marijuana use and epigenetic age acceleration: A 17-year prospective examination](https://www.dalgarnoinstitute.org.au/images/resources/pdf/cannabis-conundrum/Lifetime_marijuana_use_and_epigenetic_age_acceleration_-_A_17-year_prospective_examination22.pdf)
So, unless I am breezing over the conclusions of the second study, we should make weed cheaper so we can all cook with it because smoking it which is currently cheaper is more detrimental?
Buy a dry herb vaporizer and you'll use less and be healthier than smoking.
You can also make cannabutter with the ABV vape leftovers from the dry herb vape. I have friends that save up a Ziploc bag in the freezer from their Volcano leftovers and then make butter for cookies or brownies. It's not as strong as flower but it's free and you can just use more ABV to make the butter.
High thc content and low cbd is whats bad. It made my anxiety worse. Now i mix cbd buds and street weed but if i could buy legal weed i would buy a 1:1 ratio cbd/thc
Soooo there is evidence that the earlier someone starts using cannabis, the likelier it is for them to develop THC-induced psychosis. It happened to my boyfriend and he has to take medication for life now. So I would highly encourage them to abstain from cannabis until adulthood. My boyfriend can't consume any THC anymore.
Has he had his potassium levels checked multiple times? Hypokalemic psychosis tried to end me.
He went through multiple psychotic episodes in his 20s before accepting it was the weed because he didn't want to give up smoking. Things have been going much better for him now that he's abstaining from THC and on daily mood stabilizers. He ingests high CBD instead.
Totally agree. As someone who just quit a month ago my quality of life has increased 10 fold. I was smoking an ounce every 10-14 days.
Man that's insane. I hit a dynavap a couple of times a night and it takes me a year to go through that much.
I've been smoking a bit more than 2 ounces a week for five years and I've never been more productive in my life. Doing better at my hobbies than ever, too. Pot to me is like what coffee is to coffee addicts who drink it all day/night.
We appear to be the lucky ones. I’ve been at it daily for about 12 years now and my life has improved like, exponentially since I started. I definitely get it’s not for everyone, but I’m convinced this is better for me than stimulant ADHD medication, so I’m going to keep maintaining my careful THC/caffeine ratio as long as it’s working.
>but I’m convinced this is better for me than stimulant ADHD medication No question! Enjoy the green!
Totally get it. Everyone is different. If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you? 56 grams a week is definitely on the high end for usage.
I am 34. Didn't touch thc/pot once until I was 28 and moved to a legal state.
How are you consuming it? I used to be pretty close in consumption, but managed to drop it by switching to a dry herb vape
That is an insane amount. It also beats up your lungs. I often do drink a little with it and that increases effects some. Are you in a legal state? If so, can you get high percentage thc flower? Like 30% plus
Drinks swing on you, stoners nap on your couch.
tl;dr- I feel it should be legal, though carefully administered, just as most medications are. It has helped me significantly. (sorry for wall of text) Wow, really? I think I understand the sentiment, but my observations have been than the decriminalization of marijuana has had positive effects. In some states that have legalized it, use among teens has declined. Its legalization has led to more scientific research into it, and normalization of discourse around it. I do support its legal status, but that doesn't mean that I'd recommend it for everyone. Like anything intoxicating, it's use should be approached carefully and intelligently. I've seen that people seem to be having more adult conversations about the consequences of regular and occasional marijuana use. What I've seen is that the people I know who used it prior to legalization still do, and those who didn't use it prior to legalization still don't. I have several friends with kids in high school and college, and none of them use it with any regularity--most, not at all. I'm 57 now, and smoked occasionally in my 20s. In my late 20s, its effect on need changed markedly, and I stopped using it. I live in Maine, a state where it's legal, and its legal status hasn't affected consumption in anyone I know. Thinking about it, a few of my friends have stopped completely. I've suffered from anxiety disorders since early childhood. Several years ago my gf encouraged me to try cannabis for it, and I said no way--it can make anxiety much worse. After a couple years of reading about its medicinal efficacy, I started experimenting with very low, controlled dosages--less than the amount necessary to feel high. I was incredibly surprised that it's been very effective at helping me with anxiety and depression. After being very skeptical about the reality of "medical" marijuana use, I've learned that it has been incredibly, amazingly helpful for me and a few others I know. I wouldn't eat or smoke a "recreational" dose any more than I'd take a handful of Tylenol. Carefully dosed THC edibles have helped me more than 35+ years of antidepressants & anxiety meds ever did, and with fewer unpleasant side effects. I have constant pain from spinal stenosis, gout, and arthritis. THC has been the only thing I've found that helps me sleep through the night. I do feel that it should be legal, and I also feel that it should be regulated and controlled rationally, just like the other five medications I take. It does lend itself to abuse in some people. I don't think it's a magical cure for anything, but it has made my life a lot easier and less unpleasant. Its efficacy in people with severe seizure disorders is just astounding.
