Is marijuana worse than alcohol?

[davew]

Just curious as many are arguing on both sides for marijuana. But is it really a gateway drug? Can't the same 'against arguments' be used about alcohol? I have known many people die as a result of alcolhol and frequently it was not an alcohol user that died. Or even prescribed opiate drugs - which frequently become addictive and abused.

Can the argument be expanded to nicotine and cigarettes and cigars?
Then how about caffeine and coffee, stimulus sports drinks .....

[PhantomOnTour]

My initiation into "trying things" as a teenager went in this order:

Weed
Cigarettes (to cover up the weed smell)
Alcohol

I think they are all possible gateway drugs to the harder stuff, depending on who is using them.
I also believe that mariganja and alcohol are harmless in the long term if used in moderation.

[Clocker]

Just curious as many are arguing on both sides for marijuana. But is it really a gateway drug?

Anything can be a gateway to anything else if you have a addictive personality or if you hang out with gateway people.

Marijuana is physically non-addictive. Nicotine is more addictive and less healthy.

[badcompany]

The gateway argument is complete BS. What they leave out is the percentage of people who smoke pot and DON'T go on to hard drugs.

That said. I used to smoke weed, and, while it didn't really change my life dramatically for the worse, it didn't do me any good,and, I don't miss it.

[thaskalos]

It is my firm belief that a person cannot easily cope with more than one major vice at a time.

[Tom]

Pot is a vice?

[HUSKER55]

I had a lot of "close calls" thanks to pot. At that point in time we were not "family orientated".

I think there is a lot of people who are sadly misinformed. There was a study done back in the early 70"s that concluded that pot could cause genetic mutations.

With the feelings people have toward abortions I really think there should be a definitive study. I am not sold that it will do good for everyone.

Pot is like a good bourbon. Stay home watch a movie, sip your bourbon and hit the rack. Abuse it......well.

[JustRalph]

Is it worse than alcohol?

Depends on whether you're asking your lungs or your liver........

Alcoholism, is damn sure worse than being a stoner........having dealt with both many times

[Lefty]

I think that's the wrong argument. It doesn't make a difference if Marijuana is worse than alcohol or not. Both are bad. So do we really want to legalize another bad drug? I don't that's for sure.

[headhawg]

So do we really want to legalize another bad drug? I don't that's for sure.You mean like most of the stuff that Big Pharma puts out? The side effects of some of that stuff is worse than the original ailment.

[Tom]

Ever listen to those commercials?
They had on drug that for nausea.
One of the side effects was nausea!

Another one listed a side effect as fatal! :eek:
Sorry, but DEATH is NOT a side effect!

Good news, his headache is gone.
Bad news is he's dead!

[PhantomOnTour]

Ever listen to those commercials?
They had on drug that for nausea.
One of the side effects was nausea!

Another one listed a side effect as fatal! :eek:
Sorry, but DEATH is NOT a side effect!

Good news, his headache is gone.
Bad news is he's dead!
No brains - no headache!

Big pharma has succeeded in turning America into a bunch of zombied out pillheads.
Get them on drugs when they are children and you have a lifelong addict, errrrrrrr, client.

[Lefty]

You mean like most of the stuff that Big Pharma puts out? The side effects of some of that stuff is worse than the original ailment.

I agree, but that is not an argument to legalize another mind altering drug!

[Overlay]

Pot use was rampant at the college that I went to in southern California in the early '70's. I saw some pretty smart guys wind up a mental step or more slow by the end of their college career (four years or earlier). I don't know if they were abusing other substances, as well, and other vices besides pot (such as alcohol) might have had the same long-term effect, but my experience (as just an observer, not a user) was enough to make me a lifetime abstainer.

[Stillriledup]

Just curious as many are arguing on both sides for marijuana. But is it really a gateway drug? Can't the same 'against arguments' be used about alcohol? I have known many people die as a result of alcolhol and frequently it was not an alcohol user that died. Or even prescribed opiate drugs - which frequently become addictive and abused.

Can the argument be expanded to nicotine and cigarettes and cigars?
Then how about caffeine and coffee, stimulus sports drinks .....

When you say worse, do you mean for the person, or do you mean that person's use on other people in society?

For me personally, i don't use alcohol, Pot or anything else (i have very few brain cells left, i need to preserve the ones i have lol)

I would rather have people use alcohol, because i don't smell "second hand alcohol" so, their use of it doesn't bother me in the least.

