Alcohol consumption causes far greater harms to the individual user and to society than does the use of cannabis, according to a new review published online in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the journal of the British Association of Psychopharmacology.
Investigators at the Imperial College of London assessed “the relative physical, psychological, and social harms of cannabis and alcohol.” Authors reported that cannabis inhalation, particularly long-term, contributes to some potential adverse health effects, including harms to the lungs, circulatory system, as well as the exacerbation of certain mental health risks. By contrast, authors described alcohol as “ a toxic substance” that is responsible for nearly five percent “of the total global disease burden.”
Researchers determined, “A direct comparison of alcohol and cannabis showed that alcohol was considered to be more than twice as harmful as cannabis to [individual] users, and five times more harmful as cannabis to others (society). … As there are few areas of harm that each drug can produce where cannabis scores more [dangerous to health] than alcohol, we suggest that even if there were no legal impediment to cannabis use, it would be unlikely to be more harmful than alcohol.”
They concluded, “The findings underline the need for a coherent, evidence-based drugs policy that enables individuals to make informed decisions about the consequences of their drug use.”
The researchers’ findings should hardly come as a revelation. Last week, a just-published study that was completely ignored by the mainstream media reported that alcohol consumption increased lung cancer risk by 30 percent.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be. After all, a February 2011 World Health Organization report concluded that alcohol consumption causes a staggering four percent of all deaths worldwide, more than AIDS, tuberculosis or violence. A just-published analysis in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds that in the United States alone, an estimated 79,000 lives are lost annually due to excessive drinking. The study further estimates that the overall economic cost of excessive drinking by Americans is $223.5 billion annually.
Naturally, any health costs related to cannabis use pale in comparison. A 2009 review published in the British Columbia Mental Health and Addictions Journal estimated that health-related costs per user are eight times higher for drinkers of alcoholic beverages than they are for those who use cannabis, and are more than 40 times higher for tobacco smokers. “In terms of [health-related] costs per user: tobacco-related health costs are over $800 per user, alcohol-related health costs are much lower at $165 per user, and cannabis-related health costs are the lowest at $20 per user,” investigators concluded.
In an op/ed I wrote last year entitled “Pot Versus Alcohol: Experts Say Booze Is the Bigger Danger,” I cited the findings of numerous independent commissions, all of which pronounced that the risks of marijuana were nominal compared to those associated with booze. You can read these findings here and much of this evidence is discussed in even greater detail in my book, Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?
Nevertheless, despite its enormous societal toll, alcohol remains celebrated in this country — American Craft Beer Week is now endorsed by the U.S. Congress — while cannabis remains arbitrarily criminalized and demonized. It’s a situation illogical enough to drive most anyone to drink.
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/%21/petition/publicly-request-resignation-gil-kerlikowske/KVxx6PK1
so like i said ol’ Gil uses 1930 science (Propoganda) to justify current policy..totally unacceptable..I am an american..and i should have liberty like promised in the constitution..but this but-fuck is in the way..fire his dead ass , and hope the next one is better..i myself feel insulted by his respons to the last petition..and so should you..we are not gullible children..we know the science and facts..sign the damn thing !!
yes! i understand completely. At the age of 22 I got my first and last IWO thanks to booze. I never make bad choices while high. I also have a full time job that I am good at. An alcoholic could not do my job.
I’ve known alot of violent drinkers in my day but never a violent pot smoker. I’ve witnessed first hand what smoking can do, I lost my dad and my first husband to cigarette smoking. I have smoked for over 40 years to combat a mental health issue I have with violence. It works for me. Without it I am an explosive person just waiting for a reason to do so. With it I’m pretty easy going and can control my anger for the most part. I have no ill effects from the prolonnged smoking, except for a slight cough but I think alot of us experience that. I know lots of people that use it for different things my daughter in law has MS and it helps her tremendously, she has quit using a cane all together. My nephew uses it for bipolar disorder no pharmacuticle has helped him but mj keeps him a little more under control. My brother in law controls his diabetes with it. Just can’t under stand why there is not more research on this wonder plant.
Making the switch from booze and anti-depressants to medical marijuana saved my life after the Iraq war.
Finally! Someone talks about stupid alcohol. I’m tired of having to make the choice between going to jail for choosing a safer shbstance, or choosing to follow others and make the mistake to use alcohol. Wtf is wrong with these idiots? Is it that there is so few intelligent people that marijuana is illegal? They say a society is defined by the drugs they use. If that’s true then America is one dumbass country!!!
I FEEL ITS BECAUSE MONEY GOVERMENT WANTS MONEY ITS HARD FOR THEM TO TAX IT IN SUM STATES U CAN GET A LICENSE TO GROW IT TO SELL IT AND USE IT. BUT THOSE LICENSE COST A FORTUNE AND JUST LIKE EVERYTHING U GOT TO RENEW IT HA MORE MONEY. AND THEN THEY WANNA TAX U FOR BUYIN SELLING IT. BUT I THINK EVENTUALLY WHEN THEY FIND OUT THEY CAN MAKE ALOT OF MONEY ON IT LIKE BEER AND ALCOHOL I GARRENTEE IT WILL BE LEGAL
u know i think it would be a great idea for the people of this website to make some sort of poster or paper that says something like learn the truth about cannibus use at NORML.COM or something then the people who go to this webssite could print off a whole bunch of coppies and and hand em out or staple em to telephone poles just make more people more aware about this website i didnt even know about it untill a week ago when my dad told me about it the best way to change public opinion is by showing them the facts and the facts are all gathered on this website i think the best thing u can do is advertise this site i know its nonprofit so that might be out of the question for the people who run the website but for people like me or others we could get the truth out there im sure theres a ton of people out there who are reasonable its just they have never herd any other side of the story than the governments before i used pot i was afraid of it too i thought i was some horrible drug that everyone had warned me about but now i can see its reletivly harmless and any dangers that u get from smoking can be removed by cooking it so i still feel better for longer with no chance of lung cancer i love brownies
‘Relavation’? Really, now?
