8 ms·

Not to be pedantic, but smoking is actually the new smoking. Its just now being normalized through weed (which is rationalized as healthy or cool) and vaping (

Not to be pedantic, but smoking is actually the new smoking. Its just now being normalized through weed (which is rationalized as healthy or cool) and vaping (which is seen as less harmful than smoking cigarettes). The sheer number of smoke shops has exploded.

tonymet 4y ago
very good point
googlryas 4y ago
Smoke shops have exploded but it isn't clear to me that there is higher availability - every convenience store in the US sold cigarettes and most still do. Even pharmacies like CVS/Walgreens used to sell them. I think just now you have dedicated storefronts for certain types of smoking products.
- bogomipz 4y ago
  I think the difference is that cigarettes and packaging were almost completely uniform - the same size and footprint regardless of brand. As such they were relatively easy for stores to maintain. I think the sheer variety and variability of vaping hardware and packaging almost requires a dedicated smoke shop to be able to service customers.
- reshie 4y ago
  interestingly you had head shops(paraphernalia) before legalization. everyone knew what they where for but nothing illegal until it was used for that specifically. you can even buy crack pipes in some of the seedier neighborhood stores.
adastra22 4y ago
Yeah it really bugs me how inconsiderate weed and vaping smokers can be. I’ve had weed smokers casually walk by my family blowing smoke everywhere without care, like this was the 1950’s. In a sense this is even worse as not only did I not agree to me or my kids breathing in this cancerous cloud of smoke, but it is psychoactive too.
- minitoar 4y ago
  Minor nitpick: nicotine is also psychoactive.
  - adastra22 4y ago
    True, but in a relatively minor or even positive way. I similarly don’t get upset when someone brews coffee or tea next to me, even though I actually can’t be that close due to a medicinal interaction. I sometimes have to leave the room, but that’s not their fault. Weed makes driving more dangerous, lowers motivation and focus, etc. You want to do that to unwind, fine. But do it at home or in a designated smoking area I can know to avoid.
    - minitoar 4y ago
      Nicotine gives me anxiety.
      - 13of40 4y ago
        I was going to mention something along these lines. I quit smoking 15 years ago because I realized I just felt dirty, sick, and depressed after a cigarette, no matter how much the addiction primed me to think otherwise leading up to it.
    - haileys 4y ago
      To clarify, are you claiming that nicotine's psychoactive effects are minor or even positive?
      - adastra22 4y ago
        When operating a moving vehicle, in comparison to THC? Yes, absolutely. That was the context in which I was speaking. Nicotine calms nerves while improving focus. There's a reason people like smoking tobacco. Marijuana, on the other hand, slows your reaction time and hampers decision making, as well as (in a small percentage of people, but including me) triggers depression, paranoia, and psychosis. Although it is legal to have and to smoke where I live, you still can't do it while driving a car or in public spaces. Doesn't seem to stop people though :\
hardwaresofton 4y ago
Yeah, I thought this was going to be about vape pens. God bless humanity, almost got rid of the vice completely only to have a reincarnation absolutely plunge a new generation into addiction.
- scarface74 4y ago
  The vice was the war on drugs that was disproportionately applied to minorities. Legalizing weed is taking one weapon out of the arsenal of the police state.
  - mc32 4y ago
    In other countries it was applied to their majorities (who could be minorities in the US). The war on drugs was not a U.S.-only thing. It was worldwide. Because it was a losing battle (products easier to grow manufacture AND transport, they’ve pretty much all realized it’s a losing battle —with some major exceptions like Japan and Singapore who still take drugs seriously and will incarcerate for small amounts.
    - bongoman37 4y ago
  - hardwaresofton 4y ago
    So I generally agree with all these opinions but… I was talking about cigarettes? Also “vice” in the meaning of a bad habit, not the drug squad.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      Same thing, the NYPD killed a man for selling a cigarettes https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/eric-garner-dies-nypd-chokehold https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/eric-garner-dies...
      - 4y ago
standardUser 4y ago
"Smoking" in the common vernacular means regularly smoking cigarettes, which is a nicotine addiction in most cases. Comparing nicotine addiction to weed, which has it's own very different abuse profile, only because they often share a method of ingestion, makes no sense. Vaping nicotine has indeed replaced a lot of the consumption of old fashioned cigarettes. But that has nothing to do with weed.
bergenty 4y ago
Vaping is significantly less dangerous than smoking, it’s not just some “false” perception. Without added flavors you can argue it is completely harmless and in some ways beneficial (nicotine has several health benefits).
- myshpa 4y ago
  > Vaping is significantly less dangerous than smoking Agree. > Without added flavors you can argue it is completely harmless No, it's not. Filling your lungs with fine particulate matter/grease is stupid. You can still get COPD, some do. That's pretty shitty way to go.
  - bergenty 4y ago
    What grease? The base is vegetable glycerin that hospitals use in their nebulizers, used in smoke generators at concerts and has been repeatedly proven to be absolutely safe for human inhalation.

