Ultimately, addiction is the biggest problem. I think the question could rather be: which addiction would you rather deal with? The answer is clear, to me at least. The likelihood of addiction with MJ might be slightly lower, and the impact of dangerous actions and toxicity is much lower. Also I think encouraging people to consume marijuana without smoking it is a good idea. So, once you've answered the question of MJ vs. alcohol, answer the question of eating (or vaping) vs. smoking.
10
I find the comments about using marijuana as a lure away from alcohol bizarre. It's as if your judgment is impaired & you want to 'save' people from one bad thing by giving them another. Especially when there is a whole world of truly healthy options.
11
Just ask any drug warrior (including obama) to finish their thought when they spout the dangers of pot…I guess they'd like tp go for another 50 year war and another zillion dollars, to keep the status quo: i.e. there's no pot anywhere. Great idea.
3
Most of the information we get concerning marijuana is tainted and highly inaccurate. Much of it is anecdotal, often not cited as such. There is ,however, lots of medical research. It is not done in the U.S., which is why, I, suppose this writer is ill-informed. There have been ongoing studies in th U.K. and in Israel, where they have had success using it in treatment.
We are not going to reach any consensus until we can all base our arguments on the same, verifiable information. This you will get as soon as the pharmaceutical industry gets up to speed on how to profit from legalization. By the way, the biggest drug problem we have is the abuse of licensed pharmaceuticals. Back in the day they were called "mother's little helpers" after the Stones song. Much more prevalent today.
Within five years of total legalization marijuana will be nothing to talk about and its legalization will probably provide better safeguards for the young. It will always be safer than taking a sleeping pill and finding yourself in your car
driving in your pajamas at 4:00 in the morning. Raise your hands,now how many of you use legal sleeping aids or, perhaps, something for anxiety?
We are not going to reach any consensus until we can all base our arguments on the same, verifiable information. This you will get as soon as the pharmaceutical industry gets up to speed on how to profit from legalization. By the way, the biggest drug problem we have is the abuse of licensed pharmaceuticals. Back in the day they were called "mother's little helpers" after the Stones song. Much more prevalent today.
Within five years of total legalization marijuana will be nothing to talk about and its legalization will probably provide better safeguards for the young. It will always be safer than taking a sleeping pill and finding yourself in your car
driving in your pajamas at 4:00 in the morning. Raise your hands,now how many of you use legal sleeping aids or, perhaps, something for anxiety?
27
It is not a close question at all. Alcohol is a far more potentially dangerous drug than marijuana in a variety of respects. So too is tobacco. Nor is marijuana illegal everywhere -- see e.g. Colorado, Washington, Alaska and the District of Columbia as well as many other states where it is legal when used for medicinal purposes. It is certainly time to stop demonizing marijuana in relation to these "legal" drugs.
19
Why has weed been illegal while alcohol, the more harmful of the two, has not? Easy! Money influence in our politics. After all, tobacco and alcohol makers have long had a hold on government officials through lobbying and campaign contributions. But thankfully the grip of tobacco companies began to weaken with so many law suits and huge court-ordered settlements. Weed growers did not have the financial backing and the lobbying prowess. But recently states strapped for cash to deal with their budget deficits began to review legalizing Marijuana.
15
It's a worthy task to review the data, and a well-considered conclusion. I think making criminals of marijuana users is a mistake. But I would like to see data on how likely the "either pot or alcohol" scenario is in real-world practice, and on how marijauna use affects the appetite for other indulges. "The munchies" is well-documented. My guess is that while some people may limit themselves to occasional marijuana use, other users may find themselves drinking more alcohol, smoking more cigarettes, and possibly using other substances. Finally, I'd like to see discussion of whether the long-held Western ideal of "an occasional drink or two with a meal or on special occasions" is worth reinforcing.
4
The issue of Alcohol & the weed provides parents with a teaching moment. Forget demands, provide information like the information in this article. Then discuss openly, transparently. My father showed me how to drink beer when I was 12. He did me a favor. I said I didn't like it, he said you have to develop a taste then you gotta be careful. That's what happened. When our kids were growing up (they're fifty now) we did the same and included weed. Weed, we said, was dangerous in two categories: First the law. Don't be stupid with the law. We showed them how the laws were based in fear and were stupid. Our kids understood, they were smart about the law. We also tried it with them so we would know what the weed does (if you have not know and if you have kids -try some weed with them and speak with personal authority). We made them see the second problem had to do with the brain and the lungs. Smoke and you corrode your lungs just like tobacco. That's dumb, they understood. Eat it, we said, and in an hour you'll become conscious that something has changed. We had to make them realize that those changes were different for everybody. It depends on personality and mental health. Some don't like it. Some need it. Be smart, don't let yourself need it.
When it is time, people. Make it an open and honest teaching moment for your kids. Maybe even treat it the way the Indians do; treat it as a ritual not to be other wise abused.
When it is time, people. Make it an open and honest teaching moment for your kids. Maybe even treat it the way the Indians do; treat it as a ritual not to be other wise abused.
29
To those people that say that we shouldn't assume that kids in college are going to try pot and/or alcohol, you're right. Not everyone is going to try it. But, most kids in college will try one or the other at least once. And, it's not their parenting or their childhood that's to blame. It's usually curiosity. What does it feel like? Why do my friends like it? Why shouldn't I do it? Most people that I know, and I am a college student in a big city, have tried it. They didn't try it to get away from their problems or to cope with something that happened to them, they simply wanted to. Wanted to try. Wanted to know what it felt like. Wanted to fit it. And, I hate to say it, but if you're a parent whose children tell you they NEVER tried pot or alcohol in college (especially if you have more than one kid tell you this) they are probably lying. Lord knows I wouldn't tell my mom "hey I went to a frat party and had a few drinks" or "hey my friends offered me pot and I got wicked high". That's just not something kids are going to fess up to- especially if they don't have to (IE at the time nothing bad happened). Just something to think about. **I"m not condoning the use of drugs or alcohol, esp. for those who are under 21.
12
What I find shocking about this article and a lot of the comments is how everyone seems to accept the inevitability of young people using mind and mood altering substances. There must be something terribly wrong with our society that so many feel the need to escape through getting high. I don't buy the excuse that it is the human condition. There are plenty of other societies that don't have the problems with substance abuse that we do. My message to my child is: don't use substances to get high--try to cope with your problems in some other way and find healthier ways to interact and socialize with your friends.
11
Would you prefer that people use pharmaceuticals? For many, that is the option. I'll trust a plant before I'll trust a chemist, and a salesperson, and a CEO, and the former CEOs that are on the FDA approving this junk.
26
While this is an idealistic way to look at alcohol use and/or marihuana use, it's not realistic. Kids whether from religious, single parent or the wealthiest 'best' families , will try things they are denied. Best to accept that before it happens. You'll cope with it better when it does.
8
I smoke weed for most of the same reasons I watch TV or take a vacation. An occasional recreational escape is a healthy part of enjoying life.
9
My kids, now in their 30s, didn't abuse either alcohol or drugs in college, and neither one of them even tried marijuana. One of them had an occasional beer, the other not even that. One of them came home nearly every weekend to get away from the "disgusting drinking and vomiting" in her dorm. The other went to a school where partying was much calmer.
When I once voiced the opinion that alcohol was more destructive than pot, one of them said, "Mom, you don't know what you're talking about. That pot people were using back in the 60s was nowhere near as strong as what people are using today." so I kept my mouth shut.
I was young in the 1960s, and I knew people, great kids, who died or ruined their lives with alcohol and drugs. I began the "conversation" when tmy kids were hardly out of diapers. Not preaching, just making observations about the drinking and drug habits of people we knew. Things like, "He's been drinking too much alcohol for years, and he's ruined his brain." "She used to be the prettiest and smartest kid in the neighborhood until she started using drugs."
I know my kids aren't the only ones who didn't make much use of marijuana or alcohol, because their friends were all kids who had similar habits. I don't know if my "talks" helped, but I did it deliberately. I remember telling a friend, "You need to convey your ideas early enough that they don't remember where they got them. " When they're in middle school, it's way too late.
When I once voiced the opinion that alcohol was more destructive than pot, one of them said, "Mom, you don't know what you're talking about. That pot people were using back in the 60s was nowhere near as strong as what people are using today." so I kept my mouth shut.
I was young in the 1960s, and I knew people, great kids, who died or ruined their lives with alcohol and drugs. I began the "conversation" when tmy kids were hardly out of diapers. Not preaching, just making observations about the drinking and drug habits of people we knew. Things like, "He's been drinking too much alcohol for years, and he's ruined his brain." "She used to be the prettiest and smartest kid in the neighborhood until she started using drugs."
I know my kids aren't the only ones who didn't make much use of marijuana or alcohol, because their friends were all kids who had similar habits. I don't know if my "talks" helped, but I did it deliberately. I remember telling a friend, "You need to convey your ideas early enough that they don't remember where they got them. " When they're in middle school, it's way too late.
15
Very well said and I can relate. I wish people could see what we have. So sad to see people's lives ruined by weed. It doesn't always show right away either. So glad your wisdom did pass on to your kids & I hope at least some people on here get it, too.
7
Outstanding. Missing critical point: marijuana users are not different from alcohol users, they are a subset. Use is monotonic- the more people drink the more likely they are to use marijuana in the past month. Heavy users of alcohol
age 12 to 17 use marijuana at a rate about 14 times higher than light drinkers.
About 80 percent of marijuana abusers have of had a comorbid (concurrent)
alcohol use disorder (AUD). see NESARC or http://www.dpft.org/duianotes.htm#2a.
Alcohol's impact on the brain and memory is far more damaging. Comments like those of Mark Pine below are often the product of research that fails to adequately account for this and other confounding factors. As always, correlation is not causation.
age 12 to 17 use marijuana at a rate about 14 times higher than light drinkers.
About 80 percent of marijuana abusers have of had a comorbid (concurrent)
alcohol use disorder (AUD). see NESARC or http://www.dpft.org/duianotes.htm#2a.
Alcohol's impact on the brain and memory is far more damaging. Comments like those of Mark Pine below are often the product of research that fails to adequately account for this and other confounding factors. As always, correlation is not causation.
5
Alcohol is used by mostly law abiding citizens.
Weed draws a different demographic.
I've been there, kind of depends on what kind of folks you want your kids hanging out with.
Weed draws a different demographic.
I've been there, kind of depends on what kind of folks you want your kids hanging out with.
8
I treated many patients with chronic alcoholism, and the effects were often devastating on their brains, bodies, and lives. But it's also important to warn children that marijuana impairs memory and learning, and for young persons, especially, those effects can be intellectually debilitating, as well.
13
close family member was plagued by alcohol from age 13. this article, is a true pediatric voice of wisdom.
3
Speaking as a professional who works on a college campus, it is naive to think that students use either alcohol or pot. From what we are seeing, they use both.
96
Prohibitionists are mental midgets! Stop the crimes against humanity! Demand full legalization and nothing less!
38
As a parent of a child who struggles with substances, I find this article to be highly irresponsible. The dangers of adolescent marijuana use can be devastating as we've learned from personal experience. For me, this article is the equivalent of asking the question, "what would you prefer your teenager play with? A handgun or an automatic weapon?" Neither is safe. And a article like this, although it points out the dangers, minimizes them.
60
"Binge drinking accounted for about half of the more than 80,000 alcohol-related deaths in the United States in 2010, according to a 2012 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The economic costs associated with excessive alcohol consumption in the United States were estimated to be about $225 billion dollars. Binge drinking, defined as four or more drinks for women and five or more drinks for men on a single occasion, isn’t rare either."
Paragraphs like this bother me. This is a kind of double-counting. Any activity at all destructive will result in higher destruction if it's more commonly practiced. So the fact that it's not rare isn't ANOTHER thing against it: it's already priced in to the destruction that the first two sentences itemize.
Paragraphs like this bother me. This is a kind of double-counting. Any activity at all destructive will result in higher destruction if it's more commonly practiced. So the fact that it's not rare isn't ANOTHER thing against it: it's already priced in to the destruction that the first two sentences itemize.
7
Lots of different points to consider. Consider one more: the purpose of smoking marijuana is almost always to get high; the purpose of drinking alcohol is not always to get drunk.
You might answer 'Bring-drinking vs taking a few hits' differently than 'a glass or wine a day vs a joint a day.'
Luckily, we don't have to play this parlor game with our kids. They deserve information and someone to listen.
You might answer 'Bring-drinking vs taking a few hits' differently than 'a glass or wine a day vs a joint a day.'
Luckily, we don't have to play this parlor game with our kids. They deserve information and someone to listen.
