Which is more harmful: Alcohol or Marijuana?

Jump to Last Post 1-17 of 17 discussions (17 posts)
  1. ExpertCLB profile image60
    ExpertCLBposted 13 years ago

    Which is more harmful: Alcohol or Marijuana?

    https://usercontent2.hubstatic.com/4279837_f260.jpg

  2. Alternative Prime profile image59
    Alternative Primeposted 13 years ago

    Here's a very brief answer to a very complex question.

    According to Medical Experts both can have detrimental health consequences. Alcohol of course can do serious damage to a persons liver if consumed in excess, and the other, Marijuana can have detrimental consequences on a persons lungs or respiratory system.

    That being said, I've never heard of anyone being injured by someone who was under the influence of "Marijuana" while driving a vehicle... So I guess alcohol wins the prize in that respect as being the most "Harmful" to other innocent persons.

    Good Question,

    Alternative Prime

  3. Sullen91 profile image72
    Sullen91posted 13 years ago

    One prestigioius study conducted by the Lancet, a medical journal, ended up concluding that alcohol is accountable for 4% of deaths worldwide, on the whole. Cannabis on the other hand, to my knowledge, hasn't been implicated in any deaths. Speculated, adverse effects involve the method of administration (smoking) and not cannabis (THC) in itself.

  4. profile image52
    vik482posted 13 years ago

    While both have psychoactive effects that intoxicate and change behavior of the consumer, alcohol has more serious effects in the physiology of the body than cannabis. Decreased motor co-ordination, stupor, alcohol [poisoning etc are all severe side-effects of alcohol. Whereas marijuana just make you stoned.

  5. onegoodwoman profile image70
    onegoodwomanposted 13 years ago

    In my experiences, working with women's shelters, I have never  heard:

    "he got high( on pot) and beat me up"................alcohol was often, very often a factor.

    I am no doctor, and have no  medical training.  It does seem that the effects of alchol are the most immediate and determinal to others.

    I can not speak for the long term effects on the lungs vs those of the liver.

  6. BobbiRant profile image59
    BobbiRantposted 13 years ago

    I think it may not matter what we think.  Alcohol is more readily accepted by society so hence, it is sold to everyone and alcohol has a big lobby so it will always be around.  To me a drug is a drug, is a drug, so I'd say pot is no more harmful than alcohol.  It's the fear factor with pot: "OMG, we legalize pot then it looks like America condones drug use."  Of course we condone controlled substances doled out by drug companies and doctors, but then they make scads of money off those drugs and they can control the revenue.

  7. Rebecca Saunders profile image60
    Rebecca Saundersposted 13 years ago

    Taking aside legality - both have their benefits and drawbacks.

    Marijuana has been successfully used in treating pain in some chronic conditions. But it has also been linked to contributing to high incidences of mental health issues - especially the cannabis of a stronger, enhanced variety.

    This mental health prevalence may be due to a predisposition to such illnesses, and it has often been linked to suicide. So it does have an incidental link to causing death.

    It has also been labelled a 'gateway' drug - leading on to using 'harder' drugs, by a small percentage of users.

    Some people may use it recreationally with very minimal side effects.

    Alcohol too is often used recreationally with responsibility. However it is well known the impact alcohol abuse can have on our society : violence, relationship breakdown, car accidents etc.

    Once a person has a dependency to alcohol  though - going through alcohol withdrawal can be more dangerous than any other type of drug withdrawal - heroin is considered less dangerous to withdraw from. Alcohol withdrawal can cause death.

    Having worked in the drug and alcohol treatment field for years I would agree that alcohol does have a greater toll on and cost to society, and therefore cause more harm.

  8. binnys18303 profile image39
    binnys18303posted 13 years ago

    As per all these comments Marijuana holds a secure position but I think both are neutral if taken in least quantity. :-)

  9. profile image0
    Butch Newsposted 13 years ago

    Definitely alcohol... not that pot can't have its problems.  But alcohol produces a lot of alcoholics and that is a sure fire way down the road to complete loser.

    Pot heads can be quite functional even when stoned.  Some are even more productive when stoned.  But you wouldn't want a drunk working for you.

  10. nightwork4 profile image60
    nightwork4posted 13 years ago

    alcohol by a long shot. that is a simple fact though many have been led to believe that pot is a terrible drug , to me and from what i've seen and experienced , alcohol is the cause of so many bad things.

  11. Wayne Orvisburg profile image63
    Wayne Orvisburgposted 13 years ago

    I'd say alcohol is mare harmful. For starters, drunk driving kills lots of innocent people. Also, I believe I have read that marijuana is not physically addictive. It's the mental addiction people must overcome. While with alcohol it is both.

  12. Jaymeyaroch profile image61
    Jaymeyarochposted 13 years ago

    Alcohol actually disrupts your brain messages.

    Mary Jane depresses the sending of messages.

    Alcohol tears up your liver.  Sure, it grows back, but should it have to?

    Marijuana doesn't destroy any organs, though it can make you wrinkly the same way cigarettes or smoking anything does.

    Alcohol has limited medical benefits, such as red wine (one glass only) for stress relief, or as an antiseptic.

    Marijuana is used to treat AIDS, glaucoma, some forms of cancer, as a pain reliever, stress reliever, and appetite stimulant.  It can increase the lifespan of a terminally ill patient by years without the harmful side effects of synthetic chemicals.

    Both are hallucinogens, but I've never known anyone to black out from too much pot, or get marijuana poisoning.

    Also keep in mind that anything in excess is a terrible thing, even oxygen.

  13. pinetreehugger profile image61
    pinetreehuggerposted 13 years ago

    That's a complicated question, however I would say from experience alcohol is.

  14. thumbi7 profile image67
    thumbi7posted 13 years ago

    I am not much aware about the physiological effects of marijuana in human body except that it causes addiction. But alcohol, for sure can be lethal if taken in excessive amounts for prolonged period.

  15. thumbi7 profile image67
    thumbi7posted 13 years ago

    Alcoholic liver disease can  be manifested as fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis or liver cirrhosis. It can lead to complications like esophageal varices and caput medusae. read more

  16. poet83 profile image80
    poet83posted 12 years ago

    There is no doubt in my mind that alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana. Though neither one is actually healthy, alcohol is proven to have detrimental effects on the body, particularly the liver. We always hear about someone dying of liver cancer because they were a heavy drinker, but have you ever heard of someone dying from lung cancer because of smoking weed? That's not to say it couldn't contribute to some sort of malady but there isn't really any concise evidence that I've seen that links a person's death to frequent marijuana use. Not only that, but I know for a fact that someone can smoke a whole joint, or maybe even two, and be ten times safer on the road than someone who's drank a fair amount of alcohol.

  17. cathyaddams567 profile image58
    cathyaddams567posted 12 years ago

    I think both of them are harmful because they both do harm to our body. Which is why we must go to an inpatient substance abuse treatment if ever we are an alcoholic. Get to know more about this at http://abusetreatmentcenters.net/

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)