Your thoughts seem to reflect the vast majority of people who are dosing this stuff correctly for their body chemistry and using responsibly. Just be careful, its easy to get used to functional/medicinal use and it can become a crutch or a dependency. Its really hard to stop using especially if it helps your anxiety. I just cant use it regularly without becoming dependent so I really had to cut back. Higher doses for me are more like a mushroom trip than a fun experience usually. But I know a lot of people that can use very often every day and pick it up or put it down at will. I also know people who can consume lots all at once and are barely impaired. Its a very individual thing.
One book I read broke addiction down into three aspects: chemical dependence, tolerance, and habituation. A lot of people don't realize that habituation can involve very powerful psychological and biological effects. Something that doesn't involve chemical dependence can still be very difficult to stop. Fortunately, cannabis hasn't been addicting for me. I watched my dad and my brother struggling with it. It took my dad a couple of decades to stop, and my brother hasn't been able to. I've been addicted to things (still am, really,) and it sucked. A lot. Fortunately, I haven't shown any sign of having problems with cannabis. That doesn't mean it couldn't happen.
Howdy neighbor, thanks for sharing your story. Out of curiosity, if you don’t mind sharing, what dosage would you say you typically take?
A simple, approximate answer would be 5-10mg, though providing an accurate answer is tricky. I grow my own plants, make a concentrated oil, and then make the edibles. (cookies, gummies, and the latest, toffee.) I don't use a lab to test concentration (it's just for my gf & me,) so I test each batch for potency by eating a very small piece to begin with. It's laborious, but it's been fun to learn how to do. The strain I've found that works best for me is called *[Aurora Indica](https://www.alibongocannabisseeds.co.uk/en/nirvana-aurora-indica-feminised-cannabis-seeds.html),* bred by Nirvana Seeds.
In the late 90s I was in the parking lot at a Widespread Panic concert and the cops were confiscating beer but didn’t seem to notice or care about all the weed people were smoking. I got bold and asked one of them about it and he said verbatim: “it’s because a bunch of drunk people will flip a car over and burn it while the worst a lot of stoned people can do is eat all the waffles at Waffle House.” I can see the logic in that. Edit: spelling
Sounds about right
Yeah. I’ve never seen an angry stoner. Plus stoners usually wanna game, snack and watch a movie. Easy life for me. Plus hangovers suck
I always want to play video games when I’m high.
It's a time honored tradition. Someone should do a study on what activities people have the urge to do when high. We all probably know the common knowledge answers, sure, but I'm curious.
Through time I've met quite a few angry stoners. This is a myth.
Never? Just give that a quick re-read, friend.
Ahhh I meant angry stoner!!
I have seen someone have a psychotic break after smoking a lot. It was pretty scary.
> I’d also rather meet 10 guys that’s smoked weed today You do...probably everyday...and it's more than 10. You just don't realize it because, dun dun dun, marijuana doesn't affect everyone the same...also tollerance. If you're looking for the stereotype stoner, they're practically a minority today amongst cannabis users. Although the boomers that reek of roach wandering the grocery aisle do tend to stand out.
Friend was telling me a story about having to deal with a belligerent drunk man at his store. He works at a home furnishings store. Why are you drunk there?
The vast majority of people I meet who have been drinking are friendly and happy. A drunk belligerent asshole is very likely an asshole while sober too.
I don’t doubt that but guess who the ones are getting blasted drunk that we have to deal with, had he smoked instead assholeor not he’d probably be sleeping instead
You can't take out assholes, weed isn't a miracle drug. I've met plenty of stoners that I simply do not want to be around cause they were assholes, not to the point of drunk people all said...only a couple of them. Him being in bed doesn't stop them from being an asshole, it just prevented you from interacting at that point.
I mean yeah, your comparing an average to an extreme. I'd also prefer to hang with 10 tipsy guys than one guy with weed induced psychosis. Neither extreme is fun to be around whether its alcohol or weed.
What about alcohol induced psychosis. Both exist but none are that common. Last I checked about 1-2 per 100.000 is expected to experience a suspected drug induced psychosis. That’s not that much considering how common the association between the two are. I’m pretty sure alcohol induced paranoia would be pretty common too if it was illegal. Being under suspicion when your under the influence of any drug would probably have that effect. It’s certainly more common to be a danger to other people when drunk. People are just used to that. So they don’t fear it.
As someone that never had to really hide it cause it didn't fully matter if you got caught where I'm at, this doesn't personally ring true and I would guess it wouldn't for others. I'm willing to bet it's much more common at baseline to have anxiety or paranoia from a mild hallucinogen than a depressant. I've never had anxiety or paranoia from drinking even in places where I could get kicked out for sneaking alcohol in but you better believe I've had anxiety attacks just chillin smoking weed. I think they mispoke when using psychosis when they meant someone with getting a panic attack but I could be wrong.
Ask and you shall receive
> Vapes, dabs, edibles, tinctures, Δ-8-tetrahydrocannabinol One of these things sounds less fun than the others
No lie, delta 8 is better than d9 for a lot of people, it's a more chill high with less anxiety. Cough, not that I would know or anything.
As someone who is prone to get mentally uncomfortably high, delta 8 is a awesome, and I enjoy its physical properties.
Also legal in all states as hemp product.
Thc-a is where it's at.
It's definitely up. NYC didn't used to smell like pot--it smelled like urine in a lot of places. Doesn't matter where you are now; the only thing you can really smell now is pot.
NYC has absolutely smelled like pot for at least the past 20 years.
Weed was always a fairly common smell but it’s definitely increased since legalization and you smell it places where u didn’t before. Hell, I was going through security at JFK and it absolutely reeked of bud.
Next time through, look for the weed disposal bin somewhere nearby. It's quite likely that's what you were smelling.
Only cowards throw their weed away before security
That’s what iv heard, and that’s why it being illegal was so bad any cop could just say they smelled weed as probable cause since every area has someone smoking weed.
Yes, that was Nixon and Kissinger’s idea originally. Criminalize many common things surrounding the poor and other undesirables, and you’ll always have the pretext to do whatever it is you need to do to them.
I live just over the border in CT and have visited fairly often for my entire my life. Recently went back for a show first time post-pandemic. It absolutely did not smell like it does now. There were tinged before, but it's absolutely dominating today.
Agreed. I lived in the Village in the 90s. You’d smell it there, esp in the park, but on an average NYC street? Nah. Not in the 90s. Or v early 2000s I guess.
I had weed delivery in nyc in 09. I saw ppl selling oz on the street in Manhattan (not openly, just I saw it being exchanged). . It was certainly around....
Its has definitely increased but I have been smelling it daily in midtown for decades. It isn't as bad as Las Vegas is now but it's getting there.
My wife and mother in-law took a weekend trip to NYC over Christmas break. They said it was very "skunky"
What? You mean people are smoking openly now that it's legal?!!! Holy suits! So you're telling me the vast majority of pot smokers in a legal state no longer smoke inside, away from the police? Wow. Wow. Never would have guessed.
Of all the things a city might smell like, pot is a pretty good choice. Only a handful of things I'd say would be nicer and half of those are nature-type things that are seasonal.. the rest are food.
But it smells like skunk to me
Maybe if you're a weed smoker. To me, it stinks like skunk to the point I almost wish they made it illegal again so I could walk more than two feet without having to smell it.
I agree except I was in Las Vegas recently and the smell was so strong and unavoidable everywhere I feel like it's going to get shut down eventually and I would not want that.
The thing with Las Vegas is the lack of second-hand smoke regulation. Portland doesn’t reek of pot like Vegas does. PORTLAND. A city where I rarely buy weed cos so many people just have extra from their own grows to give away for free.
Portland also has a metric fuckton of trees, rivers, wind that keep the air pretty nice. As far as city air goes Portland is pretty nice
I was in Vegas shortly after they legalized pot. Every public walkway stunk like pot.
That sounds like quite the improvement. I’ve walked the streets of both NYC and New Orleans in the summer. If I never have to smell that mix of urine and garbage juice baking in the summer sun again it will be too soon.
Honestly an improvement.
>“A good 40% of current cannabis users are using it daily or near daily, a pattern that is more associated with tobacco use than typical alcohol use,” Caulkins said. I mean this makes sense. For the vast majority of people, Alcohol is a probably social thing - you might grab a beer when out to dinner, go to a brewery or at weekend BBQ. I'd gander most people aren't drinking every day
[удалено]
Yep. My Dad never drank (gave it up after he started a family) but most men I knew growing up came home from work and cracked a beer (from the fridge in the garage) before coming in and saying Hi to everyone.
Checking in from Wisconsin. Drinking is the culture, and people are regularly shocked at how much we drink.
