Gmail Creator Joins Facebook Co-Founder, Donates 100K To Legalize Marijuana

http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/29/marijuana/

by Mistone • 16 years ago

168 95 16 years ago

Are there any hackers out there that like to code stoned? My marijuana-days never really overlapped with my coding days, but I can't imagine that would be a very good combo. I'm all for legalization tho I no longer partake -- I'm just wondering if it's a regular part of the lifestyle of many successful hackers...

onewland• 16 years ago

Certainly not me, but a little birdie whispered in my ear that it makes writing boring boilerplate/glue/test code a lot more tolerable.

sliverstorm3• 16 years ago

a carefully regulated light buzz of alcohol is sublime for that.

JeremyBanks• 16 years ago

I find it isn't as terrible as you'd expect if you're caffeinated at the same time. I think it can be genuinely helpful while initially thinking them out certain things on paper. When I'm actually writing code it sometimes causes me to lose sight of the big picture and to spent forever "perfecting" a function or two. Fun, though not overwhelmingly productive.

I wouldn't recommend doing most of your coding high, but if you do so every now and then it might help you think about things in a different way.

evo_92• 16 years ago

Yeah good point on the caffeine.

I started taking a Guarana supplement with my morning vitamins; guarana is similar to coffee beans but has a higher concentration of caffeine. So far I've been amazed by how it's working.

jhaglund• 16 years ago

coffee + weed = the hippie speedball

evo_92• 16 years ago

It's funny but I'm hesitant to answer this truthfully.

I'm not sure if that's because I have aspirations to submit to YC at some point and wonder how PG might view this (and whether it would affect any decision making one way or another). Or if it's just the general concern with unnecessarily putting myself 'out there' somewhat publicly.

So yes, I do smoke and code. I don't know if I would say I'm 'stoned' though; I find that if I have just a wee bit I'm more focused and on point. It's similar to when I play music; not for the 'creative release' often claimed (though seldom experienced by me), but rather for this deep-focus aspect.

chc4• 16 years ago

Pot's nothing. PG admits to using Lisp while working on his startup. If that's not a controversial productivity hack, I don't know what is.

pg• 16 years ago

We certainly don't care, as long as you make things people want.

matwood2• 16 years ago

Like with alcohol it always depends on the person. Some people can have a drink or 2 and think nothing of it. While others can't drink without going to black out drunk.

I look at pot and people the same way. I've had friends who smoked and were the laziest people you ever met. They were lazy pre-pot and only became lazier. I've had other friends who smoke and they became super successful, quality people.

A girl I dated in college occasionally smoked with her sister. I would give them grief about it, but turns out in HS they smoked every day with the eventually valedictorian of their school. Oh, and they both finished college with 4.0s in finance.

chc4• 16 years ago

I don't smoke, but I know a lot of people find it aids their creativity and ability to focus (in reasonable doses). Those are useful traits for hackers, at least in some tasks. (More designy things would show greater improvement than the mathy parts of the job.)

sachitgupta• 16 years ago

I'm not a coder; but I had a friend who would often code high or drunk. And in a very competitive CS program; he was very very good.

icegreentea• 16 years ago

About the drunk part, that Ballmer peak XKCD comic?

I've found it to be more or less true for mental tasks. When I (and some classmates) have been lightly buzzed, we seem to work better (in certain respects). For example, when solving physics problems, we become much better/faster at coming up with solutions (granted, we'll probably end up making more calculation errors).

This led me to doing all my assignments first buzzed, and then recopying them out and rechecking the calculations (my writing is horrible, the recopying was required anyways) later when sober.

Of course, when finals rolled around, I had to spend 3 solids days practicing physics while sober again. It was weird.

jcapote• 16 years ago

My favorite reply to a HN thread (titled "What are your productivity hacks") was "The right mix of ganja and caffeine"

brlewis• 16 years ago

I have never used marijuana and never intend to. But things I wouldn't do myself shouldn't necessarily be illegal.

fady4• 16 years ago

Of course! I've been smoking cannabis since I was 16, but now, I only use it when I do front end work (weekends). It allows me to have laser focus for the task at hand, and allows me to forgot about the unimportant things that also need done during the weekend: laundry, cleaning the apt, dishes, etc.

