
College students are now smoking more pot than cigarettes - falcor84
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/09/01/college-students-are-now-smoking-more-pot-than-cigarettes/
======
rickdale
I was a huge pot head when I went to college. Smoked weed through pretty much
all of high school and had some traumatic events happen that lead me to it for
medication. In high school I was considered an outcast. I was the only
sophomore to ever consider taking AP Comp Sci(true rebel here...) and
generally the kids drank alot.

But when I got to college, I gave up the weed and focused on the programming
and outside my comfort zone stuff. And then I was in an advanced comp sci
class, working with a smart dude and he paused, and said, "Toke up, get food
and get back at it?" Then, for the first time ever my world was opened to
programmers that smoke weed. And it was like a moment of, "holy shit I can be
normal here."

Marijuana can be a blessing or a curse. All in your relationship with it. I
advise using it for the benefits, and not abusing it for escape.

~~~
happyscrappy
How on earth can you code on weed? I would get lost in the minutiae of the
font.

~~~
robertfw
Strain, dose, method. All have a big impact on whether you're left in a
productive state or if it's time to get some chips and netflix

~~~
ethanbond
And as with any substance (or activity in general), environment matters a lot.

Hanging out on the couch at home? Probably fitting to crash soon.

Out at the park with a book? Read until you realize you're burning.

------
x0054
I wonder how much of that statistical increase in pot use is due to students
smoking pot more and how much of it is due to students being more willing to
admit that they smoke pot due to the changing perception of the drug? That's
the problem with survey type research, it's based on the presumption that
people are generally honest, while in reality most people lie most of the
time.

~~~
Tloewald
One of the things I really liked about Colorado's legalization is that people
could openly and honestly discuss their preferences without the whole
legal/moral/peer group issues. E.g. one of my younger cousins said, quite
frankly, that she doesn't like the effect pot has on her and prefers alcohol.
When drugs don't have illegality to taint or glamorize them we can be honest
with ourselves and each other about them.

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evo_9
The thing people don't seem to realize is that there are two very different
effects caused by the two primary MJ strains (Sativa and Indica's).

If you smoke pure Indica, or Indica dominant strains then yes, you are likely
going to be knocked on your ass and get absolutely nothing done.

But if you smoke a Sativa, or Sativa dominate strain, then you'll find that
your focus goes way way up, your ability to dig into problems and solve them
goes way way up, and generally you get a ton more done.

Reading this article and then the comments on that site it's pretty amazing
how poorly people understand pot still.

~~~
dnissley
I've always heard this but anecdotally I've never experienced any difference
-- it all makes me want to fall asleep. Is there any legitimate research into
this? How do you know which is which?

~~~
chimeracoder
> Is there any legitimate research into this?

Tons - there are over 70 cannabinoids last I checked (which was several years
ago, and we've discovered more since). They all have different effects. Some
aren't even psychoactive at all.

The indica vs. sativa is a rough way of describing the relative ratios of the
various cannabinoids. Not all indicas and sativas are the same, and some
sativas might be more sleep-inducing than some indicas, but it's easier than
enumerating chemical compounds which have rather unfriendly and unmarketable
names.

> How do you know which is which?

