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I get the feeling they’re saying they regret smoking so much because it’s cognitively damaged them long term, which isn’t good.

(I imagine the friends here are a rough “control” for baseline cognitive potential)

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Exactly that. It's hard to have any sort of control over a lifetime, but I went to university, have worked in software, and some of the friends I compare myself to did the same. I'm still "smart". But I feel like smoking as much as I did has accelerated my age-related cognitive decline.

I don't feel that I wasted the years, but I do think that the thousands of hours spent stoned were a complete waste and have decreased the potential quality of the latter half of my life.

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