A longstanding debate exists in America regarding two popular and powerful psychoactive drugs: alcohol and marijuana. Alcohol is legal in the United States, while marijuana is illegal under federal law (though the contrary was the case at one point in our history). At the center of this debate is the question of which of the two drugs is more detrimental to personal health, as well as society as a whole. This page aims to bring the reader to the obvious conclusion that marijuana is far less dangerous than alcohol, both on a personal and societal level.

When discussion of the dangers of any particular drug begins, the first question asked by most addresses the likelihood of lethal overdose. Alcohol poisoning is a consequence of excessive drinking which can result in many serious conditions including loss of consciousness, low blood pressure, low body temperature, coma, respiratory depression, or death. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States alone there are approximately 88,000 deaths caused by excessive alcohol consumption each year (2013). Excessive marijuana consumption does have immediate negative side-effects which include increased heart rate, lowered reaction time, paranoia and anxiety, and sensory distortion (DFW 2014). These conditions do not seem to compare to those of alcohol poisoning, and the term “marijuana poisoning” does not even exist in any medical context; so what is the overdose rate of marijuana users in the United States? The answer: zero percent (0%). No one, not one single person in the history of mankind, has ever died from too much THC in the body (Nadelmann 2004). So, if you are keeping an overdose scorecard, that’s alcohol 0, marijuana 88,000 (per year).

Impaired driving is another hot-button issue in discussions about the two substances. There is hardly a need to explain why a legally-intoxicated drunk driver is incapable of driving safely, but basically a BAC at or above the legal limit will impair perception, cause inability to control speed, reduce the brain’s information processing, and reduce ability to maintain lane position and brake appropriately. As a result, 31% of all fatal motor-vehicle accidents are caused by drunk drivers (CDC 2013). The rate of fatal accidents involving marijuana impairment is difficult to definitively determine because of insufficient testing methods, but a study conducted in California estimated a rate of 5.5% (Crancer 2008). One key factor which may be contributing to this huge disparity was identified in an experimental study in 2010:

“Most marijuana-intoxicated drivers show only modest impairments on actual road tests. Experienced smokers who drive on a set course show almost no functional impairment under the influence of marijuana, except when it is combined with alcohol.” (Poling Sewell Sofuoglu 2010).

These researchers concluded that while alcohol-impaired drivers underestimate their impairment, marijuana users actually overestimate their impairment and compensate for it while driving (perhaps we need to re-categorize the above side-effect of paranoia from a negative to a positive). These statistics are entirely consistent with popular opinion. Anyone who has used both marijuana and alcohol will tell you that they would be able to drive better stoned than drunk. This is not to say that driving under the influence of either should be permissible, but impaired driving is an issue that must be considered in a comparison of alcohol and marijuana in regards to public safety.

Addiction is another factor that must be considered. After brief periods of abstinence from alcohol (several hours to a couple days), a heavy drinker experiences withdrawal symptoms which include profuse sweating, the shakes, racing heart rate, and severe anxiety. These symptoms are what lead to chemical dependency; the frequent use of alcohol causes imbalances and detrimental changes in the brain’s neurotransmitters when alcohol is not present (NIAAA 2009). Marijuana is addictive as well, but the addiction differs in severity from that of alcohol. No significant physiological withdrawal symptoms are present when a heavy smoker suddenly abstains from use due to the stickiness of the THC molecule. THC is an extremely unique psychoactive substance in that it is fat soluble rather than water soluble. It sticks to fat and stores in fat cells, allowing the body to naturally wean itself after heavy marijuana use (ADCAPS 2014). Withdrawal symptoms of marijuana are purely psychological; “addicts” are discontent when they are not stoned simply because they love it when they are stoned.