21
I was impressed with this informative and balanced article until I got to this paragraph:
I’m a pediatrician, as well as a parent. I can, I suppose, demand that my children, and those I care for in a clinic, never engage in risky behavior. But that doesn’t work. Many will still engage in sexual activity, for instance, no matter how much I preach about the risk of a sexually transmitted infection or pregnancy. Because of that, I have conversations about how to minimize risk by making informed choices. While no sex is preferable to unprotected sex, so is sex with a condom. Talking about the harm reduction from condom use doesn’t mean I’m telling them to have sex.
As a therapist who works in an abortion clinic, I find it very irresponsible to equate alcohol and or drug use and sexual activity. The negative aspects of having recreational sex, which you cited yourself, risk or infection and/or pregnancy are both easily remedied for the most part, with no long term effects. Yes, there are a few types of sexually transmitted infections that you may have forever such as genital herpes, but even this is normally not that big of a deal for people in the long run and most people tend to have their outbreaks lessen over time in both frequency and intensity. Many fewer things can be serious and or/deadly (like HIV) but transmission of those (especially when talking about teens) is rare. Otherwise, it was a great article!
I’m a pediatrician, as well as a parent. I can, I suppose, demand that my children, and those I care for in a clinic, never engage in risky behavior. But that doesn’t work. Many will still engage in sexual activity, for instance, no matter how much I preach about the risk of a sexually transmitted infection or pregnancy. Because of that, I have conversations about how to minimize risk by making informed choices. While no sex is preferable to unprotected sex, so is sex with a condom. Talking about the harm reduction from condom use doesn’t mean I’m telling them to have sex.
As a therapist who works in an abortion clinic, I find it very irresponsible to equate alcohol and or drug use and sexual activity. The negative aspects of having recreational sex, which you cited yourself, risk or infection and/or pregnancy are both easily remedied for the most part, with no long term effects. Yes, there are a few types of sexually transmitted infections that you may have forever such as genital herpes, but even this is normally not that big of a deal for people in the long run and most people tend to have their outbreaks lessen over time in both frequency and intensity. Many fewer things can be serious and or/deadly (like HIV) but transmission of those (especially when talking about teens) is rare. Otherwise, it was a great article!
9
Alcohol or Marijuana? Ideally, neither. But life is not ideal, never was. My advice to my now adult children was to make sure to always be in control of their lives. And to always be in control of whatever substance they were consuming at any given time. If you can control it, if it doesn't control you, it's probably ok. I don't believe pot is a 'gateway' drug to heroin, nor do I believe that beer is the 'gateway' to alcoholism. I believe 90% of the population can handle either and stay in control, and 10% should never, ever use either one. What's important to know is if you belong to the 90% or the 10%. I belong to the 10% - so I do neither. My children, for the moment at least, seem to belong to the 10%, as does my husband. In moderation it's all ok.
33
My 12 year old son was diagnosed with an chronic but controllable illness. As he grew older, he had the "pot v. alcohol" conversation with his pediatrician and his other doctors. They offered him the same advice offered here. Don't worry about pot. Stay away from alcohol. After a long road of school failure and drugs (LSD, mushrooms, ketamine, DMT, Molly), he is now a heroin addict. As his pot habit progressed to a daily habit and then on to hallucinogens, many drug counselors warned us that it would escalate to heroin. We tried to warn him. We tried to stop him. His doctors continued to tell him pot was safe.
Our children do not need us as parents to tell them pot is safe. The do not need their doctors to tell them pot is the "safer" alternative. Most of the internet, most of their peers and too much of society does that for us. Our children need parents and the medical community to tell them mind altering and mood altering substances are NOT safe to put in your body and that we will not support their substance use. They need us to be role models. They need someone to say no. They may and probably will choose to try substances anyway, but please don't make it easy for them and please don't imply it is somehow safe.
Our children do not need us as parents to tell them pot is safe. The do not need their doctors to tell them pot is the "safer" alternative. Most of the internet, most of their peers and too much of society does that for us. Our children need parents and the medical community to tell them mind altering and mood altering substances are NOT safe to put in your body and that we will not support their substance use. They need us to be role models. They need someone to say no. They may and probably will choose to try substances anyway, but please don't make it easy for them and please don't imply it is somehow safe.
53
I am so sorry for the problems with your son. The pain must be horrible. Your situation was exactly the thought I had when I read this article. As a county attorney in Wisconsin, my office deals with the affects of heroin addiction on young parents and the results are devastating. There are very few heroin addicts who did not begin with marijuana. I do not believe that legalizing marijuana will have any impact on that. Marijuana is a sneaky drug that has a devastating impact all its own and as a gateway to harder drugs. You are so right; it is not a safer alternative to alcohol.
5
While it is important to note that most heroin users probably started with marijuana, it is more important to ask how many people have used marijuana that did not ultimately end up using heroin. Though I do not have those statistics at hand, I would guess it's the vast majority. Marijuana is a gateway drug for a small number of users but not for most.
98
What about coffee?
7
There is a generational gap regarding the acceptability and danger of marijuana that needs to be acknowledged. I'm in my forties and when I was a child there were aggressive campaigns drilling into us how dangerous pot was. At this same time, everyone seemed to have an Uncle Jack who got loaded during the holidays, making everyone uncomfortable but never being called out for it.
Todays young people grew up without the pot propaganda. Many believe pot is illegal because the tobacco industry feared the competition. Indie film makers have done documentaries on the subject. Young people today don't feared as much, nor do they associate the stigma with it that today's elder generation of policy and law makers were immersed in.
The "Dell Dude" lost his job over pot. Michael Phelps was forced to apologize for using pot. But the problem was with the older corporate sponsors, not with the younger generation.
No matter what you council your children to do, their generational vibe on the subject is different.
Todays young people grew up without the pot propaganda. Many believe pot is illegal because the tobacco industry feared the competition. Indie film makers have done documentaries on the subject. Young people today don't feared as much, nor do they associate the stigma with it that today's elder generation of policy and law makers were immersed in.
The "Dell Dude" lost his job over pot. Michael Phelps was forced to apologize for using pot. But the problem was with the older corporate sponsors, not with the younger generation.
No matter what you council your children to do, their generational vibe on the subject is different.
33
The answer is obvious, advocate for the decriminilization of cannabis. Then and only then can we have this comparison. I would also ask all the parents who allow underage children to drink on their watch, what is the matter with you? More parents should be held criminally liable for their children causing deaths via auto accidents while drunk.
30
The argument against pot ignores the social consequences of purchasing black market goods. While marijuana use in isolation may not predict violent behavior, associating even indirectly with violent criminals (who are somewhere down the line for every buyer of illegal substances) to acquire marijuana puts individuals at more risk for violence (in the same way, to a lesser degree, that purchasing a fake ID does for alcohol users.)
Which brings up another issue: do I want my kid using a substance that perpetuates violence for other people, or am I only worried about my own family?
How about, realistically, we talk to our kids about the consequences of their actions outside themselves. While every kid suffers from the "it won't happen to me" syndrome at some point, most of them understand how wrong it is to do something for fun that might ruin someone else's life.
Which brings up another issue: do I want my kid using a substance that perpetuates violence for other people, or am I only worried about my own family?
How about, realistically, we talk to our kids about the consequences of their actions outside themselves. While every kid suffers from the "it won't happen to me" syndrome at some point, most of them understand how wrong it is to do something for fun that might ruin someone else's life.
16
That is exactly why the national alcohol banning experiment was abandoned and why the ban on marijuana production, sale and use needs to end nationwide.
20
1) or you teach your kid street smarts overall which should apply to just about everything, including drug usage.
2) legalize mj and the black market disappears, seemingly overnight.
3) federally, mj will be legalized in less than five years, as one by one, enough states turn over supporting it, that the federal government will be forced to recognize it.
4) I'm teaching my kids the immorality of persecuting and discriminating against someone for using a plant on their own bodies. And also how evil it is to try to force ones own perceived sense of morality on someone else. I think that's more important.
2) legalize mj and the black market disappears, seemingly overnight.
3) federally, mj will be legalized in less than five years, as one by one, enough states turn over supporting it, that the federal government will be forced to recognize it.
4) I'm teaching my kids the immorality of persecuting and discriminating against someone for using a plant on their own bodies. And also how evil it is to try to force ones own perceived sense of morality on someone else. I think that's more important.
33
This is yet another reason to legalize, to disassociate it with the dangerous black market that also sells hard drugs.
34
Need to see future articles on what happens to individuals and society when marijuana becomes legal. Compare it to end of prohibition in 1933.
My parents and their peers grew up in that era. alcohol became a social, commonplace, adjunct to life with many consequences such as drunk driving fatalities, and, I suspect, an increase in alcoholism rates.
When I think back to that generation, I take wonder at the excesses in alcohol consumption that accompanied repeal.
Although I am comfortable with legalization of pot, as preferable to criminalization, I still wonder about the future in terms of the past.
My parents and their peers grew up in that era. alcohol became a social, commonplace, adjunct to life with many consequences such as drunk driving fatalities, and, I suspect, an increase in alcoholism rates.
When I think back to that generation, I take wonder at the excesses in alcohol consumption that accompanied repeal.
Although I am comfortable with legalization of pot, as preferable to criminalization, I still wonder about the future in terms of the past.
8
It was easier to get a drink during prohibition than it was after it's repeal.
5
If the author did not spout the usual propaganda against pot, his conclusion that pot would be a better choice, would be that much more profound.
At one point, he even refutes the cancer risk statement.
Not to suggest that becoming president is much to brag about these days, but as far as "lower academic achievement, and less success later in life," I guess you will have to ask Bill Gates, and Obama, if that is true.
At one point, he even refutes the cancer risk statement.
Not to suggest that becoming president is much to brag about these days, but as far as "lower academic achievement, and less success later in life," I guess you will have to ask Bill Gates, and Obama, if that is true.
14
I objected to that too but from a different standpoint. "Success" is such a subjective thing. Most likely it's based on an individual viewpoint related to career advancement and or max earning potential. I'm a very simple person. My goals are not to get rich or own lots of things. I own a business, am comfortable and my family is taken care of. That is success to me. Somehow I think the author would not agree. But the point is that it's not an acceptable academic study factor due to its subjective nature.
13
And Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It actually seems to have become a political career enhancer.
11
The more I read about how our health care experts are reasoning, the more concerned I get. The studies cited by this post strike me as too narrow in focus to draw practical conclusions regarding any one individual. In addition, Dr. Carroll seems to give weight to conclusions that are better established. Since alcohol abuse has undoubtedly been studied for a longer period, and studies on pot use have been limited, this means that Dr. Carroll simply shrugs off potential concerns about changes in the brain of marijuana users, or increased risks of cancer. It's as if the fact that they haven't yet been extensively documented or studied means that the risks aren't there. This kind of magical thinking seems rampant in the world of healthcare studies - as long as a study hasn't been done on some phenomenon, the impact does not need to be taken into account as much. How else to explain Dr. Carroll's seeming lack of concern with the less success later in life other than the fact that the study probably had less people in it and only tracked individuals till the age of 25?
Doesn't the answer very depending on whether or not we are talking about heavy use versus casual use? And mightn't it depend on the child as well? Would Dr. Carroll say that people prone to addiction are better off smoking than drinking, and among heavy pot users, what percentage eventually go on to harder drugs? I would say people with addictive personalities should try neither.
Doesn't the answer very depending on whether or not we are talking about heavy use versus casual use? And mightn't it depend on the child as well? Would Dr. Carroll say that people prone to addiction are better off smoking than drinking, and among heavy pot users, what percentage eventually go on to harder drugs? I would say people with addictive personalities should try neither.
22
I wholeheartedly agree. I'd like to emphasize your point that it may depend on the child. My son and all his friends smoked pot in high school. My son was one of the more articulate and scholarly in the group. The rest went off to college. My son bussed tables to support his habit and is now a heroin addict. He can articulately recite the dangers of alcohol, citing most of the facts in this article. You cannot look at a child and tell whether he will be the addict. To give wholesale medical advice with no information on an individual child or his family history is irresponsible. For a pediatrician to imply substance use is safe breaks my heart.
18
@Debbie
"Since alcohol abuse has undoubtedly been studied for a longer period, and studies on pot use have been limited, this means that Dr. Carroll simply shrugs off potential concerns about changes in the brain of marijuana users, or increased risks of cancer."
This pediatrician did NOT shrug off potential concerns! No MD would do this. He is using the facts that are known through research. There is nothing I do as an MD that I "make up on my own" or shrug off potential problems.
The problem with studying weed vs alcohol is that weed is used surreptitiously. It's still illegal and by some comments is still seen as "amoral." It's tough to do good clean (clean-accounting fro all variables) research on an illegal drug.
Please re-read the column. This MD is very thorough with his findings.
"Since alcohol abuse has undoubtedly been studied for a longer period, and studies on pot use have been limited, this means that Dr. Carroll simply shrugs off potential concerns about changes in the brain of marijuana users, or increased risks of cancer."