[Marshall Bennett]

I've personally seen people, and a couple friends, that have used pot for a few decades and there's no doubt in my mind it's effected them. They are slower than they should be and flat-out just don't talk right. It's enough to convince me.
Like an alcoholic, a pothead will always be in denial. They'll seldom admit there's anything wrong. Frankly, I hate all drugs and alcohol and believe it should all be illegal. There's not a damn thing good in any of it beyond use in medicine.

[Valuist]

No brains - no headache!

Big pharma has succeeded in turning America into a bunch of zombied out pillheads.
Get them on drugs when they are children and you have a lifelong addict, errrrrrrr, client.

:ThmbUp: Agree 100%. Seems that doctors are taught to prescribe first. All the drugs taken over a lifetime do a lot to wear down the immune system.

[maddog42]

Is it worse than alcohol?

Depends on whether you're asking your lungs or your liver........

Alcoholism, is damn sure worse than being a stoner........having dealt with both many times

Holy shit, the sky is falling. Hair is growing from my palm and there is an alien
space ship hovering over my house. My dead grandma is crawling up my leg with a knife clinched between her teeth, and get this, JustRalph and I AGREE on an issue!!!! I did way too much drugs in the 60's.... and I must be having a Flashback.

[Robert Fischer]

They are both pretty interesting in moderation. Alcohol actually seems more harmful in my opinion.

Prior to my heart surgeries, I used to really enjoy marijuana on occasion.

I've tried it once since, and it made me very paranoid about my health while under the influence. Apparently there may be different strains that are less triggering to anxiety, but considering the legality, costs, and health considerations, it just isn't something I've found to be worth pursuing.

I enjoy alcohol, but I rely on my brain functioning at a decent level. I try to limit myself to about a few drinks, a few times a month socially.

[mrhorseplayer]

no one has ever died from overdose on marijuana like they have with alcohol and and lots of pharm company drugs. Marijuana is not as harmful as alcohol. You can take marijuana in edible form and not worry about it being harmful to your body.

[BettinBilly]

I personally believe that what one does in the privacy of their own home, as long as it does not involve children, animals, nor unwilling adults, is their business. Within reasonable social limits of course.

I personally don't drink nor do I take drugs except the occasional Aspirin. If you do, then that is your business.

I do know people, however, that need medical Marijuana. They truly need it, and not for recreation. They are in excruciating pain from disease. Excruciating. Standard pain medication does little more than take the edge off of this horrible suffering. Cannabis gives them 80 to 90 percent relief. In such cases, the only humane thing is to allow medical Marijuana sales to these people. Politicians that are dead set against allowing the legal use of a wild growing plant to alleviate intolerable suffering need a paradigm shift. It's too bad they can't be subjected to the same level of pain for a few months or years, trying all sorts of standard pain medication and finally Cannabis. Then they could make an informed decision with regard to allowing Medical Marijuana prescriptions.

[PaceAdvantage]

no one has ever died from overdose on marijuana like they have with alcohol and and lots of pharm company drugs. Marijuana is not as harmful as alcohol. You can take marijuana in edible form and not worry about it being harmful to your body.Does jumping out a window count? If so, you're likely wrong here...

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_25475533/denver-coroner-man-fell-death-after-eating-marijuana

[maddog42]

Does jumping out a window count? If so, you're likely wrong here...

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_25475533/denver-coroner-man-fell-death-after-eating-marijuana

From the above article: "A college student visiting Denver jumped to his death from a hotel balcony after eating marijuana-infused cookies, according to a coroner's report that marks the first time authorities have publicly linked a death to marijuana since legal sales of recreational cannabis began in Colorado."
The first time? PA, I would be willing to bet you a nice crisp $100 bill that I can find many more deaths from alcohol than pot in colorado or any other state, from any time period you care to name, within reason. Also note that I am not saying Pot is not bad for you, but that alcohol is much more dangerous and lethal.

[pandy]

The problem is hypocrisy. Many of the drugs that doctors prescribe are addictive, and have serious side effects. Pot is not addictive. Pot is certainly not more dangerous than alcohol and may not be more dangerous than cigarettes.

From a medical standpoint, there's no doubt that pot should be legal in all states. For recreational use, anyone who abuses the drug will suffer some sort of side effects, just as heavy drinkers and other drug users do.

[LottaKash]

For recreational use, anyone who abuses the drug will suffer some sort of side effects.......

Like you won't get much of anything done too quickly....:D

[Marshall Bennett]

Or get paranoid and bail out of your car running across a busy freeway. :D

[TJDave]

I could operate a motor vehicle having had one glass or wine or beer.

One toke of designer pot and I couldn't.

For me, the answer is crystal clear.

[Dark Horse]

Alcohol is a social drug. Like Jim Morrison said: "I drink so I can talk to assholes."

