Which Is WORSE For Your Health: Marijuana Or Alcohol?

g under p · August 2012

Which Is WORSE For Your Health: Marijuana Or Alcohol?

Here is what I found:

Prolonged and consistent use of alcohol affects nearly every organ of the body, especially the gastrointestinal track, cardiovascular system, and central nervous system. Alcohol is a contributing factor in gastritis, ulcers, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, hypertension, muscle weakness, and memory impairment. Other symptoms include: Tremor, unsteady gait, insomnia, and erectile dysfunction. In pregnant women, drinking can lead to abortion or fetal alcohol syndrome and birth defects. Drinkers fall more and cause accidents. Alcohol is related to 55% of fatal auto accidents. Half of all murderers and their victims are believed to involve alcohol. Furthermore, alcohol leads to disinhibition of feelings of sadness and aggression which can lead to suicide.

Cannabis, on the other hand, increases appetite, dry mouth, tachycardia, euphoria, sedation and a slowed sense of time. It can also cause a chronic cough or throat problems due to smoking.

OK. These are the symptoms and consequences of cannabis and alcohol according to the DSM-IV, the bible of the psychiatric community. Now, that you have read them yourself, what do you think?

Alcohol is socially acceptable and legal for those over 18 or 21, people drink or over indulge out in the public in places like restaurants and bars. This means at some point they'll try to go home, even with all the admonitions against it, some of these less-than-sober folks will get behind the wheel of a car and put non-consenting, innocent others at risk because of their behavior.

_____________________________________________________________________

Since marijuana is illegal and not as widely accepted, people tend to indulge at home. Marijuana also tends to kill one's motivation to go do anything other than raid the kitchen. It helped me to fall asleep, I at times have trouble falling asleep. On some level, if you're high, I think you're a little more aware of it (and aware you're doing something inherently illegal), so you're more likely to keep a low profile.

Not saying people don't drive when they're stoned...just that I've observed it to be less likely for them to choose to drive when they're stoned than when they're drunk. Besides most who do drive stoned drive way damn TOO slow ESPECIALLY down here in Florida. I think this because at times I hear myself saying *Are you serious, you MUST be high!*

One more thing I've never heard of someone OD smokingweed but one can OD on drinking alcohol, right.

What do you all think, I don't believe it's weed but some may think it may lead to mental illness.

Peace

chadwick · August 2012

outlaw alcohol today & bring grass out for market

rollings · August 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW9AHQXh_RM

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story--Marijuana Scene

prism · August 2012

it's obvious that alcohol is a far worse drug than marijuana. it sucks that for so many years ppl have fallen for the scare tactics. tactics first pushed by several large corporations to get local, state & US government to make it illegal. then the gov. continuing to reinforce the scare tactics, misinformation and criminality in order to increase the development of the prison-industrial complex.

for fucksake the FDA still has marijuana listed as a schedule 1 drug ... :twisted:

yet who hasn' t known or seen alcoholics who's lives & health have been destroyed by alcohol? personally two people that i knew died (OD'd) from acute alcohol poisioning.

i gotta say it's nice (and about damn time!) that in Washington we're now seeing this political ad on tv

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aScUZgzFlTI

hedonist · August 2012

Yesterday we caught an episode of Dragnet (one of my favorites in its level of cheesiness), with the classic rhetoric of pot being a gateway drug, among other falsehoods. It ended with a couple so high they forgot their baby was in the tub.

I love Jack Webb, but jeez, man!

(I bet he smoked up big time)

g under p · August 2012

prism wrote:

it's obvious that alcohol is a far worse drug than marijuana. it sucks that for so many years ppl have fallen for the scare tactics. tactics first pushed by several large corporations to get local, state & US government to make it illegal. then the gov. continuing to reinforce the scare tactics, misinformation and criminality in order to increase the development of the prison-industrial complex.

for fucksake the FDA still has marijuana listed as a schedule 1 drug ... :twisted:

yet who hasn' t known or seen alcoholics who's lives & health have been destroyed by alcohol? personally two people that i knew died (OD'd) from acute alcohol poisioning.

i gotta say it's nice (and about damn time!) that in Washington we're now seeing this political ad on tv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aScUZgzFlTI

Thanks Prism I like the new idea and the new approach it's about time. I think that would work well in Washington state just like it could work here in Florida as well.

