Marijuana and alcohol are both abused substances in the U.S., but one is far more dangerous. For years the study of marijuana and alcohol have been being compared by their different health effects on the human body. These two substances both have effects on the brain, cardiovascular system, and the mood of a user. Marijuana is a less harmful substance than alcohol due to the annual deaths of each substance and their health effects on the human body. Alcohol consumption is linked to some 88,000 deaths per year, but for many reasons, deaths associated with marijuana are harder to come by (Marijuana and Public Health). Alcohol is the third leading preventable death in the United States. Binge-drinking is where one consumes a large amount of alcohol
I have often wondered why the "War on Drugs" has not been very effective, in fact, it really has done nothing. Take for example marijuana. It is banned in any form of growth and use everywhere in the United States. Yet, this drug gets just as much use as alcohol. I probably know just about as many "potheads" as I do alcoholics, yet the persistence of the government to waste countless billions of dollars to try and wipe out the use of this drug is pathetic.
After interviewing a series of marijuana users, they’ve told me that marijuana is a safe, harmless drug, that is used for meditation. In order to smoke the marijuana, you’ll need some form of paper to roll it up with. While most people can control their liquor, unfortunately others can’t. Legalizing alcohol was a big mistake, the many different tragedies that occur because of alcohol are insane. The fact that immigrants are allowed to drink is even worse.
Although there are numerous deaths, at least 100,000, from prescription drugs each year, there has never been a death attributed to marijuana. The late Dr. Tod Mikuriya, a former administrator of the US government’s marijuana research programs, stated that after he had treated about 10,000 patients in 15 years, he felt that there are about 200 different medical conditions that respond favorably to medical marijuana.
For example, almost 50,000 deaths per year can be attributed to secondhand smoke, and alcohol is the cause of 75,000 deaths in the U.S.
Works Cited Missing Instead of addressing the tiresome argument about whether or not marijuana should be legalized in the United States, I would like to examine a much more fundamental question: whether or not it is right to use the drug. This problem is strictly an ethical one. If we are to examine only the moral implications of the action then we must discard governmental laws from the equation, for this decision could be made anywhere, at any time, under any sort of governmental regime, under any set of laws, which after all are only that particular government’s best guess at morality and who’s to say their judgment is any better than yours? Knowing that this decision is a rather daunting one, I’ve enlisted the help of three friends, Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, and John Stuart Mill, to aid in the decision making process. It just so happens that they are experts in the field of ethics.
Marijuana, on the other hand, kills a staggering number of people each and every year. Zero. There has never been a death officially tied to Marijuana. Altogether, illegal drugs kill 4,500 people – 8.3 percent of those claimed by tobacco and alcohol.
Marijuana is commonly referred to as a drug, which associates it with substances such as ecstasy, cocaine, meth, etc. The fact is that Marijuana does not have a lethal effect on the body, where as drugs like cocain and meth can be lethal even on first use. Even drugs that aren't illegal are more dangerous than marijuana. Alcohol and cigar...
Brownstein, Joseph. "Marijuana vs. Alcohol: Which Is Really Worse for Your Health?" 21 January 2014 . LiveScience. Web. 10 April 2014.
Alcohol and marijuana are two drugs commonly used and abused in the United States. Alcohol is the number one abused drug, while marijuana is number one among illegal drugs. While alcohol remains legal, and marijuana illegal, this does not necessarily mean that alcohol is better for you. There have been many arguments where people suggest that marijuana should be legal because alcohol is more deadly. On the other hand, there are alcoholics who would tell a pothead that smoking weed is bad for you. Both substances are very bad for your health and should not be heavily used by anyone.
Ever since the federal criminalization of marijuana in the United States in 1937, there has been a large underground drug market (Paul). Much like how the prohibition of alcohol simply forced imbibers underground, those who chose to partake in marijuana are forced to stay away from the prying eye of the law because of present marijuana laws. This means the drug world is concealed from the average citizen, hiding the dangers of drug deals gone wrong, police shootings, and other dangerous occurrences. In a way this allows the government to mask the fact that their well-funded ‘War on Drugs’ is ineffective, a ‘War’ with a budget of roughly twenty billion dollars; which is not profoundly effective in the curbing the use of drugs (Jillette). If the average citizen does not know what is happening, in the eyes of the American zeitgeist, it is not happening. Criminalizing a harmless drug to cut down on its use simply turns its users into criminals, making the crime rate go up and clogging prisons with non-violent criminals. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco and the laws pertaining to it should reflect that.
4. Anderson, D. Mark, Benjamin Hansen, and Daniel I. Rees. "Medical marijuana laws, traffic fatalities, and alcohol consumption." Journal of Law and Economics 56.2 (2013): 333-369.
One of the first physicists who planned engineered cannabis for exploration purposes, John W. Huffman, Phd once said that he couldn't envision why anybody would attempt it recreationally. Due to its dangerous harmfulness, he compared it to playing Russian roulette, and said that the individuals who attempted it must be "numbskulls." Whether that is the situation or not, the quantities of clients is absolutely climbing, along these lines are overdoses. New Hampshire has announced a state of crisis, and the quantity of crisis room visits for overdose from the manufactured medication has bounced. One youngster kicked the bucket not long ago in the wake of slipping into a state of extreme lethargy, apparently from utilizing the medication.
Many people crave the moment where they can just sit down, relax, and enjoy some free time. They could perhaps take a nice walk in a park, or possibly sit down and enjoy a movie on T.V. However, a large sum of people nationwide chooses to participate in a certain recreational activity to find their relaxation: smoking Marijuana. In fact, “Washington and Colorado are the first to allow adults to use the drug for recreational purposes” (Legalizing Marijuana, par 1). Unfortunately for half of our nation’s population, the use of the plant, Cannabis, was deemed illegal. “Before 1937, marijuana was freely bought, sold, grown, and smoked in the United States. Since that time, all of these activities have been illegal, but many groups and individuals have fought to decriminalize marijuana” (Rich, par 1). I find this preposterous! I believe that the federal government should look at what the people want, and pass the law making Marijuana legal, but of course having regulations to go along with it. Not only shall it please the people of the United States, but our economy could greatly benefit from legalizing Cannabis and it is an aid towards medical treatment. It would be to our nation’s best interest to have legislation legalize marijuana at not only the state level, but as a national level as well.
Marijuana is by far safer than both cigarettes and alcohol, two substances that are legal in the U.S and all over the world. Many people will argue that marijuana is more harmful than the two, but thats not the case. Cigarettes and alcohol are much more dangerous and addictive than marijuana.
Marijuana on the other hand seems a little out of place in its classification as illegal. The source previously cited notes that, "Although it is classified as a Schedule I drug for regulatory purposes, it is clearly different pharmacologically from the opiate analgesics" (Rittenhouse 151). Also, recently a heated debate has arisen on the medicinal value of marijuana. Whether there is a definite use for marijuana is unclear, but there is surely no such debate concerning alcohol.