Interesting that only two states cap THC quantity. I'm in the UK and my friend has a (quite rare, here) medical prescription; the part I find most appealing is his ability to purchase significantly lower % THC stuff (though high-THC is very much available, which I found surprising). I still like it recreationally from time to time, but the problem is anything I get black market is just incapacitating, because I have no tolerance anymore.
I (and I suspect many users over a certain age) would like the equivalent of a few beers, but the only thing available is absinthe.
Part of the problem is that, currently, marijuana seems to be the only socially acceptable "treatment" for your mental health.
None of the people in this story were using marijuana for pleasure. They were using it heavily as a medical treatment.
This is just like lots of people who used alcohol and nicotine for exactly these same reasons for many, many years until those drugs became regarded as socially unacceptable.
A better solution is for us all to have genuine medical mental health treatment rather than a bunch of people all relying on ad hoc personal chemical experiments.
I have known alcoholics and heavy marijuana users. Alcohol is hands down far worse for health long term if used heavily and regularly. It’s not even close. I personally consider alcohol a “hard drug” at least at higher doses.
That being said there is this myth that weed is harmless. It’s not. It’s a drug. If it’s smoked it damages the lungs just like smoking anything else, and the compounds in it might have negative long term effects on cognition.
Like anything else of the sort if it’s used at all it should be used in moderation.
Inhaling combustion byproducts of cigarettes, devils lettuce... a car tire, etc is terrible for your lungs. Theres nothing about weed that makes it safe to smoke. I imagine it's probably worse the tobacco in some areas I imagine (not that "filters" help, but I'm sure they do something), but I'm just speculating. I would treat it with the same risks as 'regular' smoking.
There are better ways.
Also see this and note who the OP is: https://gothamgal.com/2024/10/journalism-vs-media/
Previous:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41771085 - October 7th, 2024 (4 comments)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41743399 - October 4th, 2024 (1 comment)
(no material discussions previously)
Of course, people should use alcohol tobacco and firearms, like the little baby jesus intended!
The deamonization of weed is a witch hunt, plain and simple. Paid for by the ATF industry.
Through 50 years of routine marijuana use, I've seen a number of people shrivel up and die of various tobacco use cancers, I've seen people die from liver disease and car crashes due to alcohol (not to mention the routine bar fighting and gutter puking), but I've never know anyone who died from marijuana use, ever.
As psychoactive substances go, it's about as harmless as they come. With probably only magic mushrooms being less harmful.
This article speaks much more loudly to the NYT's support of the ATF industry, than to any harms due to marijuana. People who are allergic will die from eating peanuts, I think this is on the same scale of danger that marijuana brings.
But, don't forget, that new chardaney is delightful!
I've been smoking weed daily for the past 15 years and if much, my health is much, much better today than it was 15 years ago. Yeah, not a great study of 1 case, but tacit knowledge is the real deal.
down ,Cuba way, they are dealing with a weed derivative they call "chemico" which by all accounts will FUU (fuck you up) Here is the deal with humans and substinces we will keep refining anything and everything untill we get it concentrated into a white chrystaline powder,ie: 100% X.And then moan and groan till we can find something else with a bigger kick and bang for the buck and start refining that.
No one could have predicted this.
I imagine that the harms that come with medium-or-heavy marijuana consumption are still probably less than, say, being locked in a cell at a state prison for selling it, or using other drugs that are both illicit and tainted with opioids.
I don't partake, but I'm in a recreational state, and I think it's accurate to say that the stuff you can purchase at a dispensary is one of the few guaranteed safe highs you can get in 2024.