This pediatrician did NOT shrug off potential concerns! No MD would do this. He is using the facts that are known through research. There is nothing I do as an MD that I "make up on my own" or shrug off potential problems.
The problem with studying weed vs alcohol is that weed is used surreptitiously. It's still illegal and by some comments is still seen as "amoral." It's tough to do good clean (clean-accounting fro all variables) research on an illegal drug.
Please re-read the column. This MD is very thorough with his findings.
29
Research at the University of Saskatchewan indicates that, unlike alcohol, cocaine, heroin, or Nancy (“Just say, ‘No!’”) Reagan’s beloved nicotine, marijuana actually encourages brain-cell growth. Research in Spain and other countries has discovered that it has tumor-shrinking, anti-carcinogenic properties. These were confirmed by the 30-year Tashkin population study at UCLA.
Drugs are man-made, cooked up in labs, for the sake of patents and the profits gained by them. Useful, but bearing lists of side effects as long as one's arm.
Marijuana is a medicinal herb, the most benign and versatile in history. “Cannabis” in Latin, and “kaneh bosm” in the old Hebrew scrolls, quite literally the Biblical Tree of Life, used by early Christians to treat everything from skin diseases to deep pain and despair. Kaneh bosm, ‘the fragrant cane’ of a dozen uses: ink, paper, rope, nutrition. . . . It was clothing on their backs and incense in their temples. Medicinal oil could calm one’s nerves, imparting a sense of connection with all living things. No wonder that the ‘anointed one’ could gain a spark, an insight, a sense of the divine, and the confidence to share these feelings.
Politicians, prosecutors, and police who pose on church steps or kneeling in prayer on their campaign trails, but can’t face the science or the historical truth about cannabis, Medicinal Herb Number One, safe and effective for thousands of years, and celebrated by most of the world’s major religions.
Drugs are man-made, cooked up in labs, for the sake of patents and the profits gained by them. Useful, but bearing lists of side effects as long as one's arm.
Marijuana is a medicinal herb, the most benign and versatile in history. “Cannabis” in Latin, and “kaneh bosm” in the old Hebrew scrolls, quite literally the Biblical Tree of Life, used by early Christians to treat everything from skin diseases to deep pain and despair. Kaneh bosm, ‘the fragrant cane’ of a dozen uses: ink, paper, rope, nutrition. . . . It was clothing on their backs and incense in their temples. Medicinal oil could calm one’s nerves, imparting a sense of connection with all living things. No wonder that the ‘anointed one’ could gain a spark, an insight, a sense of the divine, and the confidence to share these feelings.
Politicians, prosecutors, and police who pose on church steps or kneeling in prayer on their campaign trails, but can’t face the science or the historical truth about cannabis, Medicinal Herb Number One, safe and effective for thousands of years, and celebrated by most of the world’s major religions.
37
Decriminalization is obviously a sensible answer. As for the medical dangers of Marijuana, I am afraid the latest research is much more frightening than what is implied here.
2
I will ignore the fact that this is a bizarre choice that no child would ever present to his or her parents, and move on the ridiculous attitude Americans have towards drugs in general.
Alcohol is a deeply rooted tradition which co-evolved with people even before America existed as a country. Few people today realized that beer was the principal drink at breakfast (not tea or coffee) in the colonial days. Alcohol arguably saved many lives before the advent of modern hygienic water systems. Visitors to Mexico may have had the experience of drinking a steady stream of beer all day long to avoid the contaminated water.
Perhaps the thrust of the article is completely sideways. Should we not find ways to teach and demonstrate moderation in place of abstention?
As an adult alcoholic and former pothead, I have found that limiting myself to two drinks allows me to enjoy good beer and wine without harm, and a rare puff on a joint makes a warm day's sunshine so much more relaxing without leading to "harder" drugs. Call it responsibility or discipline, but there is no reason to treat drugs any differently than potato chips or corn-sweetened sodas.
Alcohol is a deeply rooted tradition which co-evolved with people even before America existed as a country. Few people today realized that beer was the principal drink at breakfast (not tea or coffee) in the colonial days. Alcohol arguably saved many lives before the advent of modern hygienic water systems. Visitors to Mexico may have had the experience of drinking a steady stream of beer all day long to avoid the contaminated water.
Perhaps the thrust of the article is completely sideways. Should we not find ways to teach and demonstrate moderation in place of abstention?
As an adult alcoholic and former pothead, I have found that limiting myself to two drinks allows me to enjoy good beer and wine without harm, and a rare puff on a joint makes a warm day's sunshine so much more relaxing without leading to "harder" drugs. Call it responsibility or discipline, but there is no reason to treat drugs any differently than potato chips or corn-sweetened sodas.
60
this looks at facts, rather than cultural influences and outcomes. but yes this is from a health perspective not an overall standpoint. alcohol is more culturally acceptable, while marijuana is still marginalized. not as much as it used to be. from an isolated physical health perspective marjiuana is less destructive when it's used in intoxicating quantities. but i'm struggling why this is is an either or question. youth will be served. the more accepting of the fact that our kids will get drunk, have unprotected sex, smoke weed and generally, i don't know be young and irresponsible, the more we can openly talk about it and the better overall outcomes we'll have. The Dutch get this and have lower teen pregnancy rates and different attitudes towards drugs. i applaud this article that discusses the health aspecs but would like an article that takes a more hoistic, progressive approach.
4
Why on earth do parents ask this question? What do they plan to do with the answer?
9
The facts are indisputable regarding the dangers of these 2 drugs - alcohol is infinitely more dangerous than pot. Alcohol is potentially physically addictive and deadly(from an overdose) - neither of which pot is, Pot is simply habit forming. If you overdose on pot, you may end up at Taco Bell - see any difference?
Alcohol is severely "dis-inhibiting" to some people - turning them into out of control maniacs - which we've all seen at one time or another. Alcohol causes more deaths and "social wreckage" than all illicit drugs combined.
A world with no drugs is nice thought, but will never happen. People enjoy mind altering substances, and always have. Alcohol has cleverly avoided the drug label, but this is changing. It is a hard drug.
The doctor is 100% correct in his thinking and is to be applauded for speaking out. The laws are changing quickly, but not fast enough for me.
Alcohol is severely "dis-inhibiting" to some people - turning them into out of control maniacs - which we've all seen at one time or another. Alcohol causes more deaths and "social wreckage" than all illicit drugs combined.
A world with no drugs is nice thought, but will never happen. People enjoy mind altering substances, and always have. Alcohol has cleverly avoided the drug label, but this is changing. It is a hard drug.
The doctor is 100% correct in his thinking and is to be applauded for speaking out. The laws are changing quickly, but not fast enough for me.
34
What you fail to acknowledge is the substantial difference in the study of alcohol compared to the work on pot. Instead you choose to compare a highly studied substance to one that has had relatively little study. Pot was thought to be non-addictive at one point but now there is a consensus that approximately 1 out of 11 people will become an addict. Until recently, the specific impact on brain development was only observed (anyone can identify the classic pot head just as we know the look of the alcoholic). Now we have studies showing its impact. Should there be further studies. Of course, but it is highly irresponsible to suggest that pot is notionally safe in a false comparison to alcohol. If people asked you to compare alcohol to Molly (ecstasy) and heroin, would you tell them that ecstasy is non-addictive and a benign high because of a lack of research or would tell them that there is research that it causes permanent reductions in one of the five neurotransmitters and that could be really bad. Would you tell the parent that while heroin is addictive to some but is far less destructive in regular use than alcohol? You argue a false equivalency and then ignore very strong warning signs. The only right answer is don't use the illegal substance as it is not only destructive to your health but your risk the consequences of using an illegal substance.
13
Your Molly argument is completely erroneous and makes the rest of your argument look childish. We know that Molly and heroin are highly addictive because the chemicals within them are highly addictive and deadly and studies and scientific facts say that heroin and Molly are more dangerous than alcohol or other drugs. The only reason those same studies haven't been conducted on Marijuana is because it is a Schedule I drug which makes it illegal in almost all studies, but in rare instances the government has allowed agencies, companies and universities to do small case studies on Marijuana use and the vast majority of those have proven that Marijuana is clearly safer than alcohol. These studies don't have the opportunity to look at the long term effects and thus we don't have all the information but the information we do have cannot be argued against at this point because if you are arguing with proven science then you always lose. You end by saying that "the only right answer is don't use the illegal substance" but we all know alcohol is not illegal and yet we also know through scientific study that it's a direct cause of a large number of cancers, heart disease, brain damage, car accidents and organ failures. Prohibition of anything has never and will never work so at this point it is an ignorant and childish solution because you are sticking your head in the sand and ignoring human nature. No matter what it is going to be used so why not use the one that safer?
15
And Dr. Carroll did say that no substance use is best. But saying we don't know everything is meaningless; we might as well throw up our hands and say the world is unknowable. Instead, we go by the best evidence we have now, including known lack of evidence.
The data are clear: we don't know everything about marijuana, but that blank space is growing ever smaller and there isn't room for immense harm to be hiding in there. We also know there's no harm hiding in alcohol... because it's not hiding at all. It's in plain sight. Alcohol is a terribly dangerous drug.
The data are clear: we don't know everything about marijuana, but that blank space is growing ever smaller and there isn't room for immense harm to be hiding in there. We also know there's no harm hiding in alcohol... because it's not hiding at all. It's in plain sight. Alcohol is a terribly dangerous drug.
13
Marijuana has been used by humans for thousands of years- as has alcohol. The inherent dangers of hard drugs like alcohol have subsequently been made perfectly clear. Hard drugs require an artificial process to produce them and concentrate their active components- like Big Pharma's Pills.
Marijuana, on the other hand is a plant-based natural substance that can be consumed whole and unprocessed. Its physiological effects for Homo Sapiens are relatively mild and pleasant- as opposed to the central nervous system depressant effects of alcohol and the attending violence, bad decision making, loss of motor coordination and general misery that can be directly attributed to socially promoted alcohol consumption.
There is simply no rational argument to made in regard to the prohibition of marijuana- only the inebriated, hypocritical screeching of those on the right-
drink in one hand, pills in the other.
The time for marijuana legalization and its commercial distribution is *now*.
Have A Nice Day.
Marijuana, on the other hand is a plant-based natural substance that can be consumed whole and unprocessed. Its physiological effects for Homo Sapiens are relatively mild and pleasant- as opposed to the central nervous system depressant effects of alcohol and the attending violence, bad decision making, loss of motor coordination and general misery that can be directly attributed to socially promoted alcohol consumption.
There is simply no rational argument to made in regard to the prohibition of marijuana- only the inebriated, hypocritical screeching of those on the right-
drink in one hand, pills in the other.
The time for marijuana legalization and its commercial distribution is *now*.
Have A Nice Day.
24
While I won't disagree that alcohol causes harms, appeal to nature isn't helpful. Sure, marijuana is natural. So is fermentation of alcohol. Ricin is natural and extremely toxic. And on the other end of the spectrum, synthesized drugs can be extremely beneficial. Sure, throw around "big pharma" if you want—but do you want to go back to the medicine of the 1900's? Nobody does, at least not while sick.
I agree with your conclusion but disagree vehemently with your reasoning for getting there.
I agree with your conclusion but disagree vehemently with your reasoning for getting there.
11
Marijuana was natural once, but it is not the same plant today as it was 50 years ago. It has been selectively bred to produce WAY more THC and is very potent stuff. I am not arguing your basic point as I agree that alcohol is a bigger health threat. But today's pot is not exactly right out of nature anymore.
4
I bet the folks in the vapor biz are eager to legalize.
Given absolute control I'd have wished my kids eat their vegetables, be real smart, in spite of their genetics, and never abuse any drugs, including sugar, alcohol, and cannabis. Why should government continue to regulate something that is clearly a health issue not a legal one? If I am compelled to compulsively smoke anything, I should talk to a medical professional who specializes in helping someone like me. My congressman would be the last person on earth who I should go to for advice. On the other hand, if weed becomes legal, but regulated like tobacco, what will all the cops shows do for footage? Could have a real economic backlash in the filming industry.
14
The Dr.'s conclusions coincide with the observations of any coherent, rational and socially engaged adult. I have been personally harmed by, and seen tremendous harm to others, from alcohol--who hasn't? And while I've seen repeated marijuana use harm persons, including my mother, there simply is no comparison. The violence, wrecked judgment and health effects from booze have no counterpart with pot.
30
Not only wold I pick neither, but its not unrealistic. What would a pediatrician be doing suggesting that some choice is to be made?
Set a good example, and talk to them about the fact that they're brains are still developing into their 20s. Get them involved in sports and other things. Marihuana for one thing is smoking and it is as bad for your lungs as cigarette smoke! Give them strategies to avoid social pressures to engage in getting "high".
Yes, they may still try it, and they may try many other stupid things (I believe that is the definition of being an adolecsent), but stay on it parents and be sure they know the facts.
