Pot use lowers intelligence. This doesn't surprise me at all

[Full-Auto]

You have no evidence of that other than your knee jerk reaction.

Calm the hell down.

Actually I do....It is called life experience.............I have known to many anomalies for this to have any merit.

Look, I am NOT a libertarian. I am a conservative.

I believe in law and order.

I am NOT for the legalization of pot anymore than I'm for puttng oxycontin over the counter.

I don't believe the nonsense that "I should be able to put anything in my body I want."

That's stupid. There is a reason why some things need a doctor's prescription, and I have no problem with that.

I also think the last person to judge whether pot is hurting them is the pot head.

It's like an alcoholic claiming booze is not causing him harm. He's hardly objective!

Am I for "big government" because I want drunk drivers caught before they kill me and my family on the road??????

Everyone wants to blame the federal government for the money spent in the drug war.

But that's like blaming the police department for the money spent to catch murderers.

Is it the police department's fault there is murder, or is the fault of the murderers?

And don't give me any bullshit that pot harms no one. I used to date someone who lived in the Bahamas and if you knew how many people are killed so someone here can smoke that pot . . .

As my former boyfriend called them, "Those Crazy Columbians, they will kill anyone that comes near those floating bales."

And that doesn't include the people killed who accidentally come upon crops right here in the US.

My stepfather used to be a sherrif's deputy and he covered more than one innocent person killed because they accidentally came upon a crop grown right here in the states.

Pot causes plenty of harm.

That is just part of what pot users blind themselves to.

I understand you are conservative of the big government stripe. I am a fiscal conservative and a classic liberal. Liberty stands at the forefront.

 

[Si modo]

I'm all for Darwinism weeding out the morons. (No pun intended.)

Who wants government to stand in the way of that? Not me.

 

[bobcollum]

You have no evidence of that other than your knee jerk reaction.

Calm the hell down.

Actually I do....It is called life experience.............I have known to many anomalies for this to have any merit.

Look, I am NOT a libertarian. I am a conservative.

I believe in law and order.

I am NOT for the legalization of pot anymore than I'm for puttng oxycontin over the counter.

I don't believe the nonsense that "I should be able to put anything in my body I want."

That's stupid. There is a reason why some things need a doctor's prescription, and I have no problem with that.

I also think the last person to judge whether pot is hurting them is the pot head.

It's like an alcoholic claiming booze is not causing him harm. He's hardly objective!

Am I for "big government" because I want drunk drivers caught before they kill me and my family on the road??????

Everyone wants to blame the federal government for the money spent in the drug war.

But that's like blaming the police department for the money spent to catch murderers.

Is it the police department's fault there is murder, or is the fault of the murderers?

And don't give me any bullshit that pot harms no one. I used to date someone who lived in the Bahamas and if you knew how many people are killed so someone here can smoke that pot . . .

As my former boyfriend called them, "Those Crazy Columbians, they will kill anyone that comes near those floating bales."

And that doesn't include the people killed who accidentally come upon crops right here in the US.

My stepfather used to be a sherrif's deputy and he covered more than one innocent person killed because they accidentally came upon a crop grown right here in the states.

Pot causes plenty of harm.

That is just part of what pot users blind themselves to.

Then who gets to decide what's justified for consumption?

 

[gkjpalmer]

Fox News and a Joint...Perfect togeather!

 

[Full-Auto]

Fox News and a Joint...Perfect togeather!

Put yours down...Install a spell check...

 

[Full-Auto]

There are two sides to this debate.

More recent research has discovered additional benefits to marijuana use. A University of Saskatchewan study suggests that the use of marijuana may stimulate the growth of brain cells. The study has shown that "a synthetic substance similar to ones found in marijuana stimulates cell growth in regions of the brain associated with anxiety and depression, pointing the way for new treatments for these diseases" (U of S Research). In addition, a study conducted by the Scripps Research institute shows that THC prevents the formation of harmful plaque in the brain, which suggests that THC "may be the most effective drug for treating the declining effects of Alzheimer's disease" (Marijuana's Benefits Explored).

Conclusion

It is difficult to say whether the risks or benefits of marijuana use outweigh one another. There does not appear to be any general health benefit that would endorse recreational use, and the risks appear great. However, specific benefits to treat certain conditions or symptoms are evident, and may outweigh the risks in certain circumstances. Doctors and researchers are studying these benefits in an attempt to use the information to create safer and possibly risk-free treatments (Marijuana as Medicine).


The Health Risks and Benefits of Using Marijuana: Does One Outweigh the Other? - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

 

[Truthmatters]

As someone who NEVER used pot, I noticed as I went through the 60s and 70s and 80s, that those who even used harder drugs seemed to keep quick intelligence (somewhat), but those who heavily used pot, just went to DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think it was encapsulated in a conversation my brother had with one of our fast friends who was growing pot in one of his stereo speakers (so his mom would not see it).

"Say Brian, how many joints (they were called joints not blunts back in the day) do you smoke a day?"

"Oh about one a day."

"So how many do you smoke a week?"

