Cannabis Facts

Showdown: Cannabis vs. Alcohol, Source: http://weedsmokersguide.com/pictures/Northern-Lights-x-Apollo-G13-Marijuana-Buds.jpg & http://i2.wp.com/www.sopitas.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/alcohol_oms2.jpg?w=640Oftentimes while meeting new people at social gatherings, cannabis users come into contact with those who will readily pound a beer, but abstain from cannabis, much to the dismay of many a toker. But before you launch into a rant on why cannabis is clearly the superior form of intoxication, it is important to get your facts straight. Is weed really a safer alternative to alcohol?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that came out in January of this year excessive alcohol use was responsible for 88,000 U.S. deaths every year from 2006 to 2010, amounting to the cost of $224 billion. This data indicates an increase in deaths by alcohol since 2001 where the mortality total was 75,766. Worldwide alcohol kills a total of 2.5 million people every year. There is no similar data reported available for cannabis, but there are still zero recorded deaths attributed to cannabis use. When excessively drinking, there is the possibility of death by alcohol poisoning. When excessively consuming cannabis on the other hand, you may end up paranoid, sleeping, or just really really high.

Showdown: Cannabis vs. Alcohol, Source: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/cannabis-leaf-80682.jpgCannabis is also far less addictive than alcohol, with only 9% of users eventually fitting the description of cannabis dependence, compared to 15% of alcohol users who become dependent. One study even found cannabis to be less addictive than caffeine. Just 10 times the recommended serving of alcohol can cause death, while it takes 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount of THC in a typical joint before cannabis users would find themselves at risk of a fatal dose, according to a 1988 ruling from the Drug Enforcement Administration. Even if one attempted to consume such an absurd amount of cannabis it is likely that they would fall asleep before even coming close to their goal.

Most Americans seem to agree that cannabis is the safer form of intoxication. According to this study by Pew Research, a majority of Americans believe that cannabis is safer than alcohol. In a survey on perceptions and attitudes towards drug abuse, 69 percent of Americans believed alcohol is more harmful to personal health than cannabis, with only 15 percent believing that cannabis was more harmful. Fourteen percent responded that both or neither are more dangerous.

President Obama, who as it is now well known, partook of cannabis in his youth to middle adulthood, views cannabis as less dangerous than alcohol. When asked his opinion in an interview the President responded,  “As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.” When asked if it is less dangerous than alcohol, he responded this it is less dangerous, “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer.”Showdown: Cannabis vs. Alcohol, Source: http://www.treatment4addiction.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/alcoholism.jpg

Alcohol has been shown in studies to cause impaired and risky decision-making. Specifically in this study, those under the influence of alcohol had impaired ability to factor in the magnitude of gains and the likelihood of winning when the losses were large in a gambling scenario. Still, some claim that cannabis leads to impaired decision making as well. Although there is still little available data on cannabis’ effect on cognitive abilities, this study examining decision making behavior in gambling scenarios, found that cannabis intoxication did not impair decision making, it simply increased the time it took users to come to the same decision- which probably comes as no surprise to cannabis users.

Compared to the numerous medical benefits of cannabis, alcohol proponents can only claim the one benefit to consumption; drinking red wine may help lower blood pressure – oh that is, if it’s non-alcoholic wine. Now this is not to condemn alcohol or those who choose to enjoy it within reason, it is simply to say that as far as personal health goes, cannabis is by far the better option.