I have no problem with it being legal for adults to decide to use.
Set a good example, and talk to them about the fact that they're brains are still developing into their 20s. Get them involved in sports and other things. Marihuana for one thing is smoking and it is as bad for your lungs as cigarette smoke! Give them strategies to avoid social pressures to engage in getting "high".
Yes, they may still try it, and they may try many other stupid things (I believe that is the definition of being an adolecsent), but stay on it parents and be sure they know the facts.
I have no problem with it being legal for adults to decide to use.
10
Marijuana is nothing like cigarettes, the rest if your comment rings the "just say no" bell. A line of thinking which got us no where, with millions in prisons and countless families ripped apart.
5
Is it true that marijuana smoke is nothing like cigarette smoke? Like tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke contains cancer-causing chemicals. There are 33 cancer-causing chemicals contained in marijuana. Marijuana smoke also deposits tar into the lungs. In fact, when equal amounts of marijuana and tobacco are smoked,marijuana deposits four times as much tar into the lungs. This is because marijuana joints are un-filtered and often more deeply inhaled than cigarettes.
3
One obvious difference between tobacco smoke and pot smoke is the quantity of each that users inhale. The average pot users I've known shared no more than one or two joints per person maybe once a week. Heavy users might do maybe twice that every day. On the other hand, a pack of tobacco cigarettes (20) per day is considered light consumption. My late SO smoked 4 packs a day; he died just when cigarettes were beginning to be banned from some places.
Another difference is that almost everyone who smokes tobacco more than a few times becomes physically addicted; that is, withdrawal causes physical discomfort and serious craving. Even daily users do not become physically dependent upon pot. (That's why the proportion of people failing drug tests for pot is smaller than the proportion of users usually estimated in the general population; they can and do abstain for a while in order to pass the test.)
Another difference is that almost everyone who smokes tobacco more than a few times becomes physically addicted; that is, withdrawal causes physical discomfort and serious craving. Even daily users do not become physically dependent upon pot. (That's why the proportion of people failing drug tests for pot is smaller than the proportion of users usually estimated in the general population; they can and do abstain for a while in order to pass the test.)
6
Unfortunately marijuana and alcohol abuse go hand-in-hand. This has been established by studies and common sense. It is not one or the other.
8
Some studies show that some people replace alcohol with cannabis:
"Over 41% state that they use cannabis as a substitute for alcohol, 36.1% use cannabis as a substitute for illicit substances, and 67.8% use cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs. The three main reasons cited for cannabis-related substitution are 'less withdrawal' (67.7%), 'fewer side-effects' (60.4%), and 'better symptom management' suggesting that many patients may have already identified cannabis as an effective and potentially safer adjunct or alternative to their prescription drug regimen."
Lucas et al. Cannabis as a substitute for alcohol and other drugs: A dispensary-based survey of substitution effect in Canadian medical cannabis patients. Addiction Research & Theory. 2013
"Over 41% state that they use cannabis as a substitute for alcohol, 36.1% use cannabis as a substitute for illicit substances, and 67.8% use cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs. The three main reasons cited for cannabis-related substitution are 'less withdrawal' (67.7%), 'fewer side-effects' (60.4%), and 'better symptom management' suggesting that many patients may have already identified cannabis as an effective and potentially safer adjunct or alternative to their prescription drug regimen."
Lucas et al. Cannabis as a substitute for alcohol and other drugs: A dispensary-based survey of substitution effect in Canadian medical cannabis patients. Addiction Research & Theory. 2013
10
Absurd.
Personally, I have been smoking marijuana for over 40 years. I certainly enjoyed some beer as a teen, and into my early twenties, with no problems.
As a mellowing 50+er, I enjoy my daily bowls, and haven't had a swig in several years.
Not that I condemn anyone who partakes in either, or both, with moderation.
Please site your studies, and the common sense part is off the table.
Personally, I have been smoking marijuana for over 40 years. I certainly enjoyed some beer as a teen, and into my early twenties, with no problems.
As a mellowing 50+er, I enjoy my daily bowls, and haven't had a swig in several years.
Not that I condemn anyone who partakes in either, or both, with moderation.
Please site your studies, and the common sense part is off the table.
10
Show us the studies please.
6
I think that smoking weed is less harmful than drinking alcohol. Hangover is much devastating for organism...
High people are less aggressive than drunk ones.
But both of course do not add points to someone's credit.
High people are less aggressive than drunk ones.
But both of course do not add points to someone's credit.
2
I agree with the author - until alcohol can safely be made illegal (which is never) then our only option as responsible parents is to protect our children by giving them the option of choosing a far safer alternative to alcohol.
While our children may not always choose marijuana over alcohol, they have a lot more chance of doing so if marijuana is legal like beer and wine than the way it is today.
While our children may not always choose marijuana over alcohol, they have a lot more chance of doing so if marijuana is legal like beer and wine than the way it is today.
6
A strange and inconclusive choice to be faced. But, being very old, I can assure you that more damage has been done to our society by alcohol, but more people are unrightfully in prison because of marijuana. Go figure.......If I had to make such a decision, I would warn against alcohol much more strongly than pot.....
11
Alcohol has really pervaded the youth popular culture with countless entertainment stars having their own brands and the incredible "party" culture pervading many mainstream beer ads. Pot's growth has until recent legalization been more slow and steady and, obviously, has been largely promoted in a non-commercial way below the radar. Most young people have also been bombarded with countless ads, school lectures or other messages about the downside of use. So they have seen it all. It is impossible as a parent to really say much that will sway kids one way or the other, or towards abstinence. The only thing you can do as a parent is make sure you show them your own responsible use and try to teach your kid a sense of self confidence in their own decision making ability and let them know that you trust them to make the right decisions and to be careful, no matter what they do. After that, cross your fingers.
6
Two of the many relevant things not mentioned in this useful article are the medical aspects and the huge difference in addictiveness. Marijuana is an accepted medication for a variety of illnesses and conditions, while alcohol is obviously not. And while you can become quite emotionally dependent on pot, there are zero physical ramifications to quitting, while alcohol is highly physically addictive and can cause severe withdrawal symptoms for those who abuse it and try to quit. Anyone who has been around the abuse of both of these substances knows there is no real comparison between the dangers of alcohol and pot.
Another point not explored is the relative social acceptability of alcohol as compared to pot. Drinking is almost a social requirement in our culture and especially youth culture, nowhere more so than in college, whereas pot is still stigmatized throughout our culture thanks to the propaganda campaign against it that has been going on for more than half a century.
Another point not explored is the relative social acceptability of alcohol as compared to pot. Drinking is almost a social requirement in our culture and especially youth culture, nowhere more so than in college, whereas pot is still stigmatized throughout our culture thanks to the propaganda campaign against it that has been going on for more than half a century.
17
You may overstate the stigma against marijuana on college campuses. There's a stoner stereotype, to be sure, but no one bats an eye if you smoke a joint on the weekend.
Alcohol might be useful in treating disease. Essential tremor, for example, is notoriously alleviated by alcohol. The problem is that alcohol has so many side effects and downsides. It'd never get FDA approval: too toxic.
Alcohol might be useful in treating disease. Essential tremor, for example, is notoriously alleviated by alcohol. The problem is that alcohol has so many side effects and downsides. It'd never get FDA approval: too toxic.
6
There is a vast spectrum of personalities in our society. Many people, for varied reasons, are drawn to psychoactive drugs. For entertainment. To turn off the little voices that murmur our fears. To combat pain. Or loneliness.
There are some things that no warnings or reasons can shield otherwise good people from.
My son faced such demons and for many years was quite happy to face them with marijuana as his weapon of choice. Then he faced a choice. To be a successful, and well paid chemical worker he could not use anything that would show up days later on a urine analysis. So he switched to binge drinking on his days off in the quiet solitude of his apartment or with a few close friends of a like mean.
I never saw him high, but then I never saw him drunk. He never drove drunk. Never showed up to work impaired. Never lost his temper. Never committed a crime. Had many friends and the respect of his coworkers and employers.
And he died six years after getting the job. Of Alcoholic Liver Disease.
Professor Carroll covered most of the bases. I would add but one important item I believe he missed. In the years since my son's death I have looked into this dichotomy a great deal and believe the greatest tragedy of alcohol is the incidence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
Prohibition did not work but if legal marijuana reduces alcohol abuse it would be a wonder drug for our society.
There are some things that no warnings or reasons can shield otherwise good people from.
My son faced such demons and for many years was quite happy to face them with marijuana as his weapon of choice. Then he faced a choice. To be a successful, and well paid chemical worker he could not use anything that would show up days later on a urine analysis. So he switched to binge drinking on his days off in the quiet solitude of his apartment or with a few close friends of a like mean.
I never saw him high, but then I never saw him drunk. He never drove drunk. Never showed up to work impaired. Never lost his temper. Never committed a crime. Had many friends and the respect of his coworkers and employers.
And he died six years after getting the job. Of Alcoholic Liver Disease.
Professor Carroll covered most of the bases. I would add but one important item I believe he missed. In the years since my son's death I have looked into this dichotomy a great deal and believe the greatest tragedy of alcohol is the incidence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
Prohibition did not work but if legal marijuana reduces alcohol abuse it would be a wonder drug for our society.
126
Michael O'Neill:
I'd give you 100 up votes for your comment if I could. Very sorry for the loss of your son. You speak the truth, and it's heavily backed by peer reviewed science.
I'd give you 100 up votes for your comment if I could. Very sorry for the loss of your son. You speak the truth, and it's heavily backed by peer reviewed science.
19
Reading the comments, I would conclude that the prevailing addiction is stupidity. Kids should be advised to avoid messing up their minds, but to a relatively "healthy" adolescent, however defined, pot is, unlike life itself, relatively safe.
3
I agree very much with this pediatrician. As a parent, I discouraged my teenage boys from using marijuana, not so much for any intrinsic dangers, but because it was illegal, and I did not want them to risk their futures by becoming branded criminals. However, having moved to a state where marijuana is legal, I now tell them that I believe alcohol is much more harmful to them than marijuana.
And with regards to suicide, it appears marijuana may also lower the risk in males. A recent study of states that had legal medical marijuana showed lower rates of suicide in men between the ages of 20-39 (by about 10%). Marijuana may not just be less harmful, but may have actual benefits, as well.
And with regards to suicide, it appears marijuana may also lower the risk in males. A recent study of states that had legal medical marijuana showed lower rates of suicide in men between the ages of 20-39 (by about 10%). Marijuana may not just be less harmful, but may have actual benefits, as well.
12
I'm not sure what sounds like pro-pot example of post hoc ergo propter hoc is helpful to the cause. Pretty sure there are other characteristics common to the states that have legalized medical use that might also explain the suicide rate differentials.
The article mentions dependence and abuse as though they are the same thing. While language is not standardized, addiction specialists usually use dependence to describe physiological dependence (the existence of discontinuation symptoms, or "withdrawals"), which is linked to but not synonymous with abuse/addiction (many drugs that have the potential for dependence are not considered habit forming /addictive, but dependence certainly complicates abuse/addiction).
And abuse is not the same thing as addiction, either. A person can be addicted to a drug and not abuse it (ask any recovering addict).
The study abstract does not clarify whether it was researching dependence or abuse or addiction, or how it measured whatever it was researching.
This is such a key component of the comparison, it seems important to get it right.
And abuse is not the same thing as addiction, either. A person can be addicted to a drug and not abuse it (ask any recovering addict).
The study abstract does not clarify whether it was researching dependence or abuse or addiction, or how it measured whatever it was researching.
This is such a key component of the comparison, it seems important to get it right.
5
"Marijuana, on the other hand, kills almost no one."
it is also not very addictive, unlike tobacco and alcohol. we all do stupid things. but sometimes we continue to do stupid things for the rest of our lives. sometimes, you can't just say no.
it is also not very addictive, unlike tobacco and alcohol. we all do stupid things. but sometimes we continue to do stupid things for the rest of our lives. sometimes, you can't just say no.
2
while I appreciated the side by side comparison of risks, I think the article failed to highlight the "consumed too much" aspect. Perhaps the zero tolerance approach to drinking drives binging rather than occasional use. I have a child who transferred from a liberal school in Colorado to a school in the midwest. She reports the binging behavior, pre gaming, is higher in the midwest, and all alcohol based.
4
As a pediatrician and father I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Carroll's extremely honest assessment. Bravo! Given the choice, I, too would pick neither for my children and patients, but that isn't the world that we actually live in.
33
Most of the health impact statistics used by the authors to lead us to believe that marihuana is less dangerous are basically due to the fact that alcohol has been legal for a long time and there is a coherent collection of studies supporting the dangers of alcohol. Not such a thing exist yet. Give it 10 years of widespread social pot smoking and lets see the statistics. The fact that even short term pot does causes changes in the brain is alarming. It does not show but the long term effect of that is worrisome 9and understudy). I found the current position of the pro-team, arguing thats better than alcohol very misleading and fallacious. A new industry will be created, money will be made and in 20 years we will see its effects. Saw that movie.
