Quote Originally Posted by BlowoutComb
Not at all. I know plenty such people and I??m definitely not one of them. What I am is self-aware. Everything I mentioned is from personal experience, and I??ve never met a smoker, until now, who denies any of it. The propaganda I heard growing up was that one joint is as bad for your lungs as a pack of cigarettes (which was clearly not a part of my post--didn??t mention anything about cancer b/c I know it??s BS; not sure what other disease you??re talking about), and of course the memory thing and that pot slows you down in general.

Like you, I was a great student as a smoker, and my cognitive function and emotional responses are ??fine?? as well, but I would be in serious denial if I didn??t admit they would be better/sharper/faster without the pot. I??ve gone extended periods without it and that??s just the way it is. Yes, people, especially smart people, have enough in reserve to function as a smoker (otherwise I wouldn??t smoke it), but functioning at an acceptable level doesn??t mean the level wouldn??t be higher without it. Oh, and caffeine helps counteract; I don??t think I??d even be at acceptable without the tea I chug all day. And of course some fields, like the arts, are actually better b/c of pot, like I said.

The other thing I forgot to mention, it lowers overall motivation/drive. This isn??t just me. Yet another thing every single smoker I??ve talked to about admits. It takes a whole of extra effort to get shit done when I??m smoking on a regular basis, and I??m talking about free time obviously. If I??m stoned it??s real easy to let hours slip by just listening to music, and if I??m not stoned, chances are I??m thinking about/wishing I was stoned. Everything??s more fun on weed, and it gets to the point it??s hard to fully enjoy stuff without it. That??s part of the emotional response thing.

Btw, the 20 years you went without it is a very important detail b/c the brain is capable of recovering and playing catch-up.
A couple of things. Peanut butter is harmless . . . unless you're allergic to peanuts. For you and your friends to all have bronchitis from smoking pot, you have to be smoking massive quantities. I also am a 3 pack a day cigarette smoker for over 30 years and have never had bronchitis. Perhaps the cause is something else that you and your friends are all exposed to locally. Just throwing that out there.

Secondly, while I don't consider cannabis dangerous (especially when compared to the really nasty drugs like meth and alcohol), I always preach moderation in the use of cannabis and stressed that to my son as well. He was much more receptive to anything I had to say about it, because he didn't shut down on me due to an overanxious reaction.

When I quit for 20 years, the only significant difference that I could tell was I felt a little more physically balanced. That's it.

There haven't been any credible scientific studies done on the long term effects of THC on adolescents that I'm aware of. Therefore, your "truth" is subjective as I stated previously. There is one half-assed study I read about that makes use of statistics gleaned from the same "recovery" machine the OP is talking about. Of course those statistics do not account for any other drugs being used at the same time as well as other mitigating factors.

The lack of ambition angle is one we've all felt. However, please tell me what is so wrong with "letting hours slip by just listening to music." In today's "Type A" society that is considered wasting time. I consider it time well spent myself (with or without cannabis).

The bottom line is that I never lied to my son. My reaction allowed a free flowing dialog between us and I was able to help him avoid other drugs that are seriously harmful. As a result, he never got involved with those drugs and moderated his use of cannabis.