Wondering what people's thoughts on this are. Anecdotally it seems many potheads people perform proficiently at college or uni but this does not mean a drop in IQ hasn't occurred. I have friends who used a lot of drugs in college and got onto good degrees, but that said i believe this was due to there intense revision regime rather than brilliant brains.
Cannabis when smoked in adolescence causing a decline in IQ?
- Thread starter 420KID
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I'd say that it definitely does cause it, and there are studies to prove it.
I skipped 2nd and 3rd grade, and was in high school when I was 12 years old. I also started smoking at 13, and ended up dropping out of high school. My pot use may have been extreme, as I used 5-7 grams of concentrates per day, but I do feel that even after stopping for 6 months now, I am very very slow compared to how I used to be. One or two times probably isn't going to hurt you as a youth, but even weekly or monthly smoking will.
The female brain is in development until their late teens, and the male brain does not stop developing until 25-27 years old. Even those smoking legally in colorado at age 21 are still wrecking their brains. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't start smoking until I hate 25 and my brain was through its development.
I skipped 2nd and 3rd grade, and was in high school when I was 12 years old. I also started smoking at 13, and ended up dropping out of high school. My pot use may have been extreme, as I used 5-7 grams of concentrates per day, but I do feel that even after stopping for 6 months now, I am very very slow compared to how I used to be. One or two times probably isn't going to hurt you as a youth, but even weekly or monthly smoking will.
The female brain is in development until their late teens, and the male brain does not stop developing until 25-27 years old. Even those smoking legally in colorado at age 21 are still wrecking their brains. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't start smoking until I hate 25 and my brain was through its development.
i think that thing 'smoke weed when you're a teen and you'll have a lower IQ' started as anti-weed propaganda, but still, i think weed is a powerful drug and is not really good to use in adolescence. at least for some people. i believe i'm one of them. i'm very young though, but i smoked weed during adolescence and if you wanna hear my opinion and story on it, here you go
i was a very bright kid, always getting good grades at school. no joke. there was this school, military school, around here it's like one of the best schools around. if you're not son of someone in the military you have to make a test to get in. you can get in on 5th grade or 10th grade. i took the test to 5th grade and passed, no problems. didn't go very well but still... at grade 10 i was expelled from that school, but took the test to get in on 10th grade. out of over 500 teens i scored the highest in both math (20 of 24) and portuguese (26 of 27) tests, but i fucking bombed my essay/writing (wtv how you call that, my grade was 1,4 out of 3,0) - kinda suspicious to be honest, the professor who graded it was a fuckface who totally hated me, but well, everybody hated me in that school -, so i got in 2nd place and not 1st, and got expelled again by the end of the year. all that without opening a single book to study. i was even hungover at the portuguese test.
after i got expelled i went to a public school and although i had already smoked weed before, i never had any pothead friends so i started smoking all day every day. this went for a few months and then i stopped because i was going absolutely insane and i didn't really like getting high anymore, seeing as weed was very strong for me and i'd smoke it mostly because i was around it. this was not a long time ago, in fact it was recently.
i don't know if that period of smoking lowered my IQ or made me dumber, but it definitely did something. at the peak of my abuse i was having mild DP/DR (i guess. things felt so unreal and i felt so empty, distant), my mind was constantly foggy, clouded. my memory was all weird. things felt like they happened ages ago and everyone - even my closest friends and family - felt so distant from me. i felt distant from myself. and more. i had visual disturbances. lights at night bothered me, and some shit would even trigger mild psychedelia, like walking through a fence near my house at night. if i looked straight into it while i was walking i'd trip out. even the sight of hair in my face bothered me a lot and i even cut it myself one day. i stopped completely for 30 days and the symptoms are almost completely gone.
i do FEEL DUMBER though. that could be placebo though, as since always, i've always been told 'weed will make you dumb kid!' constantly, by friends who i trust and family, and being insecure about my own intelligence myself... it kinda makes me wonder about it. you see what i mean i guess.
i felt different after that period, but you can't really tell if it was the weed or simply adolescence and the whole experience of going from 6 years in a military discipline school, surrounded by straight edge people, then suddenly going to a school with no need for discipline or commitment at all and finding myself with completely different people.
if i look deep into my pothead friends, guys who smoke all day every day since 13 or 14, there are different faces to it. there are those dudes who i just look in the face and go 'wtf, you were born high man?' and just wonder if they're plain dumb. and on the other side some of them are completely normal, and i doubt weed affects them negatively, like it did to me.
my guess, weed is a very weird drug and affects people differently. i know if i smoke too much it makes me feel weird, it's not good for my sanity i guess. but for some people may be not. our brains are different. weed was weird from the start to me. the first three times i got high i completely tripped with OEVs, and even got flashbacks after it, so i guess i should've stopped right there instead of started doing it everyday...
that's my thoughts on the matter. and now that you brought it up it even makes me wonder about it... makes me wanna test my intelligence...
whatever, peace
i was a very bright kid, always getting good grades at school. no joke. there was this school, military school, around here it's like one of the best schools around. if you're not son of someone in the military you have to make a test to get in. you can get in on 5th grade or 10th grade. i took the test to 5th grade and passed, no problems. didn't go very well but still... at grade 10 i was expelled from that school, but took the test to get in on 10th grade. out of over 500 teens i scored the highest in both math (20 of 24) and portuguese (26 of 27) tests, but i fucking bombed my essay/writing (wtv how you call that, my grade was 1,4 out of 3,0) - kinda suspicious to be honest, the professor who graded it was a fuckface who totally hated me, but well, everybody hated me in that school -, so i got in 2nd place and not 1st, and got expelled again by the end of the year. all that without opening a single book to study. i was even hungover at the portuguese test.