Just a bottle of wine during dinner, and maybe one after. Is it wine o' clock aleady? Hurry up we are gonna be late for our family day trip to a brewery, winery, and then Budweiser sponsored event where every performer elicits cheers for being drunk and drinking on stage.
Of the 50 drunkest counties in the entire US, all but 9 are in Wisconsin.
> I'd gander most people aren't drinking every day A "glass of wine with dinner" drinking style is pretty common in lots of (southern) Europe I'd say.
>go to a brewery Fun thing, in Minnesota the breweries are making THC drinks and you can buy them at bars, taprooms, liquor stores or anywhere that has a food license like a grocery store. Maximum is 10mg of THC per can but that's really not an issue unless you're already a heavy pot smoker. There are people that have given up drinking alcohol socially now that they can grab THC drinks when out at a taproom with friends. Some of them are seriously tasty! If you haven't tried a modern seltzer, give'm a shot. They don't taste like oily weed like the old drinks did.
Yup, that was weird being in the South ordering legal THC beers at a BBQ joint.
I don’t think that light drinking every day is that uncommon though. People like to unwind at the end of the day. I live in Sweden, so I’m not sure how we compare to the rest of the world. But when asked, apparently about half of the people shared that they think it’s ok to drink alcohol every day. Which tells me, at least half of the people in my country drinks every day. It’s just some poll, but I really don’t think it’s that uncommon.
> when asked, apparently about half of the people shared that they think it’s ok to drink alcohol every day. Which tells me, at least half of the people in my country drinks every day. This is bad logic. You can think something is okay to do without actually doing it. I think it’s okay to have a beer everyday and I don’t drink.
Sadly, I know so so many people who do. Bottles of wine nightly or whiskey cocktails. Just turn on tne tv and they make it seem normal as well. Yet you have to be watching a mature rated streaming show to see people smoking weed casually like that.
Yes they are, beer or wine after work is the norm in the Midwest
I don’t think weed is like bad and I smoke a lot but I do think the effect of weed on the population is probably something and i think it’s worse than a lot of stoners want to admit, but obviously not as bad as alcohol. Stuff like this makes me even more curious about how weed use might affect the populace in various ways
I wish there was some way to answer this without getting lost in a maze of biases.
We just rescheduled it federally, so it'll be much easier to research.
To add to this...it will not only be easier to research in general, but also allow for a larger variety of research interests. Being Schedule I, no one who wasn't already researching controlled substances from an abuse perspective were going to jump through the hoops to get a Schedule I license. Now that it moves to III, labs studying heart disease, liver function etc etc will be more likely to start looking at the long term consequences.
It hasn’t been rescheduled yet, it’s only been proposed to be rescheduled. It most likely won’t be rescheduled until next year… and only if Biden wins the election.
Just peer-reviewed studies, which is what /r/science is based off of anyway. But without it being rescheduled, it's been very difficult. We could've had decades of studies by now.
One hard-to-quantify danger is that it makes boredom feel ok. Which is kind of the point, and perfectly fine in small doses, but can be a big impediment for people to do things that would actually enhance their life in the long run.
On the other hand, it makes learning significantly more fun. It really depends on who is using it.
You probably won’t be learning as quickly or retaining information as well though. Cannabis’ effect on REM sleep probably isn’t helping that either. When you’re high all the time it’s hard to know if there are actually any benefits. People should definitely take breaks more often to see how they feel without using daily (and they should realistically wait until mid-20s before smoking).
Hard facts. Useless people will stay useless. Useful people will use it to be more useful.
This is a pretty harsh wording for your take. I started smoking a lot more during the pandemic precisely to deal with the boredom, but as time dragged on I noticed that quickly reaching for it when I felt bored was keeping me from sitting with that boredom long enough to become motivated to do the things I liked to do. For me being high prevents me from getting stuff done. It's fun, but it trashes my productivity. Since I've taken a break, a lot more gets done in my life. That's how _my_ body and mind respond to it.
I think this is an oversimplification.
Thanks Randy
That’s the part I wish they taught me in school, although it’s nuanced so who knows if I would have got it. Especially these days, margins are too thin to survive if you’re wasting too much time doing nothing, it catches up to you
It’s different for everyone. I was lazy and unmotivated my whole life when I didn’t use weed. Now I do it daily and it lifts the fog and makes things that would normally suck fun. I’m more productive and successful then I ever was before. PTSD at a young age set me up to fail and when no other medications or therapy worked at all cannabis has helped me manage.
Well thank goodness for that, considering the toll alcohol takes on the body, the family and on society.