2
Humans have been smoking marijuana for over 2,000 years of recorded history. Sure there haven't been extensive tests on the long term effects but at this point no legitimate argument can be made to say that alcohol is less dangers in the long term. Alcohol has been directly linked to throat, stomach, intestinal and liver cancer just to mention a few. Thousands of people die every year from driving while intoxicated whereas the numbers for marijuana related accidents are much lower. 20 years from now there will be a study but there is no doubt in any educated persons mind that that study will still show that smoking a joint a day is still healthier than drinking a beer a day.
11
Marijuana use is widespread, and has been for decades now. Modern science has studied the harms of marijuana use to the to tune of billions of dollars a year, thanks to federal grants. How much longer are supposed to wait for these horrors to appear?
7
It is very difficult to get approval of a study regarding cannabis in the U.S. unless it is designed to find harm. This is why over 90% of the thousands of studies funded by the NIH / NIDA were designed to find harm. Despite this only a handful of concerns where found. This in itself is a testament to its relative safety. Few substances when subject to this much scrutiny would show less harm, especially alcohol, tobacco and many pharmaceuticals.
"Overall, by comparison with other drugs used mainly for 'recreational' purposes, cannabis could be rated to be a relatively safe drug."
Iversen L. Long-term effects of exposure to cannabis. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2005. Review.
"Marijuana Backed By More Studies Than Most FDA Approved Pharma Drugs"
http://www.globalresearch.ca/marijuana-backed-by-more-studies-than-most-...
The Northwestern re brain changes in casual use study you mention [Gilman et al. 2014], was refuted shortly after by a more thorough [Weiland et al. 2015] study that properly controlled for alcohol use. It was determined that alcohol was the cause.
Now that alcohol was found to be the culprit in the Northwestern study should we prohibit it?
"Overall, by comparison with other drugs used mainly for 'recreational' purposes, cannabis could be rated to be a relatively safe drug."
Iversen L. Long-term effects of exposure to cannabis. Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2005. Review.
"Marijuana Backed By More Studies Than Most FDA Approved Pharma Drugs"
http://www.globalresearch.ca/marijuana-backed-by-more-studies-than-most-...
The Northwestern re brain changes in casual use study you mention [Gilman et al. 2014], was refuted shortly after by a more thorough [Weiland et al. 2015] study that properly controlled for alcohol use. It was determined that alcohol was the cause.
Now that alcohol was found to be the culprit in the Northwestern study should we prohibit it?
4
Suicide is by far the leading cause of death for college students, so maybe start there.
With regards to substance, just tell your kids not to be stupid. But if you have to go overboard, do it with alcohol. This guy seems to think that a small likelihood of inducing death is worse than a large likelihood of "less success later in life", "changes in the brain", and "harmed memory". I'd take the former odds for myself, any day.
Also, trumpeting the notion that we haven't proved "causality" for the psychosis correlation is damaging. As a neuroscientist, I am comfortable saying that while correlation doesn't prove causation, it can be a strong indicator. Just because the evidence hasn't been gathered, doesn't mean its not there. Just look at how long the tobacco industry dragged their feet in every possible way touting the same nonsense. So if you have schizophrenia in your family, pass along the doobie.
With regards to substance, just tell your kids not to be stupid. But if you have to go overboard, do it with alcohol. This guy seems to think that a small likelihood of inducing death is worse than a large likelihood of "less success later in life", "changes in the brain", and "harmed memory". I'd take the former odds for myself, any day.
Also, trumpeting the notion that we haven't proved "causality" for the psychosis correlation is damaging. As a neuroscientist, I am comfortable saying that while correlation doesn't prove causation, it can be a strong indicator. Just because the evidence hasn't been gathered, doesn't mean its not there. Just look at how long the tobacco industry dragged their feet in every possible way touting the same nonsense. So if you have schizophrenia in your family, pass along the doobie.
5
While, like alcohol and tobacco, there are associations with cannabis use and psychosis, causation has not been established. However, even IF we did assume that cannabis is an independent cause of psychosis, then it so rarely does that you would have to stop thousands from using it to prevent just one case:
"IF we assume that cannabis use plays a causal role in psychosis, it will be difficult to reduce psychosis incidence by preventing cannabis uptake in the whole population: an estimated 4,700 young men in the United Kingdom aged 20–24 years would have to be dissuaded from smoking cannabis to prevent one case of schizophrenia"
Hall Wayne. What has research over the past two decades revealed about the adverse health effects of recreational cannabis use? Addiction. 2014. Review.
One of the most important confounders is the fact that cannabis helps some people with schizophrenia, especially varieties high in cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabioid which can treat and prevent psychosis:
"Additionally, CBD prevented human experimental psychosis and was effective in open case reports and clinical trials in patients with schizophrenia with a remarkable safety profile...These results support the idea that CBD may be a future therapeutic option in psychosis, in general and in schizophrenia, in particular."
Zuardi et al. A critical review of the antipsychotic effects of cannabidiol: 30 years of a translational investigation. Curr Pharm Des. 2012. Review.
"IF we assume that cannabis use plays a causal role in psychosis, it will be difficult to reduce psychosis incidence by preventing cannabis uptake in the whole population: an estimated 4,700 young men in the United Kingdom aged 20–24 years would have to be dissuaded from smoking cannabis to prevent one case of schizophrenia"
Hall Wayne. What has research over the past two decades revealed about the adverse health effects of recreational cannabis use? Addiction. 2014. Review.
One of the most important confounders is the fact that cannabis helps some people with schizophrenia, especially varieties high in cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabioid which can treat and prevent psychosis:
"Additionally, CBD prevented human experimental psychosis and was effective in open case reports and clinical trials in patients with schizophrenia with a remarkable safety profile...These results support the idea that CBD may be a future therapeutic option in psychosis, in general and in schizophrenia, in particular."
Zuardi et al. A critical review of the antipsychotic effects of cannabidiol: 30 years of a translational investigation. Curr Pharm Des. 2012. Review.
10
The rate of psychosis is the same all over the world, regardless of marijuana use. And states with medical marijuana have 9% fewer suicides than states without medical access.
8
Depression is more than a college student issue and not the subject of this discussion. Since you are a neuroscientist perhaps you can write an article yourself on that subject? We all know neuroscientists know everything.
1
Something tells me this is going to be the New York Times' most emailed article this week.
4
Dr. Carroll is unaware that most marijuana today is 5x stronger than it was when he went to college, through genetic alteration of the plant to make the THC higher. He is also unaware that tons of kids are becoming addicted and they are doing DABS, which is often 80-90% THC. These children are becoming psychotic and even after hospitalization for psychosis are having a hard time giving it up. Amazing people would put risk of death ahead of the risk of living a lifetime of mental illness. A recent study form the UK showed that 25 % of all new psychotic incidences in London, come from the high-THC marijuana, the only type available today. Your teen can learn to drink a beer or have a glass of wine with a meal, yet there is no longer a low-THC joint in anyone's social circles, particularly in places it is legal!!
12
As a doctor, especially one who is writing on the topic of marijuana and other drug use, Dr. Carroll is aware of modern marijuana potency. Also, the studies used to reinforce his argument were done within the past 5 years, meaning the high potency marijuana was obviously used. As for the rest of your argument, it is null and void as a result.
21
Oh please, a recent Harvard study found no increase in addictive properties regardless of the level of THC. We keep hearing these ridiculous boogieman stories, yet they haven't materialized in any state, including Colorado. Higher THC content means people smoke less, which is a good thing.
14
Dabs are currently as close to pure THC as possible, without taking synthetic THC into account, right now. This means that all the plant matter and things that could potentially be harmful are removed and you are only consuming THC which your body naturally has receptors and can cleanly process and remove over time, making it cleaner and healthier for you, something that alcohol doesn't offer because there are chemicals in alcohol that your body can't properly digest and have long term effects every time you drink. Also as someone else has already stated, the higher THC means that it requires much less to get the same or more effect that lasts longer so unlike alcohol, you can take one dab and be set for the whole day whereas with alcohol many people drink to get drunk which involves drinking 3 to 6 drinks in one sitting which is obviously going to be much more dangerous and unhealthy for your body in the short and long term than the single .2 gram dab.
4
The primary harm that marijuana causes is a criminal record. Relatively speaking the health concerns are insignificant.
26
Prohibition didn't work. Legalize pot, tax it, and don't allow minors to buy it. It is a weed one can grow in the back yard. If alcohol is legal, then pot, which is much less dangerous, should also be legal.
19
Why is it unrealistic to expect your children to drink responsibly and avoid marijuana entirely? Have we let down our side as adults and role models to such an extent? The opening of this article assumes parents have caved entirely to the mores that have corrupted our culture. We must be steadfast, refuse to be cowed, be intolerant, yes, intolerant, of deviant behavior of our children "especially when they go to college." When I went to college I was offered marijuana and I refused it, due to my strict religious upbringing. My mother had told me at age 16 in no uncertain terms, "If you use drugs, don't bother coming home."
My mother's standards became mine. Parents, stand up for what you believe! If you have any beliefs left to stand up for.
My mother's standards became mine. Parents, stand up for what you believe! If you have any beliefs left to stand up for.
6
Why not use marijuana responsibly and avoid alcohol entirely, especially since the doctor's whole thesis is marijuana is less harmful?
11
Why is in unrealistic to expect your child to use marijuana responsibly and avoid alcohol all together? If it's a choice between the two, marijuana wins by a long shot.
6
Sorry to tell you the truth but your beliefs and the beliefs of your parents were built on lies that have since been disproven time and time again by science. All drugs should be used responsibly, and don't kid yourself, alcohol is a drug because it impairs your mind and is highly addictive, but if you are choosing what drugs to use responsibly, there is no question anymore, reefer madness is a lie and alcohol is the truly dangerous drug.
5
It's been obvious for decades: Marijuana is so much safer than alcohol. whether it is violence, felony crime, driving or simple health, marijuana is so much better and safer. Authorities ought to be pushing marijuana use in high school and college, to cut down on the most dangerous drug known - alcohol.
9
Not sure that whether or not I am representative, but when I was in college kids were never either pot or booze. Most of the time was both mixed.
Best advice for someone heading to college is to get interested in something and do it until you are great at it. This will cut the time and energy spent trying to alter your reality. And even better if you can find something actually interesting to do on a Friday night. Take a long hard look at what passes for fun for these kids and its actually pretty pathetic.
Best advice for someone heading to college is to get interested in something and do it until you are great at it. This will cut the time and energy spent trying to alter your reality. And even better if you can find something actually interesting to do on a Friday night. Take a long hard look at what passes for fun for these kids and its actually pretty pathetic.
7
It is sad that we live in a culture that encourages the use of mind-altering substances. It sure makes it hard for those who are predisposed to addictive behavior along with all the other ills stated by Dr. Carroll.
3
That's really nothing when compared with the results prohibition has given us. The tens of millions of arrests, countless families ripped apart, kids kicked out of school, lives destroyed. Marijuana use and even "abuse" pale in comparison.
11
Humans have been consuming mind-altering substances since we learned how to grow things and probably before as gatherers. Through travel and studying history, I've learned that the list of "acceptable" mind-altering substances is culturally determined. Some are associated with religious experiences (peyote, ayahuasca, cannabis and wine come to mind) while others are traditionally used in social gatherings. That our society has made cannabis illegal and alcohol not is a cultural accident stemming from prejudices against Mexican and African-Americans in the early 20th century.
PS I alter my mind every day with caffeine? How about you?
PS I alter my mind every day with caffeine? How about you?
13
People have been using mind-altering substances for millennia and there is nothing wrong with it in moderation.
That some people find that 'sad', which is a euphemism for their disapproval is odd, as the most common addiction in the US is food addiction.
That some people find that 'sad', which is a euphemism for their disapproval is odd, as the most common addiction in the US is food addiction.
7
I was surprised that Dr. Carroll said that "a growing body of evidence says" that it "seems unlikely" that marijuana is associated with long-term cancer risk. I therefore clicked on the link, which did not mention cancer in the context of marijuana at all. The only time it mentioned cancer was to note that tobacco was associated with it.
I was also surprised by Dr. Carroll's suggestion that marijuana use does not increase the chance of vehicle accidents, so I clicked on the link to the "more recent study" that pot "did not increase the risk of accidents at all." However, it did not work; the link seems to go to a document on a c: drive under user "aaecarro" (I assume Dr. Carroll).
After those two failures, I did not even bother trying to check out Dr. Carroll's other cited sources. Suffice it to say, if this article is so poorly documented, I do not buy what he's selling. (For the record, I'm not opposed to marijuana legalization. I'm just opposed to poorly grounded arguments.)