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3Dwhy%2Bwas%2Bmarijuana%2Bmade%2Billegal%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bunited%2Bstates%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D1%26ved%3D0CCEQFjAA%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.drugwarrant.com%252Farticles%252Fwhy-is-marijuana-illegal%252F%26ei%3DLhyvTpeeBceesQLk6vDcAQ%26usg%3DAFQjCNH6UP0iJr5lWfMC8Khfam8oO0PIRw%26cad%3Drja&h=yAQEEKWC0
thats why its illegal some bull crap
This is a very, very conservative estimate. The UK Cannabis Law Reform party, known as CLEAR, calculated a ratio based on mortality, hospital admissions, toxicity and propensity to psychosis, (all sources peer reviewed and verifiable). This showed a ratio of 2953:1.
So lets knock a zero off and cut it in half. I think it’s common sense that alcohol is at least 100 times more harmful than cannabis.
I hate drinking. It makes me feel like shit, and I wake up the next day feeling like shit. a hit or two every few days or so is nice. Marijuana is safer!
I certainly hope you guys forwarded this to the White House after that response they gave to the petition. This stuff just shows how flagrantly corrupt this system is. The science shows that marijuana is a threat to oil companies, pharmaceutical companies, tobacco companies and alcohol companies.
So, taking a science-based stance, the White House has shown that it takes bribes from the highest bidder. Isn’t it a shame that we’re trying to legally change things using civil awareness and education when we could just bribe our way to legalization if we had the money?
ya
Cannabis does not have any reoccurring effects after distinction. Another issue, that should also coinside with the withdrawals from Alcohol. Which, the last time I’ve heard about it, Death was the answer….
this should be sent to the Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette so he can see the proper reports other than spedding the LIES he tells the people of Michigan
And then there’s this:
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2011-11-01/Deaths-from-painkiller-overdose-triple-in-decade/51027242/1
To answer the question in the title of the article, pot is illegal because ramping up the enforcement of its prohibition coincided with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so that pot prohibition laws and their enforcement became the new Jim Crow laws.
It really is that simple.
The U.S. needed/needs a continuous source of practically slave labor for its prison sector whilst simultaneously creating the circumstances that give those less affected by the enforcement a distinct advantage over those who are put at a disadvantage.
It’s how the Ku Klux Klan’s Invisible Empire has the goody two shoes in the country doing its bidding and providing cover for the injustices the system perpetrates against people like me, people of color, whites who are labels as so-called N-Lovers, etc.
NEWS FLASH, BOOZE LINKED TO BREAST CANCER!Drinking kills in a lot more ways than we previously knew!
I suggest a new “We the People” petition to prohibit alcohol and tobacco citing many of the reasons Gil gave for declining the consideration of regulating marijuana. If enough signatures can be obtained I would be very interested in seeing the response provided by the White House. I can make some assumptions and/or speculation on some likely contradictions but I think this might be an interesting approach.
Thoughts?
Was the data collected on individuals who had smoked cannabis? Or vaporized, eaten, or was it a combination?
Three words:
Follow the money.
One good thing about medicinal marijuana is that unlike many medicines prescribed for curing ailments, it does not have any known side effects.
I have used both marijuana and alcohol through the years. I can tell you alcohol is a far greater problem for me. It’s difficult to stop.
When I was treated for alcohol/marijuana, I asked my doctor why he was treating me for alcohol and not marijuana. He looked at me in surprise and said, “the way we treat that is to just stop smoking it.”
I hope that all of your articals are sent to all persons in public office. Maybe if enough rep’s and sen’s get enough education about pot they would stop the persiqution of the citizens of the USA, a free country?
Amazing Read! Thanks a lot!
TOLD YA! AND I THINK IT WAS 1969
I guess as someone who uses both I must resign myself to dying one day. I will endeavor to persever until then.
All of the cannabis users already knew this. Put it out there for the public.
How does responsible and/or moderate consumption of alcohol compare with responsible and/or moderate consumption of pot? Can you point me to some info supporting health benefits of smoking marijuana? I am somewhat familiar with benefits of alcohol use in moderation (2 or 3 drinks per day), but have no comparison to what level of use would give the same benefits.
that petition was a farce! they knew what their answers would be way before they had enough signatures the first time, before they upped the ante demanding MORE signatures. their “serious consideration” was to figure out exactly how to use science and bs to pacify the sheeples, in a way that didnt make “no” sound like “no”! just another example of the trust we should all have in our liar-in-grief…..
now that they have all our emails, dont be surprised if one of the dictator drones dont show up at each and every one of our houses, cause we are probly all listed as enemies of the government, toker-terrorists, smoker-spies, and future slave labor for the huge prison machine that our government has created to make them rich.
is this the kind of government we want? or are willing to accept? if so, go ahead and vote ahlbombya in for another 4 years of crime and corruption, so he and his cronies can make millions off the suffering of others. not me, im votin RON PAUL!!!! he wants the states to decide for themselves how they approach the mj issue. if my state decides not to allow it, im gonna vote with my feet, move to where its allowed. this president allows us to have the freedoms he wants us to have. ron paul wants us to enjoy ALL the freedoms we were born with, and what we deserve!
enjoy youre last year in office, barry. youve taken many of our rights away….. but we still have the right to vote!!!