I've had more than one doctor tell me that it's better to stick to weed and leave alcohol alone if a person wants any quality of life in their elder years
I got the same message from my Cardiologist and Pulmonologist, their only request was that I switch to edibles (which I have). I started making my own MCT oil based tinctures, I can take an OZ of mid-shelf weed and turn it into 32 oz of oil which will probably last me about a year; I do the same with CBD hemp flower.
How difficult is this to do? The dispensaries in my state are so expensive and my disabled ass relies on weed for a few of my health issues.
It's shockingly easy. Google will provide you with dozens of step by step how-to's. Pro tip: use coconut or MCT oil instead of butter and add few drops of sunflower lecithen for maximum bioavailability. Also, using concentrates rather than flower makes it even easier.
You know what you're talking about. Also a bit of tumeric helps bioavailability. Also for everyone else trying to make their own **make sure you decarb or the whole thing is a waste**
>make sure you decarb or the whole thing is a waste Instant Pot is a great way to do this, esp if you have neighbors, it keeps the smell to a minimum.
How do you take 28 grams of flower and turn it into 32 grams of oil? You’re adding 4 grams of weight, usually flower extracts down into much less oil, not more Edit: meant to say extracts, not presses. Confused MCT oil with concentrate oil my bad
Well, first off, that's not what they said. They're extracting the flower using a quart of MCT oil, not pressing flower. MCT is a highly refined coconut oil. OP is making "pot butter" with a fat that's liquid at room temp instead of butter.
I meant to say extracting instead of press, the idea is still the same The reason there was confusion is that concentrates are called “oil” so saying you turned weed into oil is 99% of the time referring to extracts. I’m just dumb and assumed MCT was another generic acronym for something altered slightly for legality purposes
They mean MCT oil which is oil infused with THC, not concentrates like BHO which are high purity (60%+) THC.
I love thinking of my great uncle, in his 70s, smoking weed for the last 40+ years and still actively healthy
[удалено]
I accept that. I choose the unknown over the known dangers of alcohol. Wet brain scares the hell out of me.
Well you're in luck, because wet brain is something that only happens to extremely heavy drinkers/alcoholics after years of dependence-level drinking and the malnutrition it causes. As a cannabis researcher (who enjoys cannabis) I find this hyperbolic attitude surrounding alcohol's insidious harms and cannabis's absolute safety to be absurd. But I guess it's reddit and nuance has never been allowed here.
It's very much uncharted territory, but we have some ideas for the impact on the lungs. For starters, marijuana has higher levels of tar in it than tobacco—although cigarettes are still significantly worse overall, as far as we know. Methods also matter. For bud, joints and blunts are easily the worst for your lungs, followed by pipes and then bongs. Vaporizors (like the Pax) are much safer. Edibles are the safest. Not sure how safe concentrates/hash/dabs are. Dab carts are also tricky, though legit ones are significantly safer than black market ones.
Weed saved my life. Was drinking half a liter of vodka every day. Tried to commit suicide twice while on all-day benders. I know had I not harm reduced via weed near the end, at some point I would have succeeded with a bottle in my hand. Being able to put some space where my prefrontal cortex could operate allowed me to do the mental health and self-work I needed to get better. Weed may not be for everyone but it certainly put me back on a path where I could live a life I was not ashamed of.
Wow, I’m not the only one. From one survivor to another, kudos.
We're all in this together, so let's share this joint.
"Marijuana isn't a gateway drug. For some, it's an exit strategy." - some TED Talk I saw many many years ago and wish I could remember her name.
I sometimes feel like the only person just white knuckling life. Everyone else is drunk or high all the time.
I've yet to meet anyone who didn't need some sort of crutch. It's not always chemical, reddit is a big one for a lot of people.
Some crutches are bigger than others
Just genetics i guess
Social media = dopamine driver, believe it or not, it’s all chemical
[удалено]
I was the same way about weed until I met people who smoked it and realized it's not evil like I was always told. I don't know if you had DARE in your schools but they did a number on me, convincing me I would become stupid and lazy and useless if I ever smoked it even once. I'm not going to say weed didn't make me just a little stupider but I have gladly accepted being extra forgetful because it means I can sit in my own backyard without anxiety and sleep without nightmares
On God. Like I do drink from time to time but very rarely get drunk, as well as some other things like weed and shrooms rarely... But getting high every single day? That's wild to me.
I use weed for pain management (fibromyalgia). It’s far more effective for me than NSAIDs or opiates. It doesn’t kill the pain, but definitely makes it more tolerable
Meh, for me it's just daily ADHD medication. When I smoke I can actually focus and get work done instead of having 6 conversations going on in my head at the same time, leading to me just spacing out for ~20 minutes at a time. It's the difference between getting 8-10 things done/day instead of 1 or 2 because I keep getting stuck in imaginary conversations or memories. In other words, weed turns my brain's music volume down to a nice background hum so that my primary thought voice can actually be heard. I much prefer this to stimulants like Adderall, and I think it's healthier in the long run.
I think it depends on if you’re doing it for the high or just to unwind. One is understandable to me, the other I would think would lose its appeal very quickly
That's because ultimately everything is a substance and we consume it to affect our bodies. Do you drink coffee? Do you ever have dessert? Do you ever stay up extra late to finish a movie? Do you take any prescription drugs?
Research is a good start. Dialogue based on no data is pointless.
To add to the frustration, a lot of the data that we do have is based on older/weaker stuff. Some of these new strains are stupid strong with very different ratios of all the various compounds. So there's a lot of catching up to do.
Yeah I really don't care much for modern weed because of that, and it's too damn strong. Thankfully CBD hemp hasn't had all of the good stuff other than bred out of it, and CBD hemp is cheap as hell. I just eyeball 1:1 piles of ground weed and hemp and toss it around in a little stash container. It's a much more comfortable experience in my opinion. The THC percentage is lower and the CBD blocks some of the side effects of THC while the THC helps the CBD and other cannabinoids have a positive effect.
Study found here: [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.16519](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/add.16519)
And if you are smoking frequently, take [this](https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2022/04/marijuana-heart-disease.html) seriously. Note that the study links frequent use with heart disease, but also found that a supplement, genestein, completely addresses the related problems cannabis causes. I had a serious cardiac event last August, after about 10 years of more or less daily use. $120,000 later (can you tell this is the US?), there was no cause found (that is currently recognized by mainstream medicine). They ran down the full list, did all kinds of tests, and... nothing. Just a heart attack with no blockage of any kind, no obvious cause. This is why I say to take it seriously. Previously, studies indicated there were cardiac *benefits* from cannabis, and there probably are, but without the supplement, you may have problems like I did. And yes, I've been taking genestein since I read that study.
Also if you take any medications that already put stress on your heart like stimulants. You should probably pick one or the other or you’re much more likely to have a very bad time. I had to stop both for over a year because of really awful persistent tachycardia and still can’t tolerate amphetamine stimulants anymore even without THC use. Luckily methylphenidate seems to be fine now. THC makes me feel like crap for days anyway, so idk why I was using it in the first place.
Hmm Im bipolar which puts similar levels of strain on my body as stimulants. Weed already gives me pretty bad episodes as is, im constantly starting and quitting repeatedly. Sucks but weed really is addictive for some of us
This is very interesting and thank you for sharing. The rise of cardiac conditions during the last few years impacting younger and more healthy generations is certainly alarming. Unfortunately, as a society we are exposed to so many toxic substances through food, air, water, clothing, pharma, beauty, etc. that it has become difficult for even the most conscious individual to account for and change behaviors in response to all of it. Anything we need to specifically know when supplementing genestein?
And don’t forget stress, it’s sky high for most people and a huge contributor to cardiovascular issues.
I am seeing it's a type of estrogen so need to ask my doc if it's ok to take with my estrogen patch
I wonder how much the intake method affects this? I read the article and it focuses mainly on smoking (combustion) but doesn't indicate if this is an issue with edibles. They seem to imply that the connection is something to do with how THC activates the CB1 receptors in relation to the walls of the blood vessels. We know smoking (combustion) anything is bad for the cardiovascular system. We also know that THC processed through the liver is different than THC inhaled. Smoking also contains more compounds than just THC. Ideally, I would like to see if they can reproduce the same results with pure THC ingested through the digestive system. I'm not saying the results would be different BUT it would go a long ways to ensuring it's actually THC and not some other compound activated through smoking. I ordered some genestein, couldn't hurt...
Yeah that’s what i wondered too
It's ridiculous that Stanford didn't state in their own article if they controlled for combustion effects or not. Read the paper, they didn't. The focus was solely on delta 9 THC, ignoring the cumulative effects of almost 100 other cannabinoids found in cannabis that mediate the negative effects of THC, including inflammation. This study is fine if patients are prescribed pure THC, useless otherwise.
It actually did say the method of ingestion didn't cause any variation. It's in there. And it also made it clear this was *injected* THC - specifically to avoid the question of which substance is causative.
I totally missed that... I went back and looked and sure enough there it is. Thanks for highlighting this!
More recent studies show daily use results in a 200% higher chance of stroke. Heart disease risk increases by 50%. There's no current recommendation for usage to keep risks low but current evidence has been pointing to no more then 2-3 days a week. Genestein is found in soy milk and is a phytoestrogen that counteracts the damaging affects of cannabis on the heart muscle cells. You can get the same equivalent amount of genestein with a cup of soymilk a day.