I was also surprised by Dr. Carroll's suggestion that marijuana use does not increase the chance of vehicle accidents, so I clicked on the link to the "more recent study" that pot "did not increase the risk of accidents at all." However, it did not work; the link seems to go to a document on a c: drive under user "aaecarro" (I assume Dr. Carroll).
After those two failures, I did not even bother trying to check out Dr. Carroll's other cited sources. Suffice it to say, if this article is so poorly documented, I do not buy what he's selling. (For the record, I'm not opposed to marijuana legalization. I'm just opposed to poorly grounded arguments.)
8
Use Google my friend. She is right on both counts. No study on earth has ever found even a causal link between marijuana use and lung, head, or neck cancer. The traffic accident study was just released last week. There isn't anything to dispute, those are facts.
10
"Cannabis smoke may be carcinogenic but it has been difficult to conclusively link cannabis use and cancer development epidemiologically, and cannabinoids have shown some promise as anti-cancer therapies"
Bowles et al. The intersection between cannabis and cancer in the United States. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2012. Review.
A study involving over 65,000 people found that cannabis use is not associated with greater mortality in general:
"Marijuana use in a prepaid health care-based study cohort had little effect on non-AIDS mortality in men and on total mortality in women."
Sidney et al. Marijuana use and mortality. Am J Public Health. 1997.
In 2015 the U.S. government completed the largest case controlled study to date regarding DUI of cannabis. It involved over 9,000 cases and controls spanning a 20-month period. It found that cannabis use while driving is not associated with increased crash risk once adjusted for confounding variables such as age, race, gender, and the presence of other drugs, including alcohol. They found that alcohol significantly increased crash risk.
Compton and Berning. DOT HS 812 117. Drug and Alcohol Crash Risk. U.S. Department of Transportation - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 2015.
Bowles et al. The intersection between cannabis and cancer in the United States. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2012. Review.
A study involving over 65,000 people found that cannabis use is not associated with greater mortality in general:
"Marijuana use in a prepaid health care-based study cohort had little effect on non-AIDS mortality in men and on total mortality in women."
Sidney et al. Marijuana use and mortality. Am J Public Health. 1997.
In 2015 the U.S. government completed the largest case controlled study to date regarding DUI of cannabis. It involved over 9,000 cases and controls spanning a 20-month period. It found that cannabis use while driving is not associated with increased crash risk once adjusted for confounding variables such as age, race, gender, and the presence of other drugs, including alcohol. They found that alcohol significantly increased crash risk.
Compton and Berning. DOT HS 812 117. Drug and Alcohol Crash Risk. U.S. Department of Transportation - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 2015.
12
One must daily make choices that involve probabilities and risks bearing upon improving, stabilizing or worsening the quality of life . Few, if any, choices do not involve some risk - even the decision to go for a walk on a nice day.
Some people and interest groups trumpet small risks and unknowns into major dangers, while ignoring or minimizing great risks, that cause demonstrable major physical, social and financial harm.
There are on the shelf and prescribed medications consumed by many people, on a daily basis, that carry substantial greater risk of injury than cannabis. Listen some time to the often barely understandable precautions that are rapidly recited, against a musical background, in a relatively low voice, or in small print, promoting the use of certain medications.
If other substances, including many processed foods and drinks and seasonings, and other practices, including disdain for walking, were evaluated in the way marijuana has been evaluated by the prohibitionists, marijuana would be much lower on the risk scale than much of what is constantly promoted to us in the media and on store shelves. We could also put into that analysis the number and extent of injuries resulting from generally considered healthy exercise and sports activity.
Thank you Dr. Carroll's for your substantial contribution to the dialog concerning behavioral risk. There should be a lot more such public dialog, leading to a more rational and balanced regulatory environment.
Some people and interest groups trumpet small risks and unknowns into major dangers, while ignoring or minimizing great risks, that cause demonstrable major physical, social and financial harm.
There are on the shelf and prescribed medications consumed by many people, on a daily basis, that carry substantial greater risk of injury than cannabis. Listen some time to the often barely understandable precautions that are rapidly recited, against a musical background, in a relatively low voice, or in small print, promoting the use of certain medications.
If other substances, including many processed foods and drinks and seasonings, and other practices, including disdain for walking, were evaluated in the way marijuana has been evaluated by the prohibitionists, marijuana would be much lower on the risk scale than much of what is constantly promoted to us in the media and on store shelves. We could also put into that analysis the number and extent of injuries resulting from generally considered healthy exercise and sports activity.
Thank you Dr. Carroll's for your substantial contribution to the dialog concerning behavioral risk. There should be a lot more such public dialog, leading to a more rational and balanced regulatory environment.
12
A post-script to my prior comment: When we criminalize an activity, we ought have a rational objective. The criminalization of marijuana has been an extremely expensive, but clearly unsuccessful, effort. Police officers, lawyers and judges are some of the best paid people in society, nowadays.
The costs of prosecuting and imprisoning marihuana offenders has been enormous. While there may be some such offenders whose lives have been improved, as a result of that experience, it is likely that the vast majority have had the quality of their lives damaged or destroyed by the enforcement process. In order to justify that outcome, it would have to be shown that the loss sustained, by those defendants, is more than compensated by the gain to the rest of society. In fact, the opposite is probably true -- given the cost and given the wide-spread use of marijuana and the increased profits generated for the dealers due to the criminal prohibition. This argument will not bear much weight with those who wish to punish conduct they do not like, regardless of social impact. Similarly, there are some politicians whose fear of the punishment-minded outweighs their commitment to social justice.
The costs of prosecuting and imprisoning marihuana offenders has been enormous. While there may be some such offenders whose lives have been improved, as a result of that experience, it is likely that the vast majority have had the quality of their lives damaged or destroyed by the enforcement process. In order to justify that outcome, it would have to be shown that the loss sustained, by those defendants, is more than compensated by the gain to the rest of society. In fact, the opposite is probably true -- given the cost and given the wide-spread use of marijuana and the increased profits generated for the dealers due to the criminal prohibition. This argument will not bear much weight with those who wish to punish conduct they do not like, regardless of social impact. Similarly, there are some politicians whose fear of the punishment-minded outweighs their commitment to social justice.
8
One aspect of alcohol that has not been addressed is the addiction that comes to ~10% of the population with its use. Education, financial consequences, social pressure nor personal desire alone seem to prevent addiction. It appears to have a physical as well as psychological component. It also appears to have a genetic predisposition component.
I am unaware of any marijuana studies and/or evidence for physical addiction pro or con. Psychological addiction?
Thank you Dr. Carroll for your article.
I am unaware of any marijuana studies and/or evidence for physical addiction pro or con. Psychological addiction?
Thank you Dr. Carroll for your article.
8
In all likelihood, many young people are going to try both alcohol and marijuana, separately and in combination. Do you think at parties people are asked "what do you prefer, a joint or a drink?" Drinks are served and joints are passed. It is good to know the relative risks of both kinds of highs, but also the effects when they are combined. As marijuana comes out of the shadows the risks may become clearer. BTW, I am not against legalization because a.) it's already a commonly used drug, unequally sanctioned and b.) prohibition does not work to lessen use, only to criminalize.
9
I'd worry more about catching some bacterial or viral infection from a passed joint at a party (herpes anyone?) than the contents or effects of the joint itself.
I always insist that female friends open or pour their own drinks at parties as well. Recent revelations at college campuses show that the risk of sexual assault is higher than the health risks associated with the drink.
I always insist that female friends open or pour their own drinks at parties as well. Recent revelations at college campuses show that the risk of sexual assault is higher than the health risks associated with the drink.
4
While some people overdo any and everything, it's my experience that most use mostly one substance because the effects are so different. Many drinkers, like Willie Nelson, changed from booze to pot for health reasons.
2
I congratulate Dr. Carroll on throwing some much needed light on the relative dangers of smoking pot versus drinking alcohol. For the most part the spirits industry has had too much control of this discussion.
I, like most parents, would prefer that my child didn’t develop a penchant for either, but that is not always realistic. Drug abuse and alcoholism are often the result of other mental health and biological anomalies.
If marijuana was decriminalized except for age restrictions, the main hazard of recreational pot use would go away; and the real danger, harm to adolescent brain development, would become the focus of social opprobrium. In this way smoking marijuana would be more effectively reduced by treating it like nicotine – legal but not recommended. Of course pot should not be permitted in the work place.
I, like most parents, would prefer that my child didn’t develop a penchant for either, but that is not always realistic. Drug abuse and alcoholism are often the result of other mental health and biological anomalies.
If marijuana was decriminalized except for age restrictions, the main hazard of recreational pot use would go away; and the real danger, harm to adolescent brain development, would become the focus of social opprobrium. In this way smoking marijuana would be more effectively reduced by treating it like nicotine – legal but not recommended. Of course pot should not be permitted in the work place.
10
Children can be shown and taught to have a healthy relationship with alcohol. And I say this coming from a family with multiple alcoholics. Moderation is important, and teaching that lesson early can help to prevent the alcohol abuse that leads to the many of its repercussion discussed in this article.
On the other hand, it is very concerning to me that marijuana use during childhood might permanently affect one's memory or other cognitive functions.
Responsible adults can clearly use either alcohol or marijuana safely. But until more research is available on the effects of marijuana on young brains, I would pick small portions of alcohol over marijuana for young people.
On the other hand, it is very concerning to me that marijuana use during childhood might permanently affect one's memory or other cognitive functions.
Responsible adults can clearly use either alcohol or marijuana safely. But until more research is available on the effects of marijuana on young brains, I would pick small portions of alcohol over marijuana for young people.
3
That's what you would pick but what will the "young people" pick? Children shouldn't be smoking pot or drinking when they are children. Also, alcoholism has been shown to have physiological, genetic and social factors, as well as a learning component. Most teenagers and young adults don't really tell their parents what they do when on their own. Yes, give them direction and let them know where you stand. Hopefully, they will listen. Better yet, set a good example.
3
Alcohol has been shown to cause permanent brain damage in adult and teen users. The jury is still out on cannabis and it's effects on the brain, but it is pretty clear it is far less damaging that alcohol to the adult brain.
This extensive review of studies which examined the long-term cognitive effects of using cocaine, (meth)amphetamines, ecstasy, opiates, alcohol, and cannabis, sums it up:
"All substances of abuse, except cannabis, were associated with sustained deficits in executive functioning, especially inhibition."
"There was little evidence for sustained cognitive impairments in adult abstinent cannabis users."
van Holst RJ and Schilt T. Drug-related decrease in neuropsychological functions of abstinent drug users. Curr Drug Abuse Rev. 2011. Review.
This extensive review of studies which examined the long-term cognitive effects of using cocaine, (meth)amphetamines, ecstasy, opiates, alcohol, and cannabis, sums it up:
"All substances of abuse, except cannabis, were associated with sustained deficits in executive functioning, especially inhibition."
"There was little evidence for sustained cognitive impairments in adult abstinent cannabis users."
van Holst RJ and Schilt T. Drug-related decrease in neuropsychological functions of abstinent drug users. Curr Drug Abuse Rev. 2011. Review.
8
From that same article:
"Although this subject is beyond the scope of our
review, the effect of frequent cannabis use during
adolescence seems to have a more crippling effect on brain
development with possible long-term neuropsychological
impairments as a consequence."
"Although this subject is beyond the scope of our
review, the effect of frequent cannabis use during
adolescence seems to have a more crippling effect on brain
development with possible long-term neuropsychological
impairments as a consequence."
3
Unfortunately our prudish society has demonized alcohol for high schoolers as some sort of evil. A more European approach in learning how to consume alcohol without going nuts would be a more sane and healthy path. If the drinking age were 16 and the driving age 18, how many more lives would be saved. And the pleasure of sharing wine or a beer with your children over a meal would be a much more honest way as they develop their relationship to these things. By making alcohol taboo and illegal it forces the youth to keep it hidden and away from the home were parents can keep an eye on things. And away often means driving distance away. Honest open discourse is really the way to go, and denial has no place in this equation.
Where were the parents at the Steubenville party???
As for marijuana, my doctor buddy once said it best, "ever seen a barroom brawl with a bunch of stoned people."
Teach your kids well.
Where were the parents at the Steubenville party???
As for marijuana, my doctor buddy once said it best, "ever seen a barroom brawl with a bunch of stoned people."
Teach your kids well.
46
I was allowed to drink at home with family when I was 16 years old. I not only drank there, but also drank with my friends, and not moderately. We combined our alcohol with pot whenever we could get it. I had a green light to drink! As for marijuana and alcohol, It was definitely not "either/or." As to driving, I didn't drive while stoned or drunk. (It was very difficult to get the car, especially at night). Responsibility is an important concept not just regarding drinking, driving or smoking pot. I agree with honest and open discourse but unfortunately I knew when to keep my own counsel regarding what I told my parents. Are today's teenagers so different?
