[throwaway599281]

> Furthermore, this cannabis usage is primarily motivated by a perceived enhancement to certain software development skills (such as brainstorming or getting into a programming zone) rather than medicinal reasons

How can anyone who has tried it remotely believe this nonsense?

[MissionInfl]

It's possible to have different reactions to the same drug :)

As someone that is a heavy longtime user and recently diagnosed ADHD (there is a deep relationship between cannabis/substances and ADHD), I did find during the pandemic that smoking cannabis prior to writing software made it feel more productive. Given I couldn't prove that I was really more productive, and there are other costs, I decided against using it at least for my full time job. This is all to say, YMMV with cannabis or any psychoactive substance.

[__float]

Also ADHD here. I find smoking a little helps significantly with turning off the distractions of Slack, email, reading interesting docs that cross my path. It's much easier to sit down, crank out a coding task, or jump into a deep debugging session.

Not something I do often (or even occasionally), but I definitely don't think it's nonsense.

[Eldt]

Undiagnosed but suspected ADHD here. With a bit of THC and some electronic music I can bang code out for hours completely in the zone. It's like I build a great mental model on what I'm working on and become very immersed in it. I can't do it too often as managers need their meetings and updates but it's the most "zen" I ever feel.

[Apocryphon]

In my experience, being in any alternative state of mind, whether from caffeine or moderate amounts of alcohol, or even something not substance related- after working out, after a good night's sleep, after a bad night's sleep (the sweet spot is four hours), there is a sensation of productivity benefit, but I hesitate to claim there is actually productivity in every case. I think these altered states of mind help make it emotionally easier to cope with whatever the underlying cause is- possibly ADHD, possibly some variety of anxiety- and thus make it feel easier to work or engage in other difficult tasks. But cognitively? That's a whole different story.

[torbTurret]

“Feel more productive” - just like all the drunk drivers who swear, “I actually drive better drunk!”

[MissionInfl]

Comparing "unfocused without cannabis" to "focused with cannabis" is a no brainer: I am definitely more productive with cannabis if it gets my butt in the chair and fingers typing on the keyboard. Comparing "focused without cannabis" to "focused with cannabis" is a different story, likely favoring the former as you are implying, but I think it is a bit less certain than driving drunk which is always dangerous.

[pvarangot]

I don't think it's nonsense, and it doesn't "work" the same way on everyones brain, that's like the whole reason psychiatry is a thing and research like this makes sense. If cannabis helps 10% of the population get into their "programming zone" all power to their nonsensical selves.

Thinking "this drug makes me useless hence it should make the rest of the world also useless and any claims to the contrary are nonsense" it not only a blatant abuse of incomplete induction, but also kinda rude as it can make some people feel othered out just because of how their brain chemistry works.

[mwattsun]

Absolutely, but I understand ymmv. I live in California where it's legal, so I decided to try it again. What I found is related to another article on HN right now: Step Away from Stack Overflow (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29659938)

Sometimes I get lost in the programming equivalent of throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. After some time with no progress in figuring out what sticks, it’s time to step away from that approach.

I don't smoke daily. I use it as a tool because I found it helps me when I am semi-manic and just trying to get something to work. I step away from the keyboard and spend time thinking about how to architect my code so that it is easier to write and understand. I'm sure other people do that without smoking, but it's been a big help for me to do that more often.

[ModernMech]

Remember cannabis has a range of effects, so there is no singular "it" to be tried. You can try one strain of cannabis and it will knock you out. No problem solving happening there. Then you can try another strain and your mind is flooded with ideas. Both are called "cannabis" but it's not the same drug really.

[bicx]

This has definitely been my experience. If you take an Indica gummy, you're most likely going to want to just lay on the couch and take a nap. On the other hand, I've had hybrids and sativas that will really lock me in on what I'm doing. I don't know if I could say I was more productive, but I definitely felt more focused.

[systemvoltage]

I’ve tried weed, got addicted to it in college and have seen many people do the same. It made me lazy, completely unmotivated and unproductive. All I did was watch Anime and eat unhealthy foods.

Contrary to the notion that you can think about great ideas and brainstorming - it’s amazing when you’re high. Write down those ideas and think about them when sober - I quickly realized how foolish they were.

Concentration and programming is so far from my experience (and others that I know), I absolutely cannot believe this study. Couldn’t even stay motivated to go take a shower. There has to be a study that matches my experience. What’s going on?

[cmrdporcupine]

I think your experience probably mimics most experience but years of hanging around people who smoked a lot showed me that it really does affect everyone differently.

I hear people talk about it like it's a miracle drug for pain management, but for me it makes pain worse. I spend the entire time focused on every pain in my body.

I knew a guy who concentrated on problems and coded better when he was stoned. Another who was an amazing chess player and had to smoke before he could play. Others who mixed records and played music while high and it enhanced their abilities. I tried to DJ techno once while high and it was a horrible trainwreck, and I can't focus more than 30 seconds at a time. I wrote a paper in university while high and it was the worst crap I ever wrote. Others swear by it.

Many of my friends were super social and enjoyed going out and doing things. It always made me paranoid, overly self-critical, and I spent the whole time taking myself apart and feeling sad.