I’m always hearing the arguement that people always smoke to get high but people drink to socialize, not always to get drunk.
Why then aren’t people going to clubs and drinking juice or tea, can’t they still socialize? Why is drinking popular for socializing…why do people say they just want to unwind? They are drinking for the buzz and don’t seem to realize it. It really doesn’t take that much booze to buzz.
I’m sure some people do sip on a glass of wine, etc. just to be social, but if you have ever worked a bar you know that is the exception rather than the rule.
Lot’s of unhealthy people just lining up to be admitted into the medical system…from one bad drug (excessive booze) to another (prescription).
Legalizing cannabis would sure throw a wrench in those works.
Do you think the FEDS care about the after effects of alcohol when they collect multi-billions in taxes. There are a lot of people who drink because of drug testing and the TOTALITARIAN justifications of MARIJUANA PROHIBITION in which in the end destroys peoples lives and just adds to prison populations, another multi-billion industry. The 21ST CENTURY INQUISITORS with the BLANK CHECK to keep the drug war going and the UNICORNIZATION OF AMERIKA. If alcohol was wiped off the face of the planet, FEDERALISM would really take over and just give BIG PHARMA another happy pill concoction to give to the masses to keep them under a false utopia of a ORWELLIAN CIVILITY.
Whenever it comes down to it, you can dig 2 holes, bury the truth in on hole, and bury all the propaganda and lies the White house is giving us in the other hole, the propaganda and lies will lie there and rot, but the truth about cannabis will ultiamately rise up out of it’s hole! That response to the White House petition really pissed me off! It goes to show you that the Obama administration is being bribed by the pharmaceutical, tobacco, and liquor industries by their lobbyists to keep this stupid Marijuana Prohibition in place, and I for one, am sick and tired of it! Something has to change, and change NOW!
The problem is that if you are serious about alcohol’s dangers (compared to cannabis) you should at least :
Ban advertising
Ban the sponsorship of sport
Add it to the list of banned substances for athletes
Stop it being sold with food (restaurants)
Stop it being sold in supermarkets and convenience stores
Raise the age for purchase to 21 (to stop students becoming addicted)
Make it an offence to supply alcohol to someone under 21
Still keep a legal regulated supply so that safety could be maintained for those who drink it.
This does not go halfway to making the laws on cannabis and alcohol proportionate to the harm. Even if cannabis were legalised it would still have all the restrictions above and maybe more. Legalise / prohibit sounds so black and white but there are many shades of grey in there as well
Jamie, that’s a great idea! 🙂 Push the opposite to reveal the One.
Booze, juice alcohol, watever u wanna call it!? Its all the same: as are the effects. As a person who has worked first-hand in the ” service industry” we know what kind of idiot’s walk through the door n EXPECT understanding n exceptace for their ill-manor behavior; Alcohol is an excepting affect of this behavior? I think not!
Now the this social preblem, which has been accepted by OUR government for many of years now, rest personally in the servers hand?
How is this possible? That person had a problem before they were served! !!!!! Potheads or people who smoke pot, don’t cause socail destruction nor social problems! They just want peace and happiness!
Now i don’t get it? People kill people in more alcohol related ACCIDENTS.. THAN LETS SEE? HOW many related deaths have been correlated or even accociated w marijuana? If u can find even one or two please feel free to post because God knows, there are far more studies or occuations correlating with alcohol! Can we please just enjoy our lives, already? Or will “the people” always fight for actual freedom? Look at the lives we have lost of our freedom. When there is no ACTuAl freedom!!!!!!/!!!!!?????????? Get real people! Before its too late!
One of the best things about cannabis is that it helps me to control my use of alcohol! If I don’t have cannabis available to me I tend to drink a great deal more than I do when I can combine my drinking with a bit of cannabis (smoked or eaten).
Specifically:
If I don’t have cannabis, then when I drink, I will drink up to 6 or 7 beers (or I will have 4 to 5 oz of booze); to get the kind of feeling I am aiming for.
If I do have cannabis, then I will typically drink 2 to 3 beers (or will have 2 to 3 oz of booze), along with a bit of cannabis.
Even better yet, I might not have any alcohol at all if cannabis is available! This might bother the alcohol industry but it is something that the medical profession should surely be studying with extreme interest. I am quite certain I’m not alone since I have many friends who choose to recreate in a very similar way.
By the way, in my experience, cannabis tends to reduce the negative effects that alcohol can cause. This is partly due to reduced consumption, but I think it is also the mellowing effects of the cannabis!
Paul Armentano – Once again I want to thank you and the rest of the NORML organization for all the fantastic work you do! However, I do wish you would address the one thing so many of us keep calling for and that is to get out into the public and protest. I keep wondering why NORML doesn’t organize us to meet and march in DC (for example). I assume you have good reasons but I don’t know what they are.
It doesn’t matter what research you send congress,,your research does not trump election funds.
No incumbents to our legislatures,,state and federal,until we get our country back.
I think it’s time for all pot smokers to turn themselves into the police. Plead guilty and refuse treatment or fines and make them jail us. when the establishment chokes on the cost of housing and feeding us there might be some smart people who will speak out and put an end to the madness.
How did we let the pharmacuetical companies to gain so much power? What gives them the right to determine the cost of drugs? What gives them the right to mark their drugs up 550,000% uncontested?
