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

Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 316 posts

Re: Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany

#221

Post by jijijijij »

geraldhh wrote: post #168
refurb wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This tiny detail makes the difference why employer-mandated drug tests are not a thing in Germany like it is in the US. I assume that Germany does drug testing for safety-related roles? Crane operators, pilots, nuclear plant operators? It would be wild if they don't.

last nuclear plant got shutdown a few weeks ago, but, yes, drug testing is a thing (but not popular) even for some office jobs.

I never heard of anyone around me required to do a drug test for work. May be different for people carrying guns, like police and hunters, but that's because of gun license requirements.

A drug test may be legal, or suggested, when there is reasonable suspicion someone was high during work hours. Maybe air traffic controllers and similar professions need to be evidently clean. Otherwise I don't think drug tests are legal in Germany. Even asking about consumption is illegal in most cases.

Re: Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany

#222

Post by antisthenes »

Wytwwww wrote: post #126
jll29 wrote: post #103

I watched other people smoke cannabis, and after producing some foul fumes, they were just passively lying on the floor with a stare of apathy. I decided to NEVER try this, and to this day I have no regrets; I enjoy being in full control of my senses (I also do not drink alcohol and do not smoke). The only thing hallucinating in my place is neural language models that I do research on. However, I do support the legal…

> and after producing some foul fumes, they were just passively lying on the floor with a stare of apathy That's like deciding to never try beer after seeing some people getting blackout drunk. Of course, it's your choice and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that but still a weird argument to make. A lot of things when taken to the extreme can lead to very negative outcomes, not exactly a good reason to penaliz…

> That's like deciding to never try beer after seeing some people getting blackout drunk.

Out of all reasons to never try beer, this actually seems like a pretty good one? If my #1 reason would be seeing a drunk driver crash, then this would be a solid #2.

I'm not one to go moralize other people's use of substances, but it's also weird for me to read your take on it. Those are very common and good reasons for people not to try substances.

Re: Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany

#223

Post by [deleted] »

goosedragons wrote: post #217
jijijijij wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My main issue since legalization is I find the smell disgusting. Tough luck. I also dislike coffee breath, cigarette smoke, the smell of energy drinks, cinnamon chewing gum, perfumes, beer, dog shit, fertilizers, some garden flowers, car exhausts, ... But on the bright side, there will be more variety in weed strains. They do smell differently. Some really are nasty, some are very pleasant. I absolutely love the sm…

Come on. Only really cigarette smoke and fertilizer is remotely comparable. And the latter is pretty rare unless you live in the country. There's no such thing as a "pleasant" weed smoke. You only like it because you're smoking it.

[deleted]

Re: Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany

#224

Post by a_bouncing_bean »

georgeplusplus wrote: post #195
carschno wrote: post #182

While scanning the comments, I observe one recurring argument against the step of legalizing weed: (excessive) use can and will have catastrophic psychological consequences on some of the consumers. I totally agree. It is, however a flawed argument in the context of legalization. One of the arguments for the legalization by the health ministry is that prohibition has been ineffective, factually not avoiding or even r…

My main issue since legalization is I find the smell disgusting. It also imbues and latches itself onto to whatever is around you. Now legalization has people smoking it in my apartment complex or at restaurants and the smell just lingers around my house or on your clothes when your near it. And then Every weed smoker I brought this up to told me tough luck.

I am sorry they were rude to you. I had an experience in Phoenix Arizona recently. I was traveling for work from an illegal state, and we were having a work event, it was nighttime, and the smell started coming in from the street pretty strong, after a few minutes a hotel employee came over and closed the window and the smell went away. Seems like the more reasonable reaction instead of calling the police or trying to get the people arrested, on the other hand it was rude to light up on the sidewalk just outside of an open window/doors. If people were reasonable about their consumption and courteous of others in regard to the smell, there wouldn't be an issue. It's too bad we just can't make it illegal to be a rear end.

Re: Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany

#225

Post by nebalee »

goosedragons wrote: post #217
jijijijij wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My main issue since legalization is I find the smell disgusting. Tough luck. I also dislike coffee breath, cigarette smoke, the smell of energy drinks, cinnamon chewing gum, perfumes, beer, dog shit, fertilizers, some garden flowers, car exhausts, ... But on the bright side, there will be more variety in weed strains. They do smell differently. Some really are nasty, some are very pleasant. I absolutely love the sm…

Come on. Only really cigarette smoke and fertilizer is remotely comparable. And the latter is pretty rare unless you live in the country. There's no such thing as a "pleasant" weed smoke. You only like it because you're smoking it.