"Oh about 10."

My brother laughed, but there's nothing funny really about it. Didn't occur to Brian what was funny.

In the book "Boy Clinton," the author postulated that the reason liberals, especially the 60s hippy generation never learned from their mistakes is because they couldn't. All those years of drug use had rendered their brains encapable of learning from their mistakes and failures.

I also noticed that people like Clinton and Hillary had the emotional maturity of teenagers. The "I didn't inhale" president most certainly did.

Cannabis smoking 'permanently lowers IQ'

Teenagers who regularly smoke cannabis are putting themselves at risk of permanently damaging their intelligence, according to a landmark study.

By Stephen Adams, Medical Correspondent | Telegraph.co.uk

Researchers found persistent users of the drug, who started smoking it at school, had lower IQ scores as adults.

They were also significantly more likely to have attention and memory problems in later life, than their peers who abstained.

Furthermore, those who started as teenagers and used it heavily, but quit as adults, did not regain their full mental powers, found academics at King’s College London and Duke University in the US.

They looked at data from over 1,000 people from Dunedin in New Zealand, who have been followed through their lives since being born in 1972 or 1973.

Cannabis smoking 'permanently lowers IQ' - Telegraph

Now, this is going to JUST send the pot users into conniption fits. Mostly because all addicts refuse to accept they can't handle their addiction. It's part of the ego and pride.

(And yes, I mean addiction. Pot raises the serotonin in your brain, and it falls later, and you get depressed (the crash). It gets to the point you can't feel happy without the pot. That's an addiction. Yes it is.)

Don't believe me? Look at every drunk driver video. No matter how obviously impaired they are, they refuse to believe they can't drive. It's a matter of ego and pride.

No, different with pot users. They are emotional to the point of not being able to discuss the subject objectively.

How do I know? Because of the STUPID argumements they use to justify their use.

"How would you know how pot affects you? You've never used it."

To which I've always responded: "I don't have to jump off the cliff to know it's a stupid thing to do, I just watch the other moron do it, to know it's a stupid thing to do."

"Well what about alcohol??? How come it's legal?"

To which I respond: "What of it? Are you suggesting getting drunk on alcohol vs. pot is better or worse? Maybe that's why there are some of us who don't do either."

Then there is the really ludicrous argument. "Well, I can smoke pot and drive where I couldn't on alcohol."

Yeah, well the drunk driver thinks he's fine to drive, too!"

Then there is the "medical marijuana" argument. Which amounts to pot heads hiding behind the sick and dying to justify getting stoned.

Which I would liken to a morphine user justifying morphine based on the fact my dying father was prescribed it, when he was dying of cancer, for his pain.

NOT the same thing people. It's still hiding behind the sick and dying to justify getting stoned.

Is anyone going to tell me morphine is "beneficial?" But pot is?

And if you even question this, you are "hard hearted" because of the sick and dying, when most "medical marijuana" users are perfectly fine, and will use any excuse possible to justify getting the pot.

Now let the tirade of of outraged pot heads begin.

They have something in common with libs. They know if people factually discuss the issue, they lose.

So, they HAVE to hide behind the sick and dying, to shut up any real discussion as "hard heated."

Which is what you do when you know the facts aren't on your side. You shut up any discussion of the facts.

“For example, individuals who started using cannabis in adolescence and used it for years thereafter showed an average eight-point IQ decline.



Now what do you know about IQ measurements?

IQ testing is not the end all be all indication of human intelligence

 

[Truthmatters]

eight points of IQ?

One study does not a consensess make

 

[Si modo]

eight points of IQ?

One study does not a consensess make

Science isn't consensus, moron.

But, you provide a great example of the topic.

 

[kiwiman127]

A while back there was a discussion on pot on these boards, maybe it branched out from another discussion, but that's beside the point. Liberals, independents and conservatives all expressed the fact that they smoked pot.
But some yahoo wants to tie pot and Obama together and condemn both Obama and pot! Let me say this, some of the best and intelligent posters were pot smokers. I don't recall seeing any extremist from either the right or left participating in the pro side of the discussion.
Being a pothead is non-partisan and based on the participating posters, are the most intelligent posters on this board!

 

[Truthmatters]

One study.

 

[sitarro]

Yea, maybe Sir Paul McCartney could have written more songs and had more ambition if he would have stayed away from pot, liquor and cigs.

I smoked pot for 35 years, stopped a few times to get a job...... stopped permanently to get the job I have now, haven't touched it in over 5 years..... even when in the presence of others smoking it. Now I just smoke cigars, a quarter to half a day..... mostly while I drive to and from work. I used to drink a lot when I was younger too, scotch mostly, Chivas. I might drink a beer a month and I have bottles of wine I bought a year ago...... don't like the high that I get from alcohol or most over the counter drugs.

I'm not unhappy with how I turned out, hell, I knew exactly what Obama was about 2 years before the election........ there are plenty of high IQ people out there that still can't figure that out.

 

[Si modo]

One study.

Liar.

