Alcohol or Marijuana: Which Is Worse for Your Health?

That roughly translates to cannabis is not directly related to any increase in the chances of death or has a significant impact on your lifespan. Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda. The study was published in the December issue of the journal Addiction. Drug experts broadly agree that individuals and society would arguably be better off if marijuana became the most accepted recreational intoxicant of choice instead of alcohol. Both can also leave you feeling a bit worse for wear the next day, though this is more likely to happen with alcohol.

Weed Vs. Alcohol Feeling

Alcohol and marijuana use are both socially acceptable, and they can both be dangerous. That’s a complicated question—partly because “safety” means something different for everyone. No matter how safe a substance seems, addiction is always possible. This article has been reviewed by Dr. Anand Dugar, an anesthesiologist, pain medicine physician and the founder of Green Health Docs. Graduating from medical school in 2004 and residency in 2008, Dr. Dugar has been a licensed physician for almost 20 years and has been leading the push for medical cannabis nationwide.

1. There’s a delay in when you feel edibles because it can take time for the THC to be absorbed into your bloodstream.
2. It can be more habitual or emotional in nature and can be aided by therapy and not necessarily require outside intervention.
3. Many of the issues have to do with legality and preconceived judgment of cannabis.
4. Animal studies have indicated some possible impact on reproduction.

For marijuana, some research initially suggested a link between smoking and lung cancer, but that has been debunked. The January report found that cannabis was not connected to any increased risk of the lung cancers or head and neck cancers tied to smoking cigarettes. The pot smokers’ brains did not show a reduction or change in either gray or white matter in Hutchison’s study. When gray and white brain matter is reduced, cognitive impairment and memory loss can occur. Kent Hutchison, a professor of behavioral neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder and co-director of the CU Change Lab, co-authored a study that serves as a conversation starter for which substance is worse. In the study, published in the journal Addiction, researchers looked at brain scans of 853 adults between the ages of 18 and 55 and 439 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18.

While it’s not clear whether marijuana’s role with these outcomes is cause-and-effect, experts generally agree that people younger than their mid-20s should avoid pot. This may seem like a petty academic squabble, but it’s quite important as researchers and lawmakers try to advance more scientific approaches to drug policy. Finding the best method to evaluate the risks of drugs is much more complicated than assigning numeric rankings. Perhaps the biggest supporting evidence for this point is a 2010 study published in The Lancet that ranked alcohol as the most dangerous drug in the United Kingdom, surpassing heroin, crack cocaine, and marijuana. That study has drawn widespread media attention, appearing in outlets like the Washington Post, the Guardian, the New Republic, and here at Vox.

However, is available necessarily a sign that it’s better for you? Some people may consider both substances similar because of how they make you feel. People attribute it to be a over the counter xanax alternative social lubricant that allows people to stave off social anxiety and be more outgoing and talkative. It’s important to understand the distinct difference between alcohol and cannabis addiction. Alcohol detox can take a significant amount of time and have heavy withdrawal symptoms, while cannabis withdrawal can last anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks. It can also be completely out of your system in 1-3 months with you returned to normal levels and function.

Is Marijuana More Addictive Than Alcohol?

The drug policy experts I talked to about Nutt’s study generally agreed that his style of analysis and ranking misses some of the nuance behind the harm of certain drugs. The analysis doesn’t fully account for a drug’s legality, accessibility, or how widely a drug is used. If heroin and crack were legal and more accessible, they would very likely rank higher than alcohol.

Overall, cannabis use can be healthier and less addictive than alcohol use. Many of the issues have to do with legality and preconceived judgment of cannabis. Alcohol has been legal significantly longer compared to cannabis and some of these stigmas can impact people’s judgment about cannabis use. Considering the statistics you just read about marijuana-based crashes, 40 percent of car crash deaths in the US involve alcohol, and 30 percent eco sober house of deaths involve alcohol above the legal limit for driving. However, this is low compared to 40% of all car crashes that directly involve alcohol.

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Even if two drugs score similarly in Nutt’s analysis, the underlying variables behind the scores can be completely different. For instance, heroin and crack cocaine are fairly close in the rankings. But heroin scores much higher for mortality risk, while crack poses a much bigger risk for mental impairment. The individual scores account for a host of variables, including mortality, dependence, drug-related family adversities, environmental damage, and effect on crime. On the surface, weed appears to be safer, but there’s simply not enough evidence to declare a winner.

Study a good start

Keep in mind that there are dozens of factors to account for when comparing the health effects of alcohol and marijuana, including how the substances affect your heart, brain, and behavior, and how likely you are to get hooked. But how much does all of this information really tell policymakers or the public? It would drinking because of boredom 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.

The way you consume weed can have a big impact on its short- and long-term effects. For example, smoking is rough on your lungs, but this risk doesn’t apply to edibles. The development of alcohol use disorder (AUD) depends on various factors like genetics, drinking habits, and individual traits. Marijuana, though generally considered less risky, can still be addictive (as any substance can be).

Alcohol is also highly addictive and over time addiction can increase your chances of developing health issues and even a physical dependency. Alcohol is not only more addictive it also can cause more lasting damage to your health than cannabis. While excessive marijuana use can take a negative toll on your health many of these side effects can be reversible. Both weed and alcohol temporarily impair memory, and alcohol can cause blackouts by rendering the brain incapable of forming memories. The most severe long-term effects are seen in heavy, chronic, or binge users who begin using in their teens. Meanwhile, no deaths from marijuana overdoses have been reported, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The harm score for marijuana would also likely rise after legalization, but probably not too much since pot use is already widespread. Cannabis addiction is surprisingly common, however, according to 2015 study. A luxurious, secluded center treating mental health and substance and behavioral dependency issues with individualised treatment plans and world-class experts.