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I find it questionable on YC part to fund a cannabis-related company. On one hand, there is a clear... growth opportunity, on another - in my opinion it is pret

I find it questionable on YC part to fund a cannabis-related company. On one hand, there is a clear... growth opportunity, on another - in my opinion it is pretty much on par with financing something tobacco-related and may be detrimental to YC's public image. To be perfectly clear, I am pro-legalization, as war on drugs only funnels money to criminal organizations, as if we did not learn anything from Prohibtion era. I still consider cannabis public evil in a way tobacco and excessive consumption of alcohol are public evil.

vkou 10y ago
If you're going to measure societal impact, there's plenty of tech companies that care only about their vision - social externalities be damned. Some of them receive YC funding.
tunesmith 10y ago
I find it so difficult to express that opinion these days. Especially given the conflicting thought on how "bad" it is for you recreationally - I see certain opinions all the way from it being completely harmless to doing long-term irreversible damage. I feel like such a fuddy-duddy objecting to pot usage around me.
- jostmey 10y ago
  Totally agree. Using pot is a poor decision. I feel like too many people are of the opinion that pot somehow makes them smarter or better or more creative or fights off cancer.
  - beisner 10y ago
    Most people don't think that pot will improve their abilities. Most people that use it think that it's an enjoyable recreational experience with no lasting negative effects when consumed in moderation.
jabits 10y ago
How about "...consider _ excessive _ cannabis public evil in a way tobacco and excessive consumption of alcohol are public evil..." I don't get your distinction between cannabis and alcohol for recreational vs excessive use.
- jfoster 10y ago
  It's not just excesses that are harmful when it comes to smoking, though.
  - eru 10y ago
    Yes. Though there's no reason you have to smoke your tobacco or cannabis.
  - aethr 10y ago
    There are plenty of ways to enjoy cannabis without smoking, including vaporising or ingestion.
aethr 10y ago
Excessive consumption of cannabis is probably not good for your health. Like alcohol. Or sugar, coffee, social media, or watching TV. Granted, people probably have different opinions on the definition of "excessive" in each of these cases. Taken occasionally for recreation it becomes just another form of entertainment, and the health and societal impact is probably similar to alcohol or coffee. Calling cannabis a "public evil" seems a bit over the top. There are plenty of other pastimes with potential health and societal risks that outweigh occasional use of cannabis. Should we stigmatise every activity that isn't work, exercise or healthy eating? I think adults should be given room to make informed choices about their recreational activities without being judged, as long as their choices don't negatively impact others.
- mynegation 10y ago
  I agree that calling it "public evil" was over the top. My understanding is that most of cannabis is consumed through smoke inhalation which is about the worst possible form of delivery with all that tar in the lungs and carcinogenic effects.
  - aethr 10y ago
    From my anecdotal experience, I would agree that most cannabis is consumed by smoking. For casual recreational users though, this might amount to as little as the equivalent of one cigarette a month. Still not good for you, but probably not in the same league as tobacco smoking which is much more likely to be habitual. Habitual cannabis users on the other side of the spectrum seem to be acknowledging the health risks of smoking, and (again anecdotally) I'm seeing a lot of habitual users switch to vaporising or other delivery methods. Certainly there are people making poor decisions about cannabis use, but on a whole it doesn't seem much worse than plenty of other things that people do regularly without being stigmatised. Certainly not bad enough to become a moral issue in my opinion.
  - dekhn 10y ago
    Your understanding is almost certainly wrong. If you want to learn a bit more about the difference between cannabis and nicotine in terms of smoking health, I suggest buying Glantz's Primer on Biostatistics; the problem sets are filled with citations to papers showing an almost complete lack of evidence that smoking cannabis has the negative effects associated with smoking nicotine products. This research has held up (NIDA attempts notwithstanding) and the primary issue with long-term heavy cannabis use appears to be gum problems (hoping to see more studies with better methodology in the future).
MawNicker 10y ago
I doubt they expect to make that much money from it. I suspect their motivations are actually moral. If it has to exist it may as well be as good as possible. There's no reason to subject pot-heads to nasty chemicals. They can afford to over finance the service philanthropically. I wouldn't be surprised if they considered the potential consequences to their image and decided to go along with it anyway.

