Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 430 posts

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

#211

Post by jotm »

doggwalker wrote: post #178
wishfish wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Is it illegal to grow your own? It's the easiest way to get something low THC. Hell, you can even smoke (or better, use a dry herb vape) the leaves of any plant if the buds are too strong - from my experience, they have a more relaxing effect.

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

#212

Post by adrianN »

yccs27 wrote: post #70
coldcode wrote: post #29

While I have no interest in weed, I never understood why people are against it, since cigarettes are also a drug and are far more damaging to heath and the economy, and in the US kills a couple hundred thousand folks a year, or alcohol, which is a drug, and kills tens of thousands of people a year. Eliminating illegality would save in so many ways, and taxes could help offset other taxes. But no, weed is somehow more…

I don't think we would ever legalize cigarettes and alcohol if they weren't already widespread. You cited the numbers yourself, it would be a terrible decision. But lots of people are already using these substances, and we've seen how well it works to make alcohol illegal... The reason cigs/alcohol are legal has nothing to do with their addictiveness or the harm they do, so a comparison with them. The anti-legalizati…

Banning tobacco is plausible because it's somewhat difficult to grow the plants. But you can't ban alcohol. Anybody can produce it. You can literally produce it by accident.

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

#213

Post by [deleted] »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #160

> " European countries that have a much bigger problem with illegal cannabis use, like France, are watching very closely what Germany is doing at the moment. " The criminal activities and gang wars linked to cannabis trafficking in France are huge. It's a shame that France never took action either on legalisation or on crime... I am not sure that whatever Germany does will have much impact in France, though.

[deleted]

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

#214

Post by saiya-jin »

wickedsight wrote: post #40

The Netherlands will be especially impacted by this. We refused actual legalization for many reasons, many of which will be invalidated by Germany decriminalizing. Our current stance on weed is so confusing that it's hard to explain to any foreigner, but strictly speaking weed isn't legal and not even decriminalized... But yes, Amsterdam is in The Netherlands.

I sure hope this will come ASAP. As much as I like to stroll through Amsterdam and around, after 10+ visits, often quite long with various people that were/are important in my life, I wish to just buy stuff while experiencing other places and cultures.

It is expensive place with miserable weather. Dutch ladies are always a nice sight though. Plus those drunken crowds of mostly young British around Red light district won't be missed by me.

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

#215

Post by olabyne »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #160

> " European countries that have a much bigger problem with illegal cannabis use, like France, are watching very closely what Germany is doing at the moment. " The criminal activities and gang wars linked to cannabis trafficking in France are huge. It's a shame that France never took action either on legalisation or on crime... I am not sure that whatever Germany does will have much impact in France, though.

I live in Marseille, famous for being home of the illegal traffic. In the poorest suburbs, there is dozens of 'drive through' spots, where the criminals are very friendly to the customers, almost like regular business, while being well alert for any police raid.

It is a cat and mouse game, where the police only manages to catch kids, and the sell spot just spawns at another appartment-building.

IMO, the french government is blind to think it can fight cannabis traffic by trying to stop the ilegal offer. France is number one consumer of cannabis in europe, so the demand will always create another traffic, unless you counteract with legal, and regulated offer.

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

#216

Post by treis »

iinnPP wrote: post #98
subpixel wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a high-school friend in prison for 20+ years for marijuana-related charges. I now live in a recreationally legal state, the irony is not lost on me.

US prisons are absolutely packed with young marijuana dealers/users with effectively lifetime sentences. Many of them are truly good people.

>US prisons are absolutely packed with young marijuana dealers/users with effectively lifetime sentences.

No they aren't. Only 20% of inmates are in jail for drug offenses and only a tiny fraction (if there's even one) is on a life time sentence for dealing weed.

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

#217

Post by grasshopperpurp »

treis wrote: post #206
grasshopperpurp wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdote: I've never seen someone suffer anxiety from an Indica strain, but I have seen plenty of bad trips from Sativa strains. Medical is legal where I live, and I like both (and hybrids) depending on what I'm doing. In the evening, I would stick to Indicas and Indica-dominant hybrids. Since I work, and I never use while working, I use Sativas far less, but I like them for weekends - walks, chores, etc.. It's a bri…

The difference between Indica and Sativa is to a large extent imagined. Even if it's not most of the strains you buy today are hybrids.

>The difference between Indica and Sativa is to a large extent imagined.

Can you elaborate? This is very contrary to my experience.

. . . NM I looked it up and see what you're referring to. I'll have to look into it more, because, again, it doesn't sync with my experience.

>Even if it's not most of the strains you buy today are hybrids.

I've never had an ounce of difficulty finding Indicas or Sativas at dispensaries. Maybe there are more hybrids (never took the time to count the options), but if there are quality options available for all three, I don't see how it matters. And, within hybrids, there are Indica-dominant and Sativa-dominant strains.

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

#218

Post by jotm »

aikah wrote: post #199

It's crazy we are still having these kind of debates in Europe. 20 years ago most youth around 18/20 thought Cannabis would have already been legalised by now, I don't believe one second that any of the European elected official under 50 never smoked pot. The only possible explanation I see is heavy lobbying from big pharma groups or wine interests.

A couple of things that I'm sad about:

there are medications better than cannabis for anxiety and depression. But no one talks about them. They're on the same level as alcohol and weed when it comes to addiction potential and harm. Just make them legal ffs.

I'm really happy I can get them from pharmacies in my country because they're not on a restricted prescription so they just give them to you if you pinky promise that you have/had a prescription. That said, it's technically illegal.

And 2: holy shit eastern European states are dumb. They are missing out on billions in sales and tourism by not legalizing cannabis alone. And now western states will legalize it and reap all the benefits. Watch how eastern states just keep complaining about the brain drain, workforce drain, money problems while doing nothing effective to combat it. Just cheap places to build factories and buy homes for retirement. Great job.

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

#219

Post by gwbas1c »

OscarDC wrote: post #167
opabinia wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 substan…

> 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.

Regarding the US: We already experimented with alcohol prohibition. It failed for the same reasons that marijuana prohibition failed. (I believe Europe did the same thing, but I'm less familiar with its history.)

You're advocating for a "nanny state" law. These are difficult in democracies.

In the US, we see debates about similar issues: Some people want to ban guns, some people want to ban abortion, some people want to ban bad drivers, some people want to require helmets for XXX.

Nanny state laws only pass in the US when the politicians who pass them know they will get re-elected. (IE, the US has some areas with very restrictive alcohol laws, because the people in that area believe drinking is a sin.)

Post reply on HN