Why do most people NOT smoke weed even though it's legal?

[JoseThailand]

After the 3 years of legal weed in Thailand, we can see that weed is still a very niche product. Not many people are using it. Many weed shops stay empty all day and  probably survive only because of the few regular customers.

 

Why is it so? Why do most people not smoke weed? Why are most people absolutely okay with alcohol, but not weed?

[BritManToo]

I pay 2-5bht/g for cannabis using LINE, hardly anyone (except tourists) will pay 200bht/g from a shop.

 

Yesterday's order 100gm, 229bht cod.

 

[marin]

8 minutes ago, JoseThailand said:

Why is it so? Why do most people not smoke weed? Why are most people absolutely okay with alcohol, but not weed?

For me its not so simple. Why would I go into a weed shop that charges 200-800 baht a gram for weed when I can buy it online for literally 1/10th of that price. 

[transam]

I don't need it, a beer is quite adequate for me................🤗

[ElwoodP]

Troll posts and emojis removed.

This section of the forum is not for trolls that don't use cannabis.

Continue, and official warnings will be given.

[JackGats]

Why do many people NOT drink alcohol even though it's legal?

[RSD1]

4 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

After the 3 years of legal weed in Thailand, we can see that weed is still a very niche product. Not many people are using it.

 

You must be joking. You’re completely lost. There was an article a few months ago from one of the Thai government agencies stating that cannabis use in Thailand jumped from around 1 million users to about 7 million after it was decriminalized. If those numbers are accurate, that means roughly 10 percent of the population is using it.
 

4 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

Why is it so? Why do most people not smoke weed? Why are most people absolutely okay with alcohol, but not weed?

 

Again, what are you basing any of this on? The alcohol industry in Thailand has taken a big hit since weed was decriminalized.

 

It seems like you’re drawing all your unfounded conclusions just by walking past those high-end tourist-trap weed shops in Sukhumvit with their expensive fit-outs and no customers. That’s not where the 7 million cannabis users in Thailand are getting their weed. Most people either grow it themselves, buy it from someone in their village who’s growing it, or get it online from local vendors selling at much lower prices.

 

[HappyExpat57]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I pay 2-5bht/g for cannabis using LINE, hardly anyone (except tourists) will pay 200bht/g from a shop.

 

Yesterday's order 100gm, 229bht cod.

 

I can just about SMELL this picture.

As Homer says, "mmmmmmmmmm."

[mogandave]

A lot of people’s lives are such that they do not need to get loaded. 

[zmisha]

Legalization of soft drugs makes it easier to get involved in the world of drugs. And after that, some people easily move on and try harder and harder drugs.

[ronnie50]

Because they aren't that interested in smoking weed or tried it as a kid and don't want any more? Why are there some many optical shops and dental clinics - one on almost every corner of Bangkok. I have a Thai friend who isn't shy about saying why there are so many optical shops - but I wouldn't repeat it here.

[connda]

The same could be asked of cigarettes and alcohol. 

[brewsterbudgen]

My earlier post was deleted, but I avoid smoking weed as I hate smoking and the diseases it causes.  I have used oil but didn't find it very effective.  I'll stick to alcohol.  

[quake]

Because when I quit my 40 a day red Marlboro habit 25 years ago.

Pot smoking had to go at the same time, I just could not separate the two.

But I'm always up for a cookie or a free line of Charlie if offered.  

[Stocky]

7 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

Why is it so? Why do most people not smoke weed? Why are most people absolutely okay with alcohol, but not weed?

Personally I don't like the smell.

 

But even if I did, from experience in Swaziland many many years ago, the effects are not always the same. Looking at a bottle of beer or wine I can see the alcohol content, I know what I'm drinking and the likely consequences, with ganja there's no such information or certainty.

 

No thank you.

[Moonlover]

Here could be one possible reason. But, like many things in life, it's a personal choice.

 

'Marijuana use dramatically increases risk of dying from heart attacks and stroke, large study finds'.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/17/health/marijuana-heart-death-wellness#:~:text=Marijuana use dramatically increases risk,and stroke%2C large study finds

[MalcolmB]

It brings fake people undone.

it freaks them out.

i love watching it. 

[zmisha]

Personally me simply enjoy sober mind. That's why.

[Hummin]

Because it slows me down. 

 

I smoked 3 months as 19 year old, and pretty much every day for two of them in Florida spending the winter over there skydiving.

 

Went back home and tried it a couples of times occasionally, but never got the taste for it again. Not my wibe

[JellyBabies]

I never smoked cigarettes so didn't move onto weed

 

and also the smell makes me a little sick (there are worse smells however 😉 )

[Cardano]

Probably because most people aren't stupid, even the majority of those who drink alcohol.

[KhunLA]

No longer need to escape the pain and stress of everyday living.   I left all those trials & tribulations behind me, when I retired.    Found the Cure for Pain ... wife, kid & dog 

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

7 hours ago, JoseThailand said:

Why do most people not smoke weed?

Because they're not stupid.

[KhunLA]

1 minute ago, Cardano said:

Probably because most people aren't stupid, even the majority of those who drink alcohol.

An Oxymoron ... 

[BritManToo]

47 minutes ago, Stocky said:

Personally I don't like the smell.

 

But even if I did, from experience in Swaziland many many years ago, the effects are not always the same. Looking at a bottle of beer or wine I can see the alcohol content, I know what I'm drinking and the likely consequences, with ganja there's no such information or certainty.

 

No thank you.

All those backpackers in Laos also thought they could see what they were drinking, then they couldn't see at all when the wood alcohol blinded them.

 

I've certainly been poisoned by alcohol more than I ever have by cannabis.

 

In fact cannabis has completely cured the arthritis in my finger joints. (I should probably say remission instead of cured).

Before cannabis they were too swollen to wear rings and very painful.

Now, no pain and no swelling.

[Stocky]

Just now, BritManToo said:

All those backpackers in Laos also thought they could see what they were drinking, then they couldn't see at all when the wood alcohol blinded them.

Well duh! What might you expect if you accept a strange drink.

I only drink what I can pour out of a bottle I've opened or seen opened and know the contents of.

[Sigmund]

Weed causes damage to one's mental health, it's no secret. Maybe that could be a reason why regular folks do not end up as junkies ? 

[wombat]

Up to you.

[wombat]

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

 the diseases it causes.  

Which ones,?

[ronnie50]

1 hour ago, Stocky said:

Personally I don't like the smell.

 

But even if I did, from experience in Swaziland many many years ago, the effects are not always the same. Looking at a bottle of beer or wine I can see the alcohol content, I know what I'm drinking and the likely consequences, with ganja there's no such information or certainty.

 

No thank you.

Apparently the THC in today's harvests of marijuana is multiple times higher than the ganja we smoked 30 years ago. I guess you could argue therefore that you need less to purchase and get high, anyway I'll pass.