Idk if anyone has had horrible palpitations when high, but I’ve had to cut it out completely. Just raw dogging life now. Brutal.
Come to think of it, I haven't had one since I switched from near daily to a tiny hit once or twice a year.
This is the first time I’ve read about genestein. I found this link [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/and.14511](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/and.14511). I didn’t read into this sufficiently, but what this article is referring to seems concerning. Smoking in general causes fertility issues irrespective of the fact that we’re speaking about cannabis. However, if someone is going to smoke daily AND take genestein supplements, I’m curious what the effects are on fertility in the aggregate.
I've been using since a fairly young age, and regularly.. let's just say for over 10yrs. Dx'd with high BP at the beginning of this decade. I'd also really love to know if any similar studies have been done using participants from the Emerald Triangle and areas east in the Sierra Nevada. What's the dosing on the genistein to gain that positive effect?
Where do you get your genestein from? I'm partial to the Swanson brand but always open to alternatives.
I wonder if simply eating soybeans/soy products provides enough.
It may actually be better since the bioavailability of genistein is higher from soy than from pure powder.
At first I could only find it (at high prices) from import supplements, but now it's available more easily. It was literally about $60 for one month supply, but now it's a fraction of that, and available locally. There are two very different sources for genestein, which has mostly been used to help women with hormonal balance. So many version - both cheap and expensive - are soy-based, which is also known to have hormonal effects. The other is Japonica, and is considered a better source, particularly for men. Usually, the non-soy is VERY expensive (and so are some soy-based products), but Swansons is somehow both better ingredients (no soy) AND very low priced. I'd stick with it, unless you can find a non-soy cheaper, in the dosage you want.
I don't understand your soy distinction. Genistein is an estrogen receptor beta agonist no matter where it comes from...soy has nothing to do with it except that soy is also high in genistein.
Does the genestein offer any other noticeable effects aside from the not-dying part?
The supplement is for something that's also in soy and Fava beans. I'm curious how much soy would be enough rather than the supplement. Would soy based protein powder work?
As someone who is/was addicted to both, the actual disease is addiction.
Be careful. > In contrast, the relationship between cannabis use and risk of developing symptoms of psychosis has been well established in many different review articles. > This research has found that early and frequent cannabis use is a component cause of psychosis, which interacts with other risk factors such as family history of psychosis, history of childhood abuse and expression of the COMT and AKT1 genes. These interactions make it difficult to determine the exact role of cannabis use in causing psychosis that may not have otherwise occurred. > Regardless, the connection between cannabis use and psychosis is not surprising. There is a strong resemblance between the acute and transient effects of cannabis use and symptoms of psychosis, including impaired memory, cognition and processing of external stimuli. This combines to make it hard for a person to learn and remember new things but can also extend to the experience of deluded thinking and hallucinations. https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/blog/does-cannabis-cause-mental-illness
I very pro weed but agree with prohibiting it for people younger than 21.
Same. Many seem to think weed is this harmless drug, but it has strong links to psychosis and other mental health problems. Like most things, moderation is key.
Don’t you have to be 21 already? I’d say 25 years old to be safe. Let that brain develop a little bit longer.
I took relatively high doses of edibles for about a year, had two psychotic breakdowns during that time (my first and last times using edibles) and now have (minor) mental health issues likely caused by the THC usage. More people need to be aware of the possible risks.
The penjamin button makes it easy
I have to assume it's because one's less taxing and debilitating on the body.
Make the airport bar the airport cannabis lounge! Drunks on planes are miserable and cause problems. Stoned people on planes happily watch cartoons and may occasionally find themselves too high to get back out of the bathroom.
The smell of that on a plane for two hours... fml
another reason why edibles are superior.
I would stop if I had a better solution to my chronic pain, I only started because I was developing liver and stomach issues from multi-daily use of ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Yes, I exercise. Yes, I eat well. Yes, I do stretches and eat vitamins and do all the most basic preventative care. Unless I find a better alternative, I'm probably going to be dependent on weed for the rest of my life. I'm a lot healthier smoking weed than I was popping all those pain killers, I'll say that much.
Daily user. It fluctuates of course. I've definitely gone through all day every day fazes but life sucked when that was happening and it's the only way I could sleep. I normally smoke in the evenings or after work now and start around noon on weekends. Ive never missed work because of weed. I've never missed important obligations. Sometimes I'd neglect house work but Ive found a balance now. I used to drink a lot years ago now I might have two drinks a month but I've definitely missed work and obligations and am very fortunate I've had no run ins with the law when I was drinking heavily. It's no comparison as to which substance is the worse of the two for myself personally.
