> the number of drivers in accidents with THC in their blood is going up because the number of people with THC in their blood is going up
This.
In just the short time since legalization, recreational use in my immediate vicinity (a small Ohio village, one stop light) has decidedly, undeniably increased.
I offer only an anecdotal observation, but my evening walks around town are now accompanied by a dank potpourri of skunk scents, representing I-don't-know-how-many strains of Sativa...
Indica to me that at least 30% of the population here is puffing.
That's evidence of increased public/open-air consumption, which is to be expected with legalization
Don't need to hide it anymore, especially if the local police don't have much to do otherwise
>That's evidence of increased public/open-air consumption, which is to be expected with legalization
>Don't need to hide it anymore, especially if the local police don't have much to do otherwise
Yep. At least in New York City before legalization, using cannabis in public earned you an arrest and a night in jail despite the fact that it wasn't even a misdemeanor, just a local code violation with a $50 fine.
That was done consistently (I know several folks who were caught up in such chicanery) for decades to deter folks from using in public.
But enforcement was spotty and, as usual, melanin content played an outsized role in determining who would be "enforced."
Thank goodness that's not happening anymore.
Edit: Fixed prose ('we' --> 'were')>
I have DEFINITELY noticed an increase in public usage yeah. Which is strange because that was not legalized in Ohio. Smoking a joint in your car going down the road or at the park is as illegal as it ever was.
I’m sure overall usage numbers are up because I know a lot of people who started using it after they could buy it legally, but those people are all also infrequent users and I’m sure are not driving high. The people who would be deterred by weed being illegal are probably all in the “won’t drive stoned” category. (I’m sure many infrequent users pre-legalization, myself included, were never much worried about the legality but don’t drive high because we like being alive, and we continue to not do so now.)
My fragrant walks around town put me in proximity to neighbors kicking it on their own property, visible and aromatic but not crossing the threshold into what I would consider to be 'public usage'. They're in their garage on folding chairs with the door open, or in the yard, or on a back porch.
In addition to the distinctive smell of marijuana, there is often a recreational fire (wood smoke), and/or a BBQ (sizzling meat). It's publicly visible and apparent, but on private property.
I have never been that social, haven't accepted a pass in decades, don't imbibe myself (despite my internym), and don't recommend it to young folk, but I must be getting a microdose and a minor contact high from the gentle breeze that floats through town more often since legalization.
Second hand smoke is real, yo. The wind blows.
So now children are exposed to psychoactive drug fumes in our parks, with no way to avoid them. Ideal, such progress.
The study in the post we’re responding to has actual data to show otherwise. The data was collected both before and after legalization (and Ohio is one of the states studied) and did not find a significant increase.
Weed was already easy to get. Any high schooler would have told you it was easier to get than beer BECAUSE it was illegal, nobody had a lucrative license to use for selling it to a minor.
Same thing in DC. I thought the new development in DC where we lived had a major sewer gas problem. Turns out it was marijuana.
Also the amount of people in DC who drive while smoking weed seems very high(no pun intended). Based on the number of cars that can be smelled from another car while in traffic.
Genuinely asking - had you never smelled cannabis before living in DC?
To claim the odor is mistakable for sewer gas is borderline funny, unless you’re slyly trying to name a new strain.
I've never smelled cannabis before in my life and don't know what it's supposed to smell like. I live in an area of the world where it's illegal and I guess not many people are smoking it. I may also have had a quite sheltered education.
This year, I went to British Columbia, and there was this weird scent everywhere that I could not describe. My wife said it was cannabis. I'm still not used to it so I don't know if I'll be able to recognize it next time I travel to North America.
In my experience, weed smells like a skunk. Which makes it really annoying to be around people who smoke, that stuff is really unpleasant to have to smell. Honestly I don't know how people can stand to smoke it with how bad it smells.
Different weed smells different, skunk weed has volitale sulfur compounds, others varieties lack this and may smell like fruit or rosemary.
I never smelled a skunk, but the first time I smelled this weed smell I immediately loved it and still love it to this day when I occasionally smell it on the street. Even though I don't smoke. I even bought cannabis scent incense few days ago.
I guess perception of this smell, like many others is genetic.
Am I the only one that doesn't find skunk smell not so horrid as it's generally made out to be? It's very strong, yes, but between skunk and asa foetida, it would be hard to choose ;)
Any strong smell is unpleasant, especially when it's unavoidable, from perfume to petrol fumes, even along to food smells.
