Hacker News Reader

"I have almost no problems with people who smoke weed every once in a while, just as I don't have problems with people who go to the pub sometimes or with people who drink the odd coffee. I do sincerely have problems with people who smoke pot every other night, or every time they hang out with people, or every time they get even a little stressed."

But why do you have problems with that? It appears to me as if have problems with other people who don't fit into your personal view of how one should lead its life. Or is this the only thing?

I personally can completely understand that you don't see the added value for yourself, but I don't get the part where you have an irrational hatred of smoking. It seems like you want to restrict others the choice of leading their lives the way they see fit, without harming others.

Do you have this irrational hatred in other areas too? What do you think about lazy people, for example? Or people who have other religious views than yourself?

Smoking is disgusting, smells, and infringes on the rights of others to breathe clean air.

Are they coming to your house to smoke pot?

People walk down the street stinking of it. If you want to rot your brain with drugs, good luck.

Alcohol is fine though right? And caffeine too?

Yes. The number of times alcoholics/coffee users tried to pour alcohol/coffee into my mouth can be counted on 0 hands.

The same is not true for smokers. Smoking <anything> is anti social.

It's useless trying to argue with addicts though. Just surprising there's so many drug users on HN. Sad.

Ah ok so lets legalize marijuana but only in brownies or banana bread.

Fine with me. As long as it's my right not to work with/hire anyone who takes it.

> Do you have this irrational hatred in other areas too?

Yes. I don't like tattoos (though I love art in general). Don't like piercings either. Can't complain about lazy people (unless it severely impacts me), and I'm perfectly happy with religious people, as long as they don't try to push their views on me. I'm sure I have a bunch more of these things, my ex-girlfriend would probably be very happy to remind me of them.

I'm not about to restrict anybody to do anything. I certainly used to be much worse about this sort of thing (to the point where I didn't speak to my father for about a year until he stopped smoking (that was quite a few years ago now, I think I was ten or eleven)), but since college and since meeting a bunch of new friends with better outlooks on life, I've tried to simply live a drama-free life. One in which I create no hassle for myself or for others, which includes not openly criticising people for their choices like I used to.

However, I won't enter into a relationship with a smoker (even a little bit once a month), heavy drinker, and I'd think long and hard about someone with tattoos. Couldn't really tell you why. Not much of an issue these days either. Game development is such a woman-friendly career choice. ;)

Not sure if I answered your questions there, just typing as I think. :)

Interesting, we agree on all this just about word-for-word. Scary really.

I've tried to figure out why this is with me, the closest I've come to it is that I think that humans are pretty good the way they are, no need to poison them or modify them.

I wear no jewelery of any kind, not even a watch and never will, same with you ?

I actually have a bit of a penchant for watches, but that's it. :)

The thing I like most about your post is that you never advocate locking human beings in a cage for smoking vegetation. You are "anti-marijuana" in the sense that it does not fit your vision of an ideal life, and that's all fine and good. I could argue similarly against eating too much fried food.

When people drag in the use of force, that's when discussions like this turn venomous. Using force to "protect people from themselves" only serves to erode people's awareness and sense of responsibility for their own choices, not to mention fostering violent organized crime.

There are plenty of people who smoke weed and hardly coast through life. Successful (including VERY sucessful) CEOs, actors, inventors, scientists, pretty much all sorts of people invalidate that notion

It sounds like you, personally, dont mix well with some substances. Or maybe just don't have any experience with them from which you can make a reasoned judgement. It reminds me of my brother, who is anti-everything until he actually experiences it.

People don't have to smoke cannabis, you know - it can also be ingested through food which nullifies the smoking complaint.

Most of the potheads I know are reasonably successful in life. The only pothead who seems to be going nowhere was going nowhere before he smoked weed.

    I also simply hate the stoner mentality. Why the hell would you want to just coast through life? I mean, make something of yourself! Make your parents proud!

Why? What's the point? We're all going to die anyway.

Would you think differently about it if you were immortal?

I'd probably think differently about lots of things if I were immortal.

Hey, thanks for replying! I'm a pro-marijuana person but I'm not going to attack your arguments at all, I was curious to hear your reasons, thanks for speaking up.

No, thank you.

It's refreshing to see that people won't just immediately attack me for the opinion. It's such an uncommon view here, especially in my age group, that I get a lot of flack for it.

Rather than rebutting your rather strong feelings towards smokers, would you mind talking about your feelings about the push for legalization? Part of the sigma attached to cannabis smoking is directly linked to its "illegal" nature and misinformation spread by the highest parts of our government and media.

Take the DEA controlled substance scheduling which places cannabis as a schedule 1 drug: (1) Schedule I.— (A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse. (B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. (C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision."

Science can and has refuted all 3 points, yet we're still having debate over the extreme dangers of legalization. Clearly something is irrational here as well when a plant that has not directly killed a single human being or cause violent withdrawal symptoms sits at a higher schedule than opium, cocaine, PCP and benzodiazepines. Even the synthetic THC pharma drug Marinol (Schedule III) can cause death at very high doses.

So long story short... are you behind maintaining status quo hypocrisy purely because of personal reasons?

its a way to pass time with friends, same reason why friends go and drink together, people smoke together... not to mention it can be safer and cheaper then booze.