A few drugs are enormously dangerous in the short-term but not the long-term (heroin), or vice versa (tobacco). And looking at deaths or other harms caused by certain drugs doesn’t always account for substances, such as prescription medications, that are often mixed with others, making them more deadly or harmful than they would be alone. It’s possible to develop an emotional and/or physical dependence on both substances.

Recreational marijuana is only for adults

Considering the statistics you just read about marijuana-based crashes, 40 percent of car crash deaths in the US involve alcohol, and 30 percent of deaths involve alcohol above the legal limit for driving. They ultimately found a 5.8% increase in injury crash rates and a 4.1% increase in fatal crash rates when comparing the data of cannabis being legalized and when states opened recreational sales. They did find that recreational sales did not increase crash rates as much as the initial legalization did. As for marijuana, whose legalization for medical uses has been a matter of strong public policy debate for years, there is ample evidence that beneficial compounds can be found in the plant.

1. It can be challenging to ascertain how many deaths are caused by cannabis.
2. Cannabis addiction is surprisingly common, however, according to 2015 study.
3. Edibles cut down on one of the major issues with cannabis because they don’t require smoking and eliminate many of these risks.
4. It’s about what it does to your life and the consequences you deal with because of that behavior.

2 Experimental research (driving and simulator studies)

Alcohol is also highly addictive and over time addiction can increase your chances of developing health issues and even a physical dependency. Prolonged alcohol use can lead to physical dependence, where the body becomes reliant on alcohol to function normally.This can cause benzodiazepines detox northern california drug alcohol rehab the shakes and can affect your ability to lead a normal life. It can lead to impaired judgment, decreased reaction times, and difficulty concentrating. It can also lower your inhibitions making you more likely to make riskier or rash decisions that can lead to an accident.

The latest in Health

Some alcohol enthusiasts tout the advantages of drinking by citing the potential health boosts such as the reduced risk of heart disease for infrequent drinkers and the benefits of polyphenols in red wine, which have antioxidant properties. Cannabis also has health and medical benefits which include reducing pain, improving sexual libido, treating inflammation, and acting as neuroprotectants. Because of these difficulties, epidemiological studies have also shown inconsistent effects, some finding decreased or no risk from driving while smoking marijuana, and others increased risk.

Weed before alcohol: Assume you’ve had an extra drink or two

To put that in perspective, the addiction rate for cocaine was 17%, while heroin was 23% and nicotine was 32%. As a team of pain medicine physicians, anesthesiologists, and surgeons, we knew that there had to be a better way to help patients. Our goal was to give patients easy access to medical cannabis as an alternative to traditional pain medications, antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, and other addictive and harmful drugs.

If you’re fit and healthy then you can enjoy alcohol in moderation, and I promise you it’s so much better than weed and is way better in terms of side effects, just don’t drink too much. If we were talking about bush weed with 4% thc that might be different story (putting aside the inherent unhealthiness of smoking). Sober people are going to be growing weed and making a fortune selling it to idiots. Correlation between THC concentration in whole blood oxycodone uses, side effects, dosages, precautions and accident risk (from Grotenhermen et al. (2007)78 based on data from Drummer et al.73). Additionally, heavy cannabis use from an early age might have its roots in underlying psychopathology or preexisting social or economic problems at home. Despite these controversies, a study team, led by Magdalena Cerdá at the University of California, recently conducted a thorough investigation into the social and economic aspects of heavy cannabis use.

Does THC Increase Dopamine?

Cannabis has been found to potentially increase your chances of developing anxiety, paranoia, and psychotic symptoms.There is ongoing research on the relationship between marijuana use and mental health disorders. Speaking of, let’s examine the addictive tendencies of these substances. It can damage brain cells and lead to deficiencies in neurotransmitters. It affects gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) which can cause relaxation but long term use of alcohol can affect your levels of GABA or glutamate in the nervous system. Alcohol can lower inhibitions but it can also impair judgment, coordination, and memory.

The study was published in the December issue of the journal Addiction. Tishler believes a better question is not which substance is more addictive, but how we use them. Tishler emphasizes that understanding addiction is nuanced, and it can be helpful to distinguish addiction from dependence. In simple terms, cannabis has medicinal applications, and alcohol does not. It’s a tough call, but based on the peer-reviewed science, there appears to be a clear answer.

It would matter if marijuana ends up substituting alcohol once pot is legalized (since a safer substance would be replacing a more dangerous one), but the research on that is still early. And the argument that alcohol is more dangerous than illegal substances could be used as a basis for banning or strictly regulating alcohol just as easily as it could be used as a basis for legalizing or decriminalizing other drugs. Alcohol, tobacco, and prescription painkillers are likely deadlier than other drugs because they are legal, so comparing their aggregate effects to illegal drugs is difficult. Some drugs are very harmful to individuals, but they’re so rarely used that they may not be a major public health threat.

“It is striking that high-frequency cannabis use is now more commonly reported than is high-frequency drinking.” Based on these findings, the researchers believe that drinking alcohol is likely to be much more harmful to brain health than using marijuana. The study included the brain images of 853 adults who were aged between 18 and 55 years and 439 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18. Last year, for example, Medical News Today reported on a study linking antibiotics and alcohol marijuana use to a greater risk of psychosis in teenagers, while another study claimed that the drug is “worse than cigarettes” for cardiovascular health. Their findings linked alcohol consumption with long-term changes to the structure of white matter and gray matter in the brain. Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder conducted a review of existing imaging data that looked at the effects of alcohol and marijuana, or cannabis, on the brain.

The amendment would legalize marijuana for people 21 years of age and older. If voters pass the amendment in November, Florida would become the 25th state to legalize marijuana use for fun and not just for medical use. Users would still be required to buy their weed at licensed dispensaries.