Why this ‘No Smoking’ sign got 87,000 upvotes on Reddit

A no-smoking sign posted on Reddit garnered more than 87,000 votes for containing a “No Vaping” and a “No Marijuana” symbol. There was a time when the idea of ​​putting up a “no smoking weed” sign would have been ridiculed or viewed as a joke – but in this case it’s a real hotel sign.

As cannabis has become more available across the United States, some places are now including the once illegal drug on their no-smoking signs along with vaping.

Even if steaming doesn’t make too much sense, since steam doesn’t “stick” to materials like smoke, this still indicates a major paradigm shift. This sign wouldn’t have existed in the real world, save for the novelty signs that you buy in Hot Topic.

In this article, we take a closer look at why the Internet reacted this way and what it means for us as a society. What are the challenges we have overcome to be able to live in a world where these signs actually exist, and what could be some future signs that we can expect in hotel rooms?

As times have changed …

The reason Reddit lost its collective shit about the appearance of this sign is simple – cannabis won the war on drugs! In the 1980s and 1990s, the idea of ​​”legal cannabis” was so far-fetched that it was considered the “wisdom of stoners”.

I remember every stoner I knew had been talking about for decades that marijuana would be legal for the next five years. We have come to a crucial point where this could actually come true.

We have seen a major shift in the public perception of cannabis since roughly the 2010s. This was right after states like Washington and Colorado legalized cannabis for adult use. These were the first two states to fully legalize recreational cannabis.

Before the two states were legalized, most cannabis laws were based on a medical basis – meaning that “medical marijuana” was available to anyone who needed it. This pseudo-legalization prioritized those affected by illness or disease symptoms, but failed to recognize the recreational aspect of consumption.

When WA and CO flipped the script; suddenly the possibility of legal recreational cannabis became a reality. The pipe dream came true!

In 2010, more than half of Americans turned down legalization of cannabis. Today almost 70% say it should be legal.

Due to this overwhelming paradigm shift, hotels feel the need to expressly tell their guests not to smoke weed, as this is now an accepted form of relaxation.

The no smoking sign testifies to this change.

Why the paradigm shift?

It can be said that activists did their job educating Americans about the benefits of cannabis, or that Americans have finally accepted the fact that people should have the right to choose what to add to their bodies – this is but not entirely true.

True, the activists’ awareness campaigns have helped convince many people of the validity of legal cannabis – but in my opinion the biggest factor behind the paradigm shift has been the generational shift.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the people “in power” had a strict anti-drug position. The bullshit “Drug Free America” ​​was sold to everyone of all ages. Nancy Raegan’s national indoctrination campaign was in full swing.

These people started retiring in the mid-2000s and early 2010s. The next generation to take power and still somewhat in control are those born in the 1970s to 1980s. That means Gen X has taken the reins and if you know anything about Gen X – you are against the culture at the maximum!

Gen X has no problem with cannabis or drug use. For them, the idea of ​​freedom is a high priority, and the overwhelming power of the government has been a violation of those rights.

Legalizing cannabis was a breeze for Gen X and those who followed.

As the dinosaurs retired or became extinct, their ideas about drug use changed too. The newer generations were much more tolerant of “other people’s behavior”, which also led to an acceptance of different expressions of sexuality and personal behavior.

Beat a system!

Generational change is one thing, however – the US government has put in place a system to uphold prohibition. There was a lot of money to be made and many industries that benefited from the illegality of cannabis. Pharma has funded a lot to keep marijuana illegal, as have police unions, prisons, etc.

Politicians often used drug use as a means of “cracking down on crime” by arresting and imprisoning users while banks laundered money for cartels.

The victory of the legal weeds was like a blow to the prohibition machinery. At first it didn’t bring anything great – but ten years later we see the entire machine screeching to a halt.

To achieve this, activists had to use different perspectives, most notably the “medical argument” – but social injustices and racial prejudice also contributed to a paradigm shift.

Eventually, support for the war on drugs became such a toxic concept that politicians began to distance themselves from the “tough on crime” argument.

With legal cannabis came legal cannabis deals and this sparked pro-cannabis lobbyists. Slowly the system crumbled and now we see the last breath of a dying era come into effect.

The sticky end result

Sure, most people’s comments on the Reddit post pointed to humor – the deeper meaning of this no-smoking sign screams that the effects of the likes of Anslinger and Nixon are finally wearing off.

We just had to wait for a generation to die for this to happen – but at last we can marvel at a sign that includes things like vaping and marijuana.

Good job cannabis, you beat the system!

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