Cannabis vs Alcohol

[Godwintwo2]

Hey guys, So recently I've had a question on my mind that's been bugging me a fair bit. Do you think alcohol or cannabis is worse for you or a developing brain in particular considering ALL factors ie legal, social, health and which do you think provides the better high? I've seen many debates on this before but we're almost 100% biased answers due to the fact that they were all posted on weed websites and forums. Another quick question would be how do you think alcohol compares to other drugs on a scale of potency?

Any answers much appreciated

Cheers!

 

[spacejunk]

alcohol is far worse for your brain, and your general health too i believe - but as you say, a lot of what is said on this topic is incredibly biased.
drinking in moderation is no necessarily harmful or unhealthy, but alcohol is toxic and can cause lots of different health issues.

it's probably difficult to answer your question in full, regarding al the factors (social, legal etc etc), and truth be told, i'm very personally biased myself, in that i don't drink alcohol but i do enjoy cannabis.
a lot of my friends are the exact opposite and hate smoking weed but enjoy a drink. in that sense it is very subjective, and i certainly don't think cannabis is suitable for everyone. even though cannabis is fairly non-toxic, i think there is a fairly large proportion of the population that shouldn't consume it, particularly those prone to mental illness and anxiety.

 

[belligerent drunk]

alcohol is far worse for your brain, and your general health too i believe - but as you say, a lot of what is said on this topic is incredibly biased.
drinking in moderation is no necessarily harmful or unhealthy, but alcohol is toxic and can cause lots of different health issues.

I have to disagree. There is really nothing to argue about here - alcohol is more harmful for both your brain and general health than weed, hands down. Smoking weed is somewhat harmful to the lungs (yet less harmful than smoking tobacco), but that's about it. Cannabinoids themselves are as non-toxic as drugs get. Alcohol, on the other hand, or well, its metabolite acetaldehyde and excess acetic acid, are harmful almost regardless of dose. They attack DNA and plenty of other vital parts of a cell.

As for harm to a developing brain, I don't think this issue has been settled yet for cannabis. Smoking in adolescence is not recommended, sure, but the extent of damage from occasional use is not clear AFAIK. Same goes for drinking I guess.

 

[spacejunk]

I have to disagree.

i disagree that we disagree!
but i think you're right in saying that a lot more emphatically than me. does that mean we don't agree? i'm a tad confused, hehe.

the problem with alcohol being legal (and having companies economically invested in it remaining a popular intoxicant) is that there probably are few people funding studies into accurately comparing harms between cannabis and alcohol.

the flipside of that is that weed's illegality has made it difficult for people to research properly.
prohibition is not a very scientific business...

 

[belligerent drunk]

but as you say, a lot of what is said on this topic is incredibly biased.

My bad, I read that part to mean that perhaps what you said in the first part of that sentence may not be true after all, when it's obviously true.