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Meanwhile daily or near-daily marijuana use has increased by 269% from 2008 to 2022.[1] [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/611714/marijuana-use-during-pas

Meanwhile daily or near-daily marijuana use has increased by 269% from 2008 to 2022.[1] [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/611714/marijuana-use-during-past-year-in-the-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/611714/marijuana-use-dur...

thinkingtoilet 1y ago
I wonder how much of that is honesty in reporting? No doubt the wave of legalization has increase usage massively, but I sure as shit wouldn't have told a random poll in the 2010s about my illegal marijuana use. I didn't even tell my doctor for fear of it ending up in a chart somewhere.
- taeric 1y ago
  No doubt it is not a 100% accurate poll. But hard to think it hasn't gone up? If only from the legal sales numbers. More, you'd be surprised at how many people would have told pollsters, even in 2010s, that they were doing things like this.
  - bediger4000 1y ago
    > you'd be surprised at how many people would have told pollsters Yeah, when my son was in middle school, they ran a poll. I was surprised by how many kids at his school had artificial limbs. Terrible carnage, just terrible.
- altairprime 1y ago
  It’s a more effective misery suppressant per dollar than a drink, and is much less likely to result in humiliating or violent outbursts when overconsumed. Little surprise it’s supplanted booze, then, when fewer each year can afford the romanticism of a cocktail bar.
- xp84 1y ago
  > I didn't even tell my doctor for fear of it ending up in a chart somewhere. Keep not telling them, by the way. All evidence I've found is that (US) life insurers can still refuse to cover you or rate you as less healthy if you admit to cannabis consumption even when it's state-level legal, and you have to sign papers that authorize doctors to disclose EVERYTHING to them to get a policy issued (at least you do once you're old enough that life insurance becomes more important). During COVID, I was somewhat down and my GP prescribed a tiny dose of Lexapro, which did nothing but give me diarrhea so I quit immediately. But that "being treated for depression" or whatever, once disclosed, caused my next life insurance renewal to be far more expensive. So that's why I "have never consumed any cannabis."
  - extraduder_ire 1y ago
    Lying on those things voids your policy entirely though.
    - xp84 1y ago
      True, but I still sleep well at night knowing that I've lied to an insurance company about such a triviality, and keeping it out of doctors' files means I won't be caught.
strangescript 1y ago
shh, you are going to upset people that think drinking is evil and cutting it has no draw backs
- linotype 1y ago
  It’s not evil, it’s just bad for you. A 5 mg edible a couple times a month is going to be a way better for someone than drinking multiple times a week.
  - sejje 1y ago
    I find it so weird to make up a comparison about which is healthier and then have differing frequencies of usage. A 5mg edible a couple times a month is going to be way better for someone than multiple 5mg edibles per week.
  - laughing_man 1y ago
    There are a whole lot of everyday pot smokers out there.
- toomuchtodo 1y ago
  No deaths have ever been reported from an overdose on Marijuana [1], and about 10k people a year die from DUI deaths in the US [2]. There is no safe level of alcohol consumption [3] [4]. There is strong evidence alcohol use leads to cancer [5]. [1] https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/marijuana https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/marijuana [2] https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving [3] https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-... [4] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.10.21256931v1 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.10.21256931v... [5] https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/alcohol/alcohol-fact-sheet https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/a...
  - WillPostForFood 1y ago
    So what's the safe level of driving on Marijuana? If people just switch from one drug to another that's no improvement.
softwaredoug 1y ago
Well we are leaving a massive microbrewery/winery bubble where everyone had a cousin opening a brewery in the 2010s. At the same time marijuana usage is slowly becoming legal. So I might expect the relative change to be quite large.
mrtksn 1y ago
Hence the virginity rates. Weed replacing alcohol is a tragedy. Lonelier people in healthier bodies with rotting brains.
- amanaplanacanal 1y ago
  Alcohol causes more brain damage than cannabis, if that's what you are talking about. And I doubt lowering inhibitions so that people have sex they wouldn't normally have had seems... Bad. On the other hand, if this was supposed to be funny, carry on!
  - mrtksn 1y ago
    [flagged]
    - k_g_b_ 1y ago
      Sure, let's just ignore all the issues that widespread alcohol abuse bring to societies and call them healthy. Who cares, I'm living a good life with alcohol, so everyone suffering from or seeing the side effects and abstaining is just an antisocial virgin. What a ridiculous take.
  - hellisothers 1y ago
    I’m not sure I buy this, from anecdotal evidence of friends who have 1-2 drinks a day vs those who have let’s say a similar amount of weed a day… the friends who drink are vastly more functional. Arguably the friends who drink are indistinguishable from people who don’t aside from maybe some weight gain if it’s all beer. My weed friends though, you can tell they’re not doing as great, on or off weed.
    - mensetmanusman 1y ago
      Yeah weed will have another pendulum swing in 5 years.
  - immibis 1y ago

thinkingtoilet 1y ago

I wonder how much of that is honesty in reporting? No doubt the wave of legalization has increase usage massively, but I sure as shit wouldn't have told a random poll in the 2010s about my illegal marijuana use. I didn't even tell my doctor for fear of it ending up in a chart somewhere.

