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Comment by baroffoos | Hacker News Reader

It seems to me that it poses roughly the same risk as alcohol. I wonder if legalization changes the amount of children with access to the drug. If all sales are illegal then someone selling it probably won't care if they are selling to an adult or a 15 year old but if selling to an adult is legal but selling to a child is not the risk is probably not worth it.

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Agreed. When I was a teenager, everyone knew it was easier to buy marijuana than any sort of liquor, because there was basically no underground market for the latter. All the knee-jerk stoners in here spamming the same point are probably oblivious that regulated sales and minimum age is actually somewhat effective.

>It seems to me that it poses roughly the same risk as alcohol

Alcohol can kill you, both from ingesting too much and from quitting after heavy usage. Cannabis does neither, and that's not even close to "roughly."

I know someone who is dying of lung cancer due to years of smoking marijuana. Its not the same instant effect as one night of drinking way way too much but you can die from both.

I hate to harsh your mellow, but it was probably due to tobacco.

Smoking anything will give you lung cancer. That is a risk one should be aware of and accept if you so choose to inhale.

There are smokeless consumption alternatives, which anyone mindful of their lung health should choose instead.

No one is saying smoke doesn't cause lung cancer. What is being said is that cannabis consumption will not kill you via overdose.

Sorry about your friend. Is that the source of your contention that the risks between alcohol and cannabis are roughly equal?

Not nearly the same risk. But not safe for developing minds, for sure.

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