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Comment by yunohn | Hacker News Reader

In my experience in Europe, the primary roadblock is the controlling moralistic conservatism exhibited by critics like those quoted in the article.

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How about the horrible smell produced by those who smoke? It's super reckless to expose others to negative side-effects by somebody who can't control themselves and must smoke.

Edibles don't smell.

Tbf, the parent did specify smoking. However, to your point, legalisation will clearly make it more likely that alternative, less-smelly consumption methods become popular than prohibition.

It is already illegal to smoke indoors in most of Germany.

Disturbing others with smells is already against the law. There have been cases of renters getting kicked out for bothering nighbors with tobacco smoke. Some amount of smell is just part of life. I also have so smell disgusting (to me) food sometimes.

There are also restrictions where you can and can't smoke, like schools, playgrounds or sports fields.

I think it's reasonable to impose restrictions on "smell pollution", as much as it's reasonable to limit neighbors from playing loud music at night.

The good news is that vaporization doesn't smell as much (or linger as long) while being nearly equivalent in effects, and edibles don't smell at all. I think users and non-users should be able to coexist peacefully by making a couple of compromises.

It’s also super annoying getting on a bus after you read statistics claiming that 15% didn’t wash their hands and we keep getting on the bus anyway.

Newsflash. Not everyone who smokes „must smoke”. And trust me, in order to smoke responsibly you actually need a ton of self-control.

Do you find the smell of cigarettes less offensive? This is obviously a personal preference but personally I find that one much worse, and unlike with tobacco, I've never had to put my clothes in the laundry just because I stood next to a weed smoker for 5 minutes outdoors

Smoking indoors is illegal in most of the EU already. I personally find the smell of cannabis smoke lingers a lot longer than tobacco.

Quite right -- and ban Paco Rabanne

> How about the horrible smoke produced by those who drive cars? It's super reckless to expose others to negative side-effects by somebody who can't control themselves and must drive alone on the highway back and forth to work.

Or the fact that a big portion of the population is not in favor of legalization. The new law in Germany is controversial, too, and chances are high that the next government (to be elected late 2025, which is most probably shifting towards the right) is going to change/revoke this law, as they have already announced.

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