Pot smoking : smell and presence

[jimkenney12]

I detest all smoking. If I am approaching somebody who's smoking, I try to hold my breath until I am well past them. If I have some congestion or a sore throat, tobacco smoke can trigger the equivalent of a full blown cold. Pot smoke and potbm plants stink. I like the Quebec rule that vaping cannot use any flavors likely to appeal to minors.

 

[BetteTheRed]

Sigh, in my youth I wanted to sit on the swings and smoke a joint!

Near my house, on my regular tour with the hound, there is a little park we walk through. There is a playground section; 95% of the time we walk through there (less in the summer, but not that much), there is no-one in this little playground. Should I ever feel like smoking a joint on the swings (a pleasant thought), I would not hesitate to do so, were there no-one about.

 

[BetteTheRed]

I like the Quebec rule that vaping cannot use any flavors likely to appeal to minors.

I would like a rule of no artificial flavourings allowed. I can vape pure cannabis without problem, but some of the scented flavours can cause me difficulties. Usually, the shop people in the cannabis store can steer me away from artificial flavours for my vape products.

 

[GO3838]

Adults have the right to drink alcohol, smoke tobacco or weed, and vape.
However, they do not have the right to consume these products in public places.
I think it's so important that children not see recreational drug use as a "normal, social" thing to do.
There are children that see alcohol and cannabis use in their homes, but there are other children who only see it in public places,
like parks, So it's a good thing to keep consumption out of public places.
(And I'm talking about recreational cannabis here, not medicinal cannabis.
I don't wish my remarks to be interpreted as "cannabis shaming" for anyone who uses medicinal cannabis
under the advice of a medical practitioner. )

 

[BetteTheRed]

However, they do not have the right to consume these products in public places.

Well, they do, that is the hypocrisy. Ball parks all sell alcohol, as do cultural venues.

I use cannabis both medically (for pain, insomnia and appetite), and recreationally. I've always attempted to do so responsibly. Just before legalization, we had a cannabis lounge in town. Toking, vaping, no blunts allowed (tobacco), no alcohol. Nice selection of teas and fun cold drinks. A bunch of super air cleaners. Comedy nights, open mic nights. On Sunday, there was "lifted yoga". Not legal now. No smoking anywhere inside. Too bad.

 

[ChemGal]

I find the concern for children a bit of a red herring. Yes, if you hot box a child in a smoky area or blow any kind of smoke at them, it's never appropriate. Should you smoke  anything in a playground? In front of kids? Near a school? Nope. Should you clutch your pearls at a whiff of weed any more so than cigarettes?

A whiff of smoke can cause huge problems for a young child though. Smaller airways, something like an asthma attack can be severe.

My nephew was in the NICU. Rules for people who smoke (doctors orders) - clean clothes, can have smoked since seeing him. When they are that concerned about 4rd hand smoke, that one whiff of 2nd? It can actually be deadly. They aren't really at park phase yet, but taking babies, toddlers to a park shouldn't have to result in an unnecessary emergency room trip.

 

[ChemGal]

Quebec is likely the most restrictive province when it comes to cannabis laws. Essentially, unless you are a homeowner, there are no legal spaces to smoke cannabis and vaping it is illegal and the items can't be sold here. You can smoke cigarettes pretty much anywhere outside (I loathe cigarette odour) and bring alcohol to parks legally.
No home growing whatsoever.
The hypocrisy is off the scale. I tend to think it's a puritanical hangover from having been controlled by the church for so long.
The idea that cannabis is "drugs" (on the level with meth) any more than a beer or two is hopefully on it's way out. People seem to make a big hoohaw out of nothing. I hope the ones bleating about the nasty weed smoke give equal shrift to nasty tobacco smoke. BTW, cannabis in liquid form, when vaped, barely smells at all and dissipates fast.

I think we need to be a little more aware of drugs in general. It doesn't mean it's bad. Caffeine is a good example, dangerous in too high amounts.