after i got expelled i went to a public school and although i had already smoked weed before, i never had any pothead friends so i started smoking all day every day. this went for a few months and then i stopped because i was going absolutely insane and i didn't really like getting high anymore, seeing as weed was very strong for me and i'd smoke it mostly because i was around it. this was not a long time ago, in fact it was recently.
i don't know if that period of smoking lowered my IQ or made me dumber, but it definitely did something. at the peak of my abuse i was having mild DP/DR (i guess. things felt so unreal and i felt so empty, distant), my mind was constantly foggy, clouded. my memory was all weird. things felt like they happened ages ago and everyone - even my closest friends and family - felt so distant from me. i felt distant from myself. and more. i had visual disturbances. lights at night bothered me, and some shit would even trigger mild psychedelia, like walking through a fence near my house at night. if i looked straight into it while i was walking i'd trip out. even the sight of hair in my face bothered me a lot and i even cut it myself one day. i stopped completely for 30 days and the symptoms are almost completely gone.
i do FEEL DUMBER though. that could be placebo though, as since always, i've always been told 'weed will make you dumb kid!' constantly, by friends who i trust and family, and being insecure about my own intelligence myself... it kinda makes me wonder about it. you see what i mean i guess.
i felt different after that period, but you can't really tell if it was the weed or simply adolescence and the whole experience of going from 6 years in a military discipline school, surrounded by straight edge people, then suddenly going to a school with no need for discipline or commitment at all and finding myself with completely different people.
if i look deep into my pothead friends, guys who smoke all day every day since 13 or 14, there are different faces to it. there are those dudes who i just look in the face and go 'wtf, you were born high man?' and just wonder if they're plain dumb. and on the other side some of them are completely normal, and i doubt weed affects them negatively, like it did to me.
my guess, weed is a very weird drug and affects people differently. i know if i smoke too much it makes me feel weird, it's not good for my sanity i guess. but for some people may be not. our brains are different. weed was weird from the start to me. the first three times i got high i completely tripped with OEVs, and even got flashbacks after it, so i guess i should've stopped right there instead of started doing it everyday...
that's my thoughts on the matter. and now that you brought it up it even makes me wonder about it... makes me wanna test my intelligence...
whatever, peace
double ewe
Bluelighter
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anecdata: i know a lot of very smart people who smoke. in general, those who started early (14-ish) fell a lot further behind in life than those who started later on (18-ish).
I think it has lowered my IQ and everyone I know personally who smokes it. It can offer perspective but there is definitely a sacrifice of witt. I don't know any stoner who I would consider to be excellent at arithmetic, grammar, or writing- three skills that are perhaps not a requirement of having a high IQ, but definitely a demonstrator of cognitive ability. I'd say a lot of my friends who smoke weed aren't your typical stoners- one of my best friends smokes everyday and is a pro body builder. Being able to function while you are stoned is something that is learned over time, but just because it isn't completely stopping you doesn't mean it's not holding you back in some ways.
I didn't start smoking weed until just after my 18th birthday. In high school I was placed in honor classes based on my test scores, "honor" meaning college prep course/college level course and above advanced class placement. I don't say this to brag, but school was always ridiculously easy for me. I would often fall asleep in class usually because I already comprehended the subject before the majority of the class would. My twin sister would have to work much harder and received lower grades. I've never viewed myself as smart but I know I was a lot sharper than I am now here at 25, having smoked weed nearly everyday all day for the past 5 1/2-6 years.
If you consider how it effects your own thought process, then imagine that upon a child who is going to be much less self-aware and organized than their adult counterpart would be. Perhaps it will not cause outright brain damage like hard drugs will, and obviously its impact will depend greatly upon the frequency and amounts used, but with that said, I don't see how it would help a child. With the exception of using cannabis in place of things like chemo drugs and other legitimate uses, I don't think any child should consume any amount of cannabis or any drug for that matter.
I didn't start smoking weed until just after my 18th birthday. In high school I was placed in honor classes based on my test scores, "honor" meaning college prep course/college level course and above advanced class placement. I don't say this to brag, but school was always ridiculously easy for me. I would often fall asleep in class usually because I already comprehended the subject before the majority of the class would. My twin sister would have to work much harder and received lower grades. I've never viewed myself as smart but I know I was a lot sharper than I am now here at 25, having smoked weed nearly everyday all day for the past 5 1/2-6 years.
If you consider how it effects your own thought process, then imagine that upon a child who is going to be much less self-aware and organized than their adult counterpart would be. Perhaps it will not cause outright brain damage like hard drugs will, and obviously its impact will depend greatly upon the frequency and amounts used, but with that said, I don't see how it would help a child. With the exception of using cannabis in place of things like chemo drugs and other legitimate uses, I don't think any child should consume any amount of cannabis or any drug for that matter.
St3ve
Bluelighter
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- Mar 15, 2013
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Same in my experience! All of my first year university stoner friends (all of which had been smoking from 14-16 years old) either dropped out after a year or two, or took 1-2 years extra to complete their degree (with at best average results). I only properly started smoking at university age 19 (nearly 20 at that point). I managed to make it through without any major setbacks, but undoubtedly my results could have been much better if I had never started getting high in the first place.