Peace

comebackgirl · August 2012

Withdrawing from alcohol can be very dangerous and fatal, but I'm never concerned about the effects if someone stops using marijuana. You can die from alcohol (and benzo) withdrawal, but not even from opiates. That's sort of scary. If something is that dangerous leaving the body it must do a lot of damage on the way in. That being said, I don't smoke, but I do have the occasional drink :think:

StillHere · August 2012

Alcohol shrinks your brain (fact), destroys your liver, greatly exacerbates painful diseases such as gout....and on and on and on. Withdrawal is dangerous and its very difficult to kick the habit.
Alcohol greatly adds to the instances of domestic violence, automobile deaths, assaults and all sorts of stupidity.

Marijuana on the other hand provides excellent pain relief, calms the nerves and generally adds a lightheartedness to any situation, smoothing over many issues that alcohol would, on the other hand, cause to escalate. It provides much needed help for cancer patients in chemotherapy such as relief from nausea, increased appetite and reduced pain.

I know of no one who has had any difficulty stopping the use of marijuana, no matter how much or how often they had used it. They surely might miss it, but no DTs or anything like that.

The only physical side effects that I am aware of are a mild irritation of the respiratory system.

More people should ditch the alcohol and hit the hookah.

prism · August 2012

g under p wrote:

prism wrote:

it's obvious that alcohol is a far worse drug than marijuana. it sucks that for so many years ppl have fallen for the scare tactics. tactics first pushed by several large corporations to get local, state & US government to make it illegal. then the gov. continuing to reinforce the scare tactics, misinformation and criminality in order to increase the development of the prison-industrial complex.

for fucksake the FDA still has marijuana listed as a schedule 1 drug ... :twisted:

yet who hasn' t known or seen alcoholics who's lives & health have been destroyed by alcohol? personally two people that i knew died (OD'd) from acute alcohol poisioning.

i gotta say it's nice (and about damn time!) that in Washington we're now seeing this political ad on tv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aScUZgzFlTI

Thanks Prism I like the new idea and the new approach it's about time. I think that would work well in Washington state just like it could work here in Florida as well.

Peace

i think if voters are determined and viewed it logically it could work well in any state...especially here where so much kickass weed already grows...

it's like puff, puff, pass it on....in terms of taxing it

LikeAnOcean · August 2012

Let's not paint marijuana that pretty of a picture..

While I agree, it is a safer drug than alcohol, I would say its not safer than moderate alcohol consumption.

Moderate alcohol consumption has many health benefits and moderate drinkers live longer than non drinkers.

The problem is heavy drinkers. The problems and health risks become exponentially worse than marijuana.

Marijuana can be addicting, although not nearly as much as aclohol.

If one were to be illegal and the other not, definitely they should be switched, although I much prefer a few glasses of wine to marijuana. More often than not, marijuana causes me anxiety when I smoke it.

rollings · August 2012

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Let's not paint marijuana that pretty of a picture..

While I agree, it is a safer drug than alcohol, I would say its not safer than moderate alcohol consumption.

Moderate alcohol consumption has many health benefits and moderate drinkers live longer than non drinkers.

The problem is heavy drinkers. The problems and health risks become exponentially worse than marijuana.

Marijuana can be addicting, although not nearly as much as aclohol.

If one were to be illegal and the other not, definitely they should be switched, although I much prefer a few glasses of wine to marijuana. More often than not, marijuana causes me anxiety when I smoke it.

that's because you have to drink the wine THEN smoke the marijuana. You need that "base".

prism · August 2012

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Let's not paint marijuana that pretty of a picture..

While I agree, it is a safer drug than alcohol, I would say its not safer than moderate alcohol consumption.

Moderate alcohol consumption has many health benefits and moderate drinkers live longer than non drinkers.

The problem is heavy drinkers. The problems and health risks become exponentially worse than marijuana.

Marijuana can be addicting, although not nearly as much as aclohol.