"I'm just wondering if it's a regular part of the lifestyle of many successful hackers"

I think it does not matter if you're a "successful" hacker or not, it matters if you understand how it effects you and your work, successful or not. I know some that cannot work without it, but I also know some that cannot think straight while stone

spudlyo2• 16 years ago

In the mid 90s I lived with an MIT educated hacker who was our programming team lead. We worked on a Windows multi-protocol email client that had back ends that talked to AOL, CompuServe, PRODIGY, MCI, etc. My roommate coded nearly all of the back ends, and was responsible for much of the design and architecture of the program, which was for us a fairly big success.

Every morning before work, he'd make a pot of the nastiest, strongest coffee you could imagine, pour himself a cup, and drink it with his morning bong hits. He'd then drive myself and our other roommate to work in his beat up Volvo station wagon. Once he got to work he'd shut himself in his office, crank up his stereo (no headphones) and start reading his email.

f7u12• 16 years ago

My hero.

thought_alarm• 16 years ago

Where is he now?

vaporizer2• 16 years ago

Well, if I get too high, I find it difficult, but if I'm just a little high, I find it beneficial in that it helps me focus and sometimes helps creativity. I'm currently employed and don't get high on the job, but I code on my side projects high pretty often. But I don't generally get high with the intentions of coding. Usually it's just that I happen to be high and just want to code and make progress on my projects. Often times it's not until I've sobered up a little (but not completely) before I start coding, though.

I didn't used to do this when I was younger (I'm 32 now). In college I found that while I could do homework high, it usually resulted in me correcting a bunch of errors the next day, so I reserved pot (and alcohol) for when I was finished with my work. But these days I'm so compelled to work on side projects that having used pot (and sometimes alcohol) earlier in the evening just doesn't stop me from putting in a few hours before bed time.

As a side note: I gave up regular usage of caffeine after I got out of college. I found I no longer needed it once I was able to get 7-8 hours of sleep every night instead of 4. But I very occasionally have caffeine and yes, as others have said, pot + caffiene is a good combo.

kaens4• 16 years ago

I find it good for exploratory programming, fiddling around with finding a solution to a difficult problem and coming up with new ideas.

There are many coding tasks it's not that great for for me, primarily those that make heavy use of longer-than-short-term memory :P

yason• 16 years ago

This just could've been about Python or some other dynamic language.

random42• 16 years ago

I hope this is not an "out of context query", but why/how does money affect creation of laws in the US?

noarchy• 16 years ago

There is a referendum on the California ballot where the voting population will get to determine whether or not to legalize marijuana. The money that gets donated can be used for advertising, which may be effective in this case.

dmix• 16 years ago

Just like products, referendums don't market themselves.

jamesteow2• 16 years ago

This might be useful to read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Elec...

eli• 16 years ago

That's not actually really relevant to this particular case, which is a state ballot measure not a national campaign for office.

mahmud• 16 years ago

NPR had an excellent segment on this, this morning.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1308913...

hugh3• 16 years ago

Personally I hate marijuana and everybody who uses it. I openly refuse to have anything to do with people who do.

We're born with few enough brain cells as it is, why would you want to kill more of 'em?

If Prop 19 passes I'll be looking to leave California ASAP, because there's nothing that makes me angrier than smelling pot smoke.

stingraycharles• 16 years ago

Do you also hate people who voluntarily kill their own brain cells using other means, or in any other ways damage their own body ?

lukifer• 16 years ago

There's no argument for marijuana prohibition that does not also apply to alcohol prohibition, and we all know how that turned out. We're wasting billions of taxpayer dollars to prosecute what is at worst a poor personal health decision.

binomial• 16 years ago

Alcohol has many other disadvantages which are, IMO, worse than just the harm to personal health, though these normally only surface when overused. Can't say the same about marijuana though, and I agree with you about that.

mfukar4• 16 years ago

I'm behind this statement. As another wise man once said, we could also take the warning labels off everything and let our problems solve themselves.

cryptoz2• 16 years ago

Do you follow the same policies about people who have a glass of wine with dinner? That kills brain cells.

