<p>same. maybe that was all they needed to relax before the big test? haha</p>
<p>aha you can totally pick out the smokers on this thread</p>
<p>I know a lot of MIT kids who smoke pretty regularly, although they're definitely a minority within the school. Alcohol is the drug of choice for most MIT kids -- work hard, play hard.</p>
<p>Just a note of caution before throwing around statistics about drug use -- I don't generally condone using drugs of any kind (I prefer to avoid taking ibuprofen or cold medicine if I can help it), because there are often unforeseen effects down the road to the tune of Vioxx, etc.</p>
<p>That said, most of the drug (=illegal drug) research being done in this country is funded by the NIH, specifically the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Needless to say, research projects which aim to find good effects of illegal drugs are not particularly well-funded... as far as the scientist in me is concerned, that makes them equal to propaganda.</p>
<p>In order to be considered a "heavy" user by the Harvard study, you'd have to smoke everyday for a little less then 14 years (13.7), and even after that the studies show your memory functions and such return to normal after a month of abstaining. If you only smoked at parties (say every Friday and Saturday night), you'd have to do so every week for 48 years. If you can smoke for that long and still return to normal, I doubt smoking up a few times is going to hurt you at all.</p>
<p>"That said, most of the drug (=illegal drug) research being done in this country is funded by the NIH, specifically the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Needless to say, research projects which aim to find good effects of illegal drugs are not particularly well-funded... as far as the scientist in me is concerned, that makes them equal to propaganda."</p>
<p>Excellent point. </p>
<p>Also, I've noticed a lot of people get their information from "articles" and not "studies." Have you ever actually read the published journal article itself? Article writers have a tendency to add their own slant and leave out some important data.</p>
<p>News stations are very guilty of misrepresenting things--especially correlational studies. Say, for instance, that a study detects a moderate to strong negative correlation between people who eat a lot of oranges and cancer. What's the headline? ORGANGES FOUND TO PREVENT CANCER.</p>
<p>To answer your original question, it totally depends on where you go to college. If you go to West Point, you probably won't see too much. On the other hand, if you go nearly anywhere else, it will be there, especially someplace like UCSC, UCB, Reed, Lewis and Clark, or nearly any small LAC. Don't be intimidated, though. Most people that smoke marijuana are generally chill, relaxed, and nonjudgemental. It doesn't make you violent, or a danger to your peers (like alcohol can). They might offer it to you, but in all likelyhood it will not be forced on you.</p>
<p>And as for the "pot makes you stupid" myth, I'm living proof that it is not true. My freshman year, I got two 3.66's. Sophomore year, I got two 4.0's. Junior year, I started smoking regularly, and I got two 4.5's. Last semester I got all A's and one A-. Now tell me that pot makes me stupid. I smoked the night before the SAT (not that morning, though, I don't like smoking right when I wake up) and got a 2230. Now tell me that pot makes me stupid. </p>
<p>It irks me to no end that marijuana, something with proven medical benefits, is illegal, while tobacco and alcohol, both of which are far worse for you, have a lower lethal overdose, and are far more addicting, are legal.</p>
<p>::And as for the "pot makes you stupid" myth, I'm living proof that it is not true. My freshman year, I got two 3.66's. Sophomore year, I got two 4.0's. Junior year, I started smoking regularly, and I got two 4.5's. Last semester I got all A's and one A-. Now tell me that pot makes me stupid. I smoked the night before the SAT (not that morning, though, I don't like smoking right when I wake up) and got a 2230. Now tell me that pot makes me stupid.::</p>
<p>Maybe not stupid, but apparently you can't grasp the concept that pot decreases IQ, even if it doesn't make you "stupid." Just think, had you not smoked, then you could have done just that little bit better.</p>
<p>I doubt it. I haven't had my academic skills fall at all, and I think that they would if my IQ decreased. Especially because my IQ is pretty much all I rely on to get me through school. I almost never study for tests, and put very little work into my homework, but get good grades nevertheless. And yes, I know that will all change in college, and I'm prepared to work as hard as I have to.</p>
<p>I don't think you'd notice a drop of ~5 IQ points because it is very small. Still present, but small. And you especially wouldn't notice it if you have been doing it so long that it is the norm. And besides, even if you didn't have any IQ drop, the vast majority of marijuana users do, so what's your point?</p>
<p>My point is that marijuana does not seriously affect one's intellect. I know many examples of this, like my friend who got into Stanford and did pretty much every drug out there. Yes, when consumed too regularly, marijuana can start to affect the short term memory, but that has been proven to stop within weeks of quitting smoking. And you have yet to prove the IQ bit. Lets see a link from a unbiased source, not DARE or NIDA. </p>
<p>Sorry to take this thread OT, but there were some misconceptions that needed to be corrected.</p>
<p>Look, none of you are going to settle the marijuana argument. It hasn't been settled in the past and I doubt it is going to be settled by two teenagers on an Internet message board. You are NEVER going to find a source that is 'unbiased' because each side holds strongly to their beliefs so they only believe a source that favors their argument. </p>
<p>However, we do know some in-disputable facts about marijuana:
[ul]Marijuana can be a mind-altering drug to the point that it makes some people do stupid/harmful stuff that they normally would not do. However, this does not happen to everyone, but it can happen.[/ul]</p>
<p>[ul]Smoking marijuana is bad for your lungs just like smoking anything is. Eating marijuana (hash brownies) is generally not considered bad for your health though.[/ul]</p>
