Today, on this episode of "making my paranoias everybody else's problem"...
this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2025
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Unpopular Opinion
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Alcohol makes me hung over and throw up, walking by a drunk person makese feel "nauseous". I doubt I'm the only one who feels this way, therefore it's harmful to others and should be forbidden.
/s
Actually being unpopular to the point that it's getting down voted in the unpopular opinion community.
walking by someone smoking it makes me “high”
No it doesn't.
Let's take it one step further: smoking should be forbidden everywhere. What do you think?
How do you feel about people smoking tobacco in public spaces? What are your thoughts on designated smoking areas?
So do a lot of other things. This is not a usual reaction/sensitivity. You may be victim of a psychosomatic effect. I.e. give someone water and tell them it's alcohol and they will act drunk for they believe they are.
You might benefit from getting some help. In particular those symptoms may be something you are feeling subconsciously all the time or of some undigested trauma.
There are also people who feel bad seeing dogs, cars, trains rolling into stations and myriad other potentially dangerous things.
It's also entirely possible that OP is an extreme case where even low doses can trigger various symptoms. It's all very complex when psychosomatic factors are involved, but you still have to consider the physiological factors too. In medicine and toxicology, it's really common that different people respond very differently to the same dose of the same compound.
If OP is a rare exception, their opinion should be viewed in that light. BTW that makes the opinion equally rare, and consequently unpopular.
I am a person who has had a legitimate psychotic break from smoking waaay too much weed, for a decently sustained period of time.
Yep, its rare, but it does happen.
That being said... I do not share OP's opinion that weed should just be banned for everyone... people like me are a statistical anomaly.
Its... usually not a problem though, for me to briefly walk past somebody toking up, I may get a mild 'contact' high from it, as I am highly sensitive, but it ususally fades in 15 min or less.
But if I am in a room of people hotboxing... yeah I'll get decently high with me not taking any hits, if I'm in there for more than 15 minutes.
Also also:
For me, as best I can tell, its just... any THC that does this to me.
CBD gummies? Back when I was able to find actual smokeable strains with nearly 0 THC but fairly high CBD amounts?
Totally different kind of high, no paranoia, works on neuro receptors in a significantly different way than THC.
Possibly also relevant, maybe not:
I am Autistic.
There is an emerging, but far from totally agreed on and fully explained... view, that, well, autistic brains, or at least certain potential subclasses of autistic brains... actually do have physically distinct brain chemistry and activity patterns than non autistic brains.
Basically, more and more actual genes and gene clusters are being identified, and at least some of those are being found to alter brain neurochemistry in measurable and mechanistically understood ways that nobody seems to have even known were possible before.
There could possibly thus be a propsensity toward an actually physically different reaction to many kinds of drugs from at least some autists.
But this is also fairly confusing because what is ... currently being called 'Autism Spectrum Disorder' via psychological diagnosis... well, some autistic people have some of these mutations, some have all of them, some have none.
So... its far from fully understood, but it may be the case that in 5 or 10 years, Autism ends up being actually subclassed partially based on genetics and epigenetics, beyond just based on a description of behavioral patterns.
Thanks for taking the time to share. Was a very interesting thing to read.
Speaking of autism, this is in the realm of psychology, which is still in its infancy. The terms and theories are far from stable, so you can expect everything to change within the next century. I’m pretty sure the term autism will eventually be divided into a number of distinct phenomena with overlapping symptoms.
Current psychology doesn’t really have the analysis methods that would allow us to formulate and test more proper theories. Currently psychology is largely based on observations, symptoms and opinions, which isn’t really the kind of foundation you would want for a serious science that makes serious predictions.
As a result, anything you read about psychology tot should be taken with a grain of salt. Is a work in progress, so the results are only qualitative at best and completely wrong at worst.
Oh yes lol, I am well aware that psychology is... fairly far from a 'hard', empirically based science.
It is slowly taking baby steps toward that, but uh yeah... as you say, there is a lack of rigorous analysis methods, and definitions are changing all the time.
I remember a psych. telling me that DSM V was gonna be the last one, the final one...
... and then a massive revision for it came out 10 years later, so basically that's Windows 10 is gonna be the last Windows, oops here's Windows 11 / DSM-V-TR (cough DSM-6 cough).
I am glad you concur that 'Autism' is likely to be reconfigured as a kind of family of more distinct, overlappable subclasses...
I have certainly met Autistic people with say, basically 0 impulse control and no capacity for emotional regulation... and while I do have some other 'abnormal' behavioral patterns and ways of thinking in common with those people...