Do you hate everyone who drinks coffee? Caffeine is actually chemically addictive and can kill you if you overdose, whereas pot cannot kill you no matter how much you have.

How about Barack Obama? He's admitted to smoking pot. Do you hate him because of that fact? Or Carl Sagan, one of the 20th century's most loved scientists? He was an avid pot smoker as well.

The best athlete in the world, Michael Phelps, also smokes pot. Do you hate him?

Your opinions of hate are horrible. Please re-think how you feel about marijuana and maybe read some science about the drug. It's much less damaging than alcohol.

jbooth2• 16 years ago

Anyone who quote "hate"s people for smoking pot definitely hates Barack Obama.

0-4• 16 years ago

Drinking doesn't force others to consume the drink.

Smoking is something that you're forcing those around you to partake in with you. It's antisocial.

sliverstorm3• 16 years ago

> Caffeine is actually chemically addictive and can kill you if you overdose, whereas pot cannot kill you no matter how much you have.

Wait, I thought THC could kill you, except you are unable to smoke enough to reach toxic limits. Coffee is weak enough I can't imagine I could consume enough to give myself Caffeine poisoning before I got water poisoning.

If you're talking about pure caffeine, make sure you compare it to pure THC.

mfukar4• 16 years ago

Alcohol doesn't kill brain cells. It's a myth.

Also, while I disapprove of marijuana abuse (I've used twice, never felt like it could benefit me in any way), I would like all movements to legalize marijuana to wait until there's

a) a comprehensive study (or studies) on the triggers of bad reactions to THC (anxiety, paranoid thought etc.) which to the best of my knowledge doesn't exist so far, as well as to its link with T-cell function impairment

b) at least one reliable way of acquiring marijuana which is properly grown and

c) ending once and for all the misinformation about marijuana, THC, and their effects and alleged links to drug addiction, and so forth.

chc4• 16 years ago

Marijuana does not kill brain cells, and humans are not exactly running short on them either.

jockc• 16 years ago

In fact generally alcohol doesn't kill brain cells either http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/nervous-s...

fady4• 16 years ago

edit: agreed, Cannabis does not kill brain cells, our body actually makes it's own version of thc.

excerpt from Botany of Desire: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpH9C8-y708&feature=playe...

Mithrandir• 16 years ago

You can disagree with legalizing marijuana, and even hate the drug, but don't hate the people who use it.

I personally have never used marijuana, nor ever intend to do so, but I don't hate the people who use it because I don't who they are, or why they use marijuana. The ones who do (that I have heard of) use marijuana for medical purposes.

Say instead that you dislike (or don't approve of) the abuse of marijuana.

Todd• 16 years ago

You must really dislike football players, boxers, and others who engage in sports that cause repetitive light trauma to the head. They lose way more brain cells that way.

robryan2• 16 years ago

I think these opinions to have a lot to do with how the public is primed to behave by being exposed to things like TV where a censored message is portrayed and Football is an accepted and popular game and the drugs message is most anti all drugs reguardless of what the individuals giving the message think.

vaporizer2• 16 years ago

So you hate my girlfriend, who has multiple sclerosis and the only thing that makes her feel better when she's having a flare-up is marijuana? Often times she doesn't want to be high, but does it anyway because it's the only thing that works.

We'll be looking to move to California if this passes. Good to know there will be people leaving to make room for us...

kaens4• 16 years ago

What in the world are you doing in California if you hate the smell of pot smoke?

kristofferR3• 16 years ago

Damn, I really hope Prop 19 passes. I'm not even American, but a passage would mark the start of the end of the dreadful war on marijuana around the world. Other states would follow, then Latin America (the former Mexican President said "May God let it pass" about Prop 19), countries in Europe (Netherlands, Spain, Denmark) and slowly it would be legalized around the world. Defeat would be a major setback.

