Alcohol vs. Marijuana?

Question

Not condoning the use either, while not condeming the use of either as well. What's really worse for you? I've seen both drugs screw up peoples lives. While others have used either or both all their lives and live normal lives. I also know people with really screwed up lives that don't touch either............
What are really the long term effects of these. Alcohol kills brain cells? Pot cuts of oxygen to brain cells? Alcohol doesn't kill brain cells? Pot does? Pros and Cons?
Should pot really be illegal considering it can't even be overdosed on and isn't PHYSCIALLY addicting?
Sorry if I sound like a hippy I just GREW UP in way too conserative of a town, that put Marijuana and Herion in the same catagory. While the teacher had alcohol in her breath.
Like I said before, I'm not condoning the use either, while not condeming the use of either as well. I just like other peoples opinions........
Websites anything. Inform me.

Answer 1

There is no question that alcohol is much worse for you than marijuana.

Alcohol (from erowid.org)

"POSITIVE

* relaxation
* mood lift, happiness, giddiness
* talkativeness
* lowered inhibitions / reduced social anxiety
* analgesia (kills pain)

NEUTRAL

* slurred speech
* flushed skin
* drowsiness, sleepiness
* nystagmus, difficulty focusing eyes
* tolerance with repeated use within a few days
* changed aesthetic appreciation: normally beautiful things can seem ugly, things normally seen as ugly judged beautiful.
* mild visual distortions at high doses

NEGATIVE

* decreased coordination
* nausea, vomiting (vomiting while unconscious can kill)
* reduced impulse control
* emotional volatility (anger, violence, sadness, etc)
* frequent urination (more with beer or wine), diuretic effect
* dizziness and confusion
* blackouts and memory loss at high doses
* coma and death at extreme doses
* brain and liver damage (cirrhosis) with heavy use
* lowered inhibitions and increased confusion can lead to unwanted and negative sexual encounters (date rape)
* hangover, lasting 12-36 hours, from mild to severe after heavy use
* fetus damage in pregnant women at high dose or frequency"

as opposed to Marijuana (also from erowid)

"POSITIVE

* mood lift, euphoria
* laughter
* relaxation, stress reduction
* creative, philosophical or deep thinking : ideas flow more easily
* increased appreciation of music. More aware of, deeper connection to music.
* increased awareness of senses. (eating, drinking, smell)
* change in experience of muscle fatigue. Pleasant body feel. Increase in body/mind connection.
* pain relief (headaches, cramps)
* reduced nausea, increased appetite (used medically for this)
* boring tasks or entertainment can become more interesting or funny

NEUTRAL

* general change in consciousness (as with many psychoactives)
* increased appetite, snacky-ness
* slowness (slow driving, talking)
* change in vision such as sharpened colors or lights
* closed-eye visuals (somewhat uncommon)
* tiredness, sleepiness, lethargy
* stimulation, inability to sleep (less common)
* blood shot eyes (more common with certain varieties of cannabis and inexperienced users)
* mouth dryness, sticky-mouth (varies with strain)
* interrupts linear memory. Difficulty following a train of thought.
* cheek, jaw, facial tension / numbness (less commonly reported)
* racing thoughts (especially at high doses)
* increased emotional impact of music
* Time sense altered: cars seem like they are moving too fast, time dilation and compression are common at higher doses

NEGATIVE

* nausea, especially in combination with alcohol, some pharmaceuticals, or other psychoactives
* coughing, asthma, upper respiratory problems
* difficulty with short term memory during effects and during periods of frequent use (Ranganathan M, D'Souza DC, Psychopharmacology, 2006)
* racing heart, agitation, feeling tense
* mild to severe anxiety
* panic attacks in sensitive users or with very high doses (oral use increases risk of getting too much)
* headaches
* dizziness, confusion
* lightheadedness or fainting (in cases of lowered blood pressure)
* paranoid & anxious thoughts more frequent
* possible psychological dependence on cannabis
* clumsiness, loss of coordination at high doses
* can precipitate or exacerbate latent or existing mental disorders"

"Erowid's effects information is a summary of data gathered from users, research, and other resources. This information is intended to describe the range of effects people report experiencing. Effects may vary dramatically from one person to another based on a variety of factors such as body chemistry, age, gender, physical health etc."