So I didn't smoke it for almost 20 years. I tried it again recently now that it's legal here. Basically the same experience, even with "low THC, high CBD" strains.

It really comes down to YMMV. And yes, I saw many people with the same experience as you, including a close relative. Unproductive, unmotivated, and low concentration, and chronic.

[j4hdufd8]

> I absolutely cannot believe this study

What do you not believe about the study? Did you read the study?

> In this paper, we presented results of the first empirical study of cannabis’s prevalence, perceptions, and usage motivations in programming environments

I don't think this study says "weed makes you better" or anything like that.

[frank_nitti]

Thanks for calling out one of the many people responding without reading the material, not even the abstract apparently. HN users are typically better about this than other platforms, but this topic seems to be especially triggering for people who have had some negative life experience related to weed.

[systemvoltage]

My issues isn't just with regards to this paper, but with the general narratives that are being spun around weed. They're not objective IMO and there is some sort of societal pressure against seeking truth. That's how I feel with proponents of weed. Don't get me wrong - personally, Marijuana is a lot of fun but I'd want to not get carried away. I also believe in individual liberty and I don't condone banning weed.

[j4hdufd8]

> They're not objective IMO and there is some sort of societal pressure against seeking truth

In my (speculative) opinion, it's not "societal pressure" but rather "capitalism pressure" narrating the recent weed uprise. As in, the opportunity to capitalize on weed has been pushing the narrative that it's a harmless cool drug.

The risks of heavy cannabis use are well documented and easily available to those who care to research it. For example, try CTRL+F "cannabis" on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia.

Once again, just like alcohol and tobacco, capitalism wins over public health.

[weerd]

In my experience, lazy people who already love eating and watching TV will double down on this behavior when using cannabis. It can make you feel comfortable and OK with things, and also triggers the appetite. So instead of becoming satiated/bored with your activities and moving to something else, you remain in place.

Others who are not as thrilled with consuming food and media to begin with will have different cannabis experiences. You'll probably find them exercising, making art/music, or creating software like mentioned in the article.

I'm sorry if this offends you, but your statement might say more about you as a person than about the effects of cannabis.

[officeplant]

Sounds like my experience but I was using it at the time to cope with depression and anxiety about graduating from college amid the late 2000's financial crisis and other stresses you deal with as a lonely young adult.

But I also never really stopped smoking and learned to use it to cope with a multitude of things like migraines and sleeplessness.

In the end it often comes down to the person and their reactions to a substance more than the substance itself. I can smoke and melt on the couch or I can smoke and go for a long walk and decompress.

[pxc]

Different people work differently. I don't have the spare working memory necessary to be very productive on cannabis, except with respect to very menial tasks. But in college I knew people who studied for our calculus and physics exams stoned and did quite well.

I'd be skeptical of a programmer who claimed cannabis made them more productive, especially at high doses, but if I could see that their work were consistent and good, I might believe them.

[sophacles]

I program high often. It's resulted in good code and bad code at proportions roughly equal to sober programming. The difference is generally in which code is good in each case.

Tricky memory stuff, trying to deal with complex order of operations (threads, race conditions, etc) tends to go way better sober.

House keeping like light refactors (im in rust these days so stuff like: oh that should be a result not an option, or using matches instead of ifs, genericize this struct), boiler plate stuff and cleaning up logs/error handling tends to go better when I'm high.

But there are exceptions to both trends and I've done good deep work high and done plenty of good housekeeping sober. And of course since it's coding, i've (re)done plenty of bad work in both states too.

Sad to know my experience is just nonsense. I guess I need to get in touch with the CFO and let him know the profit from the product I wrote is just a pipe dream.

[0xdeadb00f]

It's great for brainstorming! In fact I get the wildest ideas for programs software and the like while high in bed.

[pm90]

YMMV. I’ve found that it helps to turn off distractions and let my brain get in the right state to play with the problem, to look at it from different angles… basically brainstorming.

It’s pretty well known that marijuana helps to boost creativity; just look at all the music (and media in general) that’s been created by musicians high on pot.

Arguably, it’s effects have not been studied as well as regular drugs so perhaps that’s needed to make more objective statements about its effects.

[mediocregopher]

This has basically been my experience with it... the actual act of typing out code goes slower, but my ideas are more fluid and I'm able to "see" the whole picture more clearly. I think the slowness is more to do with having more ideas and noticing more details and possibilities than otherwise, so I have to spend more time sorting through all that.

[jermaustin1]

Anyone who has tried it and doesn't use it, might experience it different than people who use it every day. I've known new users who couldn't walk straight after a bowl, and "pro" users who smoke 2+ grams a day and just keep on trucking. It comes down to tolerances, and probably also your mind adjusting to how it interprets the world under the influence of marijuana which is a mild psychedelic.

Also going to add that the time-dilation effect of marijuana will definitely make you feel less productive but you will realize only 1/3 of the time you thought passed has passed. I'm sure this might play into some of the findings.

[whalesalad]

Eliminating chronic pain can have the net result of improving concentration and intelligence from baseline.

I have absolutely had profoundly productive days while using THC. It's not black and white. Like any tool, it needs to be used responsibly.

[pietrovismara]

I tried and can confirm it works exactly like that for me.