Asa foetida is way worse than skunk
I’ve never smoked it or been around anyone smoking it. It’s more of a lower class thing in the U.S.: https://news.gallup.com/poll/642851/cannabis-greatest-among-... (16% of households making under $24k smoke cannibis regularly, versus 5% of households making over $180k/year).
hell yeah for being in that 5%! but why bring classism into it? in states where it’s more normalized, it’s pretty even across those differentiators:
https://doh.wa.gov/data-and-statistical-reports/washington-t...
This 100% matches my experience in Washington. I know a lot of upper middle class who use cannabis. I think the consumption of edibles might be higher in the upper middle class vs smoked. But that’s very anecdotal.
Explaining why I never encountered it. Even today usage is quite unevenly distributed. I’m from an affluent, WASPy town in Virginia. By contrast it was common even in the 1990s in the lower class parts of Oregon where my wife grew up.
Interesting. In my experience, the self-described affluent WASP-y types are exactly the kind of people that should probably smoke a joint and chill the fuck out every once in a while, lest they end up as close-minded conservatives.
Thanks for sharing!
You’re more likely to find tattoos and marijuana smokers at a Trump rally than in the congressional district where I grew up. It was solidly red when I was growing up, but today is the orderly and industrious wing of the democratic party (Biden +18).
An inspiring tale of progress and change for the better! May more southern states unfetter themselves from regressive views.
You will be. This scent is very distinct.
I had never smelled it before. It smells identical to sewer gas to me—I know what that smells like because our house was missing several drain traps.
Fascinating. I wonder if this is a genetic thing similar to people who sense soap for cilantro, except with terpenes instead of aldehydes.
Youth these days tend to say “this weed has gas” rather than “this weed is dank”. I’m unsure if that is just due to gassy strains becoming more popular or just lingo. Garlic is another rising scent.
I mean weed really doesn't smell good. If you're not turned off by the smell, it's a learned pleasure. Similar to how nearly every child will dislike the taste of alcohol, yet after drinking for a while they'll learn to tolerate or enjoy it.
It can be a very overpowering smell. When an odor overpowers, it's harder to discern one scent from another.
> If you're not turned off by the smell, it's a learned pleasure.
For me it's was love at first smell. And I didn't smoke. Just smelled it from th adjecent room. It must be genetic.
Alcohol is always dreadful for me. Same goes for cigarettes.
there are strains that, to me, smell pleasant. maybe you’re extrapolating a bit? terpenes are what make up most essential oils, in fact.
I’ve never smelled pot that didn’t stink. It does not smell like a sewer to me but it distinctly smells like skunk.
A few years ago, I moved from San Francisco to a rural area. Smelling weed in SF was not at all unusual. One summer night in the rural area, I smelled it coming through open windows for the first time. I wondered which house it was coming from and how it still smelled so strong after traveling a hundred feet or more. Then I spotted the actual skunk in our yard.
Mango, especially dried, smells and tastes of terpenes sometimes. I sometimes question why I like Mango ;)
most essential oils also smell bad in their pure form, you can always sense a smoker or a big essential oils person from their scent from afar
The first time I smelt weed it reminded me of a skunk.
I could see how that might be mistaken as sewage.
It’s very skunky. I thought a skunk had been killed on an industrial road I drive sometimes. The smell was there for months. I finally realized there’s a cannabis processing facility there. Still stinks years later now.
As somebody who has no problem whatsoever with weed, it smells like pus from a tooth infection to me.
I have had dental abscesses in the past that made my mouth taste like I was in a room full of cannabis smoke.
this is surprising to hear - thanks for sharing! i still can’t help but wonder if there are some perceptive differences at play here versus something learned.
In and around Minneapolis, I have given up counting the number of times my car got filled with that horrid stench because someone in a car just ahead of mine was hot-boxing the hell out of their commute. It's really nasty to have to drive through the awful clouds of that crap. I also pulled into a gas station recently and my entire car got fumigated. Already sick of it.
Also, the guy who shot up the church school here and killed and wounded a bunch of kids was a massive pot smoker. It made him psychotic, or magnified that existing mental illness.
Living in proximity to people who don't care enough to not be annoying to others has a few ways you can look at it. But I suggest you consider upgrading the cabin air filter in your car. There are likely options with activated carbon to help reduce odors. This was actually a factor in my decision to go Tesla: their models S and X have an additional massive HEPA filter, and absolutely no outside smells make it into the car.
These horror-style anecdotes are hilarious echoes from decades past.
oh no, he had the reefer madness?