Many argue that marijuana acts as a gateway drug in a way that alcohol does not. Though the large majority of the people who try marijuana never use any other illicit drug in their lifetime, it is true that some marijuana users move on to harder drugs. However, the drug itself has nothing to do with this phenomenon; it is purely the result of how society has chosen to perceive marijuana. As alcohol is sold on the shelves of grocery stores, marijuana is imported by the same drug cartels that bring cocaine and heroin into the country. This is only because the cartels deal in illegal goods. If the legal status of marijuana were changed to allow legal retail distribution with the same rules and regulations as alcohol, then we would classify it as such and no longer associate it with crime and harder drug use. An obvious example of this is the alcohol prohibition of the 1920’s and 1930’s. Once alcohol was deemed an illegal substance, it immediately became the primary industry of organized crime in America. None would contest that the “gateway drug” problem is one that is easily solved by legalization.

We must also consider why the two drugs exist in nature in the first place. The evolution of the marijuana plant can be compared to that of an apple tree (or any other seed-bearing fruit plant). The apple is the reproductive organ of the tree, and it is dependent upon the animal kingdom to come pick it. The animal eats the apple and discards of the core which contains the freshly-exposed seeds. The animal eating the apple is necessary for the tree’s reproduction because it carries the apple away from the parent tree. It drops the core where the seedlings will not compete with the parent tree for resources, hence allowing both the parent tree and the new offspring to thrive. The same is true of the marijuana plant; the bud contains the seeds just as the apple does. Consumption of the bud creates a feeling of euphoria for the animal just as the apple tastes delicious to the animal. Animal reaction to alcohol, on the other hand, may actually be an evolutionary defense mechanism of the brain to keep the animal from eating rotten fruit. Think about it: drinking is a fun way to cut loose in the cushy environment of modern society, but how well would you do trying to survive in the wilderness if you were drunk all the time? If you did eat a fermented piece of fruit that intoxicated you to a point where you were no longer able to function sufficiently, then you probably would not eat fermented fruit a second time. It seems likely that natural selection has had a propensity to favor specimens that have a strong allergy to alcohol, because they were the ones that did not go around eating rotten fruit all the time.

To conclude, there should be little doubt that recreational marijuana use is a safer alternative to alcohol. Without even delving into the medicinal advantages of THC, we have seen that marijuana use leaves no potential for lethal overdose, impairment from marijuana has less impact on operating motor vehicles than that of alcohol, it is far less addictive than alcohol, the “gateway drug” theory is purely social construct, and Mother Nature intends for us to consume marijuana while staying away from alcohol. The evidence is overwhelming, and it is clearly time for a drastic reform of our marijuana laws. As the great Peter Tosh suggested, LEGALIZE IT!



Works Cited

(ADCAPS) Alcohol & Drug Counseling, Assessment, & Prevention Services (2014). “Marijuana Effects”. Washingon State University. Retrieved from http://adcaps.wsu.edu/drugs101/marijuana-effects/

(CDC) Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2013). “Alcohol and Public Health”. CDC Fact Sheets. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/alcohol-use.htm

Crancer, Alfred & Crancer, Alan. “The Involvement of Marijuana in California Fatal Motor Vehicle Crashes 1998-2008”. Stop Drugged Driving. Retrieved from http://druggeddriving.org/pdfs/CAMJStudyJune2010.pdf

(DFW) Drug-Free World (2014). “The Truth About Marijuana”. Foundation for a Drug-Free World. Retrieved from http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/short-and-long-term-effects.html

Nadelmann, Ethan A. (2004). “An End to Marijuana Prohibition”. National Review, July 2004, p. 29. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezp.lib.cwu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=9137a783-0121-4784-b4b2-8d19e77cf967%40sessionmgr110&hid=123

(NIAAA) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (2009). “Neuroscience: Pathways to Alcohol Dependence.” National Institutes of Health, No. 77. Retrieved from http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/AA77/AA77.htm

Poling, James; Sewell, Andrew; Sofuoglu, Mehmet (2010). “The Effect of Cannabis Compared with Alcohol on Driving”. US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/#R13