I am not like that, I am, or was called at one point, a 'high functioning autistic'... but that was back when Aspergers was... still a distinct thing.
Ironically, this lack of consistent and coherent classification... well, this bothers me greatly, as I very much like ideas that are consistent and coherent, lol.
Oh well, back to making and modifying video game mods for me, hahaha!
Didn't say they were wrong. You are virtually always right when talking about your own experiences.
Merely inhaling a single whiff of second hand smoke is very unlikely to actually do any thin, so you should look inside first and foremost.
Paradox effects and hypersensitivity are particularly common in autistic, ADHD and others. It is somewhat likely that they are extra sensitive. Involuntary exposure sucks.
Yes i am. This is not the problem here though, I was a heavy smoker for a year (daily) and kept trying to tell myself I'm not feeling any negative effects because I really do like smoking weed, but I came to accept that it's just harmful to me.
I was a heavy smoker for a year (daily) ... I came to accept that it's just harmful to me
So that lends weight to the idea that your reaction to secondhand smoke is psychosomatic.
in some of the other comments OP, you say you used to smoke.
one of the potential effects of cannabis is paranoia. This sounds like that. Talk to a professional, and get some help. Like honestly, this is concerning.
Why does everyone always assume that a poster isn't already involved with "professionals" ? Is it really that rare for people to see a psychiatrist?
because it doesn't sound like it's a topic currently being brought up with a professional
I agree but not because of your personal problems. Inhaling smoke is very stupid for anyone. THC itself is a wonderful drug.
Forbidden everywhere? Even in places especially made for those who wish to smoke it? Sounds as valid as when religious people forbid unreligious ones to live their current lives as they please, since that would hamper the religious peoples beliefs otherwise.
No, like public spaces. Anything should be legal in ones private space. (Except the obvious...)
Well, I could arrange myself around that, only I'd rather like to see it as a convention of kindness or let's better call it reciprocal fairness (so to avoid naming the golden rule), than a law. Law's would be broken, by those not agreeing to them. But asking someone to be so kind to look after their fellow citizens, instead of demanding, — that — they — must —follow — the — rules — might convince them even more easily. ^^ Yes, yes, I know, I'm a dreamer, not aware of the cruel and unforgiving reality he's,living in. 😉 Yet still: I prefer kindness over insistence. But, as I said (even though I believe alcohol to be a far more dangerous drug, which really needs to be more controlled), I could live with smoking weed outside privat situations to be ~~prohibited~~ … restricted. 🙂
Ah, a terrible take on prohibition. Have an upvote.
Even at home?
No... I missed that part :/
Just look at the result of the alcohol ban in the US.
I don't like tobacco but I understand that people can smoke when nobody around has a problem with that.
I'd say "ban cannabis" is not exactly an unpopular opinion, the majority of the world governments have it banned, but smoking specifically does make it weird
Why? Cannabis doesn't hurt anyone who takes it voluntarily, so anyone should be able to consume it, just not at the "cost" of others.
Then the opinion should be ban smoking cannabis in public, not just a general ban.. and with that reasoning I don't see why it should be cannabis specific. I hate choking on cancer fumes of others, so ban smoking/vaping in public seems like a much better ban in that regard, if the concern is not harming others with 2nd hand smoke
Then the opinion should be ban smoking cannabis in public, not just a general ban..
But OP asked only for smoking weed, instead of banning weed altogether!? 😲
so ban smoking/vaping in public seems like a much better ban in that regard, if the concern is not harming others with 2nd hand smoke
I'd absolutely agree on that. Please let us ban any drugs that produce 2nd hand harm! (I'd even put alcohol into that ban too then, for the violence drunkenness produces in the drinkers, that then harms all around them.)
But OP asked only for smoking weed, instead of banning weed altogether!? 😲
Don't see why that's relevant. I never implied they said it any other way.
But a general ban on smoking weed rather than smoking in public specifically does mean you can't smoke at home too ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'd absolutely agree on that. Please let us ban any drugs that produce 2nd hand harm! (I'd even put alcohol into that ban too then, for the violence drunkenness produces in the drinkers, that then harms all around them.)
Im down to ban it too, but then it would be an issue of enforcement :3
I never implied they said it any other way.
My mistake then (non native speaker here), sorry! Really thought you did. 😬 My apologises then, if I may. ^^
It's fine x3.. I may have phrased it oddly too as another non-native speaker tbh