If one were to be illegal and the other not, definitely they should be switched, although I much prefer a few glasses of wine to marijuana. More often than not, marijuana causes me anxiety when I smoke it.

not trying to diss your preference for moderate drinking....it's your choice & that's okay

pot's not addictive...when someone uses it fairly heavily quits they may crave it, but they won't get withdrawl symptoms. kinda like the way that someone might form a habit to indulge in something like chocolate or pizza everyday...they're not gonna get sick or croak if they have to go without..

merely a suggestion.... if someone gets anxiety when smoking and wants a more serene high, they might wanna try a indica variety or a hybrid with a large % of indica than sativa. sativas give a more brain & energy high but it can cause anxiety in some people.

how nice it would be to go into a store and buy whatever certain variety best suits that indiviual at the time.

LikeAnOcean · August 2012

prism wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Let's not paint marijuana that pretty of a picture..

While I agree, it is a safer drug than alcohol, I would say its not safer than moderate alcohol consumption.

Moderate alcohol consumption has many health benefits and moderate drinkers live longer than non drinkers.

The problem is heavy drinkers. The problems and health risks become exponentially worse than marijuana.

Marijuana can be addicting, although not nearly as much as aclohol.

If one were to be illegal and the other not, definitely they should be switched, although I much prefer a few glasses of wine to marijuana. More often than not, marijuana causes me anxiety when I smoke it.

not trying to diss your preference for moderate drinking....it's your choice & that's okay

pot's not addictive...when someone uses it fairly heavily quits they may crave it, but they won't get withdrawl symptoms. kinda like the way that someone might form a habit to indulge in something like chocolate or pizza everyday...they're not gonna get sick or croak if they have to go without..

merely a suggestion.... if someone gets anxiety when smoking and wants a more serene high, they might wanna try a indica variety or a hybrid with a large % of indica than sativa. sativas give a more brain & energy high but it can cause anxiety in some people.

how nice it would be to go into a store and buy whatever certain variety best suits that indiviual at the time.

I know a guy who smokes multiple times a day, everyday and he does sweat and get shakes and has a higher anxiety when he's not on it.. It's not as much as drinking alcohol all day, but it's a little.. It may be more mental than physical.

it can also release stored endorphins. As a runners high does, the brain might run low and crave more.

I dont think it's dangerous, but there is a slight withdrawal if you smoke it excessively.

prism · August 2012

LikeAnOcean wrote:

prism wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Let's not paint marijuana that pretty of a picture..

While I agree, it is a safer drug than alcohol, I would say its not safer than moderate alcohol consumption.

Moderate alcohol consumption has many health benefits and moderate drinkers live longer than non drinkers.

The problem is heavy drinkers. The problems and health risks become exponentially worse than marijuana.

Marijuana can be addicting, although not nearly as much as aclohol.

If one were to be illegal and the other not, definitely they should be switched, although I much prefer a few glasses of wine to marijuana. More often than not, marijuana causes me anxiety when I smoke it.

not trying to diss your preference for moderate drinking....it's your choice & that's okay

pot's not addictive...when someone uses it fairly heavily quits they may crave it, but they won't get withdrawl symptoms. kinda like the way that someone might form a habit to indulge in something like chocolate or pizza everyday...they're not gonna get sick or croak if they have to go without..

merely a suggestion.... if someone gets anxiety when smoking and wants a more serene high, they might wanna try a indica variety or a hybrid with a large % of indica than sativa. sativas give a more brain & energy high but it can cause anxiety in some people.

how nice it would be to go into a store and buy whatever certain variety best suits that indiviual at the time.

I know a guy who smokes multiple times a day, everyday and he does sweat and get shakes and has a higher anxiety when he's not on it.. It's not as much as drinking alcohol all day, but it's a little.. It may be more mental than physical.

it can also release stored endorphins. As a runners high does, the brain might run low and crave more.

I dont think it's dangerous, but there is a slight withdrawal if you smoke it excessively.

yeah it's more mental withdrawl...

some ppl can react the same way if they have to go without shopping, gambling or working out...etc

covered in bliss · August 2012

They're BOTH bad for your health and everyone should abstain.

edit-who's healthier? The person that drinks one glass of red wine a night or the person that smokes a joint every night?

I'm thinking it's the wine drinker...

LikeAnOcean · August 2012

covered in bliss wrote:

They're BOTH bad for your health and everyone should abstain.

edit-who's healthier? The person that drinks one glass of red wine a night or the person that smokes a joint every night?

I'm thinking it's the wine drinker...

