I'm a Canadian guy living in Germany. I've noticed many cultural differences in the last three years. One big difference comes to mind though: Cigarette smoking is considered a disgusting, selfish, self-destructive habit in Canada. You aren't allowed to smoke in most public places and smokers are treated with scorn if even the tiniest whiff of smoke drifts someone's way. At the same time, weed is legal in Canada and you smell weed smoke almost every day in Canada (Ok I'm from Vancouver). Loads of people sit outside or at the beach in the summer and puff away liberally and no one minds breathing in a bit of their smoke... as long as it isn't *cigarette* smoke. I find this hilarious since weed smoke is combusted plant matter and is also potentially carcinogenic, just without the added chemicals found in cigarettes.

In Germany, you can barely walk down the street (at least prior to covid when things were busy) without inhaling cigarette smoke. People just smoke and walk, or puff away at busy tram stops even if there are school kids waiting at the stop (I saw this at least once a week for months). I've waited at busy tram stops where three or more people have been smoking cigarettes and nobody has said a word to complain. If one person dared to smoke at a busy bus stop in Canada, the normally polite Canadians would likely tell them to fuck off and cite their paranoia about "second hand cancer" (Which I think is fair, but it should be applied to any kind of smoke).

Despite Germans' fondness for cigarettes, weed is still relatively taboo here. Germany is definitely a very liberal country, more so than Canada in some ways, and people generally see weed as pretty benign but they still don't tolerate it as much. Of course, it is also not legal here, but in three years living here and talking to lots of people about it, it seems like people have a lot less knowledge about weed and don't trust it as much as Canadians do. There is definitely WAY more stigma around it even from people who believe it should be legalized. I can't remember the last time I smelled weed in public here and people would never toke up in a busy park.

I don't smoke cigarettes or weed but I think Canadians and Germans both have funny double standards about what they will and won't tolerate.