Why Are Stoners Typically Depicted as Stupid?

[RIOgreatescapist]

weed kills your brains cells which has for consequence the effect of making you stupid, simple as.

 

[s0denone]

Well I guess because they generally are. It slows down your brain activity so it's only natural that someone using the drug is likely to be stupider than someone not using it.

I'm sorry for being a dick here, especially sorry if by some chance I'm wrong.

Isn't the correct phrasing "more stupid"? I don't think "Stupider" is a word.

That's rather ironic, isn't it?

 

[Angel_0A]

Because succumbing to the temptation of drugs is a sure sign of a weak mind and will.

And because people aren't exactly in their most clever state when they are high:

This.
Can't people just be happy without shoving poison in their blood 24/7?

Why is it weak minded to challenge the moral barriers created by goverments?
IMO, its weaker just to accept what you're told.

No, people aren't at their most clever when high, but they're still a heck of a lot smarter than someone who's drunk.
All intoxicants make you look like a fool to a sober person.

 

[chainer1216]

because typically they are, in my personal experiance, i've never met a smart stoner, though i've met plenty who thought they were.

i'm not saying they dont exist, just that i've never personally met them.

 

[Blue_vision]

I know one stoner who could pass as "smart"

There are two problems in intelligence that I see though, ok three. Firstly, you've gotta be pretty stupid to do something hard like coke or heroin, but just cigarettes or weed are going to be bad for your health in the long run as well.
Secondly, being stoned all of the time just makes you a lot dumber. "Drugs" like weed are "drugs" because they make you not think as much.
Thirdly, I think it says something about someone's personality if they chose to be stoned all of the time. They may have a high intellect, but there's something else off in their minds. Now I personally don't even know why you'd want to recreationally do drugs, but I get why one might want to have a smoke to loosen up or something. But for a stoner, why do you need to get high all the time? I consider intelligence more than just your IQ score. I consider it integral to how you live life. If you've decided that life's too boring or shit to actually live it, I'd say that you're not a very smart person.

 

[aithilin]

Stoners are generally considered to be chasing a high. They aren't the "once a week" takers, they're the addicted ones who have fried their brain looking to get high. Stoners are the ones who are clinically addicted, have no control over their habit, and are beyond rational reasoning. They're idiots.

 

[Pegghead]

Well it's mainly due to the fact that years of heavy drug use can have this effect on people

and normally it's the people who practically live for drug ingestion that get portrayed this way, and frankly if that is the case then you are an idiot.

 

[Susan Arendt]

*snip*

You have absolutely what kind of people I have or have not known, and really, really shouldn't assume.

Thanks for reading and commenting on my entire post. That is really nice of you, instead of you quickly glancing over the first two lines and then go post what appears to be a rather angry reply.

I counter your "I've seen drunk/high people act stupid"-argument with "I've probably seen more drunk/high people not act as stupid".

What is the problem? You brought the tone and assumption of the argument on yourself. It's just speculation. It's your observations versus my observations.

And I'm free to assume anything I want, as long as I do it within reason. I've dabbled in drugs, which I scratched the surface of before, making me conclude that there is a fair chance I've seen much more people than you have, smoke weed.

I've been subject to water-wagon treatment from my doctor, what could be called borderline alcoholism, making me conclude that there is a fair chance I've seen much more people than you have, be drunk, drunk out of their minds, not to mention me being so myself.

Is there still a problem with my assumptions? If so, please make it clear. I will leave the argument.

Your argument of "I've seen people do x, and then behave as y" only makes your stance superior in an argument, if you've had more observations than the other guy. I'm the other guy. I was guessing you hadn't, rendering your argument rather invalid... Even if that's not really what I did. Instead I kind of agreed with you, which you would have found out, had you read the entire post.

I was in a relationship with an alcoholic for 8 years. I grew up hanging out with drug dealers and drunks. More than one of my ex's were users of various substances.

I did read your entire post, and many of your comments are based on the assumption that I have no idea what I'm talking about. I do. I'm not sure why I have to reiterate that appearing to be an idiot and actually being one are two separate things. As for my own personal experiences, I'm not about to put them on display.

To say that you've seen people not act stupid while high is only relevant if I said every person who ever gets high acts stupid, which I already said isn't the case. I don't understand what you're continuing to argue about. Some people act stupid while under the influence. This is a fact. Not everyone does, but some do.

 

[Yoshemo]

Because succumbing to the temptation of drugs is a sure sign of a weak mind and will.

And because people aren't exactly in their most clever state when they are high:

This.
Can't people just be happy without shoving poison in their blood 24/7?

Why is it weak minded to challenge the moral barriers created by goverments?
IMO, its weaker just to accept what you're told.

