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Comment by version_five | Hacker News Reader

I'm curious, because I have not heard of wax or tinctures, do you think those are things that more people will use, vs people who would have used some hard drugs anyway?

What I mean is, there will always be some hard drug users, now from the discussion I understand some "hard" THC products exist, will this result in any kind of demographic change like the OP worried about, or is it just a new drug of abuse?

Just because these things exist, I don't think it automatically follows that they will get used by most people, or even more people than would have found some other destructive thing to do in their absence

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This is all anecdotal but I have multiple friends who smoke regularly for years. I would consider them heavy smokers, think 5+ joints a day. Once their states had recreational or easily obtainable medicinal marijuana and the retail shops that come with it they quickly started moving into the concentrates and waxes. Now they regularly are going through grams of concentrates and going back to their previously "heavy-use" of 5 joints a day would barely scratch their itch.

The availability of vape pens also makes it REALLY easy to end up smoking way more than you would otherwise and as an easy way to start smoking in general. I smoke and enjoy the convenience of pens but they are perfect tools for increasing cannabis consumption in a population.

It is almost as if flower based cannabis is a gateway drug to these concentrated forms and I think it is really easy to go down that path as an already regular user. It's more economical, potentially better for you (less smoking) and now very easy to obtain.

I think the "overton window" of cannabis use is being shifted to the heavier end. Casual users will probably stay about the same but regular and heavier users will all shift to more or higher potency consumption.

Just anecdota of course, but waxes and tinctures are routinely promoted and offered in discount deals at virtually any legal weed dispensary in the USA. They are IMO increasingly mainstream, as they often work nicely with tools like vaporizers which more and more young people use to consume.

Technology has massively changed how people consume cannabis - many people today may have never rolled or smoked a traditional joint ever. You can buy it in ready to load resin cartridges powered by a LiIon battery. Many of these things produce cold vapor that makes it staggeringly easy to smoke an enormous quantity. At least with a joint, there normally comes a point one's throat will probably not thank you for continuing... The cold vapor from many vaporizers is almost odor free too, meaning people can consume in places they couldn't previously.

They are very common - "vape cartridges" are the preferred intake mechanism for a lot of people because it's much more discrete (almost no smell, can pass for normal vaping) and convenient (small size). And those cartridges can be upwards of 90% THC.

They are pretty heavily in use and available at most locations that legally sell marijuana. Estimate they are 15 to 20% of sales, perhaps more. Even common flower now is 20% thc.

Dude, literally millions of people are dabbing wax and vaping 95% purity THC all day every day in just the US. Millions. Not just in legal states, and not just delta-9-THC. There's all 50 states legal hexahydrocannabinol carts from hemp, delta-8,10 THC and THC-O acetate widely available. Not sure though why an article about lead exposure turned into a Reefer Madness spook campaign. If one were looking for parallels I think one would lean towards something like widespread use of PFAAS chems or something. Smoking plants is up to an individual.

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