In my area, West Coast of the US, it’s become so unbelievably normalized. You can smoke in public in front of police and no one cares. There are massive farms right on the side of major roads, and no one cares. There are advertisements for Cannabis all over the place. Shops on every corner. So many people smoke that no one judges anyone. Even super conservative farmers near me smoke like crazy. Prices are insanely low. You can easily get an ounce (28 grams) of good cannabis for $25.
In other states in the US you are the town pariah if they find out you’re a stoner, and you can go to jail for years just for possession.
So what’s your country like?
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The netherlands is in a weird spot, it is technically illegal but it is sort of allowed(gedoogd) meaning that you can smoke it and buy it(at coffeeshops not from street dealers)
But you can’t grow it or sell it. Even coffeeshops are buying it illegaly.
You can legally have 5 grams for self use. Weed usually goes for 8 to 15 euros a gram.
it is mainly tourist who come here to smoke weed compared to locals
It’s not as de-criminalized as it was 10 years ago, but ultimately not many people care too much about weed anymore. Fines for minor possession are low. Consequences are not dire.
Rule of thumb is the older and the more rural a demographic is, the more strictly it will oppose cannabis (and of course you may very well see those same people applauding anyone overdosing on alcohol).
There is change, it just comes along painfully slowly.
I live in Sweden and it’s becoming more and more normalized but there are still people set on it being harmful. Our main news channel (TV4) have their “Expert” Doctor and he’s very adamant that it’s harmful to everyone.
I think the statistics is something like 1/4 of people under 35/40 have tried it.
It’s still taboo to talk about cannabis in public (for some at least).
Now I’m hearing that Germany is close to legalization/decriminalization so I think our government will follow eventually. Some politicians have spoken out about it becoming legal.
IF it does it will be the same as our Alcohol supplier “SystemBolaget”, basically government controlled with no rebates, sales or ads and you have to be 20 to buy there even though the legal drinking age is 18.
Super normalised in the Basque Country in Spain (I can’t speak for the rest of the country because I don’t know how it is). You will find people smoking marihuana and hash in the street, and the police won’t bat an eyelid.
Possession is still illegal at this time, current government says they are working on legalisation and how to control where you can buy it and how much etc.
Basically it has been everywhere all the time, wannabe gangbanger-kids, alt-rockers, punks, hip hop scene, old hippies, ravers… It has been a thing in every scene and every kind of youth culture now for at least 30 years and in some ofc even long before that. And numbers we know of say it is growing, especially with the youth and alcohol consumption is declining with the same people. I myself don’t look at it as easy as many others bc I think there is some glorification and identity thing with it that I not only despise personally but also think can be dangerous (before anyone else mentions it, I think the same thing about alcohol). But I am clearly in favor of legalisation and legal distribution. I myself have smoked weed about once a week for a few years in my twenties, now I’m thirty and it is a thing I only do maybe 3 times a year.
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Depending on place and quality one gram is 10 to 15 Euro.
It is illegal for recreational use. Technically possible to get cannabis products (liquid, capsule, spray) prescribed for a very limited number of conditions (epilepsy, nausea associated with chemotherapy, multiple sclerosis) but remains rare that is happens.
The police in practice tend to overlook recreational use, although we have a bonkers government at the moment, the crazier right wing elements of which have raised reclassifying cannabis as a Class A drug (like heroin) who will likely put them under pressure to take a less sensible approach.
Where I live in Manchester, you can smell weed everywhere. There the shop by my house has recently had one of those parcel delivery lockers installed outside and going by what I can smell most of the parcels delivered to it contain weed. Some people don’t bat an eyelid, some people are very judgey indeed.
Illegal, but sometimes people get prescribed cannabis to help with chronic pain by doctors. There are products like oil and seeds you can buy, but it’s made from industrial weed. If you’re found with it on you, you are arrested and go to court.
