that damned fly wrote:man, the other day we were sitting around listening to records on 45rpm.

and "mistletoe" comes on, and we're giggling. and i'm all, "i can play this."

"that fast?"

.)

dude i cant even play it at 33 rpm.

So not crap. I would agree, that drummers in particular benefit.

Also, alcohol is so much worse of a substance, it is not even funny. The fact that ganj is illegal is the crime of the century, thanks to Hearst and Doo Pont.

I had to quit for about 18 months as I was a contractor that was going to be hired full time, and there was a pre-employment test. People were telling me I would have all this mental clarity and come out of this fog. Though I never noticed this "fog" they spoke of, I did anticipate some cognitive benefits... Nope. Nothing. Apart from some poor sleep for the first week, I notice no difference whatsoever.

In the past few years, I have cut down on alcohol, to 2 drinks a day. Wow. What a difference that made. Even if you don't have a hangover, drinking 4-6 drinks the night before will take a lot out of you. Years of doing this had effected my cognition as well as my health (I got fat, lazy, etc.)

Some of the smartest people I have known are tokers, including a key contributor to the Apache project (open source) who is probably one of the best Java programmers on the planet, and who's software is used by all the big guns (IBM, BEA, Sun, etc.) The irony is that these companies piss test people, yet they use stoner code every day, in their most intimate core of their enterprise software platforms.

A little toke here and there has actually helped me on several occasions. One reason for this is the notions of "set effects" in cognitive psychology. One fact about cannabis is that it does not effect memory as one would expect. If you study for a test high, and take the test high, you will retain the information. This study is in every collegiate cognitive psychology textbook, and it is a FACT. One can also use set effects to one's advantage, to force thinking outside of the box.

There have been countless times where I have been stumped by a coding issue, and a good toke has really worked it out... It doesn't make you smarter, but you look at a problem from a completely different view.

In terms of creativity, just about every band or artist I respect has been a fan of the ganja...

That said, the substance does draw a lot of lazy and flakey people to it. It doesn't create their behavior, but they are drawn to this due to 60's counter culture.

The assumptions that it makes people lazy and stupid are false. Assasins used to smoke hashish. I work out 4 hours a week, with no excuses, and I partake every night. There have been times I had indulged earlier in the day, and yet I am still able to lift weights for an hour and run 6 miles after that. Is that lazy?!?

That said, if you are a loser, it makes sitting on the davenport and watching the tube much more interesting...

And sure, you smoke all day long, you can get drowsy and a bit lethargic.

I'm finally glad we're coming into an age where it is becoming legitimate to enjoy this gift of nature. The unfortunate thing is that more and more companies are testing people. My feeling is that they should pay me for 24/7 hours if they want to dictate what I can do in my free time. But yes, when it comes down to it, I will quit for 18 months to keep a job I love... It was worth it. And proof of the non-addictiveness. It's addictive like potato chips are...

The government lies continue. They finally backed down from the lies about health and mental effects. Now they are saying "seasons will pass you by" and you will be sitting on Billy's couch until you are 80... There are people who will do that just fine with a 12 pack every day... Or even without.

Gabriel Nahas was one of the worst scientists ever. He worked for the NIH, and basically conducted purposely flawed studies that showed all of these harms -- thousands of years of use have proven otherwise. Even doctors from Johns Hopkins started speaking up about what a lying douche this guy is.

It is bad for your lungs, but how much do you really smoke? The best estimate I found is that, in equal amounts, cannabis is 4 times more harmful than tobacco. So maybe, for me, it's as bad as one cigarette a day. I can live with that. Living in LA or Houston is far more hazardous to ones health.

Zap wrote:Creativity is the only high that gets you high.

Dont underestimate caffeine.

Yeah, good one. Elevates levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which causes cushingoid symptoms. But it is legal, so it must be safe... You know, to have high levels of a "fight or flight" hormone all day and depleted adrenal glands. Crap!!!

I quit coffee 3 years ago, and it was the smartest thing I ever did. I have way more energy, less abdominal fat, and I don't get stretch marks from weight lifting anymore. No stress when I get an email or phone call with some technical problem. I just calmly and methodically solve the problem, and not get panicky and hasty-wasty.

The stretch marks will never go away. They are caused by high levels of cortisol, caused by drinking coffee.