Folks the root of all evil in this country is BIG PHARMA. We have to TAKE CONTROL OF THE PHARMACUETICAL INDUSTRY. How? I have no clue. But they use health care like teasing a dog with a pork chop. Here little doggie. Want this pork chop? Then roll over and play dead. Gimme paw. Good doggie.
Health care = pork chop.
I have heard the czar say:With all the damage that alcohol and tobacco causes why would you want to unleash another substance? Well…um because marijuana is much safer than the other two.
“It is because people drink “to have fun” but they smoke marijuana “to get high.””
Richard Nixon
“Pot”, which should be a-legal, is il-legal simply because, because It activates the neuro-endocrine system in “non-ordinary” ways (though not “supernatural” either), which “is hard to manage” on the scale of very many people getting high on the scale of the number of alcohol and tobacco users.
Alcohol and tobacco are not evolutionary catalysts of Human consciousness (which is naturally somewhat “alien” otherwise it wouldn’t be Human) in that way and so are “safer”! The irony here is great. Such policy is typical of primitive (not quite 21st century) Government.
What the Authorities are concerned about is psychological “chaos” potentially “getting out of hand”.
In my own view, THC-high cannabis is probably not for everyone just yet. THC-high cannabis is likely for relatively few people, the (rather large) minority that ARE capable of handling their highs properly.
While CBD-high cannabis, and hemp IS relatively more appropriate for “the general masses” who might otherwise “freak out” and get “delusional” from THC-high cannabis.
That’s what I’m sensing about the whole cannabis issue currently.
Another factor is that *smoking* THC-high cannabis is a very potent method of activation (as well as “primitive” as per the combustion aspect of it), and that many minds potently unraveling at the same time on a broad scale would likely have a palpable “para-normal” effect on society.
In a sentence, the God of the West, The System (The ‘Machinery’ by which Life is Managed), would be “threatened” by so many potently activating human brains. But I don’t believe that The System would be threatened, I believe that The System would simply be challenged to Evolve to a more radically SANE and more flexible, properly post-20th century level.
As for Drug Abuse, there’s truth to that argument. Lots of people have drug abuse problems, but drug abuse problems are behavioral problems involving, in this case, drugs, which are simply any preparation of psychoactive substance, whether its sugar, beer, latte, zanax, etc.
The ‘drug problem’ however, is really a behavioral hypnosis issue.
Drug addiction is nothing more than maladaptive hypnotic fixation with ritualistic aspects to a specific set of drug behaviors or drug rituals.
This “calls for” systematic de-mystification of issues, such as those around certain psychoactive substances and related non-ordinary states of mind or consciousness.
Culture is the great tool that Humankind has discovered by which non-ordinary states and the substances which induce them are explored, *made sense of*, and integrated into a normal part of reality.
Problem: the link to the study gives you nothing more than the abstract. For all we know, the study could be total bullshit.
I’m all for marijuana, but I also think we need to be able to see our sources before we use them in an intellectual discussion.
[Paul Armentano responds: I have a copy of, and have read, the full text of the study in question.]
cause making it legal would step on the toes of certain industry leaders…money really does talk for our federal government as well. they, for the most part, are all bought. you can bet your asses that the same are enjoyin some of the best green. i just dont see it happening. and, if it even did, our dickhead government would have sooo many restrictions so they can keep full control. what freedom is that?….
“A 2009 review published in the British Columbia Mental Health and Addictions Journal estimated that health-related costs per user are eight times higher for drinkers of alcoholic beverages than they are for those who use cannabis, and are more than 40 times higher for tobacco smokers.”
8X higher? How? What are the dangers cannabis users encounter that even makes the figure 8? Sure, there is carbon monoxide in any plant that’s smoked. There’s heat, from a burning joint, hotter than tobacco which is treated in unknown chemicals for the “perfect burn”. There is paranoia, most of it based on the reality that if you use cannabis, you’re a target of law enforcement. That makes the paranoia real, not imagined.
Once I realized those basics, I attained a new level of understanding and appreciation for cannabis over alcohol and tobacco. Tobacco smoke for example constricts the interchange of oxygen and CO2 in breathing; cannabis actually has the opposite effect, improving oxygen/CO2 exchange. With technology like the modern oven to bake cannabis brownies, and vaporizers to smoke cannabis, lung damage is hardly a risk.
As for cognitive impairment… since cannabis became unavailable to me around 7 years ago due to my turning 50, and not being all that social anymore, I’ve taking to drinking more and smoking tobacco. I continue to find what herbs I can that are legal like valerian, chamomile, and other herbs I will not share, but overall, my health, and well-being is less than half of what it was when cannabis was something I could take a toke or two from at the end of my workday.
For myself anyways, cannabis prohibition is a death sentence. And for what crime? I’ve been a generous person, a contributing member of society, employed my whole adult life, and most of it I got stoned after work, drank 1 or two beers. I smoked tobacco, tried to quit, but that was a addiction that I developed around age 14, and couldn’t ever shake. At 19 I got stoned the first time, and immediately realized that was for me. But I could never abandon the tobacco, because it was legal, and readily available, and cannabis was not.
Oh yeah, “cognitive impairment”??? Prior to using cannabis I was a struggling student happy with a C average. I had no clue as to life, or ambition. Until I got stoned that first time. The “impairment” President Obama speaks of for me was an immediate interest in life, nature, and knowledge. Until I turned 50 and cannabis became unavailable i dedicated my time to all three. I got several degrees and was very active in community.
That was then, this is now. I’m 57. Given the current status quo favoring dangerous drugs over safe ones with benefits, I figure I’m lucky to see age 60.