Ask the person growing or selling it to you. If you live in a medical or
recreational state (Colorado, California, etc.), they will be labeled as pure
indica/sativa, or a hybrid (and if a hybrid, which one is dominant).

~~~
jsprogrammer
Full extract oils (essentially the entire planet is dissolved in ethanol, then
evaporated to leave a concentrated resin) claim to contain over 400 compounds
(not all are cannabinoids). You can buy them in high THC, high CBD, or high
TCH and CBD (in addition to the others) formulations.

Recent studies have shown that reported genetics aren't very reliable (ie.
what is claimed to be a pure indica or indica dominate hybrid have actually
tested as ~75% sativas).

The combination of compounds is probably the biggest driver in a person's
experience and the percentage of indica vs. sativa only has some influence
over that combination.

------
DarkTree
I just graduated from college and I was one of those kids who started smoking
both cigarettes and pot in 6th grade because I hung out with older kids that I
wanted to be like. I quit cigarettes my freshman year of college and rarely
smoke pot (I prefer drinking for socializing).

What surprises me was how many of my friends _started_ smoking cigarettes at
college. While part of me understands that college is the first time many kids
are let loose and free to make decisions about their bodies, I assumed that
age, experience and knowledge would override the desire to smoke cigarettes at
least.

Not to mention this was a wealthier, liberal arts school, which seemed even
more out-of-place, especially from my different environment growing up.

Still, the frequency of pot smoking was much higher than cigarettes and bled
over into the female circles, whereas cigarettes rarely did.

Overall, the trend I witnessed is that, at a young age, people were more
likely to smoke pot and cigarettes, in contradiction to when I was in college,
where many more people smoked pot.

Despite this being anecdotal, I am curious what factors (age, generational
differences, education) have the strongest influence on this trend.

~~~
jbob2000
> Despite this being anecdotal, I am curious what factors (age, generational
> differences, education) have the strongest influence on this trend.

Here's my anecdotal theory; prevalence of media and ease of media consumption.
Let's be honest, media (games, movies, tv) is really great when you're stoned.
You don't have to move much and it tickles your auditory and visual senses.
The internet makes consuming media incredibly cheap and easy, and Universities
often have good internet access (also local media sharing with DC++ is rife).
For a student, cheapness is king. Weed is cheap, media is cheap, both are very
rewarding when combined and much cheaper than sports, bars, parties, etc.

~~~
jsprogrammer
Not necessarily; especially when watching lesser productions, where it is more
difficult to maintain the illusion. The strange juxtaposition of the fantasy
attempting to be created vs. the reality that it's just a bunch of people
dressed up, trying to create the illusion of another reality can be
particularly disconcerting.

------
magic_beans
I love the stuff, but for me it was incredibly dangerous because of precisely
how much I loved it. Once I start up smoking, I can't stop. I'd go through a
quarter every two days. I would smoke as soon as I got up, as soon as I got
home from work, all through the night, waking up every hour or so to smoke. I
would stop seeing my friends (none of whom smoke), I would stop going out. I
had no patience to read or code, and so all I would do was lie on the couch
and watch TV or lie in bed listening to music. I stopped working out because
moving took too much energy. I stopped self-improvement. I lost any
intellectual curiosity. Sure, I would write down my moments of "great high
inspiration" which were usually meaningless strings of words in childlike
handwriting (because my fine motor skills are pretty terrible on the weed)
that sober me was embarrassed of.

Some people can function perfectly fine on the stuff, but my addictive brain
absolutely cannot handle it, and I'm much, much better without it.

But I love it.

I love it.

And every day it's really, really hard not to just give up and call my guy and
smoke the night away.

~~~
g0v
I'm in the same boat man. We just need a little tamper-proof dispenser that
only allows us a certain amount for a given period of time.

Like you, I'm better off without it. But I do miss it.

~~~
c23gooey
try this: [http://www.thekitchensafe.com/](http://www.thekitchensafe.com/)

------
g0v
I am one of those college students and actually I have been smoking way too
much. I just recently stopped and now I sleep much better, getting up in the
morning is way easier, I just have more energy.

It's hard for me to have access to it and not smoke it, both my parents were
addicts so I'm supposedly predisposed to addictive behavior. I would smoke all
day, every day, even when I didn't feel like it.

I'm a little turned off by it now since I found it was having negative effects
on my life, but I'm sure that is because I was simply smoking way too much.

Anyways, don't smoke too much.

------
jostmey
Hmm... Perhaps the best way to win the war on drugs is not to make drugs
illegal, but rather to regulate the industry to death. After all, heavy
regulation seems to have curbed tobacco use.