The notion that coffee is safe and even healthy (because it has some anti-oxidants in it?!?) is a big lie. I will very rarely have a cup to fix a hangover (for this it is wonderful!!!) but that hasn't happened in a very long time.

People have the right to drink coffee, but it really does cause a dramatic rise in cortisol levels. Some people have naturally low levels of cortisol, so it may be OK for them. But for me, it made me nervous, irritable, and panicky... I also had to lift my leg several more times a day, and my water bowl always needed to be refilled. Yet I drank a lot of it for about 15 years! I never knew about this connection to the stress hormone.

Also, as a drummer, caffeine hurts more than helps. It is a central nervous system stimulant, which causes problems with coordination. I switched to tea, which has the stimulants theobromide (don't feed your dog tea, this is the same stuff in chocolate that kills dogs) and theanine. The theanine in tea actually blocks caffeine from being picked up by receptors. So decaffeinated tea really doesn't help much -- very little of the caffeine in tea is actually utilized.

Theanine and theobromide are cardiac stimulants -- they raise your heart rate. Theanine also stimulates alpha waves in the brain for an alert yet relaxed mood. Drumming and coffee don't mix, in my opinion. I am a much better drummer after dropping the 'fein...

I think coffee/caffeine is a pretty bad drug, regardless of how legal and omnipresent it is.

I remember one co-worker in particular, who drank about 5 cups of coffee before he even showed up at work, and must have consumed 20 cups of coffee a day. As the day wore on, he became more and more assholic. It got so bad that they had to fire him. His work was OK, but he could not work with other people. My co-workers and I were convinced this was due to his severe overconsumption of coffee... He was paranoid from too much fight or flight hormone. He chose to fight. Bad choice. Now he is working as a pc desktop support guy... So here's a case where coffee caused someone to really fall from grace... You won't see an ABC after school special about this, though...

yut wrote:So not crap. I would agree, that drummers in particular benefit.

Most of the drummers I know disagree. We once asked Zach Hill if he wanted to get in on a joint we were smoking before Hella played this rug store in Baltimore, and he politely declined but expressed interest in hitting us up after he'd finished. In retrospect, I can't imagine how he'd have managed if he'd taken us up on it.

We spaced on him after the show though, which I still feel crappy about to this day. Damn you, potheads! Always forgetting!

ironyengine wrote:

yut wrote:So not crap. I would agree, that drummers in particular benefit.

In retrospect, I can't imagine how he'd have managed if he'd taken us up on it.

Yeah, maybe not the best thing before getting in front of a few hundred people, though this never bothered me.

All's I know is that after my 18 month absense, drumming was the first thing I did, and I was amazed at how much better I played. I recorded everything in cubase (as midi, no quantization) and it was good even after (so none of that b.s. about "you only think it sounds good")

Bradley R. Weissenberger wrote:Does marijuana consumption cause a person's typing and English language skills to suffer?

Yes. I mean no. Well, both yes and no.

OK, wait. What are we talking about? Oh yeah. Weed.

Not Crap.

The only problem with my intake (about 1/2 a week) is that I need to down
about 4 cups of coffee per day. Sometimes I find myself thinking too much,
then it's time for the coffee.

A few of the comments about how people get angry and paranoid (etc...) are
really fucking stupid. I mean, if you do anything long enough it has the possibility
to turn you sour and paranoid.

A man without vice is a man without virtue.


And for anyone who doesn't know, here's a simple bit of advice about mixing
drinks with something else:

ALWAY drink last. Never drink first. You won't risk about a million stupid deaths
or wastes of money.

:)

What weekly dose constitutes a pot head ?

Anyone?
Everyone?

BTW, Pot itself = absolutely NOT CRAP

steve wrote:Unfortunately, I have seen long-term pot smokers eventually turn into suspicious, bitter I-didn't-get-a-fair-shake type assholes.

Doesn't "suspicious, bitter I-didn't-get-a-fair-shake type assholes" describe almost 90% of the population?

If you have an affinity for it...just smoke it...smoke it and you'll get over it eventually. I still like to smoke the stuff, but I don't do it that much anymore.

Just make sure that you don't take up the habit at an inappropriate time of your life..."There's a time and a place for everything, Mr. Mackie, and it's called college."

i think a lot of stoners turn into "i didn't get a fair amount of shake from my dealer" type assholes.