101 ms·

I don't necessarily disagree with your post but you should be careful with generalizations that aren't backed up with evidence. "The US has the most pot smokers

by hanley 13y ago

I don't necessarily disagree with your post but you should be careful with generalizations that aren't backed up with evidence. "The US has the most pot smokers/capita by a long shot" sounds a lot like some assumption you just made up based on your own personal experience. A study like marijuana users per capita is inherently difficult because people don't like admitting that they partake in illegal activity. The only statistic to go on for that study is how many people were arrested for marijuana crimes, which only shows how many people were caught breaking a law, not how many people use. Also I think your marijuana/drug law knowledge is a little behind. There are a number of countries in Europe and elsewhere who are changing to more relaxed drug policies similar to the progress in the US (including Portugal who effectively decriminalized all drugs in 2001).

bjourne 13y ago
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_lifetime_cannabis_use_by_country http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_lifetime_cannabis_use_by_... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_cannabis_use_by_country http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_cannabis_use_by_country. Laws may be more lax in Europe but popular opinion of the drug is much more negative than in the US. But attitudes are changing largely due to how it is portrayed by Hollywood.
leoedin 13y ago
The "how many arrested" statistic is completely useless because the level to which marijuana possession results in arrest varies wildly between countries and even states or cities. Equally the frequency of searches, the criteria for selecting people to search all vary wildly. Anecdotally, marijuana usage was much more prevalent amongst students I knew when I lived in Canada than it is in the UK. My experience (admittedly while travelling through) in the US was similar to Canada. This drug-use map[1] corroborates that (US 14%, Canada 12%, UK ~7%), although I do agree that any survey about drug use will probably not see completely truthful answers. [1]: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2012/jul/02/drug-use-map-world http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2012/ju...

by hanley 13y ago

bjourne 13y ago

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_lifetime_cannabis_use_by_country http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_lifetime_cannabis_use_by_... and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_cannabis_use_by_country http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_cannabis_use_by_country. Laws may be more lax in Europe but popular opinion of the drug is much more negative than in the US. But attitudes are changing largely due to how it is portrayed by Hollywood.

leoedin 13y ago

The "how many arrested" statistic is completely useless because the level to which marijuana possession results in arrest varies wildly between countries and even states or cities. Equally the frequency of searches, the criteria for selecting people to search all vary wildly. Anecdotally, marijuana usage was much more prevalent amongst students I knew when I lived in Canada than it is in the UK. My experience (admittedly while travelling through) in the US was similar to Canada. This drug-use map[1] corroborates that (US 14%, Canada 12%, UK ~7%), although I do agree that any survey about drug use will probably not see completely truthful answers. [1]: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2012/jul/02/drug-use-map-world http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2012/ju...