<p>[ul]Marijuana has been shown to have calming effects to patients of terminal illnesses such as cancer, Parkinsons, etc. The Supreme Court recently said that states cannot have their own laws regulating medicinal use of marijuana so it is currently illegal for doctors to prescribe it for patients.[/ul]</p>
<p>I havent and probably will never smoke marijuana.</p>
<p>Even with that opinion, I think it is mostly harmless.</p>
<p>I don't like the smell of it though, and its close association and correlation with being stupid and a complete loser with no future. </p>
<p>It just isn't socially acceptable, whether it should have been put in a position as socially undesirable or not is up for debate, but now that it is a bad thing and I have no desire to use it, I will stay away.</p>
<p>I would write up a long post on this issue, but I would pretty much be echoing what Mischas has said. Rock on.</p>
<p>::Lets see a link from a unbiased source, not DARE or NIDA. ::</p>
<p>There's already two articles in this thread that mention an (at least temporary) IQ drop when using marijuana. The first study linked was showing that the IQ drop from marijuana use was only temporary. However, the article acknowledged the fact that there IS an IQ drop. The second one was an article on CNN that mentioned the IQ drop that occurs when one smokes pot.</p>
<p>If you search on google, you can get a lot of hits on a recent study that goes something like "Email drops IQ more than pot." Whether those IQ drops are temporary or not, the drop in IQ from smoking pot is a well known fact.</p>
<p>"Researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa once tracked 70 people and compared their IQ scores at two stages: when they were aged nine to 12, before they started using marijuana, and again at ages 17 to 20. They found that the IQ scores of heavy users dropped by about four points on average.</p>
<p>However, the effects on the brain of long-term, recreational use (fewer than five joints a week) appear to be minimal.</p>
<p>The study, in fact, found that IQ scores increased in light users by a mean score of nearly six points - more than former users, and nearly double that of nonusers."</p>
<p>If the IQ drops are temporary, then that's a whole other matter. Yes, it's harder to concentrate on things when stoned, like taking an IQ test. I'll bet your IQ drops even more when you're drunk. I know, I've done them both. Your IQ probably drops temporarily when listening to Brittany Spears, for God's sake. That doesn't mean that you'll fail school if you listen to her. </p>
<p>And yes, marijuana is bad for you in excess. So is everything else. Water, oxygen, bread, meat, etc. I'm not disputing it's not bad for you if you smoke it too much, but light use won't hurt you. In fact, it looks like it even helps you.</p>
<p>Mods, if you're around, can we split this thread and move the pro/anti mj argument somewhere else? I love debating it, but we shouldn't be doing it on someone else's thread.</p>
<p>here was the thing with my friend - he was manic depressive and had ADD and couldn't concentrate on things. he was on various medications, and all of them made him absolutely miserable - insomnia, nausea, etc and he couldn't be on them. when he started smoking pot it relaxed him just enough that he could concentrate and he did a LOT better in school and on tests and such.</p>
<p>::If the IQ drops are temporary, then that's a whole other matter. Yes, it's harder to concentrate on things when stoned, like taking an IQ test. I'll bet your IQ drops even more when you're drunk. I know, I've done them both. Your IQ probably drops temporarily when listening to Brittany Spears, for God's sake. That doesn't mean that you'll fail school if you listen to her.::</p>
<p>Temporary meaning it affects your IQ for at least a week after use. Not just when you are using it.</p>
<p>^Cite?</p>
<p>Everything I've read seems to disagree with you. Read some of the papers on file at erowid.org</p>
<p><a href="where%20i%20would%20say%20nearly%201/3%20of%20the%20kids%20have%20tried%20it">quote</a>
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Only one third have tried it? That means another one-half are lying.</p>
<p>
[quote]
what do you guys know about marijuana use in college?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's heavy and frequent and pretty much the same no matter where are. The one exception would be heavily religous colleges, like Pepperdine.</p>
<p>
[quote]
i had no idea that pot was even used at ivy leagues. i was always under the impression that really smart kids never touched that stuff
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Haha!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Not to mention the big thing: It's illegal, and if your RA finds it, you could be expelled, depending on your school rules, even for the first time.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If your RA finds out, he won't care. He really, really does not care. And since your RA is more often or not your friend and someone you get to know well, the last thing he wants to do is get you in serious trouble for having a little fun and relaxing. I know my RA at college (University of Chicag) knows very well that many people in the dorm smoke pot, and he doesn't really care, neither do the RHs. Then again, the University of Chicago does have what is perhaps the most liberal policies on alchol and drugs that you will find anywhere (the school has a "don't ask, don't tell" policy that basiclly lets you do whatever you want. The only way drugs can geted you kicked out of the UofC is if you are caught dealing drugs, and even that only gets you kicked out of housing, not the school).</p>
<p>
[quote]
and the Ivy League, use tends to be much less prevalent, generally speaking. Doesn't mean it doesn't exist, because it does just about everywhere, but it's not as bad.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Haha. Again, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Not only is drug use at Ivy League schools just as prevalent as everywhere else, but since students tend to be wealtheir, they can afford to do it more often.</p>
<p>You guys are in for a serious reality check if you are going to the likes of MIT, Harvard, or The University of Chicago and think the kids don't smoke weed. The difference between those schools and the state schools is that, typically, weed is the only drug heavily used, whereareas in many state schools and less "smart" schools, the variety of drugs is larger.</p>