GnomeGodsGnomeMasters [none/use name]

Hey! I need to re-read Abbate’s original essay before I can give you a more thorough reply, but I did just read your assessment and I generally agree, with a caveat.

If I recall, the original essay was intended to be applied to our thinking about nonhuman animals almost exclusively… Although, now that I think about it, I feel like the author also mentions somewhere that by “Animals” they mean human and nonhuman animals alike.

As with you, I agree that the framework has promise, but the Weak Harming Principle B has some wacky implications — especially in human cases.

I’ll need to do some more reading, re-reading, and thinking to have a more thoughtful reply, which will require some time on my end.

As an aside, I just speed-read the intro to Living Oil by Stephanie LeMenager the other day, and she advocates a revision of what precisely constitutes “Life” on the basis of, well, oil. Like I said, it was a speed-read, so perhaps I misinterpreted her, but I find the idea intriguing, and I wonder how Abbate and LeMenager’s frameworks might play with one another.

Thanks for the comment tag, because I was not notified of the OP tag. I haven’t read your assessment yet, but I have it on my to-do list! Looking forward to it!

I’m just talking out my neck here, but as I recall from previous research I read like 10-20 years ago, it seemed that cannabis, for some, helped relieve acute symptoms in the moments after symptom onset, but I don’t think cannabis had any effect on overall anxiety long term.

Also cannabis — like literally ANY DRUG — literally fucks with your brain chemistry so uhhhhh an abundance of caution is necessary and one should really try to avoid using any mind-altering substances until their brain is done cookin’ sometime between 25-30.

Also, the causal relationship to psychotic disorders is fairly well documented at this point. Again, exercise caution if possible.

This should in no way be taken as reason to continue with cannabis prohibition, because prohibition is the devil.

Editing to say that there are millions of biopsychosocioeconomic reasons for a person to use cannabis and I’m not trying to pass judgement on anyone who has used, currently uses, or will use any substance. I do wish it was as simple as “just say no” but alas :(

I came here to comment this exact same thing. I feel like you have to be a real particular sort of person to both not be racist AND fall victim to this sort of rhetoric. There’s gotta be what? Like… five of those people in the world? Everyone who believes this pretty much just has to be racist.