yhelothar
Lifer
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/...udy-suggests-pothead-stereotype-might-be-real
The idea that pot is harmless is just nonsense. Anybody whose been around more than a few decades have seen the long term effects of constant pot use on friends and family. Even if it is by some miracle the one substance humans can ingest on the planet with no negative physical side effects, its very clear the the anxiety reducing power of THC traps many people in tolerating a life far below their capability.
It is our anxiety, being unsatisfied with what we are compared to what we think we could be, that drives us grow intellectually, emotionally and creatively. Pot just switches that drive off making us content with "whatever." That's why stoners don't cause problems, they just don't care about anything enough to exert enough energy to harm or inconvenience others. They tolerate insults, loss of social status, theft etc because the THC just switches off all the anxiety and anger.
But they are also fine with their lack of personal growth, evolution or creation. They stagnate. Loss a job? Smoke enough pot and you won't care. Have to take a boring, low paying job way below your capability. Smoke enough pot and you won't care. You'll work that job for years and years with no promotion or even hope for advancement. Lose a relationship. Don't care. Never get around to trying that great idea you had? Don't care. Even artist clearly lose their intensity and creativity if you can objectively compare their work before and after.
People who start routine pot smoking in their teens will never be what they could have been. Nothing dramatic will happen but that's rather the problem.
Of course, the stoner is like the alcoholic. Most people who drink aren't alcoholics and most people who smoke pot won't have any serious problems but some people will. The problems are largely personally, at least until it becomes a "disability" that the rest of us have to pay for, but it's not "harmless" by any useful definition.
The idea that pot is harmless is just nonsense. Anybody whose been around more than a few decades have seen the long term effects of constant pot use on friends and family. Even if it is by some miracle the one substance humans can ingest on the planet with no negative physical side effects, its very clear the the anxiety reducing power of THC traps many people in tolerating a life far below their capability.
It is our anxiety, being unsatisfied with what we are compared to what we think we could be, that drives us grow intellectually, emotionally and creatively. Pot just switches that drive off making us content with "whatever." That's why stoners don't cause problems, they just don't care about anything enough to exert enough energy to harm or inconvenience others. They tolerate insults, loss of social status, theft etc because the THC just switches off all the anxiety and anger.
But they are also fine with their lack of personal growth, evolution or creation. They stagnate. Loss a job? Smoke enough pot and you won't care. Have to take a boring, low paying job way below your capability. Smoke enough pot and you won't care. You'll work that job for years and years with no promotion or even hope for advancement. Lose a relationship. Don't care. Never get around to trying that great idea you had? Don't care. Even artist clearly lose their intensity and creativity if you can objectively compare their work before and after.
People who start routine pot smoking in their teens will never be what they could have been. Nothing dramatic will happen but that's rather the problem.
Of course, the stoner is like the alcoholic. Most people who drink aren't alcoholics and most people who smoke pot won't have any serious problems but some people will. The problems are largely personally, at least until it becomes a "disability" that the rest of us have to pay for, but it's not "harmless" by any useful definition.