Pretty much everywhere in Reykjavík, very easy to find and usually very potent. I think most people don’t really care and the police isn’t really after people who smoke weed, especially if they do it at home or somewhere discreet. I think it has become more recognized and accepted during the last ten years or so.
it is illegal but decriminalized to up to some grams.
Interaction from police is anywhere between zero shit happen to give us everything you have and pay the fine. (but seems to me having this kind of record in a police file also can lead to drug test during traffic stops)
They are trying to legalize it here in the coming years.
From your description of everyone smoking a lot… do you get a lot of potheads who’ve managed to kill their last functioning braincell with too much weed?
I’ve seen people smoking on the street occasionally. Of course if they ever see the police while smoking they’re going to freak out, as weed isn’t even decriminalized. Usually people who smoke weed do so in places out of the public eye. Places like forests, abandoned buildings and sometimes even construction sites. Usually it’s also younger people who smoke weed, although I know a few older pot heads as well.
Despite not smoking anymore, I’m still for legalization. Mostly because it’s insane how if you’re caught by the police with even a small amount of weed, you’ll get a charge equaling carrying heroin. And I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound very progressive in a country that’s seen as progressive on the international stage. There’s currently a petition going around again for legalization, so here’s hoping they don’t vote no again. The petition is currently at 16,500 signatures.
I’m Berlin, Germany it is still illegal but widely accepted. It’s like drinking in public(which is legal here), just don’t do it in front of some kids.
As far as I experienced the cops are not even coming when someone’s calls because of someone smoking weed.
Also once some Park Guard approached me and just told me to smoke somewhere else. No problems at all.
I’m not sure about the specific legal details but it’s definitely illegal in Slovakia. And pretty frowned upon too. I’m a young person in my early 20’s and I don’t know anyone who smokes. It’s mostly considered something that rebellious (gpa below 2) high school kids do.
“In other states in the US you are the town pariah if they find out
you’re a stoner, and you can go to jail for years just for possession.”
And yet so many people still take that risk. I’ve never smoked weed, but HOW GOOD can it really be to risk throwing your life away, lol.
In Turkey, it’s illegal on paper. I’m not sure how enforced it is. University students will casually smoke the stuff, but it’s obviously obtained through the tried and true “I know a guy who knows a guy” method.
It’s mostly seen as a harmful substance that university youth use. Most families react with abject terror at the prospect of their child smoking cannabis.
It’s illegal, and you definitely can’t smoke in front of the police. But you don’t have to fear jail. You can smell the typical scent in the park every now and then.Recently I was collecting magic mushrooms with some acquaintances, and one of them smoked a joint during a break, and later another one. In nature there are no police and other people don’t care. I know some people who smoke pot now and then and some of them grow it themselves. I also know a grandma who occasionally cooks hash cookies – as does the librarian at my university. Accessories, like bongs, etc, you can buy in many stores, but the stuff itself only illegally. The right-wing parties are strictly anti-cannabis, but they love alcohol all the more.
Still illegal here, even personal use thanks to Labour. You get fined if you get caught for use or small quantities. Things have improved a bit these last couple of years, even though the decriminalisation bill failed in parliament. The debates uncovered that some of the weapons the police were using the war on drugs were illegal. Such as searching phones, apartments and bodies of people caught for use, or taking away their driving license without proof of DUI. The courts have also started letting people with well developed drug problems go free. EDIT: Also IIRC medical cannabis is legal, but it’s very hard to get a prescription.
This might be me living in a bubble, but I feel like it’s become more acceptable since the early 2010s. I still make a bit of an effort to hide it, and I definitely wouldn’t admit to it if asked at work or similar. But I’ve stopped caring if I’m spotted by strangers in the park or wherever.
I pay around €12-15/g for decent to good hash, and I can get some pretty good weed for €20/g, but I usually get hash these days. I would be able to get bulk discounts if I bought more at a, but idr exactly how much.
