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Comment by newZWhoDis | Hacker News Reader

I feel the same way about alcohol, it’s 20+ years behind the stigma curve though.

The big difference is that you don't have to drink alcohol if an unknown person next to you is drinking, while passive smoking is a real thing. Granted, peer pressure leads people to drink more than they otherwise would, but it's still something you can fight against. There's no willpower that will help you against passive smoking.

I'm not claiming that alcohol is better, just saying that in terms of getting of nuisances, you can choose to completely opt out of alcohol if you so choose, while in some places it's hard to completely avoid cigarette smoke from people around you.

Yes but alcohol is going have a far far bigger impact on their temperament and behaviour than even 100 cigarettes in a row.

Alcohol has negative social externalities just like cigarettes. People who drink often drive and make other bad decisions that don't just damage the drinker.

The negative social externality may not be "second hand drinking", but it exists nonetheless.

But you don't have to smoke and do something else to be harmful.

Sure you do. Smoke and walk around in public. Smoke and stand in the middle of the sidewalk. etc

The point is that these are not necessary. Someone is not harmed if you drink in the same room as them and do nothing else.

Not true they might drink too much and start complaining about me smoking.

"People who drink often drive" is a nonsensical statement. People lose their driver's licenses permanently for drinking and driving. People get high on cannabis and drive too. And people smoke cannabis outdoors, which smells worse than cigarettes if you ask me. So as far as public nuisance goes you get the worst of both worlds... except cannabis is the "cool" drug for younger generations, so people will bend over backwards to make excuses and berate you for criticizing it :)

I also don't drink alcohol. Quit about 3 years ago after hearing how bad it also is for your health and just from hating the feeling the next morning. But I agree this one will be a harder one to kick.

I don't drink a lot of alcohol, but I make batches of kalja at home for daily consumption - probably 0.5% abv because I'm impatient and bad at it. (And I'm, uh, using bread yeast lol)

It probably averages out to the equivalent of a beer every week or two.

My boss likes to say "wow you must be drinking some strong stuff on the weekends after this job." Because apparently that's the ideal way to cope with abusive workloads.

In reality its just sleep, anime, and weed.

This is your boss subtly commenting that your weed use is noticeable.

It's just old oilfield habits to these guys. He gets confused anytime someone doesn't line up with the old ways. (leading to long racist lunch rants)

He's not far off since you do cope with a depressant drug, just a different one with a different risk profile. And I don't know about you, but it tanks my productivity worse than alcohol all the way through the next day depending on the form. So maybe he's making a comment about that.

Weed isn't wholly a depressant, nor is it classified as one due to the stimulant and hallucinogenic effects it also includes.

You're actually 100 years behind it.

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