vkou 10y ago

If you're going to measure societal impact, there's plenty of tech companies that care only about their vision - social externalities be damned. Some of them receive YC funding.

tunesmith 10y ago

I find it so difficult to express that opinion these days. Especially given the conflicting thought on how "bad" it is for you recreationally - I see certain opinions all the way from it being completely harmless to doing long-term irreversible damage. I feel like such a fuddy-duddy objecting to pot usage around me.

jostmey 10y ago
Totally agree. Using pot is a poor decision. I feel like too many people are of the opinion that pot somehow makes them smarter or better or more creative or fights off cancer.
- beisner 10y ago
  Most people don't think that pot will improve their abilities. Most people that use it think that it's an enjoyable recreational experience with no lasting negative effects when consumed in moderation.

jabits 10y ago

How about "...consider _ excessive _ cannabis public evil in a way tobacco and excessive consumption of alcohol are public evil..." I don't get your distinction between cannabis and alcohol for recreational vs excessive use.

jfoster 10y ago
It's not just excesses that are harmful when it comes to smoking, though.
- eru 10y ago
  Yes. Though there's no reason you have to smoke your tobacco or cannabis.
- aethr 10y ago
  There are plenty of ways to enjoy cannabis without smoking, including vaporising or ingestion.

aethr 10y ago

Excessive consumption of cannabis is probably not good for your health. Like alcohol. Or sugar, coffee, social media, or watching TV. Granted, people probably have different opinions on the definition of "excessive" in each of these cases. Taken occasionally for recreation it becomes just another form of entertainment, and the health and societal impact is probably similar to alcohol or coffee. Calling cannabis a "public evil" seems a bit over the top. There are plenty of other pastimes with potential health and societal risks that outweigh occasional use of cannabis. Should we stigmatise every activity that isn't work, exercise or healthy eating? I think adults should be given room to make informed choices about their recreational activities without being judged, as long as their choices don't negatively impact others.

mynegation 10y ago
I agree that calling it "public evil" was over the top. My understanding is that most of cannabis is consumed through smoke inhalation which is about the worst possible form of delivery with all that tar in the lungs and carcinogenic effects.
- aethr 10y ago
  From my anecdotal experience, I would agree that most cannabis is consumed by smoking. For casual recreational users though, this might amount to as little as the equivalent of one cigarette a month. Still not good for you, but probably not in the same league as tobacco smoking which is much more likely to be habitual. Habitual cannabis users on the other side of the spectrum seem to be acknowledging the health risks of smoking, and (again anecdotally) I'm seeing a lot of habitual users switch to vaporising or other delivery methods. Certainly there are people making poor decisions about cannabis use, but on a whole it doesn't seem much worse than plenty of other things that people do regularly without being stigmatised. Certainly not bad enough to become a moral issue in my opinion.
- dekhn 10y ago
  Your understanding is almost certainly wrong. If you want to learn a bit more about the difference between cannabis and nicotine in terms of smoking health, I suggest buying Glantz's Primer on Biostatistics; the problem sets are filled with citations to papers showing an almost complete lack of evidence that smoking cannabis has the negative effects associated with smoking nicotine products. This research has held up (NIDA attempts notwithstanding) and the primary issue with long-term heavy cannabis use appears to be gum problems (hoping to see more studies with better methodology in the future).

MawNicker 10y ago

I doubt they expect to make that much money from it. I suspect their motivations are actually moral. If it has to exist it may as well be as good as possible. There's no reason to subject pot-heads to nasty chemicals. They can afford to over finance the service philanthropically. I wouldn't be surprised if they considered the potential consequences to their image and decided to go along with it anyway.