Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login
When recreational marijuana is legalized, cigarette sales rise (chicagobooth.edu)
3 points by johntfella on July 24, 2021 | hide | past | favorite | 4 comments



Am I getting this right, is their argument basically, 'legalizing a natural plant means statistically up to 7% more tobacco will be sold, so we should not do it'?


As far as I can tell, they only just figured out that a lot of people ingest THC by smoking it. Horror of horrors, this changes everything.

So fine, then. Why don’t we just make cigarettes illegal as well? As in, serious intent-to-distribute prison time for anyone caught with two packs or more? That’ll cut down on smoking, if that’s what everyone’s so worried about.

Or we could just keep doing what we’re already doing: continue to highlight the health issues behind smoking, ban it in public places, higher insurance premiums for smokers, etc.

I don’t know if this is just a stupid article or if there’s a larger agenda, but this reeks of concern-trolling from the Reefer Madness crowd.


Why would legalizing marijuana increase cigarette sales?


A lot of people mix it with tobacco in joints/spliffs. It's especially common in Europe, where a joint will typically be 2/3 tobacco and 1/3 cannabis or 50/50 depending on the user.

Virtually nobody in the UK smokes it without tobacco in joints.

There's also the possibility of people in the early stages of addiction trying to satisfy urges throughout the day by substituting with cigarettes (yes it can be addictive...)




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: