Marijuana versus Alcohol
I don't smoke Marijuana, but I have compared alcohol to Marijuana in a scientific way using legitimate medical references. As a Healthcare provider and a person, my conclusion is; Marijuana is harmless, It should be legal, it should be taxed, and you shouldn't smoke and drive. Save billions spent on chasing after, arresting, and imprisoning smokers. Use billions from taxing Marijuana to build schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. Alcohol and tobacco are legal however they are more harmful than Marijuana. VOTE YES TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA
Marijuana versus Alcohol
Alcohol is responsible for approximately 80,000 deaths per year in the United States between 2001 and 2005 (“Alcohol abuse and dependence”). However, alcohol is legal, available at grocery stores, and is taxable by the government. About 70 people per year die while high, but 0 deaths are attributed to marijuana each year (“Are We Losing Out by Not Legalizing Marijuana?”). Despite the low risk of marijuana compared to alcohol, marijuana use or position is illegal and punishable by the law as a significant crime.
Usually, Marijuana is a recreational drug that is abused by many people. It has a relaxing and calming effect and is used for medical purposes to alleviate pain and increase appetite in cancer patients. Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug among youth today according to the National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. When alcohol is ingested in a large amount, it usually causes anger, emotional instability, and loss of consciousness. On the other hand, marijuana has a calming, relaxing, and soothing effect. Many cases of death due to car accidents or health problems, crime, rape, domestic violence, wife abuse, child abuse, and financial distress are related to alcohol which is rarely the case in marijuana use.
Proposition 19 legalizes marijuana use, position, and plantation. It will save the country billions of dollars spend on arresting and jailing people who use marijuana instead of alcohol. Also, Proposition 19 will provide billions of dollars, when marijuana sales taxes are enforced. When marijuana is legal like alcohol, the businesses providing marijuana for recreation will bring billions of dollars in revenues. If alcohol is legal, available, and taxable, then, marijuana which is proven much safer than alcohol should be legal as well.
Intoxication is characterized by reversible psychological and behavioral changes such as mood swings, poor judgment, and cognitive impairment that develop after ingestion of a drug (“Cannabis (marijuana) use disorders”). Drug use is to administer an appropriate medication to treat or cure a disease or a condition like insulin for diabetes or an antibiotic for an infection. Drug misuse is to take a drug in an inappropriate dose or to achieve an effect different from its purpose. For example, using cough medicine or Vicodin to alter perception or thought process or to get high. Drug abuse is an excessive legal or illegal drug misuse that leads to dependence, addiction, and endangers health or life. In this case, people do not follow any rules and do not take the risk into consideration.
Alcohol is the most commonly used drug among high school students. About 72 percent have consumed alcohol. In fact, more than 55 percent of 12th graders and nearly18 percent of 8th graders in 2008 report having been drunk at least once in their life. This compares with 10 to 20 percent of high school seniors reporting the use of cocaine and 40 to 50 percent reporting marijuana use (“Alcohol abuse and independence”). This statistic shows that alcohol is widely used by children and teenagers even though the laws prohibit alcohol purchase or consumption for individuals under 21 years old. Legalization and strict roles of alcohol handling and use could not prevent illegal use by children and underage.
In comparison to alcohol, the statistics show that 42 percent of Americans have used marijuana which is illegal. Interestingly, only 19 percent of the Netherlands have tried marijuana even though it is legal in that country (“Cannabis (marijuana) use disorders”). The information above proves that legalization or restriction of a substance does not lead to an increase or a decrease in its illegal use.
Alcohol use disorders are highly disabling conditions. Almost 18 percent of American adults fit the diagnosis of alcohol abuse and 5 percent fit the diagnosis of alcohol dependence. Alcohol dependence is associated with very high rates of medical and psychiatric co-morbidity and very high early mortality. Alcohol was responsible for about 17,000 deaths from traffic accidents in the United States which is almost 40 percent of traffic fatalities. Seventy percent of college students who attempted suicide in 1992 have been involved in frequent alcohol use (“Alcohol abuse and independence”). On the other hand, for every 10 marijuana users, there is only one marijuana user who develops dependency. Only 1.3 percent of the United States population has a one-lifetime prevalence of marijuana dependence. The co-morbidities of marijuana dependency include major depressive disorder, mania, phobias, and generalized anxiety disorder (“Cannabis (marijuana) use disorders”). After reviewing the two studies above, it is clear that compared to alcohol, the hazards of marijuana dependency are less disabling, and associated with much fewer rates of medical and psychiatric co-morbidity without any mortality.
