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Comment by somehnacct3757 | Hacker News Reader

I think cannabis will eclipse alcohol once enough states legalize, and the federal winds shift in response.

It has no hangover. Its long term effects are not understood (a boon vs alcohol where they're known and bad.) It's edible and drinkable. And it makes your patrons buy food. The bar of tomorrow will serve cannabis infused cocktails alongside alcohol. From the moment of federal deregulation it will only take a few years, like the arrival and commoditization of boozy seltzers. Today's cannabis manufacturers in legalized states are already building the infrastructure to hit the ground running.

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Yea I think you’re underestimating the euphoric effects of alcohol.

With pot, there are various types of highs that can be produced. With alcohol, there's just one.

Plus, there are people out there who don't experience euphoria from alcohol, it instead throws them into a depressive spiral.

You can definitely produce different highs with alcohol, getting drunk from vodka is different to wine is different to beer. In the end one is drunk, yes, but feeling is still quite distinct. So pretty much the same as with pot, where you can have vastly different highs but in the end are just that: high

Not my experience at all. Give weed to 10 different people, and they'll experience 12 different reactions to it. With alcohol, it's more or less roughly the same for everyone.

What has been preventing this happening in legal states already? Green bars and restaurants exist, but are a tiny segment of the market.

I suspect it's that alcohol and socialization go well together, while cannabis doesn't so it's better to enjoy it at home than at a bar.

One contributing factor could be social stigma. The soccer moms of the world were brought up to "say No to drugs" where cannabis was one of those drugs. You can pry their glass of wine out of their cold, dead hands but I've personally seen them very nervous about a low dose edible. Perhaps some time and federal legalization will change that.

The current breeding techniques have produced varieties that are not conducive to the socialization (i.e. sativa vs indica). After legalization the market will need to have the marketing for sativas/socialization strains that will drive the development of happy/euphoric/uplifiting strains that do not promote sleep.

Lol. Society just hasn't tried the right strain yet

I wonder if the economics will align to make this attractive to bar owners. When I go to the bar I will usually spend around $50-100 on drinks depending if I am drinking cocktails or wine.

Given that THC seems to be hard to precisely dose, I am not sure that a bar could figure out how to make cocktails or edibles that give a sufficiently small amount to encourage patrons to buy multiple items.

Also, alcohol works in a few minutes, but THC takes a lot longer. I wonder if we would see an increase of over consumption because people are impatient to get their buzz.

Fwiw, I like THC is small quantities from time to time, but I consume at home and watch a movie. Being in a loud public space which high seems like a nightmare to me.

Either way, it will be interesting to see what the future holds.

Some of the newer THC drinks take effect pretty quickly in my experience - maybe as fast as drinking alcohol.

It's certainly more processed than homemade weed brownies, but much more reliable and much quicker (minutes for effect vs hours).

Interesting, I was not aware of that. I have noticed that drinking mushroom tea as opposed to eating dried mushrooms does have a quicker onset, so that makes sense to me. (Sadly, it is also consistent in making me vomit.)

Yeah no, being high is a totally different and unpredictable thing to being buzzed on alcohol.

I’m not so sure, it seems to make people more delusional over time and more paranoid and anxious even from low dose usage.

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