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Comment by cowmix | Hacker News Reader

When my wife and I do our morning walks around downtown Phoenix in the early AM, we're always amazed at how much weed we can smell. I mean, 6:30am -- a good part of the city smells like a Bob Marley concert -- how do people get anything done these days?

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I suspect you'd be similarly aghast if you could smell alcohol consumption.

You can in places with lots of partying, there is the smell of puke and piss from all the drunk people.

Different strokes. Something about smoking a specific hybrid strain helps me focus and keep my energy level way up so in the morning when I know ill have a busy day, I have coffee and a joint.

Genuinely curious about this - in my naive and uneducated understanding it seems regular use of anything that activates reward circuity as effectively as marijuana seems like an overall "bad thing" longterm?

Anecdotally, I've noticed with friends and acquaintances that this leads to what basically comes down to a de-motivating effect, i.e. the "reward" via built-in mechanisms (like productivity, exercise, etc) gets attenuated over time as marijuana activates similar reward mechanisms very quickly and reliably via something as simple as inhaling. Basically "why bother going for a run, smoking makes me feel even better and I don't have to do anything".

I don't want to seem critical or anything of the sort, I've just seen it myself in multiple cases and it "makes sense" to me.

Your anecdote seems to counter this. Do you find the effectiveness of this strategy reduces over time?

That said it's obvious daily drinking has similar reward system impact with significantly greater overall health consequences.

One commonly overlooked facet of Cannabis is the big difference between indica and sativa. The cannabinoids, and ratios of them, can be vastly different which leads indica to be a ‘downer’ and sativa to be an ‘upper.’

An indica can put me into a lethargic state while a good sativa gives me as much energy as a cup of coffee but provides 2-4x the head rush.

I will frequently hit a sativa vape before going on a run or doing chores because it makes it a more pleasant experience with no downsides. If I were to swap to an indica it would not be enjoyable whatsoever.

So, you mean tolerances and addiction? Definitely occurs in some people I think. I personally did anabolic at a young age and understand the importance of cycling on and off any and all drugs. I do the same with marijuana. Things like running give me same high.

Menial, repetitive tasks and related chores like cleaning become more bearable if you don't smoke yourself stupid.

I wonder how much of that smell comes from night-shift workers, for whom it's their "evening downtime" period.

Turns out the proletariat needs more than a minimum wage to survive.

> how do people get anything done these days?

Many tasks don't need 100%. I find laundry and dishes more palatable with a buzz, and I don't mind them taking a bit of extra time.

The lazy stoner stereotype is a false myth

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19485506241245744

If it's a 'myth', then why have I met so many lazy stoners in my life.

confirmation bias?

Are you genuinely attempting to refute evidence presented in a study with personal anecdote?

One of those things has far greater generalizability and statistical significance than the other. I'll leave it to you to guess which is which.

>how do people get anything done these days?

Looks like you've answered your own question for people in pain who have finally gotten a legal non-toxic alternative to their former overly toxic pharmaceutical consumption.

Maybe these statistics also are influenced by workers who have now dropped alcohol in favor of cannabis too, and are accomplishing more as a result?

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