Marijuana VS Alcohol

Marijuana is increasingly becoming some people drug of choice so let’s talk about what science can tell us about Marijuana.

Is Marijuana Dangerous?

The risk of someone suffering a fatal overdoes from Marijuana is extremely small.

There have been no reports of anyone dying directly from smoking or ingesting Marijuana in the medical literature.

To even have a remote chance of dying you would have to consume 21 kilos in one sitting. That’s 46 pounds for all you Americans out there.

For full disclosure, there have been a few deaths due to underlying heart conditions but Marijuana is not the cause of death, their condition was.

Marijuana or Alcohol, which is worst for you?

Let’s put this in perspective, if it took you 1/3 of a joint to get high, you would have to smoke 120,000 joint in one sitting to die from a marijuana overdose.

On the flip side of the coin, if it took you 3 beers to get drunk, you would only have to drink 15 to 30 beers to die from alcohol poisoning.

In a 2015 study it was revealed that Marijuana is 114 times safer when compared to alcohol. In fact, alcohol topped the list of the world’s deadliest drug, beating heroin, cocaine and tobacco.

This is in large part to it being legal and freely available, not that it is more dangerous in one sitting than these other hard drugs.

So is Marijuana risk free drug?

This question is harder to answer. Thanks to the American war on Drugs and the prohibition on researching Marijuana there is still a great deal we have to learn but yes, there are risks.

A recent study found a 50% increase in disordered thinking, hallucinations and delusions, compared to people who have never smoked marijuana.

Another study found that teenagers that had smoked marijuana 10 or more times before the age of 18 were twice as likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia within the next 15 years than those who had not used the drug.

When you put something into your body you are taking a risk, weather that is something simple like paracetamol, or a prescribed drug from you Dr, there is always an inherent risk.

So is synthetic Marijuana ok?

Unequivocally no. Synthetic Marijuana may be readily available but it is not safe. There have been thousands of direct deaths around the world attributed to synthetic marijuana and 10 of thousands more have had their health adversely effected.

Some of these include, Vomiting, seizures, heart attack, liver failure, kidney failure, psychosis and death to name just a few.

Natural Marijuana has compounds within in it that counter act some of the negative effects, almost like a protective barrier.

If you going to smoke make sure it is not synthetic weed.

Is Marijuana addictive?

Yes & No as almost anything can become addictive.

Addiction is defined as a condition that results when a person ingests a substance or engages in an activity that is pleasurable but the continued use or act becomes compulsive and interferes with ordinary life.

Alcohol and cocaine have addiction rates of around 15 to 20% while marijuana’s addiction rate comes in at around 10%.

When taking into consideration usage rates marijuana is significantly less addictive than both legal and illegal drugs.

So should I smoke weed?

Well only you can answer that question.

If you are under the age of 21 we would recommend waiting until your brain is fully developed. Adding chemicals to your system whilst your brain is still growing is, well a no brainer.

But if you are an adult, it is legal in your country or state and you have done your research and acknowledged the risks. Then sitting in your bean bag, blazing up and watching your favourite episode of DR who seems to be far less risky than binge drinking at your local pub.

Sources –

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311234/