Its not weak minded to challenge the standards of society. I'm a gay rights activist, a Libertarian, and an Atheist myself.
Drugs are for weak minded fools because most people do them to be more popular, to be rebellious, or to escape reality. Drugs, including Pot, have serious side effects and damage your health and/or mental capacity. Pot causes cancer, kills many brain cells, and is addicting.
Drugs hurt you so they are bad

 

[SmartIdiot]

Pop culture propaganda, exagerrated personal experiences or scripts written by people who have never actually smoked pot. The majority of stoners are in fact intelligent people, however there is a limit with everyone. When you smoke a lot of marijuana in one evening you do tend to become quite dopey, hence the nickname. I believe some depictions may be based off of the way some people decide to get absolutely ripped on the stuff.

 

[ShaqLevick]

It's simply because you are slow when under the influence of marijuana. So if you happen to be learning something under the influence you wouldn't really be firing on all cylinders. To clarify I'm not talking about artistic intellect but purely analytical... and yes I am high right now.

 

[Ironman126]

Good question. All the stoners i've met are brilliant when sober. Maybe it's because stoners are so rarely sober...

 

[Angel_0A]

I think the problem is people are confusing the idea of stupid.
Was John Lennon stupid?
Were Bob Dylan or Jimmi Hendrix?

 

[Red Right Hand]

Because smoking weed frequently for a long time makes you fucking slow. My sister has been through it, and so have I to some degree. Also, it may also originate in that many stoners are jobless, lazy morons.

Makes some people slow. The most intelligent and clever person I know smokes a ton of weed all of the time and to be honest he's just as intelligent when smoking if not more. It's either a dumb stereotype or deliberate propaganda and to be honest, I wouldn't put it past the government.

 

[Agayek]

This is something I've been wondering for a while now. In movies, TV shows, literature and even just the common image that comes to mind on this subject always seems to show stoners (or anyone who uses any drug of any kind) as being incredibly stupid and weak minded.

But why is this?

For me, it's the exact opposite. All the stoners I know are actually extremely intelligent and often times are brilliant in their own ways. So why is it that the general public and the media depict weed smokers as unintelligent and borderline retarded?

Is it because the media wishes to give drugs as much shit as possible, so in turn they show the users as stupid because of their drug use rather than just being stupid in the first place? Or is it actually true that most of them are just stupid and I am lucky to know the few intellectual dopers?

What does the Escapist think about this and do you yourself do any drugs of the sort?

Well the reason media depicts stoners as dumb is a combination of factors. There's the fact that weed does make people "stupider", insofar as they are significantly more likely to do something stupid while under the influence, combined with the general perception that "stoners are dumb" because that gives higher ratings and depending on the program, there's a good chance there is also an anti-drug message they're trying to pass on. The latter isn't all that common, in all honesty, but it's occasionally there.

As for your final question, I don't do drugs myself, but I know a few people who do use weed regularly and they're just about split down the middle. Half of them are some of the smartest people I know, while with the other half I'm surprised they're able to tie their own shoes without assistance. It's like everything else in life, drug use covers the whole spectrum of intellect. I will say, though, that the drug use does not help the dumb half at all.

 

[megapenguinx]

All stoners I know ARE really that weakminded....


I guess it takes a non-stoner to know one.

This is what I've found as well.
Everyone I've ever encountered who smoked pot weren't exactly in the top 60% of the class.

Either the pot makes them that way or mainly dumb people use pot, I'm not sure which is which.

 

[s0denone]

I was in a relationship with an alcoholic for 8 years. I grew up hanging out with drug dealers and drunks. More than one of my ex's were users of various substances.

I'm sorry to hear that. Truly.

YOU
I did read your entire post, and many of your comments are based on the assumption that I have no idea what I'm talking about. I do. I'm not sure why I have to reiterate that appearing to be an idiot and actually being one are two separate things. As for my own personal experiences, I'm not about to put them on display.

Well it would appear you didn't really read my post anyway. I'll just quote you a part of it:

ME
To a sensible fucking person, everyone who isn't in their right state of mind, wearing clothes they can respect, are within their piercing/tattoo limits looks stupid. Working with your logic, all carpenters are stupid. Seriously that tool belt? It looks stupid -> All carpenters look stupid.

Alright. You don't have to reiterate anything, and would actually find that I'm... Wait. I'm spoiling the surprise here.

YOU
To say that you've seen people not act stupid while high is only relevant if I said every person who ever gets high acts stupid, which I already said isn't the case. I don't understand what you're continuing to argue about. Some people act stupid while under the influence. This is a fact. Not everyone does, but some do.

So, uh...

ME
We weren't originally talking about looking stupid. I can only agree. When you're not high yourself, people who are high look stupid. If you're drunk/high, stupid people doing stupid things look even more stupid.

The argument was whether or not they actually were stupid

You read that part too, huh? I'm guessing you missed it by accident, given that somehow I'm still arguing over whether or not some people look stupid whilst drunk/high, instead of them actually being stupid.

(Psst. I'm not.)