taeric 1y ago
No doubt it is not a 100% accurate poll. But hard to think it hasn't gone up? If only from the legal sales numbers. More, you'd be surprised at how many people would have told pollsters, even in 2010s, that they were doing things like this.
- bediger4000 1y ago
  > you'd be surprised at how many people would have told pollsters Yeah, when my son was in middle school, they ran a poll. I was surprised by how many kids at his school had artificial limbs. Terrible carnage, just terrible.
altairprime 1y ago
It’s a more effective misery suppressant per dollar than a drink, and is much less likely to result in humiliating or violent outbursts when overconsumed. Little surprise it’s supplanted booze, then, when fewer each year can afford the romanticism of a cocktail bar.
xp84 1y ago
> I didn't even tell my doctor for fear of it ending up in a chart somewhere. Keep not telling them, by the way. All evidence I've found is that (US) life insurers can still refuse to cover you or rate you as less healthy if you admit to cannabis consumption even when it's state-level legal, and you have to sign papers that authorize doctors to disclose EVERYTHING to them to get a policy issued (at least you do once you're old enough that life insurance becomes more important). During COVID, I was somewhat down and my GP prescribed a tiny dose of Lexapro, which did nothing but give me diarrhea so I quit immediately. But that "being treated for depression" or whatever, once disclosed, caused my next life insurance renewal to be far more expensive. So that's why I "have never consumed any cannabis."
- extraduder_ire 1y ago
  Lying on those things voids your policy entirely though.
  - xp84 1y ago
    True, but I still sleep well at night knowing that I've lied to an insurance company about such a triviality, and keeping it out of doctors' files means I won't be caught.

strangescript 1y ago

shh, you are going to upset people that think drinking is evil and cutting it has no draw backs

linotype 1y ago
It’s not evil, it’s just bad for you. A 5 mg edible a couple times a month is going to be a way better for someone than drinking multiple times a week.
- sejje 1y ago
  I find it so weird to make up a comparison about which is healthier and then have differing frequencies of usage. A 5mg edible a couple times a month is going to be way better for someone than multiple 5mg edibles per week.
- laughing_man 1y ago
  There are a whole lot of everyday pot smokers out there.
toomuchtodo 1y ago
No deaths have ever been reported from an overdose on Marijuana [1], and about 10k people a year die from DUI deaths in the US [2]. There is no safe level of alcohol consumption [3] [4]. There is strong evidence alcohol use leads to cancer [5]. [1] https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/marijuana https://www.dea.gov/factsheets/marijuana [2] https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving [3] https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-... [4] https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.10.21256931v1 https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.05.10.21256931v... [5] https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/alcohol/alcohol-fact-sheet https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/a...
- WillPostForFood 1y ago
  So what's the safe level of driving on Marijuana? If people just switch from one drug to another that's no improvement.

softwaredoug 1y ago

Well we are leaving a massive microbrewery/winery bubble where everyone had a cousin opening a brewery in the 2010s. At the same time marijuana usage is slowly becoming legal. So I might expect the relative change to be quite large.

mrtksn 1y ago

Hence the virginity rates. Weed replacing alcohol is a tragedy. Lonelier people in healthier bodies with rotting brains.

amanaplanacanal 1y ago
Alcohol causes more brain damage than cannabis, if that's what you are talking about. And I doubt lowering inhibitions so that people have sex they wouldn't normally have had seems... Bad. On the other hand, if this was supposed to be funny, carry on!
- mrtksn 1y ago
  [flagged]
  - k_g_b_ 1y ago
    Sure, let's just ignore all the issues that widespread alcohol abuse bring to societies and call them healthy. Who cares, I'm living a good life with alcohol, so everyone suffering from or seeing the side effects and abstaining is just an antisocial virgin. What a ridiculous take.
- hellisothers 1y ago
  I’m not sure I buy this, from anecdotal evidence of friends who have 1-2 drinks a day vs those who have let’s say a similar amount of weed a day… the friends who drink are vastly more functional. Arguably the friends who drink are indistinguishable from people who don’t aside from maybe some weight gain if it’s all beer. My weed friends though, you can tell they’re not doing as great, on or off weed.
  - mensetmanusman 1y ago
    Yeah weed will have another pendulum swing in 5 years.
- immibis 1y ago