That gives me three years to do everything I can, within the law, to make a difference, to create change.
In a sense President Obama, the cannabis petitions you so callously overlooked, were my efforts to right a serious and life threatening wrong our government has been pursuing for way too long. I voted for you – seriously believing in your call for change, your call for responsible gov’t, your reliance on science.
In return, you spit in my face, relinquish ownership of a answer to the ONDCP whose job it is to lie about cannabis anyways. Just today I went to the liquor store to buy a bottle of coffee brandy, and the guy in front of me in the line was purchasing 30 bottles of whiskey. You call that regulation??? I asked the clerk if there was a limit to how much alcohol I could purchase? He replied – “you can buy all the alcohol in the store if you’d like.
No thank-you.
Yet cannabis, which is far safer, if legalized, IF, would be subject to what? One ounce a month? Maybe?
But why speculate when you like many Presidents before you, except Jimmy Carter, buy into this Reefer Madness crap?!
You know, I heard two things about you Mr. Obama in the last few days… 1) your doctor pronounced you “tobacco free”. Well congratulations, Mr. President, but see, the problem is, you’ll always be a addict of tobacco, even if you are currently “free”. And 2) your popularity rating went up 2 points… well, that was then, but now is now, and I predict, given your ignorance of cannabis, and it’s many potential benefits to society, the enormous taxes it could provide, and the savings in a society harmed by the laws against it, that your popularity rating will plummet. See, given the current status quo as to who the next Republican candidate probably will be, I was going to vote for you because you have done a couple things that merit kudos. But this latest slam on cannabis decided it for me… and no way will I vote for you again.
Your only reference to the effects and dangers of cannabis comes from the gov’t NIDA… well sorry, but that is not science, that is a joke, which isn’t funny.
It would be nice if Obama stepped down from the race,,so we could look at a Democrat that could get some votes.
He will be another lying piece of scat,,but I am tired of looking at this piece of crap.
This article is exactly what I believe. If your not going make marijuana legal alcohol damn sure should not be legal. If guns were legal and slingshots were illegal, would that not seem silly? Gotta love the power of money and what it controls.
These studies need to be published on well-known news sites. Mainstream America needs to see these reports.
People should stop trying to legalize marijuana by telling us how bad alcohol is, it looks bad. Marijuana users lose votes from drinkers that do and drinkers that don’t smoke but think it should be legal but now refuse to vote or vote no because they’re now defensive feeling attacked because marijuana activists are making it sound like since we can’t smoke they can’t drink either and the issue can be put off if they can distract everyone by starting a war between smokers and drinkers. There’s a lot of drinker votes that could be put to use due to street dealers voting no and older folks that want it to stay used for “medical use only” and want to fight to have insurance companies pay for their medical marijuana. To add to the pile there’s growers voting no cause they’re paranoid that major corporations will take there jobs. The only people I see voting yes to outright legalize it are the stoners that smoke more than they can afford which are people that the general public looks down on anyways which in turn makes more people vote no to try to rid there city of beggars trying to “get up the funds fer a gram” I’d say the best thing for everyone would be to stop attacking alcohol and take example from Amsterdam and just vote to decriminalize marijuana so marijuana users get the votes of medical users, growers, street dealers, and drinkers. Then they might have the numbers to out vote the annoyed public and greedy pig government officials. Then use that as a foot in the door to someday “Legalize it”. Remember, It’s not a right or a privilege to question your government it’s an obligation and “the policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits.” Thomas Jefferson 3rd President. Government only rules if the people allow it, use your brain and don’t be oppressed. <>
I still, after all these years, believe marijuana is illegal for one really good reason.
All the people for marijuana legalization are a bunch of milk toast, save my own ass, jack asses.
In just a few weeks, the OWS people have had news coverage everyday.
President Obama has personaly, in the media, talked about them.
Obama has even talked to Congress on their behalf.
What did you get? A lame ass letter from some flunky.
So, just think of this. While you sit at home and smoke your weed, all you really are doing is sucking.
You get what you stand up and fight for.
From what I see, most of you don’t deserve a pipe, let alone something to put in it.
This is a dog that won’t hunt. Alcohol IS dangerous, but it is a part of society, and the majority drinks in some manner (just over 50% of Americans drink regularly). While it’s nice to know and pretty much undebatable that cannabis is safer than alcohol, talking about how bad alcohol is doesn’t make anyone feel better about cannabis. The same goes for tobacco – everyone knows it’s bad, but comparing cannabis to it just makes people think, “well, cannabis is still bad, so it should probably stay illegal, think of how much bad stuff comes from tobacco and alcohol…”
It should be emphasized instead that cannabis can be used responsibly, like most people use alcohol, and that by promoting legalization you are promoting responsible use.
Look, this whole blog is a testament to reason, but we need to learn the art of marketing if we want to legalize cannabis. This isn’t it.
to 41
you first 🙂
#19…Jamie— great idea!! T’would be very interesting…
Test . My last post didn’t work .
@57 Michael B:
First let me say I think you’re totally wrong about those of us that are trying to get cannabis legalized. But, even if you are right, you seem to think it is okay for the big bad feds to bully us. Bullying is just plain wrong and shouldn’t be tolerated in our society by individuals and certainly not by our Govt! Marijuana prohibition is really cultural warfare.
Many thousands of us have tried to play by the rules. We write our president, congressmen and senators to no avail. We made our concerns know when they (the Feds) gave us the petition web page; again to no avail. We donate our time and money for the cause but I fear the money is not enough to convince the greedy leaders of this country to change their stance.