3
Finally a rational and logical article on marijuana versus alcohol.
Thank you!
Simply put, alcohol ruins millions of lives and cause needless deaths
and suffering. Why it's use is essentially encouraged I will never know.
Legalize pot. There is not one logical argument against it's legality.
Lastly, smoke 'em if you got 'em.
Thank you!
Simply put, alcohol ruins millions of lives and cause needless deaths
and suffering. Why it's use is essentially encouraged I will never know.
Legalize pot. There is not one logical argument against it's legality.
Lastly, smoke 'em if you got 'em.
31
For millennia both alcohol and cannabis have been responsibly and beneficially used, and alcohol widely and malignantly abused in ways impossible for cannabis. All parents should take pains to teach their children, including by example and by sharing in familial setting, how to use these beneficial Medicines properly and responsibly and how to avoid falling into any pattern of abuse
9
Of course they should. You are assuming they know how.
Under prohibition cannabis is easily accessible to nearly anyone of any age who wants it. Even over 80% of high school seniors have reported that cannabis is "easy to get" for the last 30 years. Would you rather empower thugs and criminals, who also push hard drugs, by having them supply the 20 millions pounds of cannabis traded yearly in the U.S., or legitimate businessmen who can be easily monitored, actually check I.D., pay taxes, settle disputes in court rather than in streets, and follow other regulations?
Voters must realize that:
1) Cannabis has been unjustly demonized and is less harmful than alcohol.
2) Cannabis prohibition has little effect on the rates of problematic usage.
3) Prohibition causes many harms at great cost.
A vote for cannabis legalization is to condemn a costly prohibition that causes more harm than it prevents.
This prohibition is very costly (money is only a small part of these costs), senseless, unjust, unfounded, harmful, and un-American. Please consider what the following cannabis legalization organizations have to say. Help end this prohibition by joining their mailing lists, signing their petitions and writing your legislators when they call for it.
MPP - The Marijuana Policy Project - http://www.mpp.org/
DPA - Drug Policy Alliance - http://www.drugpolicy.org/
NORML - National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws - http://norml.org/
LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition - http://www.leap.cc/
Voters must realize that:
1) Cannabis has been unjustly demonized and is less harmful than alcohol.
2) Cannabis prohibition has little effect on the rates of problematic usage.
3) Prohibition causes many harms at great cost.
A vote for cannabis legalization is to condemn a costly prohibition that causes more harm than it prevents.
This prohibition is very costly (money is only a small part of these costs), senseless, unjust, unfounded, harmful, and un-American. Please consider what the following cannabis legalization organizations have to say. Help end this prohibition by joining their mailing lists, signing their petitions and writing your legislators when they call for it.
MPP - The Marijuana Policy Project - http://www.mpp.org/
DPA - Drug Policy Alliance - http://www.drugpolicy.org/
NORML - National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws - http://norml.org/
LEAP - Law Enforcement Against Prohibition - http://www.leap.cc/
157
everything good, except for one word--"unamerican." There is nothing more "American" than prohibition of anything powerful Americans dislike (for others), from the Salem witch trials to Anslinger and his contemporary imitators.
6
That's right, Stel. You got it. Prohibition and control are not the same. With prohibition we have no control. But we like to punish. We think we are godlike so we stand back, punish, and fill jails with kids to make them into criminals.
Control, citizens, control. End this stupid 80 year fear of the weed.
Control, citizens, control. End this stupid 80 year fear of the weed.
2
An important question that is not raised in the article is what benefits people and society derive from marijuana and alcohol use. It's not at all obvious to me that these are comparable for marijuana and alcohol, and this issue should at least be mentioned in this debate. Some questions to be considered: Does the lowering of social inhibition from alcohol help individuals and society? Does the self-medication available from marijuana? Do these drugs help or hinder our productivity? Does normal use affect levels of happiness or satisfaction?
The conclusion of the article is sound if one assumes that neither alcohol nor marijuana use are of equal (perhaps zero) benefit, but this needs to be more thoroughly established. Without some discussion of the benefits people and society derive from them (or believe they do), the choice between alcohol and marijuana might well be as meaningless as the choice between driving a car and riding a razor scooter: the former is undoubtedly more dangerous, but also more useful.
The conclusion of the article is sound if one assumes that neither alcohol nor marijuana use are of equal (perhaps zero) benefit, but this needs to be more thoroughly established. Without some discussion of the benefits people and society derive from them (or believe they do), the choice between alcohol and marijuana might well be as meaningless as the choice between driving a car and riding a razor scooter: the former is undoubtedly more dangerous, but also more useful.
4
One is medicine, the other is a hard drug that thousands of people every day. Which one is more useful, that's not much of a question.
People do not drink/smoke to benefit society.
Sorry Patrick, but when I get high, or drunk, I am doing it for ME not for society.
1
"The number of people who will be hurt from it, will hurt others because of it, begin to abuse it, and suffer negative consequences from it are certainly greater than zero."
Do popular pharmaceutical drugs such as Adderall (Amphetamine) and Xanax (Benzodiazepine) have a net negative effect on people and society? Amphetamines and Benzodiazepines are powerful psychoactive drugs, with an established record of abuse and formation of dependence, and they are nonetheless prescribed liberally, for an expanding variety of conditions.
I'm not so sure that the downside of smoking weed, or of drinking alcohol are any more clear-cut than the downside of using Xanax to 'keep cool' or Adderall to 'tune in'.
Also, making a choice between supporting Alcohol or Marijuana is fundamentally misguided - The two drugs have dramatically different effects, and I don't think there is any particular void in the adolescent psyche that is filled by both. If a teenager has a predisposition for alcohol abuse, I don't think you can bet on being able to 'distract' them with weed. I think that Tennis or Violin would do a better job.
Do popular pharmaceutical drugs such as Adderall (Amphetamine) and Xanax (Benzodiazepine) have a net negative effect on people and society? Amphetamines and Benzodiazepines are powerful psychoactive drugs, with an established record of abuse and formation of dependence, and they are nonetheless prescribed liberally, for an expanding variety of conditions.
I'm not so sure that the downside of smoking weed, or of drinking alcohol are any more clear-cut than the downside of using Xanax to 'keep cool' or Adderall to 'tune in'.
Also, making a choice between supporting Alcohol or Marijuana is fundamentally misguided - The two drugs have dramatically different effects, and I don't think there is any particular void in the adolescent psyche that is filled by both. If a teenager has a predisposition for alcohol abuse, I don't think you can bet on being able to 'distract' them with weed. I think that Tennis or Violin would do a better job.
4
Dependence on drugs, whether legal or illegal, is undesirable, of course. Appropriate use can be beneficial medically or socially. Almost nowhere do we hear discussed the benefits of a drug and alcohol free lifestyle for young people. Too strict! No fun!
Even our athletes are tempted to use steroids and other enhancers to increase muscle mass and strength. The use of psychiatric drugs, on and off label, even recreationally, is at record highs (no pun intended). We should be comparing the outcomes for drug and alcohol free young people with those of users. I believe those who use marijuana generally also drink, and vice versa.
Even our athletes are tempted to use steroids and other enhancers to increase muscle mass and strength. The use of psychiatric drugs, on and off label, even recreationally, is at record highs (no pun intended). We should be comparing the outcomes for drug and alcohol free young people with those of users. I believe those who use marijuana generally also drink, and vice versa.
If you take your analogy of Adderall and Xanax to the proper conclusion then you need to also include prescription opioid pain killers. All these drugs have a proper therapeutic place but can be misused and misprescribed.
It's funny that you left out the prescription opioids, the use of which are associated with many more deaths than all the medications like Adderall and Xanax combined cause. I guess it's just medications used for psychiatric problems that you have concerns about it.
It's funny that you left out the prescription opioids, the use of which are associated with many more deaths than all the medications like Adderall and Xanax combined cause. I guess it's just medications used for psychiatric problems that you have concerns about it.
The issues are linked. Providing people with a much safer alternative to alcohol saves lives. Besides that, arresting one man for smoking a joint while allowing the other to chug beers makes a mockery out of society and the rule of law.
2
Well versed in the effects of both substances, I understand why there is a widely held suspicion -- espoused by several comments to this article -- that long-term casual use of Pot is more harmful than long-term casual use of alcohol: It is because the psychoactive effect of Pot is much more subtle than that of alcohol.
Because Pot's high sneaks-up on the user, and gently shifts perception, it has a mysterious feeling. Getting drunk is way more blunt high that manifests itself in a very understandable form -- no mystery whatsoever.
And when there is uncertainty about the mechanisms of something, humans tend to run away from science and fall back on belief. Just as a large percentage of people deal with the mystery of the origins of life by turning to belief in a super-natural creator, we'd also find people to hold unscientific beliefs about the long-term effect of a substance like Marijuana.
Because Pot's high sneaks-up on the user, and gently shifts perception, it has a mysterious feeling. Getting drunk is way more blunt high that manifests itself in a very understandable form -- no mystery whatsoever.
And when there is uncertainty about the mechanisms of something, humans tend to run away from science and fall back on belief. Just as a large percentage of people deal with the mystery of the origins of life by turning to belief in a super-natural creator, we'd also find people to hold unscientific beliefs about the long-term effect of a substance like Marijuana.
8
Thanks for this excellent comment Robert. Do you also have any thoughts about what happens when these two substances are used simultaneously? I am a refugee from the sixties, and as such admit to experimenting with drugs. Sometimes when I smoked marijuana I become uncomfortably anxious and self-aware. My solution? Have a drink.
Yes, Barbara, that's my experience as well. When I smoke marijuana I like to have a few drinks as well... They do go well together!
The author wants to be an apologist for pot. The lack of studies due to its legal status has stalled for years the publication of data on harm. The "pot kills almost no one" lie is countered by easy examination of the links between pot and violence. Just Google pot AND (boolean caps, not yelling) murder. There is more to harm than the pure physical attributes of the substance. I totally agree that alcohol is harmful. I would totally agree that alcohol is a huge problem on campus. But as the father of four, a veteran, and a veteran of law enforcement, in constant contact with teens to this day, even teens recognize that potheads have enormous problems long term with brain development and dulled intellect. Binge drinking, now repopularized by our Mad Men generation, is equally harmful. But any visit to a community where clubs and homes are filled with daily weed users proves that it's devastating to young minds. And now we face a senior generation with 50 years of weed use faring poorly in health and mind. Legalizing pot is just asinine as it will lead to that 20% addiction rate. Which we can't afford to subsidize even as much as certain communities push the pot fantasy. No, don't rationalize that pot, or any smoking or illegal drug use is not without enormous harm. Pot is being made stronger, and lots of folks are betting billions on this Pandora's box. Do you think these "investors" really care about the kids or health outcomes?
11
Cannabis has been extensively examined in thousand of peer-reviewed studies spanning decades.
It is the prohibition of cannabis that leads to an association with crime, not cannabis use itself:
"However, when eliminating all types of drug-specific charges from our models, we no longer observed any significant association with cannabis use"
"However, the bulk of this involvement seems to be related to various types of drug-specific crime. Thus, the association seems to rest on the fact that use, possession and distribution of drugs such as cannabis is illegal. The study strengthens concerns about the laws relating to the use, possession and distribution of cannabis"
Pedersen W, Skardhamar T. Cannabis and crime: findings from a longitudinal study. Addiction. 2010.
It is the prohibition of cannabis that leads to an association with crime, not cannabis use itself:
"However, when eliminating all types of drug-specific charges from our models, we no longer observed any significant association with cannabis use"
"However, the bulk of this involvement seems to be related to various types of drug-specific crime. Thus, the association seems to rest on the fact that use, possession and distribution of drugs such as cannabis is illegal. The study strengthens concerns about the laws relating to the use, possession and distribution of cannabis"
Pedersen W, Skardhamar T. Cannabis and crime: findings from a longitudinal study. Addiction. 2010.
15
As a former cop you have a bias based on nonsense. Tens of millions of people have been smoking pot for decades in this country and are fine productive citizens. Stop labeling them with the small percentage that have problems with their lives. Problems that are not caused because of pot.
52
That is 100% false. The beneficial aspects of marijuana have not been studied because of it's restrictions. Our government has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into the studies that focus on marijuana's harmful attributes. And I'm not even going to dignify your attempt at linking marijuana with murder. Coming from a person who made a living pushing the cancer that is prohibition, I find that pretty rich.
10
It is worth noting that in the non-alcoholic, it is easy to titrate alcohol to a desired effect because it comes with a product label clearly indicating the proof or concentration of ethanol. A bottle of Merlot contains wine.
On the other hand, marijuana is not packaged with a product label. Consumers have no idea what they are smoking, who manufactured the product, what concentration of active ingredient it contains, or whether contaminants are included.
At the very least, people should be warned to not to partake of home made pharmaceuticals. You wouldn't buy "loose naproxen" from a guy in the park. Neither is it wise to buy a loose joint from the same person.