>There are massive farms right on the side of major roads, and no one
cares. There are advertisements for Cannabis all over the place. Shops
on every corner. So many people smoke that no one judges anyone. Even
super conservative farmers near me smoke like crazy.
I like how you ask about culture surrounding cannabis while in your case it’s rather cannabis culture surrounding you.
It is “illegal” that being said it’s decriminalised and very, very normalised in Flanders, Belgium (not sure about Wallonia).Most people i know do smoke (even older people). No one looks weird if you mention smoking a joint or smoking. It is… normal. Just don;t go out in the main shoppingstreets, around schools/playgrounds/minors and you’ll be fine, hide it when you see cops and you’re good to go.
When you get caught you will only get a fine (if you carry around 3gr or less)
There’s more severe drugs to worry about (looking at you cocaine, but that’s another discussion)
I’ve noticed that people in US hate cigarettes(you had some sort of campaign against it) but act like vaping/cannabis is completely normal.
It’s very strict here. Weed leads to worse drugs is still general opinion for many people. Anyway you can get many years in prison for few grams of weed here. Pretty much more than for a murder.
It depends on the generation.
The older generation will never go near it and are convinced it could cause sudden death.
Young people are much more accustomed to it but there are different approaches to it. Some people will smoke it illegally on a regular basis in Ireland, others will not smoke in Ireland due to the illegality of it and so will go to places like the Netherlands or Spain where it was decriminalised. My first time was in Spain.
There’s also a national obsession with Amsterdam. Young people in Ireland go there with the intention to take as many edibles as humanely possible.
There is very little discussion in government circles about legalization or decriminalisation but people find a way anyway.
Illegal. You can smell weed on the streets sometimes, but I wouldn’t risk it.
See all the protests there were against gay marriage a few years ago? Absolutely no reason why there wouldn’t be the same about weed legalisation. France is an incredibly conservative country in many aspects.
In march 2021 an experiment was launched: medical cannabis for patients with severe illnesses. Oh yeah, of course we need yet another experiment, surely there haven’t been enough of these elsewhere.
So while we still don’t have legal cannabis (or even medical) in France, some locations in the US or Canada already have legal magic mushrooms.
Illegal. Lots of people use it but there’s also a big chunk of the population, like catholics and right leaning people, that oppose its legalisation. Some months ago an activists gathered enough signs through a petition to vote on it but it didn’t pass. And with the far right now in charge of the government, we won’t see any progress about it.
It’s fucked over here. The government is trying to introduce mandatory prison sentences for *any* possession, people think weed turns people into murderers who’ll kill you for the next hit, and also that Singapore’s drug laws are good actually.
I mean the Netherlands is pretty famous for its legislature surrounding cannabis.
It was once considered a mecca and cultural hearth of cannabis, though those glory days have long passed.
The broken record point is that it’s **decriminalized** (yes that is the correct term) rather than truly legal. This is more evident on the backend side of things than at the retail point of sale.
That is to say, for sales, there is *some* oversight and taxes paid, etc. However how the coffeeshop proprietors procure their stock is a sort of “blackbox” which is actually almost entirely supplied by organized crime. This is the famed *achterdeurbeleid* or “backdoor policy” and that’s why you see for example high-end “Cali” weed and Moroccan or Afghani hash gracing the menus, as if they carelessly admit to selling goods which were illegally smuggled into the country from abroad.
As for what’s available. Good Dutch (or European) grown weed usually goes for €12-€20/g in the shops. And slightly lesser quality from €8-12/g. The Cali weed, runs from €18-€30/g. Import hash from €8-€25/g; high end water hash from €30-€100+/g; live (water hash) rosin from €90-€150/g.
If you have a plug those prices can been anywhere from 10-50% less depending on what. Live rosin for example won’t be found for under €70/g unless buying in serious bulk or “importing” (or producing) it yourself.
Laws can be kind of harsh towards growers especially if artificial lighting (versus sun) is involved. But the tolerance of consumption of the streets of Amsterdam is among the best of anywhere in the world.