tonymet 4y ago

very good point

googlryas 4y ago

Smoke shops have exploded but it isn't clear to me that there is higher availability - every convenience store in the US sold cigarettes and most still do. Even pharmacies like CVS/Walgreens used to sell them. I think just now you have dedicated storefronts for certain types of smoking products.

bogomipz 4y ago
I think the difference is that cigarettes and packaging were almost completely uniform - the same size and footprint regardless of brand. As such they were relatively easy for stores to maintain. I think the sheer variety and variability of vaping hardware and packaging almost requires a dedicated smoke shop to be able to service customers.
reshie 4y ago
interestingly you had head shops(paraphernalia) before legalization. everyone knew what they where for but nothing illegal until it was used for that specifically. you can even buy crack pipes in some of the seedier neighborhood stores.

adastra22 4y ago

Yeah it really bugs me how inconsiderate weed and vaping smokers can be. I’ve had weed smokers casually walk by my family blowing smoke everywhere without care, like this was the 1950’s. In a sense this is even worse as not only did I not agree to me or my kids breathing in this cancerous cloud of smoke, but it is psychoactive too.

minitoar 4y ago
Minor nitpick: nicotine is also psychoactive.
- adastra22 4y ago
  True, but in a relatively minor or even positive way. I similarly don’t get upset when someone brews coffee or tea next to me, even though I actually can’t be that close due to a medicinal interaction. I sometimes have to leave the room, but that’s not their fault. Weed makes driving more dangerous, lowers motivation and focus, etc. You want to do that to unwind, fine. But do it at home or in a designated smoking area I can know to avoid.
  - minitoar 4y ago
    Nicotine gives me anxiety.
    - 13of40 4y ago
      I was going to mention something along these lines. I quit smoking 15 years ago because I realized I just felt dirty, sick, and depressed after a cigarette, no matter how much the addiction primed me to think otherwise leading up to it.
  - haileys 4y ago
    To clarify, are you claiming that nicotine's psychoactive effects are minor or even positive?
    - adastra22 4y ago
      When operating a moving vehicle, in comparison to THC? Yes, absolutely. That was the context in which I was speaking. Nicotine calms nerves while improving focus. There's a reason people like smoking tobacco. Marijuana, on the other hand, slows your reaction time and hampers decision making, as well as (in a small percentage of people, but including me) triggers depression, paranoia, and psychosis. Although it is legal to have and to smoke where I live, you still can't do it while driving a car or in public spaces. Doesn't seem to stop people though :\

hardwaresofton 4y ago

Yeah, I thought this was going to be about vape pens. God bless humanity, almost got rid of the vice completely only to have a reincarnation absolutely plunge a new generation into addiction.

scarface74 4y ago
The vice was the war on drugs that was disproportionately applied to minorities. Legalizing weed is taking one weapon out of the arsenal of the police state.
- mc32 4y ago
  In other countries it was applied to their majorities (who could be minorities in the US). The war on drugs was not a U.S.-only thing. It was worldwide. Because it was a losing battle (products easier to grow manufacture AND transport, they’ve pretty much all realized it’s a losing battle —with some major exceptions like Japan and Singapore who still take drugs seriously and will incarcerate for small amounts.
  - bongoman37 4y ago
- hardwaresofton 4y ago
  So I generally agree with all these opinions but… I was talking about cigarettes? Also “vice” in the meaning of a bad habit, not the drug squad.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    Same thing, the NYPD killed a man for selling a cigarettes https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/eric-garner-dies-nypd-chokehold https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/eric-garner-dies...
    - 4y ago

standardUser 4y ago

"Smoking" in the common vernacular means regularly smoking cigarettes, which is a nicotine addiction in most cases. Comparing nicotine addiction to weed, which has it's own very different abuse profile, only because they often share a method of ingestion, makes no sense. Vaping nicotine has indeed replaced a lot of the consumption of old fashioned cigarettes. But that has nothing to do with weed.

bergenty 4y ago

Vaping is significantly less dangerous than smoking, it’s not just some “false” perception. Without added flavors you can argue it is completely harmless and in some ways beneficial (nicotine has several health benefits).

myshpa 4y ago
> Vaping is significantly less dangerous than smoking Agree. > Without added flavors you can argue it is completely harmless No, it's not. Filling your lungs with fine particulate matter/grease is stupid. You can still get COPD, some do. That's pretty shitty way to go.
- bergenty 4y ago
  What grease? The base is vegetable glycerin that hospitals use in their nebulizers, used in smoke generators at concerts and has been repeatedly proven to be absolutely safe for human inhalation.