As for what where, here cannabis smoking/vaping is the same as nicotine smoking/vaping.
In a park, as long as someone is behaving responsibly, I don't mind if they are consuming edibles or alcohol.
Like I said, didn't mind either in the little park near me with the forms that can affect others as it was being done in a way that didn't really limit the park's enjoyment by others who were around at the time. Vaping (less so as it tends to be more limited) and smoking both require a bit of extra awareness to do so responsibly in a public space IMO.

 

[BetteTheRed]

Agreed, but at what point do I decide to worry about 4th hand smoke on a NICU-level baby when I chance a toke on a breezy, kid-free day in the park?

 

[ChemGal]

Agreed, but at what point do I decide to worry about 4th hand smoke on a NICU-level baby when I chance a toke on a breezy, kid-free day in the park?

If you're not blowing smoke around at people who don't want it, and aren't going be in close proximity with smoky clothing to other people, that's good enough in most settings.

The clothing though, I do find can be bad. Someone I'm after at phototherapy, it's always so strong in that room! I think him removing/putting clothes back on is clearing it out of the clothes a bit into the tiny room.

For kids, if there's something like a bathroom present, that's where a bit of consideration could be used like don't smoke immediately before going to the enclosed shared space.

 

[Kimmio Laughterlove]

People smoke it so much around here, that unless somebody blew it straight into my face, I probably wouldn’t even notice anymore. It doesn’t phase me. I smoke it occasionally, outside.

(The median age where I live is approx 35, and I’m not even kidding. I live in a pretty hipster inner city, big city, neighbourhood. A busy neighbourhood, too. The parks, in the summer, feel like they’re lost in another era - or universe lol - and it takes adjusting, but I like it here. I once met up with George at a park he liked near here. We didn’t smoke a joint lol - I was abstaining, for reasons - but I’m guessing he smoked one in that park at some point.)

Few people sweat that stuff around here. Whereas, where I used to live, there was almost nowhere where it would be tolerated in public. Here, it’s the people who don’t tolerate it who are unpopular. I think it’s been that way around here ever since the 60s. Maybe earlier. I met a real former beatnik once.

 

[Mendalla]

Should you clutch your pearls at a whiff of weed any more so than cigarettes?

We are not just talking about "clutching our pearls" at a "whiff of weed", though. We are also talking about the very real effects of secondhand smoke on the respiratory systems of people who are not choosing to inhale it. Hence my mention of "wide open spaces". If things are well-ventilated, I don't have a problem. But as Jim points out, even walking into a puff of smoke left by someone walking ahead of you can have an impact, esp. if your respiratory system is already compromised by acute or chronic illness. A smoker's right to puff anything (I think marijuana should be treated the same as tobacco, BTW) does not include the right to infringe my right to breathe relatively clean air. If I have to avoid a place due to the amount of smoking going on, it's the smoking that's the problem, not my lungs.

 

[Waterfall]

We are not just talking about "clutching our pearls" at a "whiff of weed", though. We are also talking about the very real effects of secondhand smoke on the respiratory systems of people who are not choosing to inhale it. Hence my mention of "wide open spaces". If things are well-ventilated, I don't have a problem. But as Jim points out, even walking into a puff of smoke left by someone walking ahead of you can have an impact, esp. if your respiratory system is already compromised by acute or chronic illness. A smoker's right to puff anything (I think marijuana should be treated the same as tobacco, BTW) does not include the right to infringe my right to breathe relatively clean air. If I have to avoid a place due to the amount of smoking going on, it's the smoking that's the problem, not my lungs.

Good thing you dont live in some places in China, where the only way to escape the pollution is by masking or staying indoors.
Here's the air pollution levels in real time. Scroll down to see levels in Canada.

Canada Air Quality Index (AQI) and Air Pollution information | IQAir

Canada Air Quality Index (AQI). Read the air pollution in Canada, get real-time, historical and forecast PM2.5 and weather data with AirVisual.

www.iqair.com

Today, right now, the small city I live in is number 7 on the worst cities in Canada for air pollution. That will probably change as summer lingers.
Asthma, pulmonary disease, etc increases.
What you cant see sometimes can kill you too.

