Marijuana and IQ: The TRUTH

[PosTMOd]

The Canadian Medical Association Journal had an article about heavy marijuana use causing a decline of 4.0 points in IQ over the long term.

Had a chance to read the article fully, and here's what was left out of what was in the newspapers:

• 
  * light users (<5 joints/week), IQ scores went up by 5.8 points
  * non-users, IQ scores went up by 2.6 points
  * former users, IQ scores went up by 3.5 points

Oddly, in the results section, the authors somehow come to the conclusion that the proportion of the population with IQs below 70 (borderline retarded) would increase to 5.5% from 2.3% with a decline of 4 points overall.

What they fail to note is that if everybody smoked marijuana in moderation, the proportion of the population with IQs above 130 (S-M-R-T people) would increase to 6.2% [just guessing, but I'm a light smoker, so it's probably right on ] from the current 2.3%.

Love those idiots who write this shit.

Thinking of writing them a letter, but I just sparked one up: might increase my IQ, but it certainly does nothing for my letter writing motivation

 

[deep]

Actually, the guy who did the study was fairly unbiased in so far as the implications of the results. It's the media who has spun it the way it has been taken. If I'm not mistaken the group in which it was found that marijuana decreased IQ smoked in the vicinity of 37 joints a week . I've never known or even heard of anyone smoking that much, that often. 3-4 is a fairly damned heavy week in my books.

 

[blueker]

SWEEEEEEET!!!!!!!

-Olga

 

[labRat]

is this a continual upgrade program - or is it only a one shot deal?

 

[PosTMOd]

Originally posted by deep
If I'm not mistaken the group in which it was found that marijuana decreased IQ smoked in the vicinity of 37 joints a week. I've never known or even heard of anyone smoking that much, that often. 3-4 is a fairly damned heavy week in my books.

Actually, it was the former heavy smokers who smoked 37 joints a week... they had an increase of 3.5 points.

It's the current heavy smokers (average 14 joints/week) that had the decline.

For comparison, children exposed prenatally to 3 alcoholic drinks per day have a decline of 5 points, prenatal exposure to cocaine 3.75 points decline, and low lead exposure decline of 2.6 points.

The marijuana decline goes away after a while, but lead, alcohol, and cocaine effects last.

 

[mingster]

I'm not sure if I understand correctly.
Could you please explain how pot-smoking would increase I.Q. levels?

Ming.

 

[PosTMOd]

Originally posted by mingster
Could you please explain how pot-smoking would increase I.Q. levels?

Hard to say, really, but an increase in creativity could do it, and light marijuana use most definitely does that. My theory about marijuana is that it sort of "equalizes" those thoughts that aren't "important" (i.e. for survival), and thusly increases thinking. Makes things a little tangential and distracting, and increasingly so in larger quantities, but hit the right amount, and your mind gets all fucking like imaginative and shit, ya know?

Let me smoke a joint and come up with some theories.

 

[TheLiquidFairy]

Originally posted by blueker
SWEEEEEEET!!!!!!!

-Olga

OLGA YOU STONER!!!!
We have to go buy your pipe today!

XXX
Marian

 

[PosTMOd]

Also, from a couple of weeks ago... marijuana doesn't fuck your driving up... in fact, if you are drunk, and you MUST drive, smoke a joint

"...The new study was undertaken by the Transport Research Laboratory in Crowthorne, Berkshire, and confirms the results of a preliminary study more than a year ago. Researchers at the TRL, led by Barry Sexton, gave 15 volunteers doses of cannabis or alcohol, or a combination of both, before letting them loose on an array of psychomotor tests and a sophisticated driving simulator.

The volunteers were given either enough alcohol to raise alcohol levels in the blood to 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres - about 60 per cent of Britain's legal limit of 80 mg/100 ml - or a specially prepared marijuana joint designed to deliver the same high typically experienced by smokers.

In the study, cannabis significantly affected only one criterion, known as tracking ability. Volunteers found it more difficult to hold a constant speed and follow the middle of the road accurately while driving around a figure-of-eight loop. The TRL researchers point out in their draft report that this test requires drivers to hold their concentration for a short time, a task which is particularly badly affected by the intoxicating effects of cannabis.


Cautious driving


However, volunteers drinking the equivalent of a glass of wine fared worse than those who had smoked a joint. Those who were given both alcohol and cannabis performed worse still, reinforcing the idea that alcohol has a cumulative effect when taken with other drugs.

