The Weekend Miscellaneous #10 (Does cannabis consumption in moderation make people lazy?)

This Saturday marked the fifth consecutive pizza night in my house. As usual, we got two pizzas. This time, it was one plain and one margherita, both with sausage and meatballs on half. It was like a pizza venn diagram, and it was delicious. It has been more than 3 months now since I started practicing my gluten-free vegan diet with intermittent fasting during the week. The weekend freedom permitted by the program is as enjoyable as it is to feel good and clear-headed and healthy during the week. Since the beginning of our pizza night tradition, I am probably averaging four slices on Saturday nights with another one cold the next morning. This weekend, it was four at night and two in the morning.

Without any further ado or anything extemporaneous, here is the weekend review which I call The Weekend Miscellaneous.

Changing it up a bit from my typical posts on The Weekend Miscellaneous, today I will be proposing an answer to a specific question.

Does cannabis consumption in moderation make people lazy?

I believe the answer is no. You probably want to know why I believe that. Let me tell you.

Yesterday, I consumed 8 milligrams worth of THC and proceeded to run a half marathon (13.1 miles). That is the furthest I have run in my life. My pace was faster than when I ran a 19K (11.8 miles) two Sundays prior to raise awareness for our COVID-19K Feeding America fundraiser which has so far raised over $2,000 equating to more than 20,000 meals according to Feeding America.

My experience yesterday leads me to believe with a high level of conviction that, specifically, cannabis consumption in moderation does not make me physically lazy or mentally weak, not within a few hours following consumption at least.

I specify this more narrow conclusion in response to the broader question I am addressing so as not to over-generalize my personal and purely experiential findings. I am well aware that cannabis consumption may affect different people in different ways, that consuming a greater amount of it or the same amount with greater frequency may alter its effects, and that it may have less easily observable impacts on people in the long-term, among many other considerations.

That said, it bears repeating that I have observed for myself that the infrequent use of cannabis in moderation definitively does not make me lazy as a result, neither mentally nor physically. Instead, it seems reasonable to suggest that it may in fact make me more active in both regards.

While some people use cannabis to help them sleep, I have found that it makes me mentally active, imaginative, open-minded and free-thinking. I had some of my best and clearest ideas in a while during my run yesterday and I can now both refine and build upon them with a sober mind. Basically, I have found that infrequent cannabis consumption in moderation makes me the opposite of lazy. It makes me active.

Then again, just because something seems positive in the short-term does not mean it is a good idea. As a college kid curious about the long-term effects of cannabis consumption, I once did a literary review of the science on the subject as a part of my favorite class that I took in college. The class was called Systematic Inquiry and it was all about how we know what we know. I would like to share that paper for those who are interested but it is on my old laptop which I did not bring home with me from my apartment in New York. I hope to share it another time. The biggest takeaway was that the scientific work that has been conducted on the subject to date leaves a lot to be desired, and although it did not convince me of any significantly adverse effects in the long-term, I err on the side of caution because so much remains unstudied and unknown.

I realize that this post is timely as I was reminded that today is 4/20, cannabis culture's biggest holiday. I myself will not be celebrating. I had a little bit yesterday and I have come to believe in the benefits of being totally sober almost all of the time, having drugs even as widely accepted as caffeine, alcohol, and to a lesser extent, cannabis, only infrequently and mostly in moderation.

Many things in life are bad to have in excess but totally fine and enjoyable to enjoy responsibly. I enjoy enjoying those things that way.