I read somewhere that people who drink 1 to 3 drinks a night, preferably red wine, live longer than those who don't drink at all,

BUT, those who drank 4+ drinks a day had much shorter lives.. And the numbers got exponentially worse each drink above the moderation limit.

brianlux · August 2012

Definitely alcohol is worse for your health. I know people who have died from long-term heavy drinking. I've read about people dying quickly from alcohol poisoning. But I've never even heard of someone dying from smoking weed. Not that I'm against alcohol in moderation. I see nothing wrong with that. But I would say the same about weed, especially because for most people there's a tolerance build up. The other thing is that when you get older you have fewer receptor sites in your brain so moderation becomes more important and, if smoking is spaced out (ooh, good term there) the high is more easily achieved.

Not that I would know anything about this personally.

covered in bliss · August 2012

LikeAnOcean wrote:

covered in bliss wrote:

They're BOTH bad for your health and everyone should abstain.

edit-who's healthier? The person that drinks one glass of red wine a night or the person that smokes a joint every night?

I'm thinking it's the wine drinker...

I read somewhere that people who drink 1 to 3 drinks a night, preferably red wine, live longer than those who don't drink at all,

BUT, those who drank 4+ drinks a day had much shorter lives.. And the numbers got exponentially worse each drink above the moderation limit.

well.... a 'glass' of wine should technically be 5 ounces or 2/3 of a cup. one bottle of wine = 5 1/2 servings. If you actually sit down and measure it, it's shocking. Most people drink much more.

I'm still going to hold firm in my belief that the person that drinks one serving of wine per night is healthier than the person that smokes the average sized joint per night.

this argument has come up a million times over the years...

pandora · August 2012

g under p wrote:

Which Is WORSE For Your Health: Marijuana Or Alcohol?

Here is what I found:
Prolonged and consistent use of alcohol affects nearly every organ of the body, especially the gastrointestinal track, cardiovascular system, and central nervous system. Alcohol is a contributing factor in gastritis, ulcers, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, hypertension, muscle weakness, and memory impairment. Other symptoms include: Tremor, unsteady gait, insomnia, and erectile dysfunction. In pregnant women, drinking can lead to abortion or fetal alcohol syndrome and birth defects. Drinkers fall more and cause accidents. Alcohol is related to 55% of fatal auto accidents. Half of all murderers and their victims are believed to involve alcohol. Furthermore, alcohol leads to disinhibition of feelings of sadness and aggression which can lead to suicide.

Cannabis, on the other hand, increases appetite, dry mouth, tachycardia, euphoria, sedation and a slowed sense of time. It can also cause a chronic cough or throat problems due to smoking.

OK. These are the symptoms and consequences of cannabis and alcohol according to the DSM-IV, the bible of the psychiatric community. Now, that you have read them yourself, what do you think?

Alcohol is socially acceptable and legal for those over 18 or 21, people drink or over indulge out in the public in places like restaurants and bars. This means at some point they'll try to go home, even with all the admonitions against it, some of these less-than-sober folks will get behind the wheel of a car and put non-consenting, innocent others at risk because of their behavior.

_____________________________________________________________________

Since marijuana is illegal and not as widely accepted, people tend to indulge at home. Marijuana also tends to kill one's motivation to go do anything other than raid the kitchen. It helped me to fall asleep, I at times have trouble falling asleep. On some level, if you're high, I think you're a little more aware of it (and aware you're doing something inherently illegal), so you're more likely to keep a low profile.

Not saying people don't drive when they're stoned...just that I've observed it to be less likely for them to choose to drive when they're stoned than when they're drunk. Besides most who do drive stoned drive way damn TOO slow ESPECIALLY down here in Florida. I think this because at times I hear myself saying *Are you serious, you MUST be high!*

One more thing I've never heard of someone OD smokingweed but one can OD on drinking alcohol, right.

What do you all think, I don't believe it's weed but some may think it may lead to mental illness.

Peace

Really where in the world would you get an idea like that?
Of course that would not be weed but much harder drugs...
although I have known people with paranoia tendencies to really freak out on pot
and those with thyroid problems actually have psychotic type episodes
that need medical attention. Not everyone can smoke pot without physical side effects
or even enjoy it due to paranoia.

My idea is the bolded red there can pretty much cover most any substance and the effects
different on the individual body of course. Keep in mind moderation is the best policy...
common sense.

pandora · August 2012

covered in bliss wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

covered in bliss wrote:

They're BOTH bad for your health and everyone should abstain.

edit-who's healthier? The person that drinks one glass of red wine a night or the person that smokes a joint every night?

