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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   33969 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 9, 2024

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And, for that matter, I use thc these days, and I think done right it is the conservative family drug.

I wouldn’t go that far, but I’ve been open here about my own change in opinion on this. Very little that weed critics say is wrong, but society needs its vices and it seems to me obvious that weed - a drug that mostly makes people friendly, docile, jovially hungry and relaxed - is better than most alternatives.

And I also think that as you grow up you realize that hangovers really suck, and that many of the more competent and successful people you know (who are also healthy and aren’t destroying their liver etc) consume THC regularly.

Getting absolutely sloshed with your family, who you find annoying: you'll get in a screaming match with them, say something hurtful that you'll regret, worst case maybe get into a physical fight.

Getting shit-ripped on a 20mg edible with your family, who you find annoying: you'll giggle a lot, eat a bunch of snacks, love watching an old movie with them. This is basically exactly what my mother in law wants from me when I visit.

Weed is the perfect drug for easing the frictions of ordinary interactions between family and friends.

Maybe, but I think this only works for intentionally superficial interactions.

If THC replaced alcohol, it would definitely be a positive for society. If we can find good evidence of that happening, I'll be glad to be wrong a second time.

My gut feel, however, is that consumption of almost all drugs, including alcohol, is up.

For my own self, I drink more than I want to. I don't really ever use marijuana, although I enjoy it. My worry in consuming THC, is that I would simply develop a second habit.

Isn't consumption of all drugs, including alcohol, way down for young people? The only thing that's really up is public opioid use, but not use in general.

People stay at home and consume digital media instead of getting intoxicated.

I may be wrong but I feel like I've read a lot of articles talking about this.

IIRC, marijuana use is way way up. Especially habitual use.

I wouldn't be surprised if youth drinking (under 21) is down, because that would require one to leave the house and have friends. For the population at large, I couldn't find good data for alcohol consumption. What I did find cut off in 2016 or 2019, which is too early to capture marijuana legalization.

When I went to look I found that drug use among Swedish youth is down, especially among boys, but only alcohol use is really down.

Perhaps it's different in other places and only alcohol use is down everywhere. I might have conflated English language articles about decreased alcohol use with Swedish articles about general decline.

Weed is still really unacceptable in Sweden in a way it's not in the Anglosphere, right? I know teenagers in the US are less likely to drink but much more into pot.

Define unacceptable. I'd say that most younger people who aren't shut-ins or teetotalers have at least tried weed at some point. Habitual use among respectable adults is very rare and you most certainly wouldn't smoke with colleagues even if you might get drunk with them.

I'd say it was really unacceptable in the 90s, somewhat unacceptable and naughty in the 00s and almost whatever from the mid 10s and on, among younger people anyway.

I think Sweden might be at the late 00s level of American acceptance?

America sees it as kinda meh outside of pillarized religious or deep rural pockets, or a few blue collar bubbles where marijuana is a big no-no for professional reasons(cops and truckers mostly), pot is a resounding meh in the US(which is much more pillarized than Sweden), even if the olds don't like it. Certainly not surprising to anyone if a respectable adult uses.

So maybe late 00's/early 10's.

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