In short they both make you fell better but alcohol is worse for you.

Alcohol can reduce the risk of heart disease, peripheral vascular disease and intermittent claudication, risk of strokes, particularly ischemic strokes, and gallstones according to the Mayo Clinic. However it also increases your risk of oral, throat, colon, liver, and breast cancer, along with Cirrhosis of the liver, and increased use strains your heart, liver, and brain. Drinking large amounts of alcohol at once (amount depends on several factors) can cause blackouts or even death and is one of the easier drugs to OD on.

Marijuana however is pretty much impossible to overdose on. As there has never been a confirmed, published death of an overdose on marijuana (as opposed to the many that have been reported for alcohol every year) and not even many reports of accidents involving marijuana and driving (most of which had no casualties or serious injuries and also 85% of which the driver was also intoxicated on alcohol) it is hard to determine an exact figure on how much marijuana will kill you, but from the research I have read you would have to smoke (in an extremely short amount of time) the amount of marijuana it would take to get you high 40,000 times over, so theoretically it might be possible to OD on marijuana if you figure out a way to do that.

To answer a few of your individual questions asked, alcohol can kill brain cells, usually not many, but the amount increases with the amount imbibed and can be 0 with smaller amounts. Marijuana doesn't cut off oxygen to the brain however, this myth is based on the rhesus monkey study by Dr. Robert Heath in the late 70's. Heath's study has been since dismissed by the scientific community as invalid for several reasons. To quote Paul Hager (Chair, ICLU Drug Task Force)

"insufficient sample size (only four monkeys), its failure
to control experimental bias, and the misidentification of normal
monkey brain structure as "damaged". Actual studies of human
populations of marijuana users have shown no evidence of brain
damage. For example, two studies from 1977, published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) showed no
evidence of brain damage in heavy users of marijuana. That same
year, the American Medical Association (AMA) officially came out in
favor of decriminalizing marijuana. That's not the sort of thing
you'd expect if the AMA thought marijuana damaged the brain."

Several studies that are often referenced when arguing against marijuana legalization used similar bad practices. For instance Dr. Gabriel Nahas' experiment of the effect of marijuana on the reproductive system determined that it's use has a negative effect on the reproductive system. However, it was determined by exposing tissue samples to near-lethal amounts of cannabinoids and they also returned to normal within 30 days (his research was rejected as invalid but is still used to support anti-legalization).

I could go on with more, but I'm tired of typing so I'll shorten it a bit. Any study I have ever seen anywhere on negative effects of marijuana either show that it had no effect, the negative effect was mild and disappeared once you were no longer high or after the marijuana has been completely removed from the body (usually within 1-4 weeks naturally), or the study has been determined invalid by every group of scientists that reviewed it. And I have read several studies.

That isn't to say that people that are pro-legalization don't lie about it, they do, or that they are never misinformed, they are sometimes too, but in my experience, those that are anti-marijuana tend to be misinformed more often.

If anyone actually reads that, they would likely think I smoke pot and don't drink, however despite the arguments I have for legalizing marijuana (I have more than I typed) and that I think alcohol to be quite a bit more dangerous than marijuana I drink heavily and have only smoked marijuana a couple times.

I do not advise anyone to use either of these substances, and don't advise anyone to break the law, but I do think that we should change the law to decriminalize or legalize (I know they aren't the same) marijuana. Also, currently laws prohibit paraphernalia that would make smoking marijuana safer (it is already safer than cigarettes and several medical groups have determined that it doesn't cause many of the problems tobacco does such as lung cancer) and they should be changed as well in my opinion. Taking marijuana in another way such as eating it or making a tea from it makes it even safer as the long term negative effects really are from the act of smoking and not the marijuana itself.