If we were to try to start a real physical fight with them, they would quickly wipe us out with their advanced weapons so that would be foolish and pointless. As for protesting in the streets, many of us are willing but we don’t have any major supporters rallying us. It might not do any good anyway… That was tried in the 60s and mostly just ended up with a lot of peaceful people getting their heads busted and serving jail time…
Seriously, I just don’t know what else we can do except try to spread the word about just how wrong this prohibition is.
So Michael B – Are you just on this site to cause trouble or do you have a suggestion about something we aren’t already doing that has a chance of working considering the kind of Govt we have?
Marijuana does not cause brain damage, genetic damage, or damage the immune system. Unlike alcohol, marijuana does not kill brain cells or induce violent behavior. The government is wasting more money trying to keep cannabis off the streets by putting “criminals” that get caught with it into jails.
Herb is the healing of a nation,
alcohol is the destruction.
Bob Marley
Seriously, have you EVER heard of someone going home to smoke Cannabis and beating their child and/or significant other? I have not heard one single shred of evidence about cannabis-induced violence. Now about alcohol… why is alcohol legal again? I will never understand America’s ways.
To #56, 57, 58:
#58 quote: “While it’s nice to know and pretty much undebatable that cannabis is safer than alcohol, talking about how bad alcohol is doesn’t make anyone feel better about cannabis. The same goes for tobacco…”
I understand your concern; that being that bashing alcohol or tobacco doesn’t help our cause. I agree, cannabis should be considered based it’s own merits, which are many. But the facts in this case are that alcohol prohibition was something nearly 100 years to bring about. Alcohol is a very dangerous substance, and can easily lead to abuse and addiction. Same with tobacco. The difference is, the laws don’t lock up or harass those using alcohol or tobacco. And the question is why?
It should also be suggested commenters assume all posting here are pot users. Except for a handful of opportunities, in the last 7 years since turning 50 I had zero access to cannabis. I don’t use it. I seek out alternative plants, which may be more harmful than cannabis.
On one of the NORML blogs, a retired police chief, is now opening advocating for legalization of cannabis. In his comment he opens up about how when he was chief, he loved busting pot users. They didn’t struggle. It was easy work. Something I hope I can take as remorse.
Facts are, cannabis is up hard against the alcohol and tobacco lobbies. The truth is, cannabis IS far less harmful, if at all, compared to legal recreational drugs.
We don’t have the news coverage that Occupy Wall Street has, granted, but what we do have is a safer alternative to currently legal recreational drugs. And the federal government needs to accept that alcohol and tobacco are dangerous drugs, and they are far more dangerous than pot, which can land you into a heap of unnecessary, and unjust legal proceedings.
If the gov’t sincerely and without question believes that cannabis is more a danger to society than alcohol and tobacco, then they seriously have no other options available but to put tobacco in as a Schedule One drug, and Alcohol as Schedule two. That is the science they practice. The US Constitution guarantees the punishment shall not exceed the crime, yet it does. The evidence is the way the gov’t treats alcohol and tobacco, with impunity.
Just plain wrong.
people are rightly pissed…i’m a recovering alcoholic – 2 years tonight – and i know that it is a safer choice…but do you think for a moment that they are listening?
Due to the vast alcoholism is my family, I was genetically passed down the burden of a super addictive personality. This really proved harmful on me after going through epilepsy during military service.
Addictions are fueled mostly by depression. I had smoked pot almost all my life, but I never had used it as a “emotional shield” until I faced the consequences of epilepsy and brain surgery which literally maximized my addiction issues. For anyone else, smoking pot would have eased pain and helped with recovery. For me, due to the effects alcohol has had on my family genetics, I ended up smoking one ounce every 2 days and a severe addiction.
No, pot is not chemically addictive at all, but with my addiction issues I can easily get addicted to anything. Yes I went through rehab, and I’ve had to reach the understanding that I cannot touch anything that brings me off sobriety or else I will get addicted. However, this is ALL because of alcohol in my family. If I smoked a joint everyday of my life then had children, they would never posses any such addictive personalities.
Alcohol should be made illegal. It leads to depression, death, and many other terrible things.
What the prohibitionists fail to acknowledge when they say “two wrongs don’t make a right” is that our current system takes away the ability to choose the lesser evil, pot, and systematically directs people to the greater evil, alcohol.
It’s illegal because of inherited prejudices.
Cultural heritage is often carried on even when more recent developments – as for example in the light of new research – doesn’t make quite a lot of sense anymore.
It might be an arbitrary example, but take the keyboards we type on: the keys on them are arranged the way they are because on mechanical typewriters it mostly prevented stuck keys. For the act of typing itself this layout never was ideal, yet we continue to use it just as we did 120 years ago.
Cannabis expands and opens my mind to make better decisions while alcohol makes me bold and careless.
The bad side is:
Cannabis makes me wimpy if I do too much and alcohol makes me stupid and clumsy.
#15 Loren: Schuette doesn’t give a damn about the truth. The only answer it to vote that cunt out in the next election.
So what’s new! If MJ user’s can figure out how to get Big Pharma big money, we can smoke all we want! Maybe for every joint we smoke we pay Big Pharma 10cents. That way they get the money they want and we get to smoke all we want! HA!