Abstract

Fifteen marijuana-dependent adolescent abusers (mean age = 16.9 years) were administered the full Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. Subjects had no history of other substance or alcohol abuse or dependence, cerebral trauma, psychiatric or nerological disorders. They had been abstinent form marijuana for an average of 27 days, and the majority of them were given urine tests to verify their abstenence. Comparisons among intelligence and memory indices revealed serveral significant findings that are consistent with the pattern produced by cerebral dysfunction. Specifically, memory indices were significantly reduced in relation to both intellectual function and attentional ability. In contrast, intelligence was in the normal range and unchanged relative to the estimated premorbid level. This profile is a characteristic finding in patients who are recovering form chronic impairment of memory function.​

Neuropsychological Effects of Chronic Cannabis Use on the Memory and Intelligence of Adolescents 26 October 2008

Abstract

Brain event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from nine long-term cannabis users during a complex auditory selective attention task and compared with nine nonuser controls. Stimuli consisted of a random sequence of tones varying in location, pitch and duration. Subjects were instructed to respond to long-duration tones of a particular pitch and location. Cannabis users' task performance was significantly worse than controls. The most striking difference between the ERPs of the two groups was in the greatly enhanced early processing negativity in the user group to short-duration stimuli which matched the target on location only. This is indicative of users engaging in unnecessary pitch processing and thus having difficulty in setting up an accurate focus of attention and in filtering out irrelevant information. The data suggest a dysfunction in the allocation of attentional resources and stimulus evaluation strategies. These results imply that long-term cannabis use may impair the ability to efficiently process information.​

Effects of long-term cannabis use on selective attention: An event-related potential study Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, Volume 40, Issue 3, November 1991, Pages 683–688

Abstract

Background: Although about 7 million people in the US population use marijuana at least weekly, there is a paucity of scientific data on persistent neurocognitive effects of marijuana use.

Objective: To determine if neurocognitive deficits persist in 28-day abstinent heavy marijuana users and if these deficits are dose-related to the number of marijuana joints smoked per week.

Methods: A battery of neurocognitive tests was given to 28-day abstinent heavy marijuana abusers.

Results: As joints smoked per week increased, performance decreased on tests measuring memory, executive functioning, psychomotor speed, and manual dexterity. When dividing the group into light, middle, and heavy user groups, the heavy group performed significantly below the light group on 5 of 35 measures and the size of the effect ranged from 3.00 to 4.20 SD units. Duration of use had little effect on neurocognitive performance.

Conclusions: Very heavy use of marijuana is associated with persistent decrements in neurocognitive performance even after 28 days of abstinence. It is unclear if these decrements will resolve with continued abstinence or become progressively worse with continued heavy marijuana use.​

Dose-related neurocognitive effects of marijuana use, Neurology November 12, 2002 vol. 59 no. 9 1337-1343

[emphasis added]

 

[Wry Catcher]

Oh great, this again.

TPS, there are plenty of things out there that lower your IQ. Ever watched reality TV?

No. I hate "reality tv" because it's NOT reality.

You would be surprised how little tv I watch.

I'm not so surprised, you might be credible if you watched more. In particular PBS, Discovery, the Science Channel and listen to NPR; you'd surely be interesting instead of insipid.

Pot use can effect brain development in teenagers and those in their early twenties as the brain does not fully develop unti about age 25. The chronic use of MJ before age 25does inhibit brain development and in particular the full development of the corpus callosum; this can have life long consequences, expecially in terms of recovery from a head injury or stroke.

 

[NLT]

I smoked all through high school 1975-1979(dazed and confused) then not again until a few months ago, (weed has gotten a lot stronger) but I will tell you this I would rather work next to some one who smoked a joint the night before than someone who got drunk the night before.

 

[Katzndogz]

The last three people in the US capable of working and supporting the remaining millions won't care whether those millions are stupid or stoners.

 

[bobcollum]

^ Anybody have a guess?

 

[jasonnfree]

I guess no tv watching because you're too busy posting. Almost 13,000 posts in two and a half years? Thats about 13 posts a day 7 days a week. Figure out how much time you spend looking stuff up before you post, and how much time you spend reading other posts.
Now Bill Clinton, smoked pot and whatever else he could get his hands on, successfully ran a country for eight years, and he's worth over 100 million dollars. Pot smoker vs google searcher /addictive poster without a life. I think pot smoking has greater rewards.

Oh great, this again.

TPS, there are plenty of things out there that lower your IQ. Ever watched reality TV?

No. I hate "reality tv" because it's NOT reality.

You would be surprised how little tv I watch.

 

[Wry Catcher]

The last three people in the US capable of working and supporting the remaining millions won't care whether those millions are stupid or stoners.

So, I'm curious. What is the cause of your obtuseness? Lots of MJ? Dropped on your head at a young age? Bad genes?

 

[Katzndogz]

The last three people in the US capable of working and supporting the remaining millions won't care whether those millions are stupid or stoners.

So, I'm curious. What is the cause of your obtuseness? Lots of MJ? Dropped on your head at a young age? Bad genes?

No, we aren't related.