There is one thing about marijuana that is definitely bad though, it does impair your ability to drive, and there is no way (at least that I know of) to field test for THC like breathalysers do for alcohol and until that changes or I learn that there is such a device then I am not 100% sure it should be legalized, but am still pro-decriminalization. I do know people that have become stoners and do nothing but smoke pot basically, but that is really the person's fault and not the substance as it isn't physically addictive and they probably wouldn't do much different without pot.

Answer 2

I personally drank a lot when I turned 21 for like 3 years and after I quit I did really notice that I did lose some of my thinking. I mean just look at bums on the street. All the drinking just shorts your brain out, constant brain cell killing. I don't know the medical stuff but I mean think about it, alcohol is up in your head, freaking alcohol so it's bound to do damage. However in moderation.. like if i were to approve it and this is being stringent I'd say one glass of wine a day.
Anyway I do not know about Mari too much but I heard it messes up your mature growth or something but then again that could be something people say to scare you like how people will tell you smoking will make you not grow. So who knows I might have to look it up on wikipedia some day. Atleast we know weed is good for the eye cancer but then again you are talking about medical weed which is super pure, government grown stuff, so I'm sure it is top shelf, biogenetic stuff here.

Answer 3

It's not just violent crimes, it's the killing of people even children and babies while driving under the influence of alcohol. there has never been an account of anyone being killed while under the influence of pot by itself. You need to do A LOT more studies. I have and I'm 50 years old. I've done many many reports both in high school as well as in college. You're just smoking up the wrong tree here bubilla. You've been out educated by a long shot.

Answer 4

I don't think either is bad, alchohol can be terrible if abused. But obviously, its not going to hurt to have an ocassional drink. I think marijuana should be illegal, but its not nearly as bad as cigarettes or alchohol. It really just all depends on the user, they can both be bad for you or hurt your body, but for most people they will not hurt you or effect your life in a negative way.

Answer 5

god made weed man made alcohol. who do u trust? i enjoy a drink and a smoke on a regular basis but i have to say that so far alcohol has done more damage to me than pot. on the odd occassion i have gotten violent when drunk and i also quite often suffer from pain in my liver and kidneys due to abuse of alcohol. i think my long term pot smoking has caused me to lose a bit of my memory and when im stoned im less likely to want to do anything. there are pros and cons to every argument but personally i think alcohol does more damage to society in general than pot. i have never heard of a fella bashing his mrs cos he was stoned but i have heard of plenty of occassions where people have been bashed cos someone was drunk. Everything in moderation.

Answer 6

i would say alcohol is worse all around the only down fall to weed is that it is illegal. i am not really going to get into the explanation but stick to weed its more fun!!! oh and i believe alcohol does kill brain cells to but i might just be a dumb hippie!!!!

Answer 7

honestly i personally think that anything can screw up your life. if you amke drinking and smoking pot any of your main priorities, then yes it can screw up you life. but if you do these things carefully and in moderation when you have more important things out of the way then its okay to drink or smoke. but i think smoking is a lot safer as to drinking. when people drink they do crazy things and kill themselves. ive known so many people get into accidents while drinking, including myself, but not too many while smoking. when i just relax and, but when i drink i end up doing something ill regret. both of these things do kill braincells you just have to do it safely if you're going to do and everything should be okay.

Answer 8

I like a good red wine myself, I think it is a problem if one really thinks they need to make a choice. I hope you are out of that town, the best high is the natural..... no drugs just life, good luck

Answer 9

I would stay away from both but thats just me. Because you not only hurting yourself but those around you and God's temple, yourself!

Answer 10

hi
i would say to stay away from drinking drugs and smoking they all make you sick one way or the other

Answer 11

its like brodey always told me.... "If you cant drive constantly at minimum of 90mph, then god intended you to walk"