But the study also found that drivers on cannabis tended to be aware of their intoxicated state, and drove more cautiously to compensate. Indeed, doped-up volunteers often rated themselves as being more impaired than police surgeons brought in to evaluate their sobriety.

Surprisingly, drinking alcohol didn't offset this cautious behaviour, opening up the unproven possibility that a driver who is moderately drunk might be better off under some conditions if they had also smoked.

This cautious behaviour is in line with findings by other researchers. "Whereas alcohol promotes risk taking like fast speeds and close following, cannabis promotes conservative driving, but may cause attention problems and misperceptions of time," says Nicholas Ward, technical adviser to the Immortal project - a three-year European Union trial designed to quantify the crash risk drivers face after taking various drugs and medicines."

 

[PosTMOd]

Incidentally, just checked all sorts of newspapers to see how they reported the marijuana/IQ thing...

Only the Globe and Mail reported the increase in IQ for light smokers... all the rest left that out.

Yet another example of biased media reporting.

Those right-winger ain't all bad: the Fraser Institute was calling for decriminalization of ALL DRUGS (for personal amounts) last August... the Globe and Mail wanted the same thing...

Probably have more "ex"-hippies that are now right-wing than left... they fucking sold out, man, but at least they like drugs.

 

[DJAlchemy]

oddly enough I have a hard time driving when I'm stoned. Mostly due to the paranoia factor, and always checking my rear view mirrios to see if the car behind me is a cop. Pot definetly slows your reation time though you are more cautios about your speed, lane position, etc.

driving sober is always the best option period. (when you say period, do you need to put a period at the end of the scentence?)

Peace & love. D

 

[Guest]

at one point I was probably smoking about 35-40 fatties a week. usually about 5 a day, but that was during my burnout highschool days.

right now I barely smoke anymore. maybe twice a week.

 

[Rosey]

i smoked weed heavily (several times a day, pretty much every day) when i was in fourth year of university (yeah i know, perfect time to start eh?) however, i actually did better in school that year then i in second year when i was basically drunk 5 nights out of 7 year round.

no wonder it took me 6 years to graduate.

 

[ADT]

Hey PostMod, did I ask you if you wanted to smoke a J on Saturday or did I mix you up with someone else in my drunken stupor?

 

[PosTMOd]

Originally posted by ADT
Hey PostMod, did I ask you if you wanted to smoke a J on Saturday or did I mix you up with someone else in my drunken stupor?

Yes, you asked me, and I politely declined, since the heroin and the crack were just kicking in.

 

[Cheeka]

I KNEW it !!!

 

[ADT]

Haha

 

[djcheezwhiz]

i was going to post this from work today, but thought i would wait til coming home...after pulling the article from canoe yesterday, i was reading the globe on the way home & the headlines were totally different, bascially stating pot has no impact on iq...it is amazing how the bias of an editor or journalist impacts the message the story is trying to convey...in this case a negative view of marijuana vs a more enlightened approach...

i admit to posting the article without reading it, but figured it would cause a little bit of a discussion...

anyways keep blazin!!!!!

jc

 

[BreakzBroad]

I don't care what the hell the reasoning behind it is. I love pot. I smoke lots of pot. And i will continue to smoke pot until i don't like it anymore seems fair to me!!!!!

that is all...

*jen*

 

[Cheeka]

I hear you sweetie...
and jen i couldn't agree more

 

[BreakzBroad]

Originally posted by Cheeka
I hear you sweetie...
and jen i couldn't agree more

not only are u gorgeous....gurl likes to smoke weed too!!!!

*jen*

 

[PosTMOd]

I've just correlated marijuana use with being fucking hot as well...

Sample size of three, but a damned good sample: Cheeka and breakz_btch and *TheLiquidFairy*...

 

[deep]

Originally posted by PosTMOd
I've just correlated marijuana use with being fucking hot as well...

Sample size of three, but a damned good sample: Cheeka and breakz_btch and *TheLiquidFairy*...

Don't forget me schmoopy!

Wait a second...

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by breakz_btch
I don't care what the hell the reasoning behind it is. I love pot. I smoke lots of pot. And i will continue to smoke pot until i don't like it anymore seems fair to me!!!!!

Particularly the BC variety.

 

[JayIsBored]

^^^ haha. you fucktard