I know that in Japan, China & Korea along with SEA including the Middle East, it’s definitely criminalized and you’ll get arrested for bringing in weed (they’re indifferent whether its for medicinal or recreational use) since they do not allow it on their turf. In some countries, that guarantees a death sentence as they have zero tolerance on allowing those substances. It’s not like let’s say Canada or Germany where weed is tolerated.
Travelers who are weed users aren’t stupid to travel internationally with cannabis as they’re aware the rules are different across borders. Then, if they crave for weed (but can’t consume that as it’s a crime in those countries) what’s the alternative? Over the counter pills, maybe? Other valid substitutes that may give off similar vibes. I’ve heard a case where an American couple had their weed confiscated in Australia, where it’s illegal.
I’m a heavy daily user for decades and even when I go on vacation, I forget to smoke cause I’m busy and having fun.
I realize I use it mostly to make my boring ass daily life more tolerable. But when I’m on vacation, it’s not that important.
No reason to end up in prison for some fucking weed.
Yeah, holidays are the easiest place to get it, but being in a more enriching and less stressful environment of any kind makes it very easy to just immediately stop.
We don’t. It’s not like heroin. I don’t need it and can manage fine without it
Yep. Went on a 3-day trip recently and didn’t even really feel like I had an urge and I’m normally a pretty regular user. Best perk of the drug.
You can get opiates over the counter in a lot of countries :)
That’s… not great
I mean you could just not get high while in those countries. This is the route most taken.
You are not describing “avid usage”, but addiction.
As another said: they would just go without it. “Not being stupid” and “getting illegal substances in another country” are exclusive - but addiction makes everyone stupid once it got its hold :(
And yes, people get addicted to weed. Just like food, shopping or gambling.
Fun story. In College I did a summer semester in the UK. I had a long ponytail, wore tye-dyes… looked like a stoner (because I was a stoner)
My friend worked at a food co-op and gave me some Chamomile tea to help with jetlag. It was Eco-friendly bulk packaging: green dried leaf in a plastic baggie. I thought nothing of it and tossed it in my carry-on along with a textbook I’d hoped to read. And of course I had 1/4 oz of weed in my underpants on the theory there is no realistic chance I end up getting strip searched.
I walk up to Customs Officer who asks my purpose in visiting. Well, I was going to summer school but also visiting relatives so I vacillated for a second. Officer gets suspicious, asks name of the school. Well it was University College of London but there are like 3 schools with very similar names (Imperial College London, Kings College London) and I brainfarted for a second on which it was.
So now she knows for sure she’s got a druggie and I’m actually starting to get legit scared. She tells me to “open up that bag then, let’s have a look”. I open it, she sees the baggie in full view, swoops in to grab it and demands, “WHAT IS THIS?!”
… and at that moment, relief! I knew I was saved!
“That’s chamomille tea, ma’am. To help with jet lag.”
She opens it, smells it, clearly is embarrassed, crossly tells me to zip up my bag and go on my way.
And what did I learn from this?
LSD is colorless, odorless, and you can bring a shitload on a piece of paper that nobody will ever find. Travel with LSD, not weed
I think the real lesson is, travel with chamomile tea in your bag and whatever you want in your underpants.
Just to counterbalance some of the other (kinda wild) responses, weed dependency is a thing, weed withdrawal is a thing, and it’s not always as easy as “don’t go to the place”.
When I was heavily self-medicating with weed I did what others have said and tried to find it at my destination, almost always successful (did get scammed a couple of times but hey them’s the breaks trying to buy an illegal substance as a tourist, and at least it wasn’t worse). The one time I went somewhere I knew 100% I wasn’t going to find it, I got a wax pen and some shatter - it wasn’t the same (and never has been) as smoking it, but it worked OK enough
I smoked every day from when I was around 16 until I was 43, usually multiple times a day, most mornings. I smoked all the way thru law school. I smoked weed thru my career. I noticed my blood pressure was going up even though I eat a healthy diet and exercise and figured it has to be smoking so I stopped one day 2 years ago and never touched it again. I didn’t experience weed withdrawal or feel any dependency, I felt like stopping and I just did. I suspect the people who have these experiences have deeper underlying issues that they would experience dependency and withdrawal from any of their maladaptive habits be it extreme sports, shopping or even jerkin it.