Other than that, people drink to forget. As far as pot, when I smoked it, which is decades ago, I did it to remember.

Alcohol is by far the worse of the two. Causes many traffic deaths each year. People on pot don't start wars.

General guideline: anything with any type of medicinal value that you can grow yourself, the government/big pharma will seek to make illegal. If booze could cure, big pharma would sell it at 100x the price...

[spicytomato]

I already have to deal with all the voices in ma head
saying what they already have to say

no way am I fueling them with additional
ways of screwing with my thinking

can not even imagine them all stoned at once :lol:

[riskman]

. You can take marijuana in edible form and not worry about it being harmful to your body.

Is that a fact or opinion?

[Tall One]

No

[lamboguy]

The problem is hypocrisy. Many of the drugs that doctors prescribe are addictive, and have serious side effects. Pot is not addictive. Pot is certainly not more dangerous than alcohol and may not be more dangerous than cigarettes.

From a medical standpoint, there's no doubt that pot should be legal in all states. For recreational use, anyone who abuses the drug will suffer some sort of side effects, just as heavy drinkers and other drug users do.the prescription drugs that the doctors prescribe are brutal. if you are stuck taking them for anything like acid reflux and gas, diabetes medication or just about any other prescription, one should take their blood pressure every day that they are on these things. a lot of these drugs, many humans can't handle them and will have more damage by taking them then if they didn't. the worst thing to do is watch your blood pressure creep up while you take these pills.

[PhantomOnTour]

I could operate a motor vehicle having had one glass or wine or beer.

One toke of designer pot and I couldn't.

For me, the answer is crystal clear.
That's because you probably use alcohol on a regular basis.
If you take a stoner who never drinks then the opposite would be true.
He is fine after smoking but one drink would impair him.

[pandy]

the prescription drugs that the doctors prescribe are brutal. if you are stuck taking them for anything like acid reflux and gas, diabetes medication or just about any other prescription, one should take their blood pressure every day that they are on these things. a lot of these drugs, many humans can't handle them and will have more damage by taking them then if they didn't. the worst thing to do is watch your blood pressure creep up while you take these pills.


I remember when my dad starting taking a statin drug, within 6 months, he became a diabetic, and then a few months later, he got high blood pressure. So one drug every day became three drugs every day. A doctor in Florida wrote a book on heart disease years ago and he said that he will only put his patients on a statin drug for 90 days because he worries that they might get diabetes from it.

[TJDave]

That's because you probably use alcohol on a regular basis.
If you take a stoner who never drinks then the opposite would be true.
He is fine after smoking but one drink would impair him.

So, you're suggesting that pot addicts won't be a problem on our roadways?

[PhantomOnTour]

So, you're suggesting that pot addicts won't be a problem on our roadways?
WTF?

No, I am responding to your post about being impaired from one toke of designer weed.

Do you drink alcohol?
If so, then you have built up a tolerance such that one drink will not impair you.

Do you smoke weed?
If not, then one toke will impair you.

I am suggesting that your "crystal clear" choice comes from the fact that you are most likely familiar with consuming alcohol, and most likely unfamiliar with smoking weed.

[Marshall Bennett]

Do you drink alcohol?
If so, then you have built up a tolerance such that one drink will not impair you.

Do you smoke weed?
If not, then one toke will impair you.

I agree with you on the alcohol, but the first few times I tried weed as a kid it didn't do much of anything. I believe the human brain reacts to the two drugs differently. I'm not sure tolerance with weed is a major factor, but then again, I'm not a user either.

[Racetrack Playa]

Getting Baked And Getting Drunk Are Totally different . But Getting Drunk And Baked Is Totally Different Than that . Just Sayin

[Poindexter]

As a late teenager, I drank much more than I smoked weed, but on occasion if my friends were smoking it, I would join them. One time I was driving "high" and my friend with me screamed you just ran a red light. I did not even see it. Thankfully, nothing bad happened, BUT, I vowed off of weed from that moment on. It scared me that I could completely miss a red light. Not endorsing drinking and driving(in fact please do not), but I did it enough back then to know that alcohol isn't going to make me miss a red light. So my unscientific conclusion is that it is definitely a very bad idea to drive under the influence of marijuana which I assume is happening a lot more in Colorado now. Be interesting to see what the long term data tells us about this subject as it gathers.

[Racetrack Playa]

Getting Baked And Getting Drunk Are Totally different . But Getting Drunk And Baked Is Totally Different Than that . Just Sayin If ya Gotta drive , Drive Sober .:ThmbUp: