Posted on 11/15/2017 9:38:38 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
FULL TITLE: We took a scientific look at whether weed or alcohol is worse for you — and there appears to be a winner Which is worse for you: weed or whiskey?
It's a tough call, but based on the science, there appears to be a clear answer.
Keep in mind that there are dozens of factors to account for, including how the substances affect your heart, brain, and behavior, and how likely you are to get hooked.
Time is important, too — while some effects are noticeable immediately, others only begin to crop up after months or years of use.
The comparison is slightly unfair for another reason: While scientists have been researching the effects of alcohol for decades, the science of cannabis is a lot murkier because of its mostly illegal status.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
More than 30,700 Americans died from alcohol-induced causes in 2014. There have been zero documented deaths from marijuana use alone.
Marijuana appears to be significantly less addictive than alcohol.
Marijuana may be harder on your heart, while moderate drinking could be beneficial.
Alcohol is strongly linked with several types of cancer; marijuana is not.
Both drugs may be linked with risks while driving, but alcohol is worse.
Several studies link alcohol with violence, particularly at home. That has not been found for cannabis.
Both drugs negatively affect your memory — but in different ways. These effects are the most common in heavy, frequent, or binge users.
Both drugs are linked with an increased risk of psychiatric disease. For weed users, psychosis and schizophrenia are the main concern; with booze, it's depression and anxiety.
Alcohol appears to be linked more closely with weight gain, despite weed's tendency to trigger the munchies.
All things considered, alcohol's effects seem markedly more extreme — and riskier — than marijuana's.
Too much of anything is bad for us. Period.
RELATED ARTICLE....
What marijuana really does to your body and brain
Marijuana’s official designation as a Schedule 1 drug — something with “no currently accepted medical use” — means it’s pretty tough to study.
Yet a growing body of research and numerous anecdotal reports link cannabis with several health benefits, including pain relief and the potential to help with certain forms of epilepsy. In addition, researchers say there are many other ways marijuana might affect health that they want to better understand.
Along with several other recent studies, a massive report released this year by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine helps sum up exactly what we know — and what we don’t — about the science of weed.
Marijuana can make you feel good.
In the short term, it can also make your heart race.
Marijuana’s effects on the heart could be tied to effects on blood pressure, but the link needs more research.
Weed may also help relieve some types of pain.
Pain relief could include the discomfort of arthritis.
Individuals with inflammatory bowel disease may also find some relief.
MORE.....
Let’s see...
Which is worse for me...hitting myself in the head with a hammer, or stabbing myself in the stomach with a knife.
What if I do both? Does one cancel out the other?
Cops will kill you for marijuana.
I’ll agree, though with the caveat that for those who have no problem keeping their drinking moderate, moderate pot smoking I think is worse than moderate drinking, because the effects of pot smoking are longer lasting.
Sorry, but every hard drug addict I ever met in the hospital started with marijuana. Trying to normalize it’s use is a fatal mistake.
Never mind that If one uses either they tend to use both anyway.
Nowhere did I read in either article the obvious effect marijuana has on a persons drive and initiative.
It’s not just a myth that dopers are lazier and less inclined to succeed in life.
I'll pass.
Keep adding poisons to our culture, because “they’re no worse than....”
Alcohol is GOOD for you, not “bad.” In moderation it has numerous beneficial effects. Whatever you say about cannabinoids, if you are SMOKING pot, it is unhealthy, as you are breathing in several toxic and carcinogenic substances. Eating it is another matter.
“Sorry, but every hard drug addict I ever met in the hospital started with marijuana. Trying to normalize it’s use is a fatal mistake.”
Gee, I wonder if beer could be a “gateway drug”? I am sure that many more people tried alcohol before they ever tried marijuana. Huh.....
This is a lie. People get killed stoned and driving all the time.
More stoner science.
LOL! I say “Icepick in the eyeball or sledgehammer to the teeth”
Most likely they started with cigarettes and alcohol. One of the reasons marijuana uses move onto harder drugs is because the seller sells both and begins to push their users into harder drugs to get them addicted and spending more money. Legalizing MJ eliminates that from occurring, not to mention saves $25+b a year on law enforcement and frees up space for violent criminals.
And every alcoholic I ever met started with .... alcohol. I assume you’re a fan of prohibition?
We are Republicans. Conservatives. We value individual freedom, not government regulation and overreach. We value the right of free men to make their own decisions over their own lives. If “some” people abuse things... well thats their problem.
We also value the Constitution. Please show me where in the Constitution the Federal Government is given the authority to criminalize marijuana?
And no, I don’t smoke.
By that logic, breast feeding is the gateway substance that's to blame for everything.
All the time?
Then I suppose you could easily find a link to any one of these deaths, please.
I’ll wait.
Interesting...”Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome is characterized by chronic cannabis use, cyclic episodes of nausea...”
Wasn’t one of the arguments for “medical” marijuana was its ability to help patients cope with nausea from medicines and treatments?
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