I urge all Californians who're reading this to do their absolute best to make it pass in these last vital days. Join the phone banks, make sure all your friends are voting, campaign at universities. It could make a large difference, larger than you probably think.

dasht• 16 years ago

This appears to be roughly how prohibition against alcohol ended in the US: first with essentially universal defiance; then with a popular wink-wink-nod-nod "medical alcohol" exemption of sketchy legality; then with faultering enforcement and inconsistent and imperfect legal codes... and finally repeal. (Of course, for MJ the situation should be simpler because no amendment is needed to the US Constitution to end prohibition... merely an act of Congress.)

borism2• 16 years ago

Pot was almost legal in Netherlands since 70s, yet very few countries followed suit. What makes California so special that it will make the end of cannabis prohibition viral? I'm highly skeptical.

jbooth2• 16 years ago

"merely" an act of congress? Regarding a policy that's so easy to demagogue with and involves so many social dog whistles? You're dreaming :)

_delirium• 16 years ago

One thing that makes marijuana more complex is that, unlike was the case with alcohol, the prohibition is written into international treaties. Countries could just ignore or withdraw from them, or try to get them modified, but so far none seem to be willing to. Treaty obligations relating to banning marijuana trafficking are one thing that's complicated the Dutch experiment with decriminalization, and led to absurd situations, where coffee-shops selling pot to customers is tolerated, but that pot cannot legally come from anywhere (they cannot grow it, cannot buy it in wholesale quantities, etc.).

btilly• 16 years ago

Actually the "medical alcohol" exemption was present in the initial legislation and preceded universal defiance. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volstead_Act for more.

farnsworth2• 16 years ago

It's also more complicated because medical marijuana is actually legit.

fady4• 16 years ago

It's a shame how many good people have had their lives ruined because of our "war on drugs". When prop 19 passes, I hope they pardon some of the people in jail, especially people who have never had a record, besides their pot offense

usaar3332• 16 years ago

1) Marijuana is an infraction today in California. You can't go to jail for possession.

2) I'd be amazed to find someone in California who's life is actively being ruined due to a possession offense. Any conviction older than 2 years cannot be asked about for employment purposes.

s3graham• 16 years ago

Won't anyone think of the poor Canadians in the Kootenays? http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/10/27/b...

sigzero• 16 years ago

From everything I have read recently it is going downhill. I agree that it should be medically legal. I do not agree that it should be legal for general consumption.

pstuart2• 16 years ago

If you're not trolling I'd love to hear why. I've yet to hear a cogent reason that supports your opinion.

ojbyrne• 16 years ago

Doesn't this seem kind of late? Election is next Tuesday.

tlrobinson• 16 years ago

They just started running ads this week. For issues like this you don't want to start too soon and give the opposition a chance to raise money, produce ads, etc.

100k• 16 years ago

I was thinking the same thing. This would have made a lot bigger impact if he'd donated the money 3 months ago. Now the most it can be used for is some last-minute TV ads.

dasil003• 16 years ago

I already voted in favore of Prop 19 via postal ballot. The way that the American public has been hoodwinked going on a century about the real reasons for marijuana prohibition is really a travesty. Even most of the comments in this thread are focused on the personal freedom aspect; yet the real story of cannabis prohibition is all economic.

Nowadays it's prison guard unions and law enforcement that lobby heavily against legalization, but originally it was chemical and other industrial companies that drove the prohibition effort simply because it undercut their markets both on production (pesticides, fertilizers) and utility (synthetic materials). Of course the drug companies lobby against legalization of medical marijuana for parallel reasoning today (marijuana has fewer side effects than most drugs), but I find it deliciously ironic that in this day and age when environmental concerns are rising and hemp is a no-brainer solution for so many obvious problems, that the very population that was demonized in a side-channel PR effort to turn the public against "marijuana" (the Mexican term being used in English propoganda for its sinister connotation), has now become such a political force that they're actually going to get cannabis legalized for drug use purposes first, without any need to dip into the wealth of undeniable industrial uses of hemp; prohibited by proxy in a true crime against humanity.

metachris• 16 years ago

Techcrunch should add attributions to their images!

Gmail Creator Joins Facebook Co-Founder, Donates 100K To Legalize Marijuana

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