I'm thinking it's the wine drinker...

I read somewhere that people who drink 1 to 3 drinks a night, preferably red wine, live longer than those who don't drink at all,

BUT, those who drank 4+ drinks a day had much shorter lives.. And the numbers got exponentially worse each drink above the moderation limit.

well.... a 'glass' of wine should technically be 5 ounces or 2/3 of a cup. one bottle of wine = 5 1/2 servings. If you actually sit down and measure it, it's shocking. Most people drink much more.

I'm still going to hold firm in my belief that the person that drinks one serving of wine per night is healthier than the person that smokes the average sized joint per night.

this argument has come up a million times over the years...

I couldn't even smoke a whole doober... it would last weeks.
A bottle of wine lasts days if I'm drinking alone.

The action of smoking I believe is bad for the body but I have never googled for more info.

comebackgirl · August 2012

pandora wrote:

g under p wrote:

Which Is WORSE For Your Health: Marijuana Or Alcohol?

Here is what I found:
Prolonged and consistent use of alcohol affects nearly every organ of the body, especially the gastrointestinal track, cardiovascular system, and central nervous system. Alcohol is a contributing factor in gastritis, ulcers, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis, hypertension, muscle weakness, and memory impairment. Other symptoms include: Tremor, unsteady gait, insomnia, and erectile dysfunction. In pregnant women, drinking can lead to abortion or fetal alcohol syndrome and birth defects. Drinkers fall more and cause accidents. Alcohol is related to 55% of fatal auto accidents. Half of all murderers and their victims are believed to involve alcohol. Furthermore, alcohol leads to disinhibition of feelings of sadness and aggression which can lead to suicide.

Cannabis, on the other hand, increases appetite, dry mouth, tachycardia, euphoria, sedation and a slowed sense of time. It can also cause a chronic cough or throat problems due to smoking.

OK. These are the symptoms and consequences of cannabis and alcohol according to the DSM-IV, the bible of the psychiatric community. Now, that you have read them yourself, what do you think?

Alcohol is socially acceptable and legal for those over 18 or 21, people drink or over indulge out in the public in places like restaurants and bars. This means at some point they'll try to go home, even with all the admonitions against it, some of these less-than-sober folks will get behind the wheel of a car and put non-consenting, innocent others at risk because of their behavior.

_____________________________________________________________________

Since marijuana is illegal and not as widely accepted, people tend to indulge at home. Marijuana also tends to kill one's motivation to go do anything other than raid the kitchen. It helped me to fall asleep, I at times have trouble falling asleep. On some level, if you're high, I think you're a little more aware of it (and aware you're doing something inherently illegal), so you're more likely to keep a low profile.

Not saying people don't drive when they're stoned...just that I've observed it to be less likely for them to choose to drive when they're stoned than when they're drunk. Besides most who do drive stoned drive way damn TOO slow ESPECIALLY down here in Florida. I think this because at times I hear myself saying *Are you serious, you MUST be high!*

One more thing I've never heard of someone OD smokingweed but one can OD on drinking alcohol, right.

What do you all think, I don't believe it's weed but some may think it may lead to mental illness.

Peace

Really where in the world would you get an idea like that?
Of course that would not be weed but much harder drugs...
although I have known people with paranoia tendencies to really freak out on pot
and those with thyroid problems actually have psychotic type episodes
that need medical attention. Not everyone can smoke pot without physical side effects
or even enjoy it due to paranoia.

My idea is the bolded red there can pretty much cover most any substance and the effects
different on the individual body of course. Keep in mind moderation is the best policy...
common sense.

Yes - this is true. Body chemistry has a lot to do with it. I know a lot of people are surprised by this, but we've had people who need to go to the crisis unit for psychosis induced by marijuana of all things. Everyone was shocked that it was just pot. This year we had a couple of students hospitalized for adderall induced psychosis. Any time you put a substance in your body (including sugar, artificial sweeteners, etc) it's going to have an effect. Moderation is definitely key and total abstinence from some things completely. Some people have alcohol allergies, or as Pandora mentioned thyroid issues and other such things that can have an impact.

Which Is WORSE For Your Health: Marijuana Or Alcohol?

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