~~~
rm_-rf_slash
Culture plays a huge part too. In a lot of social circles, tobacco is looked
down upon as a smelly loser's fix, whereas celebrities champion being high
every waking moment. Of course there are major differences in health effects -
cigarettes can kill you but you can't OD on weed - helping drive this cultural
shift, but in the end there is only so much that regulation and legislation
can accomplish.

~~~
crdoconnor
Pot doesn't cause lung cancer either: [http://www.webmd.com/lung-
cancer/news/20060523/pot-smoking-n...](http://www.webmd.com/lung-
cancer/news/20060523/pot-smoking-not-linked-to-lung-cancer)

~~~
Kalium
It's worth remembering that inhaling burning plant matter is never really
going to be a _good_ idea.

~~~
jostmey
Yeah, lungs did not evolved to breath smoke filled air. In my book, smoking of
anything is bad for respiratory health.

~~~
an_ko
That's a shallow argument. Your fingers didn't evolve to type but they're fine
with it in moderation.

------
cryoshon
I started casually smoking weed for fun in college, and have continued
intermittently since with a different perspective. Marijuana has improved my
life consistently by providing me with an easy-to-access window into my mind
which persists even when I'm sober. Weed also transiently helps me to be less
angry, although I've experienced a few other people undergoing weed rage from
time to time.

I think weed is going to be increasingly popular among highly educated people
for its innocuousness, creativity/thought promotion, and relaxation.

------
throwitaway_now
I must be unlucky because most strains of marijuana give me terrible panic
attacks. The sativa heavy or hybrid strains do it every time, and with indica
its a dice roll depending on how long the smoke is in my lungs. I inhale and
then immediately exhale (the smoke is in my lungs for less than a second). One
hit and bam! I'm as high as I need to be (and it feels great). Any higher
makes me feel like I'm having a heart attack.

Contrast this to some of my friends who can smoke bowl after bowl of super
buds and still write good assembly language.

It's probably better for my health but I do wish I could smoke more, feel the
good effects, and not get crazy paranoid.

~~~
DarkTree
Yep. I'm the exact same way as you. Forget bong rips like my friends; I'll
panic. I inhale and exhale immediately. The worst part of it is that not a
single one of my friends shared this trait with me, so I thought I might be
abnormal or something, and I was always known as the 'light-weight' when it
came to smoking.

------
Apocryphon
Given that both anti-smoking campaigns and the stereotype of college students
as potheads both date to at least the '60s, I'm surprised that it took this
long.

------
weedthrowaway
Ok, so here's a question I've been struggling with: is there such a thing as
"too much" weed?

I have had issues with depression and anxiety for a long time. I have tried
CBT, talk therapy, medication, meditation, group therapy, and combinations of
those for about two decades.

Looking back, I often self medicated - with food, and later, with alcohol. Now
I have a medical marijauna card, and in the evenings, I generally relax by
smoking some weed and watching netflix, browsing HN/Reddit, or just jumping
around on Wikipedia.

In the grand scheme of things, is that bad? You could make the argument I'm
"abusing" it, but if there are no negative effects, what does it matter?

What I have to ask is this: If I'm happy in my life, ding

------
tsujamin
As an interesting anecdote, joints in Australia are commonly "spun" with
tobacco, mainly to keep the alight iirc. I'd be interested to see how these
statistics change and what the general behaviour towards cigarettes in
university students would be if a similar article came out here.

------
xacaxulu
Finally. Although edibles are safer.

~~~
amwelles
Have they done any long-term studies on smoking pot vs. vaping vs. edibles?

~~~
duaneb
Well, if you're not breathing in tar, heavy metals, free radicals, etc., it's
not hard to come out on top over smoking.

~~~
johnward
There still has to be some damage from smoke inhalation, no? Then I'm curious
about smoking vs "vaping" vs oil etc. Anecdotally I see a lot of old hippies
still kicking.

edit: I didn't realize you were pointing out the effect of smoking cannabis.

~~~
duaneb
Sorry, that WAS the damage from smoke inhalation. Theoretically if you're
vaping or eating you shouldn't be combusting anything and should get 0 smoke.

And yes, you can get lung/throat cancer from inhaling pot smoke. Probably way
worse than from a cigarette because there's no filter (THC is super sticky, so
it's kind of counter productive).