 

[Mendalla]

Good thing you dont live in some places in China, where the only way to escape the pollution is by masking or staying indoors.

You seem to forget that I have been there half a dozen times and have a connection to the country by marriage. The air quality there is the worst I have ever seen. That's doesn't mean you can rationalize smokers generating air quality issues here by saying, "Oh well, at least it isn't China." Our goal should be to aim high, not just surpass a very low bar.

Electric cars should help with the numbers all around since even China is jumping on that bandwagon (assuming they smarten up and back off on their coal use). Zero emission isn't just about zero CO2. Other emissions are part of that, too. There's still going to be issues, but as long as we have clean electricity generation (even LNG with proper scrubbers in the stacks can be relatively clean compared to coal or oil, which is part of China's problem), moving things like vehicles and home heating off of burning fossil fuels is going to help air quality in general, not just climate change.

 

[Carolla]

A smoker's right to puff anything (I think marijuana should be treated the same as tobacco, BTW) does not include the right to infringe my right to breathe relatively clean air. If I have to avoid a place due to the amount of smoking going on, it's the smoking that's the problem, not my lungs.

Hmmm ... so it comes down to ethically determining a hierarchy of rights ... whose takes precedence? I do have sympathy for those with significant pulmonary issues, chemical sensitivities etc. How to strike any kind of balance is a big challenge.

 

[Waterfall]

You seem to forget that I have been there half a dozen times and have a connection to the country by marriage. The air quality there is the worst I have ever seen. That's doesn't mean you can rationalize smokers generating air quality issues here by saying, "Oh well, at least it isn't China." Our goal should be to aim high, not just surpass a very low bar.

I'm saying we like to complain about what we can see while ignoring bigger problems too. I'd add smell, but we've acclimatized to that.

 

[Mendalla]

Hmmm ... so it comes down to ethically determining a hierarchy of rights ... whose takes precedence? I do have sympathy for those with significant pulmonary issues, chemical sensitivities etc. How to strike any kind of balance is a big challenge.

Speaking as someone who works for an organization in the respiratory care sector, I would argue that since breathing oxygen is necessary to live, the right to breathe and to be healthy in doing so trumps any right to burn leaves in your mouth wherever you like, which is hardly a necessity for life. We have patients who are smokers, which are obvious, but how many of the lifetime non-smokers that we treat are that way because of air pollution, including secondhand smoke? We really have no way of knowing other than it is probably a non-insignificant non-zero percentage.

 

[Carolla]

To the issue of public pot smoking - I don't like the odour of anything people smoke - cigarettes, cigars, most pipe tobaccos (but pipes seem rare these days), pot, hash ... whatever. It's disagreeable, not harmful in my case. Pot smoking outdoors in my neighbourhood is quite common. Vaping pot definitely has less (if any) odour.

Smoking/vaping is legally prohibited in Ontario on public outdoor playgrounds and recreational spaces (and most other places where kids are present) - but the likelihood of enforcement is pretty slim. Police & bylaw officers have bigger issues to pursue.

 

[Waterfall]

We really have no way of knowing other than it is probably a non-insignificant non-zero percentage.

We do know the effects of air pollution:
4.2 million premature deaths per year in the world. In Canada its 14,600 per year.
If you scroll down in the link I provided you will see what's in the air.

 

[Luce NDs]

We do know the effects of air pollution:
4.2 million premature deaths per year in the world. In Canada its 14,600 per year.
If you scroll down in the link I provided you will see what's in the air.

Of this many can be dis attuned about, or de tuned! Thus irregular notes ... abnormal or paranormal? Sour ... maybe bitter in a major vector ... after that tensors!

This resonates in hollowed domains ... and folk will make something of it ...

 

[Mendalla]

We do know the effects of air pollution:
4.2 million premature deaths per year in the world. In Canada its 14,600 per year.
If you scroll down in the link I provided you will see what's in the air.

I was suggesting that I do not know what percentage of our home oxygen patient base is due to factors other than direct smoking. I know we have an estimate for air pollution in the whole population.