I used to be a heavy pot smoker (think daily habit, multiple joints a day, zero days off for years at a time). I usually just brought some with me. It’s really not that hard to get stuff across borders, especially when travelling by land. You’d have to get really unlucky to be searched. Sometimes I’d also just ask around at my destination. I’ve taken drugs on planes too a couple of times (one time hash hidden inside normal cigarettes and another time LSD and DMT in my hand luggage).
People really overestimate customs’ ability to find shit, at least when the amounts are small for personal use. I wouldn’t recommend it and absolutely would never do it travelling to someplace where you’d go to jail (or worse) if caught, but within Europe I never had issues. The only time I was ever caught was with a tiny amount of weed that I hadn’t bothered hiding when travelling by car from the Netherlands to Germany and that only resulted in it being confiscated and no actual charges.
All that being said, even a total degenerate like me was able to go a week or two without illegal drugs if I had to. Alcohol is available pretty much anywhere, so worst case I’d just drink.
I don’t smoke during those trips. I don’t even like to bring weed across state lines within the US.
The heavy weed smokers I know are all capable of taking breaks for things more trivial than the threat of serious jail time (ie taking a break to lower tolerance, taking a break while looking for a new job, etc).
FOAF was a rasta type from (iirc) Australia. Everything about him (clothes, dreadlocks, etc.) screamed “pot user”. He flew to some other country and of course customs immediately pulled him aside and asked him if he had brought in any pot or intended to use it during his visit. He said “not here, mate. Only at home.” which was exactly the right thing. If he had said he wasn’t a user they surely would have searched him to the skin. Instead they recognized mutual understanding and things were fine.
Anyway, yeah, as everyone says, just do without it. If that’s a problem, well, it’s a problem that has a name and you should work on fixing it.
I’m getting the sense that OP hasn’t had a lot of experience with weed use. Even when I was smoking a lot everyday, I would never feel the need to take the risk of bringing over borders and ruining your life. It’s about as addicting as coffee, if not less so. If i wanted to get intoxicated, I’d just drink alcohol.
I was a nightly weed user and moved to Japan in February.
I quit 6 months before making the move, so there would be absolutely zero chance of testing positive on any potential drug tests here.
If I’m being honest, I miss it. But not enough to want to move back to the states.
Are you talking about drug tests going through customs or for employment?
Yes.
When you look like you’re not from there, you’ll be approached by dealers all the time. Just walk around in a touristy area and they’ll buzz around you, “hey, psst, hash, weed, cocaine?” Just don’t cross the border with it
You go to a bar and strike up conversation with people and then casually ask if they know how many grams in an ounce.
Almost no one outside of the US/UK knows how many grams there are in an ounce, whether they use drugs or not. Why would they?
Wait till you hear about half-quarters, it’ll blow your metric mind.
Not sure what you’re getting at. I know you use eights, I’m just saying no one else does. You’re the only ones convinced that fractions are better than decimals.
Don’t travel to places where it’s illegal. And if you do, don’t try to acquire anything while in places where the legislation has real teeth. Chances are if weed is illegal, any fun substitute will be as well. Depending on where you are going a positive blood test, should you get in trouble with the law for whatever reason, may still get you in trouble even if all of the weed in your bloodstream was consumed where it was legal to do so. That’s also something to consider two months ahead of your trip abroad.
If you are so worried that you cannot break your habitual use you may want to investigate your use pattern even while you are where it is legal. Marijuana addiction is not a huge societal problem overall but it can be for the individual.
