Although cannabis is less addicting than some drugs, it can be as severe as other substances. The study included the brain images of 853 adults who were aged between 18 and 55 years and 439 teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18. Across the U.S., however, it is increasingly becoming legalized for both medicinal and recreational purposes. As a result of this changing legislation, researchers have been trying to find out more about how marijuana may benefit health, as well as the damage that it could cause.
Binge drinking, defined as consuming four or more drinks in two hours for women (five or more for men) was on the rise during the pandemic. Binging was higher in women, sending twice as many to the emergency room during the pandemic than before. In fact, the alcohol-induced death rate for both sexes jumped 26% between 2019 and 2020, the first year of the pandemic.
Both weed and alcohol can carry a potential for misuse and addiction, but this appears to be more common with alcohol. There probably isn’t a perfect way to evaluate and present all drug harms. Researchers will always need to balance making information simple and accessible for policymakers and the public with the inherent complexity of drugs and their effects.
These are two areas where people using marijuana could hurt themselves for the short and long term. The question of whether alcohol or marijuana is worse for health is being debated once again, this time, sparked by comments that President Barack Obama made in a recent interview with The New Yorker magazine. Some people feel fine after small and sometimes even large amounts of THC.
- It can cause mood swings and we’re all familiar with people who are “angry drunks.” The impact of alcohol can vary based on how much you’re using and how your body interacts with it.
- But there are a lot of variables to consider, including which one you use first and how you consume them.
- Controversy remains over what percentage of psychosis risk can be linked to marijuana use and how much depends on a person’s genetics.
- In 2022, an estimated 17.7 million people used marijuana daily or near-daily compared to 14.7 million daily or near-daily drinkers, according to the study.
Marijuana vs. alcohol: Which is worse?
More than half of people would choose marijuana over alcohol if only one could be legal. Recent changes in marijuana legalization may offer some insights. As of March 2024, 17 states have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes. Additionally, recreational use of marijuana is legal in 24 states plus Washington DC.
Alcohol: No ordinary commodity: Research and public policy
They both addiction counselor definition have a history of impairing judgment and can directly increase your chances of having an accident. There currently isn’t a Blood Marijuana Level federally recognized but as more states adjust to legal cannabis use we can have clearer and more stringent measures to monitor driving while intoxicated on cannabis. Now while cannabis deaths caused by disease, illness or drug interactions there are some data points regarding accidents, specifically car accidents. Legalization has provided data points about the potential increase in accidents related to cannabis. While the growing increase in medical and recreational cannabis legalization is providing a larger data set there isn’t enough tracking to link specific medical deaths to cannabis.
Impaired driving
Read on to learn more about the potential reactions and what to do if you have a bad one. Through careful design and application of the self-report measures, we have tried to mitigate those issues. When it comes to the possible benefits of marijuana use, however, Thayer and her team note that the jury is still out, and further research is needed to reach some conclusions. Before working at Recovery Brand, she served as the Program Director for a community-based HIV/AIDS and cancer non-profit in San Francisco.
Thankfully, as more states legalize cannabis and recreational sales we can observe more data about the effect on death and accident rates. One study examined these data points exploring when cannabis was legalized vs. when retail sales began. Additionally, cannabis is not always the only drug or substance that someone might be using.
It can be challenging to ascertain how many deaths are caused by cannabis. While there can be the odd allergic reaction or bad interaction or even a child may inadvertently consume cannabis, there isn’t sufficient data to point towards any deaths caused by cannabis. Additionally, while you can have a cannabis overdose it’s not remotely fatal while an overdose of alcohol can cause lasting damage and even death. Weed is not without its pitfalls but alcohol is by far more problematic. Alcohol and cannabis are vastly different but often get lumped together because they are intoxicants.
While there’s some research around the effects of drinking alcohol before using weed, there isn’t much about the opposite approach. Does binge-drinking have a greater impact on heart health than regular use? Those questions, and more, you can listen to these experts answer above in the Facebook Live video. “It’s important to make your doctor aware of any substance you’re taking, whether its an over the counter medication or herbal medicine,” Colvin said. “It can increase or decrease effectiveness or levels of medicine that you’re taking. Some compounds that are found in marijuana are using the same pathways to be metabolized as other common heart medications.” This includes blood thinners, anti-cholesterol medications and some blood pressure medicines.