A study conducted by the University of Michigan in 2008, indicated that the percentage of marijuana use in 2007 among eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders was 10.9 percent of eighth-graders, 23.9 percent of tenth graders, and 32.4 percent of twelfth graders (National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse)(4). Marijuana is a mind-altering green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis Sativa. The main active ingredient in marijuana is THC (delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol). The most common way to use Marijuana is to smoke it. When you smoke marijuana, it begins to affect users almost immediately and can last for one to three hours. Users will roll it into a cigarette "joint," put it into an emptied cigar casing "blunts" and smoke it in a pipe or a water-pipe "bong." It can also be baked with food and eaten or mixed in tea. When it is eaten in food, such as baked in brownies and cookies, the effects take longer to begin, but usually, last longer. It is the most common illegal drug used in the U.S. At least 42% of Americans have used marijuana sometime in their lives. People smoke marijuana because it elevates their mood and relaxes them. Depending on the level of THC, users may also experience euphoria, hallucinations, or paranoia (3).
The hazard of using marijuana is its physical, psychological, and emotional effects on the user. Physically it causes dry mouth, swollen eyelids, bloodshot eyes, loss of coordination, increase heart rate, and reduced blood pressure. Psychologically it causes distorted perception (sights, sounds, time, and touch), problems with memory and learning, trouble with thinking and problem-solving. Emotionally it may produce anxiety, fear, distrust, or panic (5).
Also, Marijuana has short-term and long-term hazards. Short-term hazards include anxiety and paranoia, impaired memory, difficulty in thinking, learning difficulties, lack of attention and focus, and poor concentration while driving. Long-term hazards include respiratory problems, heightened risk of infections, especially the lungs, poor short-term recall, inability to shift attention normally, inability to understand complex information, an increased risk of developing lung, head, and neck cancers, lack of motivation, decreased sperm count in men, and irregular menstruation in women (5).
In the United States, it is very widespread to use Marijuana. “Overall, marijuana abuse or dependence rose by 22 percent from 1991-1992 to 2001-2002. This means that there were approximately 800,000 more adults in the United States with marijuana abuse or dependence in 2001-2002,” says Dr. Compton the director of the National Institute of Drug Abuse. “This change was due to increases of 224 percent among young African-American men and women aged 18-29, and 148 percent among young Hispanic men aged 18-29.” (2).
There is no medication to directly treat marijuana abuse. Most abusers seeking professional treatment receive behavioral treatment in either group or individual sessions or both (1). Most drug treatment programs include education, monitoring of drug use, and strengthening of social support. Such programs are designed to avoid relapse and include comprehensive substance abuse and psychiatric evaluations, laboratory testing, group therapy, education, social services, and individual counseling. Withdrawal and acute panic reactions and flashbacks during marijuana intoxication are usually managed by supportive therapy. Generally, the withdrawal symptoms from marijuana are mild and do not require any drug therapy (1).
Authorities and sources that oppose the legalization of marijuana believe that marijuana is more dangerous and hazardous than alcohol; however, they fail to provide statistics and scientific evidence to prove their point. For example, Dr. Henderson refused a lawyer's suggestion that marijuana is safer than alcohol over the long term, though he said he is more "offended" by alcohol abuse than marijuana abuse. In the article “Marijuana discussion holds up sentencing” regarding a court case of marijuana position. Dr. Henderson spent about 20 minutes addressing the question of whether marijuana causes death. “It would be simply dishonest to say we're seeing people brought into our hospitals in Canada dead on arrival from cannabis,” he said. “It is a quite safe one (drug) for humans, although it is a very dangerous one for mice (Makin).” In this case, Dr. Henderson clearly refuses to state that marijuana is safer than alcohol, but obviously, he states that marijuana is a very safe drug for humans and no one dies from it contrary to alcohol. However, it is very dangerous for mice!
Medical research and scientific studies that compare alcohol to marijuana obviously prove that marijuana is by far safer than alcohol when it comes to morbidity, mortality, health disorder, dependency, mental and psychological disorders, as well as financial burdens. However, marijuana is illegal and billions of dollars are spent on the Beirut of Narcotics to fight marijuana use and position. When marijuana is legalized, these billions of dollars spent by the government will be saved (almost 7.7 billion dollars), probably be enough to secure retirement for all the workers of the Beirut of Narcotics. Moreover, billions of dollars, estimated at 6.2 billion will be collected from marijuana sales taxes. The potential revenues from the business of marijuana entertainment are 7 billion dollars. Like alcohol, the prohibition of marijuana will fail soon.
