There are a lot of things that are risky that I do all the time. I’m surprised marijuana has such widespread praise given burning organic material, inhaling it deeply, and keeping it for long periods of time in your lungs is obviously dangerous. Grilled and smoked meat - with charred material slowly snaking its way through your intestines - is definitely extremely dangerous.
But I enjoy alcohol, I like how it impacts social situations, I like the taste. Jesus did turn water into wine, after all. Traces of beer and wine go back perhaps ten thousand years. It’s not something a warning label will change for me, and we already tried prohibition. Life is hard enough without having to worry about every last damn thing.
You assume everyone is "smoking" cannabis. I would argue cannabis edibles are the future. I would also argue cannabis edibles are infinitely safer than any kind of alcohol.
Alcohol is a hardcore drug that is readily available, cheap, and highly addictive. I don't enjoy the taste of any alcohol and it seems cheap alcohol is what most people are buying which is not known for taste/flavor. Sure a cocktail might taste fine but most normal people and even alcoholics aren't consuming pina coladas every night.
Cannabis edibles are awful. It takes forever to take effect, dosing is annoying, and they are stupid expensive for the amount of THC you get. They are basically the "powder alcohol" of the weed world. The effect you get from eating THC is also different from the effect you get inhaling.
It's a different world forsure, I'm not arguing for or against, I'm just saying that eating cannabis has zero health issues associated with it versus drinking and smoking which are killing your vital organs. I'd also argue cannabis edibles are already a multi billion dollar industry. I personally know a couple of folks that have been anti alcohol and smoking, but have eaten or continue to eat cannabis. It's anecdotal at best, but I was surprised when these specific people told me they tried it despite their stance previously.
It's easier to get https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_hyperemesis_syndro...
by edibles. Because of the delayed feedback and difficult dosage. You don't have that delay with smoking or vaping. The feedback is instant, except for really strong stuff that is overwhelming. But that is avoidable. At least where it's legalized, and marked/labeled as such.
"burning organic material, inhaling it deeply, and keeping it for long periods of time in your lungs is obviously dangerous" - While intuitively true, I'm not at all convinced it is factually true, though of course it may well be. Also it likely depends a lot on how much/often.
Likewise for: "charred material slowly snaking its way through your intestines"
"Life is hard enough without having to worry about every last damn thing." - Amen
We spent basically the entire past century figuring out how bad burning leaves are for your body on a regular basis, why the hell do you think it isn't factually true? There's no intuition about it.
The only fact I know of in this area which I think is well established is that smoking a lot of cigarettes over a long period of time is bad for your health.
But what about a lower volume of usage? Say, one cigarette each day? Or two? Or one per week?
> I’m surprised marijuana has such widespread praise given burning organic material, inhaling it deeply, and keeping it for long periods of time in your lungs is obviously dangerous.
Edibles :-)
> I like the taste
That's the part that's hard to completely replace with anything else, for me. I like weed better in basically every other way, but a nice minerally wine or complex whiskey or layered, perfectly-balanced mixed drink... mmm.
You can already buy 99.9% pure cannabinoids and terpenes and mix your own tinctures in MCT and similar oils. You can also buy pre-prepared tinctures. The era is here, really.
But I enjoy alcohol, I like how it impacts social situations, I like the taste. Jesus did turn water into wine, after all. Traces of beer and wine go back perhaps ten thousand years. It’s not something a warning label will change for me, and we already tried prohibition. Life is hard enough without having to worry about every last damn thing.