I still like my beer but it is much more satisfying to kick back with a joint after a long day
I think that there is no reason why a plant that is organic, and has no side affects should never be illegal. Thats like saying we should ban the use of oregano, I mean come on. I smoke cigs too and have used alcohol, and I have done my share of other recreational drugs, and I found it to be at least 10 times harder to quit smoking cigs or alcohol than it was to stop using coke!! I smoked the all mighty the whole time and I am a full time student at a major university, and have no problems with studying or passing my classes, but one of the first things you have to do even with college is go and take an alcohol assessment test and pass!! If you dont you can be put on acedemic suspention just for failing a class on alcohol, there is a way bigger issue with alcohol than there every has been with pot, its just society as a whole does not accept “Dope Smokers” its just another stereo-type that has gotten out of control. If society would keep an open mind about things maybe just maybe they would see the light like soo many of us has. And just to add its all about the money, i think the government has a hidden ajenda about legalizing pot, they are just trying to soak up all the money they can now from the so called illegal busts, cause they would lose money in a big way from these seisures, they make more off of that than they would if it was legal. not saying that its not profitable but it would take them years to make as much off of taxing pot as they make off of their soo called legal busts!!!
Hum…I admit there is some truth to all of your comments, some more than others, however, the actual article states that marihuana is SAFER THAN alcohol, NOT totally SAFE altogheter!!!!! It seems to me that, many of you chose to understand that MJ is SAFE. Not at all what the article says and NOT REALLY TRUE EITHER! Recent scientific studies have proven that present day MJ contains much higher percentages of THC than the kind used back in the 60’s. Listen to Jerry Agar’s Podcast on Oct. 24, 2011, he had Dr. Oren Amitay as a guest speaker. This show was interesting because Dr. Amitay confided that 10 years ago he wouldn’t have made the statements he makes today, partly because he grew up in the bossom of a family that held ‘MJ Parties” thus he grew up believing the stuff was harmless. Now there is, according to him, enough scientific evidence to support the fact that is not as harmless as may depict it. Food for thought.
@79 Nelida, I don’t really believe anyone participating in this forum believes that cannabis is completely harmless. I think we can all agree that it is much safer than alcohol. I am not at all concerned with the potency aspect. That is because it is simply a matter of adjusting the amount you ingest or smoke. For me, when I choose to smoke it, I use an amount that is about 1/2 to 1/3 the size of the tip of my pinkie finger. That’s all I typically need to feel quite satisfied in an average day. Seriously, even the drug czar (okay, maybe not that idiot) would have to agree that amount isn’t going to do any serious damage to an adult (21 years or older). I think that the polution in our environment probably does more damage than that to our bodies!
The reason alcohol is legal and cannabis isn’t is because of many different reasons, not just one. The complications from alcohol consumption bring money into the hospitals, pharmacies, police stations…People cannot OD on Cannabis, they would fall asleep first. You cannot patent a plant and the hospitals/pharmacies would not want cannabis legalized because cannabis is the cure for cancer. Unfortunately it’s all about money. There’s plenty of evidence, but what would the government rather do? Make money off sick/dying people. It’s population control…they’ve had the cancer cure since the 1970s. Henry Ford made a car of hemp that ran off hemp gasoline…but what do we do? Use crude oil instead of something that is renewable and better for the earth. So many products would be replaced and jobs would be replaced, however the government would have you believe that dopers will be everywhere…I highly doubt any non-smokers would change their mind. People might be more inclined to try it, but there are people who prefer alcohol over cannabis simply because of the effects. The overwhelming evidence of this plants usefulness should be enough, but unfortunately it’s not. I used to be one of those people who thought it was just something the hippies said…”It’s a government conspiracy, man.” Well…now I think they’re right.
TIME TO COME CLEAN PEOPLE!
Marijuana IS a dangerous drug, one that flies into the face of common, decent people! Our jest has gone on long enough. Time to admit we have serious problems with drugs, authority, self-destruction. Anyone here who has even used marijuana has a mind filled with disease, cognitive impairment. And if only we had stayed on the right road, which includes alcohol and tobacco, we’d be okay, but we’re not. We should admit it… seek help!
We are in denial.
Latest news from FOX… a doctor says marijuana causes heart attacks. Dr. Manny Alverez, reports on FOX NEWS: “…studies have linked marijuana use to heart disease…”. OKay, so the article begin:
“Three Texas teenagers suffered heart attacks after smoking an illegal brand of synthetic weed known as K2.”
K2, for those unfamiliar with it, is a synthetic chemical closely related, but not the same as THC. It is sprayed on a variety of herbs and sold as “legal pot”. Of course the DEA banned 5 types of the chemical, but hundreds more variants are possible.
The problem is K2 is sold online and is considered by many to be pot, just as “dangerous as pot”, and so this story really gets to the heart of the issue.
Dr. Alverez says: “I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but we are in the middle of a drug war. This drug war of the 21st century is not the same that parents and educators faced growing up in the 60s, 70s and 80s.”
Much more a danger to society and even more reason for the federal government to step in and protect “our youth”.
The three youths fully recovered from their K2 drug use/heart attacks, but “they were lucky”. I expect all will wise up and use legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco in the future.
The fact is says Dr. Alvarez: “Prior studies have linked marijuana use to heart disease…”
Oh YEAH??? Wow, so in addition to lung disease, cognitive impairment and heart disease, how much worse can marijuana be? Hmmm… even if true, it’s still less harmful than booze and cigarettes.
Where do they – these educated people come up with this bull? So you eat a marijuana brownie and you get a heart attack and lung disease? While smoking any plants causes dangers in the form of heat, particulate matter and CO getting into one’s lungs.
So now, one more reason to arrest cannabis users… because some doctor claims studies prove it causes heart disease. What’s next?