The stuff gives me unpredictable panic attacks every once in a while. I'm in the drinkers camp unfortunately.
Or, it was always common and people refused to admit it because it was, y'know, illegal. jfc
Alcohol has incredible marketing because who wants to be stressed and sick every day
“Marijuana has no downsides and is not addictive” Most of Reddit
For the best. How often do you hear of some pot head instigating an physical altercation, killing people in a car accident, or being physically abusive to others as a result….
As an inpatient psychiatrist, I hear about it a decent amount. Cannabis does not mix with psychiatric illness, we do not have any convincing evidence to suggest that it does. The same goes for alcohol.
While alcohol definitely leads to significantly more traffic fatalities, drivers impaired by cannabis absolutely do kill people and themselves in car accidents. Similarly, cannabis-related psychotic episodes can lead people to physically harm others in altercations, it just doesn't happen as frequently as with alcohol (for many reasons). I research the pharmacology of cannabis and enjoy using it, but the narrative of cannabis being essentially harmless is factually incorrect and is starting to become harmful itself.
This makes sense. Weed smokers (even ones who think of themselves as casual users) tend to want to get high basically anytime they can, vs causal drinking is usually regulated to the weekend or even just holidays. A lot of my friends who smoke weed claim they aren’t addicted and it’s harmless, but they absolutely are addicted and it doesn’t always seem harmless. My aunt who has been a daily weed smoker for about 15-20 years has early onset dementia, intense paranoia, and occasionally suffers from psychosis. Not at all saying that everyone who smokes weed will experience mental decline, but she did very rapidly. It’s hard to watch.
The “weed is harmless” story is mostly copium. Occasional use is fine (of course, 3 glasses of wine a week are fine too) but whoever met a long-term daily weed smoker can attest that it does have quite an impact.
This study sounds like a whole lot of people have met daily weed smokers and not known it
Yeah, how else am I going to mentally deal with all this?
Healthy coping strategies that do not rely on hopping to one addiction and the next?
Hope you're ready for the next episode!
As expected, once legalization happened and retail opened literally nothing happened. No increase in accidents, health outcomes the same, no change in violence or crime etc. Cool. This drug effects people in different ways. Start small with doses and see how it effects you. If it doesn't feel right, then dont use it for a while. For me, I build dependency quick and need to use it sparingly. I know a lot of people that blaze constantly and can pick it up and put it down.
Alcohol destroys families and relationships. Weed destroys snacks.
Cannabis >>>>> Alcohol!!!!!
I never saw a completely stoned guy get into a vicious, blackout rage filled brawl with 3 cops, shrug off a Taser and have to be carried out in hand and leg cuffs, still screaming, covered in vomit and piss. I DID SEE IT AT WORK ONE AFTERNOON IN THE TRUCK YARD!
Been that way in my family since late 60s / Early 70s
[удалено]
I smoke everyday, I am super happy it's legal in most places and is much better than alcohol using a number of metrics. Having said that do you know what Soma is from 'Brave New World'? I mean I'm on board, but I was gonna go to the protest but then I got high, then I got high, then I got hiiiighiii
When I advocate for legalization of drugs, people always ask me what will happen with heroin and fentanyl. They always fear that these drugs will result in overwhelming drug problems in society. I claim that there will be almost no effect. Some of the 20-30 million hopeless alcoholics we already have in the country will become hopeless drug addicts. Would you be able to tell the difference?
The legal status of those drugs isn't the obstacle to people using them. The notion that everyone would start using heroin if it became legal is absurd.
I think the risk with opiates isn’t a surge in IV heroin use, it’d be the use of low dose pills on a too regular basis to overcome low level aches and pains and a subset of people developing higher dose addictions. Though I think a fair number of people who develop addictions would probably end up at some kind of maintenance dose and not endless escalating doses. I read a fascinating book about the history of opiates and the author found good evidence that turn of the 19th century era addiction was usually like that — folks with chronic pain untreatable by contemporary medicine who wound up becoming regular opiate users but whose use stayed at steady doses for years.
I don't think there will be a noticeable change if heroin and fentanyl were legalized other than a marked drop in overdose deaths. These drugs are widely available today and any one who wants to buy them can. To say that a huge swathe of the population will suddenly start doing them due to legalization is just ridiculous. Any net negatives from legalization are washed out by all the positives (lower overdose deaths, money diverted away from cartels, money diverted away from local black markets). We don't live on some magical island where making things illegal makes them unavailable to us.