Live data from Hacker News

Germany’s move to legalise cannabis expected to create ‘domino effect’

theguardian.com

161–170 of 430 posts

Re: Germany’s move to legalise cannabis expected to create ‘domino effect’

#161

I think the legalization of cannabis in Europe has a lot of potential. I just wish that we would take measures to avoid the ever increasing levels of THC dosage in weed to insane levels, like you see in the US or California specifically. I firmly believe that cannabis can do a lot of good, but the poison is in the dosage. It has been shown in the past that increasing THC while decreasing CBD leads to an increase in n…

Quoted post unavailable.

I think you're underestimating the pain relief thing. I know multiple people who never touched the stuff recreationally, developed a chronic pain condition (arthritis, in one example), and now swear by it. The only alternatives with similar effectiveness are opioids, which are arguably even more harmful.

I don't touch it myself, but even as an independent observer the benefits there are clear.

Re: Germany’s move to legalise cannabis expected to create ‘domino effect’

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I opened with "I'm not proposing doing nothing" - I do think measures to remediate this problem in the short term are a good idea, in line with the fears outlined in your article. Nothing in your article tackles my main point though? > the cannabis industry has taken a page from the tobacco and alcohol industries’ play book As a slightly off-topic aside: tobacco I'm less familiar with (I wasn't aware of efforts by th…

I suspect it's a reference to the shift in preference for hard liquor over beer that happened in the US as a result of prohibition, liquor being easier to smuggle due to lower volumes. That preference persisted for some decades after prohibition ended, but arguably has turned around by now.

In that case, that would reinforce my instinct. There's certainly a recent cocktail boom, and there was a brief trend of straight vodka being popular with girls my age when I was in college, but these are passing market phases, not something systemic in the industry. By-and-large ~5% beers and ~12% wines are the popular choice today.

Re: Germany’s move to legalise cannabis expected to create ‘domino effect’

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That could be the an explanation for only having high potency weed in areas where it's prohibited, but it's equally available here in Canada where it's legal. I think people just like it.

Because all the Canadian weed stays there. Right...

I don't think that makes sense? What are you attempting to communicate?

I'm saying that high potency products are still sold in legalized areas as there's demand for it.

I remember having issues years ago finding low but not non-zero THC products on the government website. I had to get 17% which is still high. Things may be different now.

Re: Germany’s move to legalise cannabis expected to create ‘domino effect’

#165
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most California dispensaries I have been to absolutely have low dosage 5mg options, they also stock 100mg options, but stores listen to the market and stock based on what they can get and what people want. It was very typical to see older folks and very light smokers to request the smaller dosages. They also seemed to trend towards vapes in the younger lighter smokers because the dosage can be fairly small.

Yeah, I've bought weed in Cali once, didn't have any problem at all finding CBD strains which are low THC (most would consider it trace amounts). Finding a strain with 0 THC (since I'm pretty sensitive and don't enjoy THC at all) is a bit harder.

The good news is, since 0 THC strains are legal everywhere in the US, you can just buy them online.

They don't show up in dispensaries much, because why go through all the hassle to meet regulations on a product which doesn't have to meet those regulations, unless they're being sold at a dispensary?

Re: Germany’s move to legalise cannabis expected to create ‘domino effect’

#166

I think the legalization of cannabis in Europe has a lot of potential. I just wish that we would take measures to avoid the ever increasing levels of THC dosage in weed to insane levels, like you see in the US or California specifically. I firmly believe that cannabis can do a lot of good, but the poison is in the dosage. It has been shown in the past that increasing THC while decreasing CBD leads to an increase in n…

I do hope they keep strong strains tho, I use a herb vape, n u love to only vape around 25mg of bud n get high, way less irritation

Re: Germany’s move to legalise cannabis expected to create ‘domino effect’

#167
post #79

Quoted post unavailable.

Should we criminalize chocolate bars and hamburgers as well then?

The answer to the concern of potential health issue of cannabis legalization is almost always "what about [this other bad product with some common effects], should we forbid it too?"

This argument always sounds like a fallacy to me, as we're talking about legalizing something that was previously not, not the other way around.

I get that the argument might be seen as relativizing by providing examples of legal substances everybody agree today should be legal, but the way this answer (and others) is always presented sounds to me excessively aggressive and non-productive. If you want to make a point, please make it, don't just stop at this absurd proposition.

---

Some people (I'm not even included in that group as I don't really care about this issue) seem very concerned about the global health implications of cannabis legalization.

Instead of aggressively diminishing this opinion with whataboutisms, legalizing proponents motivated enough to answer to this person should IMO better take into consideration (and respect) this opinion.

Re: Germany’s move to legalise cannabis expected to create ‘domino effect’

#168
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone is you. Not everyone thinks like you. A good pre-roll is actually a great experience. It's a 'treat" for many habitual users.

Quoted post unavailable.

Stop behaving this way on Hacker News. It is aggressive and unwelcome, and we don't want that here.

Re: Germany’s move to legalise cannabis expected to create ‘domino effect’

#169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I'm not proposing "doing nothing" about this problem, how much of this is likely to be a "hangover" from prohibition. Based on absolutely no data whatsoever, my instinct would be that demand for high-THC/low-CBD products would decrease as access to cannabis becomes less novel.

Being too high can be really uncomfortable for a lot of people. Some strains produce more unpleasant side effects than others, as well (although people will often react very differently to the same thing, of course). I didn't believe there was any such thing as weed I wouldn't like before I gained legal access. Now I know better. Perhaps there's been resistance to talking about this much because it's a new freedom an…

I've taken every non-opiate drug available under the sun. The only really bad experience was a night of absolute terror after a deep drag on a joint.

Re: Germany’s move to legalise cannabis expected to create ‘domino effect’

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I opened with "I'm not proposing doing nothing" - I do think measures to remediate this problem in the short term are a good idea, in line with the fears outlined in your article. Nothing in your article tackles my main point though? > the cannabis industry has taken a page from the tobacco and alcohol industries’ play book As a slightly off-topic aside: tobacco I'm less familiar with (I wasn't aware of efforts by th…

> Alcohol isn't naturally occurring in harvested produce - it's an output from a process. Ethanol is naturally occurring. That said, I agree that including alcohol here is bizarre. As far as I can tell there has never been a monotonic increase in ABV; instead, there is a large selection ranging from high alcohol content to even alcohol-free (which is so unpopular in the US as to be barely worth mentioning, but quite…

> Ethanol is naturally occurring.

That's... decidedly not true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95DPkPW5_PE

Post reply on HN