You can read the article here: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/11/08/synthetic-drugs-show-deadly-side-effects/
Only one way to stop Reefer Madness… turn ourselves in and seek medical attention, psychiatric help, medicare and disability because we can not possible function as productive human beings if we’ve ever been under the influence of Satan’s Weed!
I’m tired of being on the run… haven’t used it in 7 years but I did, so that makes me eligible for public assistance – in the form of a nice cushy bed in a mental hospital where I’d get drugs like the ones Michael Jackson got. From his doctor who now stands convicted. And again, I have to stress, thank God he did not give MJ marijuana! If he had that would have been far worse… MJ probably would have had a heart attack, and Dr. Murray would have gotten life in prison, not just a max of 4 years, if he serves any time all all, so over-crowded are our prisons.
Get REAL Pres. Obama, My Congress, My law-makers. Who in their right mind truly believes cannabis users and growers should be subject to legal harassment and arrest?
Heart attacks my ass! Who can respect authority when that authority is JUST PLAIN WRONG and acts like they are cognitively impaired believing in their own lies???
To have a branch of government (the ONDCP) paid to lie, paid for by our taxes, while claiming alcohol and tobacco are safe because they “are regulated”, flies in the face of common sense. To forbid ALL Research into the benefits of cannabis while owning a federal patent proving cannabis has medicinal value, yet pretending the patent (the claims) don’t exist is lunacy!
To have elected a President who vowed to respect science completely abandon any science or reason is an embarrassment!
If we all turn ourselves in, including 60% of Congress including the President, would be – would end the War on Drugs. Don’t we want to end this war? Don’t we all feel guilty of having committed a crime worst than what Dr. Murray did? Don’t we feel America’s god eyeing us and cursing us? For God’s sake people… all the federal gov’t wants us to do is admit we are a threat to society, and a disease… that they can HELP. En mass, we could all end this War… but then, so could the federal government if they’d simply admit they’re the one’s who are diseased and impaired.
If alcohol is more than twice as harmful as cannabis then cannabis is still harmful enough and should not be legalized
i FEEL PEOPLE ARE STILL AFRAID TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT CANNABIS,OUR GOV. HAS SO MUCH POWER OVER PEOPLE.MONEY IS ALLWAYS THE BOTTEM LINE.THE DEA+PHARM.ARE BUDDYS IN THE MEDS THEY GIVE OUT.WE NEED A NEW GOV.THAT WILL LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE AND NOT THE MONEY.IT IS OUR COUNTRY NOT THE DAMN BIG CO. POT IS A GOOD THING PUT HERE BY GOD..i HAVE NOWN ABOUT NORML SENCE THE 70S..I WISH THEY COULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE POT LAWS
i dont know why canabis its illegal but i know why alchool isnt:if alchool would be illegal the countries wouldnt make that much money,cause theyr are a loot more drinkers than junkies….!end of story bye bye :):)
i would rather have my children smoke pot than drink alcohol…a pot buzz is soooo different than an alcohol buzz…ive never thrown up when im super high…no hangover the next day…it’s a nice way to unwind after a good long day of work…and if you use a vaporizer…it will help with the health issues…i KNOW it will be legalized in my lifetime…IT’S STUPIDITY NOT TO!!!!!
This is common knowledge!
Its only illegal because all major gas, oil, timber and clothing companies lobbied governments to make it illegal, because if they didn’t they would be out of business as you can use the hemp plant to do all of the above (gas will need to be mixed, but will still screw those companies). That’s pretty much the reason – LEGALIZE IT!! Or lets all move to Canada, Portugal or Holland. Good times 🙂
We have Nazi Bushes, Rockefeller, Turners and the Federal Reserve Bank committing Treason and the RICO ACT. They are under investigation with the FBI at this time call and ask them.
End the Fed reserve and rothschilds Nazi Jew world bank and we end war, crime, drug wars, poverty, illegal government, taxes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9Kjw2B21R0&feature=related
I feel that the only reason “POT” is illegal is because the government cannot make money off of it because, it is easy to “GROW YOUR OWN” which would cut the government out of TAXING it.
Oh yeah . And how many times have you heard of someone going out and robbing a liquor store because they needed a hit of “WEED”?
I said it before & I’ll say it again. The PRIMARY reason alcohol is legal & pot is not is MONEY!!! Too many people in Government & their “inner circles” Make TOO MUCH MONEY keeping pot illegal! Big alcohol companies give millions to campaigns, the Government will have a hard time taxing growers, & if they legalized pot ALL the “anti-drug” money would go away. Prison’s would NOT be as overpopulated as they are which will mean less money for the prison system. The fact of the matter so long as there is “corruption” in our Government pot will remain illegal!!!
Marijuana is illegal because it its the most renewable crop that was ever created and it will bankrupt most american corporations and they know it has unlimited potential and fear it.
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And after this post Study: Alcohol Is “More Than Twice As Harmful As Cannabis” – So Explain To Me Again
Why Pot Is Illegal? | NORML Blog, Marijuana Law Reform.
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this is completely ridiculous to me, i mean regardless both marijuana and alcohol have a negative effect on people in some way or another, especially alcohol but yet they would rather keep alcohol and band marijuana, they both should have the same fate at the very least.I cant understand how everyone could know the effects of alcohol but still perfer it over marijuana, it makes no sense. they would rather run the risk of people dying from alcohol poisoning,drunk driving and all sorts of other mayhem than to just make it illegal all together like they did marijuana? it an outrage because even prostitution is legal in some places here, but you get caught with marijuana you go to straight jail, how is that fair?
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