Did they though? Not accounting for confounding factors like “other drugs” seems to indicate it’s not about the risks of cannabis use so much as the risks from all sources that the average cannabis user faces. Using only cannabis might have zero impact or even be beneficial based on this evidence (if you hypothesize that most of the negative outcomes were cannabis+cocaine users, for instance).

Still good data, but I don’t think it’s predictive for what cannabis use leads to (unless you assume that taking up cannabis makes you proportionately more likely to also take up whatever the confounding factors were).

Especially if medical prescriptions for it aren't necessary.

Confounding migraines for weed prescriptions and very real stroke risk and a desire for low THC marijuana isn't going to be a happy show I want to go through watching that happen to friends.

It makes a mockery of real medical issues.

Doctors and health care should be involved in drug use and advising patients, maybe even clean supplies or other things.

But we got the ACA of public health options with medical marijuana. And I want to remember Obama and others for inspiring us, not hacks.

A lot of people won't be believed in time.

Exactly, alcohol IMHO affects judgment significantly worse than cannabis.

Back in college I had a friend find a new dealer who he thought was pretty cool until he tossed out a rock in the middle of a pot deal, my friend never went back.

Myself I have been involved with weed a long time and never seen cocaine though my son did go into town one night and lock himself out of his car and have an experience we call "the night of the living baseheads."

The best drug dealer at my old school was a guy who would take chances nobody else would; I knew him somebody who dealt weed, psychedelic mushrooms and acid to my friends although I was persona-non-gratis with him because he was seriously criminally minded and led a gay bashing gang that mostly bashed straight people who were perceived as allies [1], although it took just one snarky comment (my case) or advising somebody being shot at with a paint pellet gun to see the police (the popular president of the paint pellet gun club.)

He eventually got caught bashing in an RA in the face with a rock shot with one of those rubber band catapults people use to shoot water balloons at the beach. He was banned from campus but I saw him once when he was dropping off a delivery for a friend. My friend later told me that he'd been caught on videotape dealing 3kg of cocaine to an undercover cop and he did time.

That's an unusual case. Except for that guy and the Vietnamese kid who took money and never delivered the weed to my wife when she was in high school, all the pot dealers I knew were basically responsible and law-abiding people who only dealt pot and other soft drugs. Funny somebody dropped a dime on the later.

[1] this was the 1980s during peak AIDS panic and I guess they were afraid if they spilled gay blood they might get AIDS or something

I live in a legalized Marijauna country and there is no black market. The prices in the legal stores are actually lower than the former black market prices.

Exercising or stressing damaged or degenerated tissues = bad

Cannabis causes dilation of blood vessels and elevated HR, it’s the same effect. If you take a big dab you can definitely feel your blood pressure drop and muscles relax even though your heart rate has increased.

I think you'd be surprised how often doctors still say that

It has substantially more benefit than that risk. Physical exertion also has the added benefit of lowering rest hr and bp.

Not to mention art, sex, walking, etc, etc

I find it interesting how many people come out of the wood work to make disparaging comments about people who use cannabis whenever the subject of cannabis use comes up on HN.

Having lived in a country where cannabis has been legal for about a decade now it's quaint seeing this kind of casual disrespect levelled by a stranger.

I wonder if this kind of mindset is still common here and people just don't vocalize it anymore, or if it's the kind of mentality that continued criminalization perpetuates.

Did you have an echocardiogram?

You're right, Sublime covered

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_Two_Joints

by the Toyes!

It comes down to the old saying for doctors, "when you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." Rare and dangerous things often manifest in ways that look really similar to relatively harmless and common things. Go forward with the most probable explanation and you're not only going to be right the overwhelming majority of the time, but also keep costs and stresses down for patients. Only when somebody does show up with a genuinely serious condition (or otherwise had significant red flags) do you jump to zebras.

This is likely even more true in modern times with such high rates of anxiety and other similar disorders paired alongside the internet - there's going to be a lot of hypochondriacs suddenly thinking, and subsequently claiming, that they have every symptom of [something awful].

Doctors have very little in the way of legal protections, but malpractice has to actually be malpractice. A recent study on the topic found that in low risk occupations, 75% of doctors end up getting sued for malpractice over their career, and in high risk it bumps up to 99%. [1] When people don't like the outcome, they sue, but in most cases the outcome was largely unpreventable even with a high standard of care.

[1] - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-doctors-idUSTRE77G5YS2011...

Q: What do you call the person that graduated medical school with the worst grades?

A: Doctor

this is so true. There's huge variability in competence. and many doctors have fled to boutique medical care, or whatever it's called, since the recent changes in healthcare.

> some doctors are borderline DANGEROUS, but it's difficult to distinguish them with

Bingo.

Some medical practitioners were the bottom of the class.

No different than mechanics.

Can’t hero-worship.

> After visiting a competent ophthalmologist, they were flabbergasted by what the other did. Ten appointments within 2 weeks later with the new specialist and we're undoing the damage that was easily preventable.

Eeesh...sorry about that. Been there my whole life. It too ten years to get an appointment with a Hematologist and was finally diagnosed with Erythrocytosis which I told them I had but always said my HCT levels were "not really that high". The Hematologist looked at my records and wondered why they did not send me in twenty years ago. I am on Medicare which makes it much more difficult.

> Anyhow, hope your brother recovered well.

My whole family disowned me for no other reason than me having a serious mental illness so I do not care. But thanks.

No. This was about ten years ago. But not much has changed as I cannot get CAC score on Medicare even though they wanted to put me on statins. Cardiologist says I am fine. :/