With the outbreak of the novel COVID-19 virus, the weed and alcohol sales all across the country have skyrocketed. A lot of people right now are trying to stay inside their homes and practicing social distancing. And owing to this, many are indulging in these activities more than ever in order to battle the psychological pressure the disease is putting.
But this made me think, which among these two substances is better, in general- Cannabis or Alcohol?
This debate has been around for the past many years. And more than often, people consider alcohol better than cannabis. This may be due to the illegal status of the herb until the recent past. But now, the legalization of cannabis has opened up the paths to a deeper research on the substance. And this has uncovered a lot of interesting facts about the plant.
But do these facts make cannabis better than alcohol? Let’s see how medical marijuana doctors in Anaheim compare these two.
Obesity
Let’s start with the most basic comparison between the two.
Alcohol, in general, doesn’t have a lot of calories. However, they add up quite quickly. Especially when you’re taking it with other sugary drinks, or consuming multiple drinks at a time. Also, even if you are consuming it only on weekends and occasions, your alcohol knows how to creep up on you. And you probably know the dangers of being overweight. As per health experts, excessive weight leads to many chronic ailments, including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart diseases, etc.
Now, if we talk about cannabis, it surely causes munchies. But marijuana use isn’t associated with obesity in any way. In fact, as per the medical marijuana doctor in Anaheim, cannabis may help people lose weight.
Overdose
To be honest, this probably is the most prominent reason why people believe cannabis to be safer than alcohol.
In general, alcohol use isn’t life-threatening. However, consuming too much alcohol can be fatal. As per the CDC report, nearly 88 thousand people die every year in the US due to alcohol. And out of these deaths, half are due to binge-drinking.
On the other hand, the number of deaths due to cannabis overdose is virtually zero. As per a study on the subject, for your weed to be lethal, it should have a THC content of 15 to 70 grams. And to give you a slight idea of how much cannabis is this, consider a usual joint has around half a gram of cannabis. This means you’ll have to smoke somewhere between 240 and 1100 joints in a day to overdose on cannabis. And that’s probably impossible.
Addiction
Alcoholism is a serious problem across the world. Every day, we see new cases of alcohol addiction. And this problem doesn’t differentiate. We’ve seen men as well as women being addicted to this. We’ve seen adults and teenagers getting into this trap. And we’ve seen rich and poor dying of it. All alike! The problem of alcoholism doesn’t only impact the addict but their loved ones too. Furthermore, the withdrawal symptoms of alcohol are also physically painful.
Contrary to this, addiction to weed is a very rare phenomenon. Many experts even believe that cannabis isn’t addictive at all. In fact, it may even help people stop using other drugs, like opioids and heroin, etc. Furthermore, even after an extended use of the substance, cannabis doesn’t have any physical withdrawal symptoms.
Injuries
Alcohol is often associated with impaired motor skills. And you probably have felt this if you are a drinker. However, people quite frequently overlook it. While it may be just a mild effect that makes you unable to walk straight, think of all the risks that this impaired coordination carries. You may walk into the running traffic, fall down the stairs, or trip on something and break your arm or leg, which may throw you on your bed for several weeks.
Cannabis, on the other hand, doesn’t produce any such effects. Yes, there are some risks with it too. But the chances of any severe injuries are way lower as compared to when you’re drunk.
Accidents
While there are a few reports that suggest the number of road accidents in weed legalized states is more as compared to where it is illegal, it doesn’t mean cannabis is responsible for it. I mean, correlation and causation are two completely different things. Though there are instances of accidents when the person was under weed influence, for now, we do not have any solid evidence suggesting that weed causes accidents.
On the other hand, we have years of research proving that alcohol is a very major cause of road accidents. On an average, almost 30 people die in the United States every day in drunk-driving crashes.
However, after knowing the above facts, you shouldn’t conclude that you can drive after consuming cannabis. Driving under the influence of both, weed and alcohol, is dangerous. And you must refrain from it in any case.
Hangovers
Remember those headaches, nausea, and dry mouth you got in the morning after your party night? Yeah, that happens when you consume alcohol. And that’s what we call a “hangover.”
Most drinkers go through a hangover after drinking alcohol. The symptoms may range from mild to severe. But you probably will agree with me that these are not pleasant at all. And because it happens almost every time we drink, we all have designed a personalized remedy, such as coffee, juice, food, etc.
But do you know what doesn’t lead to a hangover? Marijuana.
Diseases
Alcohol is considered a cause of a myriad of diseases, of which some are very chronic. The conditions that drinking may cause are osteoporosis, pancreatitis, weak immunity, cancer, and many more.
Cannabis, on the contrary, has completely opposite effects. Not only cannabis doesn’t have any links to major diseases, it is often used by people to treat several conditions. Medical marijuana doctors in Anaheim say that the herb can help people manage stress, depression, anxiety, pain, chemotherapy side effects, and many more ailments.
Violence
This is also a very major reason that makes cannabis a lot better than alcohol.
As per the reports by the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, cannabis is rarely responsible for any assault or violence. You just don’t have any energy to do so when you’re high on weed.
But in the case of alcohol, the research says that out of all the cases that are hospitalized, more than 35 percent assaults and 20 percent injuries have an association with it. Do you think alcohol is safe now? Probably not.
Due to the fact that alcohol was legalized way before cannabis, a lot of people think weed is more harmful than alcohol. While both these substances have their list of dangers, given the above facts, cannabis definitely claims an advantage.
