Not sure about grabbing that beer? You’re not alone. Americans are reaching for alcohol at record lows, according to a new Gallup survey.
The survey, out Aug. 20, found the number of Americans who say they drink alcohol sits at 54% for the second consecutive year − and health concerns appear to be a major factor.
“Fifty-one percent of U.S. adults now believe drinking one or two alcoholic beverages a day is bad for one’s health,” the survey results noted. “The figure is essentially unchanged from last year’s record-high 53%.”
In 2001, only 27% considered moderate drinking bad for one’s health, according to Gallup.
Weed is legal in more places than ever. People are aware of cycles of abuse and trauma, we don’t want to keep repeating the sins of our alcoholic parents. And now recovery is out in the open like never before, regular folks and celebs both openly talking about their journeys.
There’s a big class of folks like myself who don’t do hard drugs, don’t drink, but will use cannabis and hallucinogens, maybe dissociatives. This is pretty reflective of our times - we’re disconnected, our journeys are isolated, our experiences tend to be isolated. So these drugs work well for that, without being destructive like drinking alone is.
I will say from experience though that long term, chronic, heavy use of weed comes with its own problems, though. Probably not as bad as alcohol, but pretty unfun still.
In Canada, we are seeing all kinds of cannabis syndromes in ER, with psychosis and schizophrenia on a steep rise. The problem is the dose, 60s weed had 2% THC, but shops sell very highly concentrated THC. Government won’t regulate it because the whole point of legal weed was to make investors rich.
I absolutely believe this and that was my unscientific conclusion as well; a lot of the previous study we have on the safety of cannabis is with comparatively very low THC amounts. Some of the new study isn’t so rosy, as I recall (though it’s been some years since I’ve looked at it). My experience after 10+ years of few issues was a very bad panic attack bordering on psychotic episode. Though it is much better a few years later, I still have issues with panic and dpdr I didn’t have before which were very crippling in the months after the event. I can’t really mess with weed anymore and encourage youngers to at least watch their THC intake.
With teens, there is very really effects of brain development. Also, despite what Reddit/Lemmy will tell you there are cannabis addicts. Canadian government admits to 5% of users, but the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health puts the number at 10-30%.
Being one, you’ll get no disagreement from me. I can’t have just one, I’ll be stoned non stop until I run out. I tried starting with more healthy and measured use at least a half a dozen times… no dice. It’s binge until gone for me.
It’s a bit more insidious than alcohol, because the impacts are less obvious in the short term imo, and there’s less acknowledgement it can be a problem because Bob Saget said a funny line once. It’s a slow burn.
I watched nice kids growing up ruin their lives with pot addiction and chemically induced apathy. No careers and partners eventually leave them.
One thing I will say, from my perspective, is it’s less that it induces apathy so much as it makes you comfortable with it, and so you lose motivation to change.
That’s the greatest boon and curse of it all in one, imo: it makes bad situations tolerable. Which sounds great to some until you realize that bad situations being intolerable is usually what drives you to try to change the bad situation.
I’m sure it can manifest different for others, but that was my experience.
That people should be free to do what they want with their own body.
Sounds like you have an issue with capitalism, not drugs.
So you support drunk driving? Non shithole countries have universal health care so we all have to pay for the stoners on welfare and the hospital bills from substance abuse.
Libertarians have opinions until it all goes to shit then they are instant socialists.
I agree with this statement but looking back I have to admit that I’m not sure the chronics I knew were actually suffering the effects of their heavy weed use or if the heavy weed use was just comorbid with their other problems.
And like alcohol, people do respond to it differently. It’s not an amazing option for just anybody, even though it may be a wonder drug for some.
Yup. There’s a reason ABC and Total Wine have a whole isle dedicated to THC drinks. People don’t not use drugs anymore, they just found a cleaner drug.
I keep wondering if “just weed and occasional hallucinogens” will actually be an available path for the next generation. I think it’s reasonable advice but I don’t know what’s out there and available to them. It seems like a broader spectrum of shit than ever and things get mixed together. Can you still just buy an 8th of weed in a sandwich bag anymore? Can you get a paper tab of acid without worrying what else is in it?
Canadian weed is clean because it’s regulated, but you can buy very high concentrations of THC that are not safe in edibles.
There was a great story out of Toronto where two cops palmed an edible candy bars from a dispensary. They ate the whole thing without realizing the delay and amplification by the liver. One cop had a panic attack and called in officer down, the other was found in a tree. A third cop was seriously injured responding to the call when he slipped on ice.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/article/two-toronto-cops-suspended-for-ingesting-cannabis-edibles-on-duty-sources-say/
In the end, the judge of the case called one cop a “complete idiot” in court.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-cop-pot-charges-1.4899645
Conversely, I do amphetamines (legally, prescription) and still occasionally drink. At the height of my drinking I’d have 3 drinks in a night (usually more like 1-2), maybe 4-5 nights a week, but the rule has always been that I would only drink if I felt safe to do so, had something else to do (while drinking), and most importantly, am not in any negative mood or depressed. These days I only really drink for celebrations, and looking around there isn’t much left to celebrate. I still drink occasionally, but it’s been down to like 1 drink every other week, with company (and only mead, my body can’t handle beer or even wine anymore).
“Apathy had to make out of body the status quo” -Clipping (Daveed Diggs)