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Comment by ErrantX | Hacker News Reader

Plus there may be some selection bias going on. How do you know that some of your high-functioning coworkers aren't heavy pot smokers when they get home?

That doesn't make sense. There is a definite/noticeable slump below the norm for all the pot smokers I know (off hand count; perhaps 20-25) across a wide variety of jobs/ages.

Certainly some high functioning people I know could be abusers behind closed doors; but they exhibit none of the standard symptoms so it's hard to imagine that is true... (I will try and do some surveying though :))

In other words; you really need to find a high functioning heavy pot smoker to give the theory credence - and I don't think that is going to be easy.

Well, then we should avoid encouraging fast food, liquor, and a lot of other things

We are already doing that; indeed for several years now there have actually been campaigns to discourage the overuse of those things.

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I'd call myself a high-functioning pot smoker. Didn't touch the stuff for my entire life until I moved to SF. Certainly didn't expect to become a regular.

By day I'm a software developer. I smoke most nights, and I still get good work done (although it sometimes takes me longer). Have you ever gotten into a 'groove' when programming, when time fades away and you're generally very productive? Well, it's like that with pot...but more often, and to a greater degree.

It just makes everything better. Music sounds better, food tastes better, conversation is funnier, movies are epic-er, heck, even the laundry is fun again. Tonight I'm going to a concert, and I wouldn't dream of going sober.

Thanks for pitching in an opinion from the perspective of a user. How heavy a user are you (if I can ask) - joints/day?

I guess you raise an interesting point; the life enrichment versus the "although it usually takes me longer" aspect is the trade off.

I wonder at which point that becomes too much?

I've attempted a number of drugs over the years on the belief that you can't really hold an opinion without knowing all the facts, and trying it. I readily admit a slight bias arising from the fact I never really "got" any of the highs; the trade off was instantly too much for me.

I try not to smoke joints; the water bong is much friendlier on your lungs and throat. I probably average 1-2 joints' worth per day.

I think a lot about whether pot has been a net positive in my life, and honestly I'm still unsure. Certainly I enjoy the experience, and I've met some great people as a result, but it comes with a cost (in dollars as well as time). Jury's still out.

I should add that I have a deep-seated loathing for most kinds of alcohol. I enjoy an occasional glass of red wine, but my alcohol consumption is easily less than 1 drink per week.

In other words; you really need to find a high functioning heavy pot smoker to give the theory credence - and I don't think that is going to be easy.

Carl Sagan. Richard Feynman. Steve Yegge. Thousands of others.

If you're involved in a creative profession, of which I think that software development is one, then smoking marijuana boosts your ability to function.

Interesing point; I'd have to mull on that (I wonder how heavy they were as users - anyone know?).

(as a programmer I found that pot, which I tried for a couple of months - see elsewhere for my reasoning - didn't personally boost my ability to function, but instead tended to hinder it - particularly when not high)

Yeah. I know a lot of heavy pot smokers who are also heavy programmers.

The only correlation between heavy pot smoking and low performance is that people with nothing to do in their life also enjoy smoking pot.

That sounds like a much more plausible explanation and fits just about all the evidence in my environment (quite a bit of evidence actually).

Further, people with your typical high-powered "successful" jobs are almost without exception routinely drug-tested, so they are forced to make a choice between continuing to smoke and having their careers. Talk about selection bias...that's not even factoring in the illegality of the thing, which strongly biases the sample of smokers towards those with less to lose if they were caught.

Uh, what? I've never heard of a (programming) job requiring a drug test. It's just not all that illegal anymore -- doctors prescribe it and you get it at a state-certified pharmacy.

The only FUD your post was missing was a link to Reefer Madness.

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