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

theguardian.com

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

#171

Post by LeonidasXIV »

andrewinardeer wrote: post #115
hans1729 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was told so from a credible source a couple years ago. What I can recall: legalisation would entail complex legal work, to a degree where that option is essentially not on the table. This is supported by the fact that "Legalisierung" is not part of the political language wrt topic, instead they refer to "Kontrollierte Abgabe" (~'controlled distribution').

So just because it is complex it won't get done? That sounds rather defeatist to me.

The entire german government is terminally defeatist. They've been dragging their feet on digitalization for so long, they've been dragging their feet on accessible internet for so long they've been dragging their feet on transport infrastructure, they've been dragging their feet basically everything for ages. You go to Eastern Europe and wonder how things seem to be progressing much faster there.

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

#172

Post by NoGravitas »

lucideer wrote: post #163
NoGravitas wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It seems like the biggest growth in the industry is in hard seltzers/alcopops, which range from 4-12%, but mostly on the lower end. So it does seem like in general there's a preference for strengths in a range of beer - craft beer - wine.

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

#173

Post by mardifoufs »

mschuster91 wrote: post #138
NickRandom wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm. Perhaps we studied different histories? As far as I was aware, the criminalization of weed was related to hemp being a competitor to the wood/paper industry. https://greathemp.net/why-hemp-was-banned-in-1937/

> "You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities," Ehrlichman said. "We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.…

This is such an US centric take, on an article about Germany.

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

#174

Post by kasey_junk »

wishfish wrote: post #26
selfmodruntime wrote: post #3

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…

Do weed shops in legal states not have "light" options? Seems weird if they didn't, but I guess that might be a side effect of recent legalization. That the heavy stuff sells better to consumers who used to take whatever they could find back in the black market days. Anyways, I'm asking because I unfortunately live in a state where it's still illegal.

Illinois dispensaries offer a wide range of products with a lot of light options. I’ve seen 1mg mints for instance.

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

#175

Post by bennovw »

bmicraft wrote: post #139
Findecanor wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not being what more people are concerned about does not mean that it does not happen. Although, I'll concede that cannabis is much less addictive compared to tobacco, for which this is how most smokers are made.

Second hand smoke is not how most smokers are made for _any_ drug. Generally that's peer pressure, but I see how those could be mixed up (being around smokers).

Yep, don't blame the second hand smoke, blame your own "first hand" desire to conform to the social norms and behavior of your peer group. This is why you should choose your friends very carefully.

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

#176

Post by m0llusk »

selfmodruntime wrote: post #3

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…

Higher concentrations allow people to use less material. That higher concentrations cause harm is not clearly established. There are always people who will manage to misuse and hurt themselves with anything, even Hacker News.

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

#177

Post by dfxm12 »

lucideer wrote: post #75
selfmodruntime wrote: post #3

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…

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.

Or people would use less.

I think national regulation around standard strength, doses, labeling, etc. could help here in a way that legalization (or decriminalization) at a smaller level can't.

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

#178

Post by doggwalker »

wishfish wrote: post #26
selfmodruntime wrote: post #3

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…

Do weed shops in legal states not have "light" options? Seems weird if they didn't, but I guess that might be a side effect of recent legalization. That the heavy stuff sells better to consumers who used to take whatever they could find back in the black market days. Anyways, I'm asking because I unfortunately live in a state where it's still illegal.

I would love a light option but with the people I know I am in the minority. Most people I know are so use to 20%+ THC strains that they would never want something less.

Even before my state legalized, I hadn't run into anything besides high grade strains in years. I imagine it would be really hard to find low quality weed anywhere in the US at this point.

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

#179

Post by BrianOnHN »

samatman wrote: post #168
BrianOnHN wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

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

No post body was provided.

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

#180

Post by zug_zug »

m0llusk wrote: post #176
selfmodruntime wrote: post #3

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…

Higher concentrations allow people to use less material. That higher concentrations cause harm is not clearly established. There are always people who will manage to misuse and hurt themselves with anything, even Hacker News.

Yup. You can always just take 1/24th of a gummy, I know plenty of people who do that weekly at least.
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