~~~
joesmo
This is a myth. Smoking marijuana might actually be negatively correlated with
lung cancer for long term users. Regardless, it's certainly not associated
with increased lung cancer or increased risk for COPD. You and others who are
misinformed should stop spreading around these ridiculous lies and look at the
science:

"Although marijuana smoke contains a number of carcinogens and cocarcinogens,
findings from a limited number of well-designed epidemiological studies do not
suggest an increased risk for the development of either lung or upper airway
cancer from light or moderate use, although evidence is mixed concerning
possible carcinogenic risks of heavy, long-term use." \--
[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23802821](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23802821)

~~~
duaneb
It is far and away irrisponsible to call a health effect a myth because one
paper suggests an opposite effect for light to moderate users. Considering we
DO know what we are inhaling, and we DO know it causes massive problems for
other smoked substances, it is rational to think that there are likely related
effects. Until we can identify that these effects are NOT occurring, we should
definitely assume that you can get lung cancer by inhaling massive amounts of
carcinogens.

~~~
joesmo
So let's throw out the hard scientific evidence you don't like and substitute
"rational thinking" instead? I think you were born in the wrong century.

~~~
duaneb
The hard scientific evidence is that light to moderate users do not have
increased lung cancer rates. This is a far cry from "smoking pot doesn't cause
cancer".

It is not I who is avoiding rationality, friend. Check your ability to
corroborate your statements with evidence.

~~~
joesmo
You haven't provided any evidence to support your viewpoint that it does cause
cancer so whatever you deduce through "rational thought" is meaningless.

~~~
duaneb
I don't have evidence. All I have is lack of evidence. Skepticism leads me to
conclude we do not know the effects of smoking marijuana w/r/t cancer with any
certainty. Correspondingly, it would be wrong to call the prospect a myth, as
you cannot say that with any certainty.

~~~
Nadya
You also have lack of evidence of unicorns causing cancer.

You're also choosing to ignore the studies that show moderate use (e.g. people
who smoke it casually and aren't huffing 24/7) show no increase in cancer.

 _Maybe_ if you smoke from the moment you wake until you pass out you _might_
have an increase of cancer. Same way that drinking water til you die of water
poisoning is a thing. It is freakishly uncommon and you'd have to more or less
_choose_ to do so on purpose.

~~~
johnward
"Although marijuana smoke contains a number of carcinogens and cocarcinogens,
findings from a limited number of well-designed epidemiological studies do not
suggest an increased risk for the development of either lung or upper airway
cancer from light or moderate use, although evidence is mixed concerning
possible carcinogenic risks of heavy, long-term use."

That seems hardly conclusive.

------
INTPenis
Is the marijuana festival really april 19th? Seems more logical to have it on
april 20th. ;)

------
dfymarine
The probability of developing psychosis among college students is going to be
substantially increased.

------
yarrel
This week in "class indicators".

------
roflchoppa
420 blz it

------
sayhar
"Now"

------
lbaskin
I'm surprised this is news.

If only because of the massive anti-(cigarette)-smoking campaign of the past
several years, combined with the massive pro-marijuana-legalization campaign.
Good or bad, that sends a pretty clear message to students that tobacco bad,
marijuana good.

~~~
johnchristopher
Do they realize the joint/spliff they are smoking is filled up with way more
tobacco than marijuana ? (or do they smoke fully loaded joint ?)

edit: I don't understand the downvote but to clarify things: in Europe, where
I live, I seldom saw fully loaded joint (which would be called the same: joint
or blunt).

~~~
johnward
TIL a joint can contain tobacco.

~~~
_delirium
In Denmark (and I think most of Europe?) joints usually have tobacco in them,
though apparently that's less common in the US.

~~~
Ftuuky
Yes, in Europe it is very common to mix tobacco with your weed/hashish when
rolling joints.

~~~
spacemanmatt
Yuck.