Imo, it's very much dependent on the intensity. I don't smoke it myself and consider a slight whiff of it quite pleasant, but I wouldn't tolerate someone smoking in my living quarters.

Re: Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany

#226

Post by jijijijij »

goosedragons wrote: post #217
jijijijij wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My main issue since legalization is I find the smell disgusting. Tough luck. I also dislike coffee breath, cigarette smoke, the smell of energy drinks, cinnamon chewing gum, perfumes, beer, dog shit, fertilizers, some garden flowers, car exhausts, ... But on the bright side, there will be more variety in weed strains. They do smell differently. Some really are nasty, some are very pleasant. I absolutely love the sm…

Come on. Only really cigarette smoke and fertilizer is remotely comparable. And the latter is pretty rare unless you live in the country. There's no such thing as a "pleasant" weed smoke. You only like it because you're smoking it.

How are these things not comparable? It's all smells which linger and affect people around, but have to be tolerated as personal freedom of the offender.

I guess, apart from indoor smoking without proper ventilation (illegal in Germany), car exhausts are the only other thing which should be illegal, because of the huge burden on public health and the objective impact on another's life. If I have to tolerate even car exhausts, you have to tolerate all the weed stink. I would gladly sacrifice weed for a car ban.

I don't smoke. But you need friends with better dope, or stop hot boxing.

Re: Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany

#227

Post by slow_typist »

_ph_ wrote: post #196
summarity wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Landlords successfully get people to adhere to all kinds of technically illegal rules. If you need a space, you sign whatever they give you. Waiting times for a consultation with renters associations in Berlin are 3-4 weeks right now. For example, they often prohibit plants of certain sizes on balconies, and entirely elsewhere. Legal? Maybe not - but here in reality you have little recourse.

That is the nice thing about German contract law. If you as a private person (v.s. a head of a business) sign a contract, you are widely protected from unfair contract terms. This applies to any contract but especially employment or rent contracts.

Beware if you buy a house from a natural person though, even if the house is sold through a professional broker, you are pretty much on your own. And filing a private lawsuit later gets very expensive (and can get pretty nasty).

Re: Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany

#228

Post by slow_typist »

yunohn wrote: post #17
summarity wrote: post #5

> cultivate up to three marijuana plants at home I give it 3 microseconds until every single new rental contract / landlord prohibits this (and consumption). Also, here’s an article with slightly more info on limits and prohibited places: https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-celebrates-legal-cannabis-posse...

This is the case in the Netherlands, despite a better legalization status. I’ve never seen a rental allow growing cannabis. Some larger rental agencies even perform yearly inspections.

Yearly inspections, how can that be lawful in a EU country?

Re: Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany

#229

Post by super256 »

Gigachad wrote: post #197
georgeplusplus wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My main issue since legalization is I find the smell disgusting. It also imbues and latches itself onto to whatever is around you. Now legalization has people smoking it in my apartment complex or at restaurants and the smell just lingers around my house or on your clothes when your near it. And then Every weed smoker I brought this up to told me tough luck.

Same problem with cigarette smoke though.

Cigarettes only smell when being lit, marijuana smells always. And the smell is way more potent.

Both suck though, I agree.

Re: Smoking cannabis is now legal in Germany

#230

Post by itishappy »

jll29 wrote: post #103

I watched other people smoke cannabis, and after producing some foul fumes, they were just passively lying on the floor with a stare of apathy. I decided to NEVER try this, and to this day I have no regrets; I enjoy being in full control of my senses (I also do not drink alcohol and do not smoke). The only thing hallucinating in my place is neural language models that I do research on. However, I do support the legal…

Good for you! That takes willpower. I'm also curious about your stance on less controversial drugs like coffee and sugar. (Sugar is surprisingly insidious!)

> I enjoy being in full control of my senses

Heh. I suspect you're a lot less in control than you think you are. It took me experiencing mushrooms and LSD to really open my eyes to the ridiculous amount of processing our minds do just outside of our awareness. I'm sure this could be explored without mind altering chemicals too, but few do.

Post reply on HN