On the other hand, marijuana is not packaged with a product label. Consumers have no idea what they are smoking, who manufactured the product, what concentration of active ingredient it contains, or whether contaminants are included.
At the very least, people should be warned to not to partake of home made pharmaceuticals. You wouldn't buy "loose naproxen" from a guy in the park. Neither is it wise to buy a loose joint from the same person.
6
That's an excellent argument for legalization.
21
Cannabis is packed and labelled with potency in legal markets such as those in Colorado.
14
That is silly. My herb garden doesn't have labels or potency warnings, and yet I can fairly reliably use it for cooking with predictable results. I've smoked marijuana on occasion for almost 40 years. It is very easy to dose. You smoke until you don't want to get higher.
Nonetheless, your argument in favor of legalization makes sense if you want to sell it commercially. Here in California, I have seen medical pot packaged with labeling showing purported potency and claiming organic methodology.
Success!
Nonetheless, your argument in favor of legalization makes sense if you want to sell it commercially. Here in California, I have seen medical pot packaged with labeling showing purported potency and claiming organic methodology.
Success!
7
Such a great article. Here in Brazil, where marijuana is ilegal and there's no research on that topic, the citizens are immersed in a atmosphere of prejudice. There are public politics able to low the numbers of car accidents related to alcohol consumption, but it stops there. Moreover, hundreds of citizens die, every hour, related to the ilegal market and distribution of pot. This article shows us that a major investment in this field can overcome prejudice and violence.
3
As the mother of a teenage son with intractable epilepsy, I advocate for the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes. I live in a state where it is not legal to medicinally use cannabis yet, but during my advocacy this topic comes up again and again. The legislators think cannabis is too harmful to allow people to use it for medicinal purposes. They are afraid that it will get into the "wrong" hands and be abused. Knowing that cannabis has a much lower addiction rate, had , in the past, been used as a medicine in this country for 90 years, is less dangerous than already legal substances like alcohol , and has an impeccable safety record especially when weighed against current pharmaceutical options, it is unfathomable that we even continue to have the validity of "harm" debate with them....especially considering that my state has one of the biggest heroin epidemics in the nation partially caused by addiction to legal drugs oxycontin and vicodin. Our state is also in a heated debate about changing its liquor laws to allow more access to alcohol while still allowing patients to suffer who need cannabis! The legislators who want less restriction on alcohol are typically the same that want the tightest restrictions on cannabis. Clearly, cannabis is less harmful all the way around. I hope Pennsylvania, and the country for that matter, wake up and realize it is time to start protecting a patient's right to use cannabis as vehemently as they protect the people's right to use alcohol.
19
But here's what you overlooked.
Kids buying illegal drugs, associating with kids in the trade, are more likely to be victims of the seemingly random, street violence, gang violence, associated with the illegal drug trade.
Are there stats on this. No. And also few prosecutions, as nobody in the drug trade talks to survey takers. or anyone else for that matter, and lives.
Kids buying illegal drugs, associating with kids in the trade, are more likely to be victims of the seemingly random, street violence, gang violence, associated with the illegal drug trade.
Are there stats on this. No. And also few prosecutions, as nobody in the drug trade talks to survey takers. or anyone else for that matter, and lives.
9
These risks only exist because of our senseless laws against cannabis. This is yet another reason to abolish prohibition 2.0.
16
And if marijuana was legal for anyone over 18?
4
No just old wives tales. Again this is not rationale or logical
and if it was legalized could not possibly exist.
and if it was legalized could not possibly exist.
3
I wish I never started smoking pot when I was thirteen, it hooked me in a way alcohol never did. Drinking was what most 'normal' kids experiment with, the pot smokers, aka 'stoners' I knew, went on to harder drugs, didn't make it out of college, and worse.
The pot these days can get you very high, it's a psychotic. It sure works as an muscle-relaxant for 'adults', but has side-effects: lethargy, appetite, libido, anti-social behavior and distorted thinking.
If my teenager was experimenting with alcohol I'd say they are normal, if they were smoking weed, I'd think, unfortunately, there is something wrong.
The pot these days can get you very high, it's a psychotic. It sure works as an muscle-relaxant for 'adults', but has side-effects: lethargy, appetite, libido, anti-social behavior and distorted thinking.
If my teenager was experimenting with alcohol I'd say they are normal, if they were smoking weed, I'd think, unfortunately, there is something wrong.
19
For every one of you there are many more who got hooked on alcohol, and in a much more serious way. The dependence rate of alcohol is more than double that of cannabis. More importantly, cannabis does not cause the kind of dependence that we typically associate with the term, like that of alcohol or heroin. Cannabis dependence is relatively mild, similar to that of coffee, and usually not a significant issue or something that requires treatment, unless of course it is court ordered. [Joy et al. 1999; Ozsungur et al. 2009; Lopez-Quintero et al. 2011]
The gateway drug theory, that a pharmacological effect of cannabis leads to the use of hard drugs, has been discredited by the many peer reviewed studies which have examined it. This extensive review of studies sums it up:
"Taking into account the danger that the presentation of that sequence ["Gateway"] as a 'theory' may be (and has been) erroneously interpreted in causal terms, it may be hindering both research and intervention"
"The CLA [Common Liability to Addiction theory] concept provides theoretical and empirical foundation to research in etiology, quantitative risk and severity measurement, and targeted non-drug-specific intervention. This conclusion is supported by the papers in this special issue"
Vanyukov et al. Common liability to addiction and "gateway hypothesis": theoretical, empirical and evolutionary perspective. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2012. Review.
The gateway drug theory, that a pharmacological effect of cannabis leads to the use of hard drugs, has been discredited by the many peer reviewed studies which have examined it. This extensive review of studies sums it up:
"Taking into account the danger that the presentation of that sequence ["Gateway"] as a 'theory' may be (and has been) erroneously interpreted in causal terms, it may be hindering both research and intervention"
"The CLA [Common Liability to Addiction theory] concept provides theoretical and empirical foundation to research in etiology, quantitative risk and severity measurement, and targeted non-drug-specific intervention. This conclusion is supported by the papers in this special issue"
Vanyukov et al. Common liability to addiction and "gateway hypothesis": theoretical, empirical and evolutionary perspective. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2012. Review.
12
'...If my teenager was experimenting with alcohol I'd say they are normal, if they were smoking weed, I'd think, unfortunately, there is something wrong...'
No thirteen year old gets addicted to anything without underlying problems, usually a terrible home environment, so if my teenager became an addict, I would ask myself what went wrong with my parenting, and not what is wrong with my children or society.
It is most noticeable that parents of addicts and alcoholics rarely ask themselves this question, it is always outside factors to blame for their children's misery.
No thirteen year old gets addicted to anything without underlying problems, usually a terrible home environment, so if my teenager became an addict, I would ask myself what went wrong with my parenting, and not what is wrong with my children or society.
It is most noticeable that parents of addicts and alcoholics rarely ask themselves this question, it is always outside factors to blame for their children's misery.
6
That's pretty naive if you ask me. One is a hard drug, an addictive drug, a deadly drug. The other is marijuana.
3
This a false choice.
Is there any evidence that kids decide to replace alcohol consumption with pot? That kids who smoke pot drink less? Or does this just give a kid who would generally stick to alcohol only the liberty to now indulge in pot as well (guilt free) because he/she is not making an even worse choice.
Is there any evidence that kids decide to replace alcohol consumption with pot? That kids who smoke pot drink less? Or does this just give a kid who would generally stick to alcohol only the liberty to now indulge in pot as well (guilt free) because he/she is not making an even worse choice.
6
My biggest problem with pot is I don't want to enrich the drug cartels. I have friends in Mexico and the cartels have destroyed the country.
With two brothers in AA, I have a healthy respect for anything addictive. But the most addictive thing in my life--in most Americans lives--is crappy processed food. I never saw my addiction coming.
With two brothers in AA, I have a healthy respect for anything addictive. But the most addictive thing in my life--in most Americans lives--is crappy processed food. I never saw my addiction coming.
16
Legalization puts the cartels out of the weed biz.
There is way more profit in cocaine anyway.
Most of the weed in America is grown in America.
There is way more profit in cocaine anyway.
Most of the weed in America is grown in America.
8
Sugar. The most addictive drug on the planet.
8
Pot can be grown anywhere, by anyone. There is no need to have cartels or any business at all, except perhaps sellers of seed.
3
I'd be curious to see what other drugs marijuana and alcohol use lead to. While marijuana may be safer even now as its effects get stronger and stronger, the studies I read years ago seemed to indicate it serves as more of a "gateway" drug than alcohol. I wonder what the data is saying now.
3
Forgive me for asking but which studies would those be? The highly touted "gateway theory" was debunked over a decade ago, by multiple published studies. Near 50% of this country admits to smoking pot at least once, while less than 0.5% are addicted to "hard drugs". If marijuana use led any where, we'd have tens of millions of people smoking crack, shooting heroin, and snorting meth or coke, but we do not. Every single alcoholic began with soda, that does not mean caffeine is a "gateway drug". The entire theory is based on a feeble notion, and the math just doesn't add up.
39
I've smoked pot back in the late 70's, through the 80's, and occasionally since, and if the potency has risen, then it hasn't been by too much, since I was getting high on two puffs in high school, and it's pretty much the same today.
Also, alcohol leads to more tobacco use (if you are already a user), and marijuana use leads to eating (I hear that is still legal).
Also, alcohol leads to more tobacco use (if you are already a user), and marijuana use leads to eating (I hear that is still legal).
4
'...Every single alcoholic began with soda, that does not mean caffeine is a "gateway drug"...'
Safe to bet that every single alcoholic started with cigarettes, which are legal and deadly.
Safe to bet that every single alcoholic started with cigarettes, which are legal and deadly.
1
Hmm. How about neither? How about art, athletics or music? Heaven forbid, something really counter-cultural like religion? How about Jesus? How about movies, books or reading a couple of good newspapers every day? How about travel, volunteering or getting a job?
The author seems to be offering a false choice to our young people between drugs or alcohol "because everyone does it". Well lots of kids choose neither. The question is getting them to choose something else.
The author seems to be offering a false choice to our young people between drugs or alcohol "because everyone does it". Well lots of kids choose neither. The question is getting them to choose something else.
5
That was covered in the article. "Just say no" sound great, but the reality is it's a copout. Kids are going to make choices, sometimes the "safer" choice is the best choice.
8
You clearly were not reading the part where the author specifically said on more than one occasion that "neither" was his preference.
3
What amazes me is that there is difficulty arriving at pot as the safer choice. Maybe the author had never really put all the arguments in place, but it is hard so see how anyone could recommend alcohol over pot after reading this astonishingly convincing opinion piece.
My hope is that legalization will help to further refine our understanding of actual risks in using pot. I suspect they may be significant aspects, particularly for developing brains, and that we will understand more once the draconian prohibitions are lifted. Just as the author states, it is unrealistic to expect kids not to experiment, and one might even argue that such experiments are part of being human, but society should do its part in making adolescent experimenting less painful and less damaging.
My hope is that legalization will help to further refine our understanding of actual risks in using pot. I suspect they may be significant aspects, particularly for developing brains, and that we will understand more once the draconian prohibitions are lifted. Just as the author states, it is unrealistic to expect kids not to experiment, and one might even argue that such experiments are part of being human, but society should do its part in making adolescent experimenting less painful and less damaging.
12
If you see someone driving recklessly on the highway there's a good chance they are drunk. If you see someone being overly careful, driving the speed limit in the far right hand lane they may be stoned.
182
I'd warn my kids against tobacco. That's the one I worry about most.
17
Of course I'd rather my daughters do neither, but if I had to choose, it be marijuana. The two aren't even close frankly. Especially for girls...
12
It does seem as if the writer is assuming a scenario of excess as the norm, which, in the case of young people, might well be the case. Youth is an intemperate time of life. Our problem in the US is less about the the choice of recreational drugs than about a cultural norm that celebrates excess. Social drinking in most European countries is a given, but inebriation is rarely witnessed in the public realm. Getting hammered is a bad idea regardless of the methods employed. We need to encourage values of moderation as an alternative to our bigger-is-better culture of excess.
9
as a pediatrician, I have similar thoughts and feelings to the author, but I think that she has left out a few important factors. it has been my experience that it is much more common for teens and young adults to quickly become daily marijuana users compared to daily alcohol users, because of the lack of the hangover effect. In addition, while it does not present itself in morbidity and mortality statistics, we have all seen the effects of chronic marijuana usage on motivation in young adults , with some bright minds quickly extinguished from pursuing their goals. To ignore those issues is to weigh only part of the problem.
24
Maybe the stopped pursuing their goals because their goals changed. Maybe smoking marijuana helped them realize their goals were not right for them; Maybe they just grew up and would have changed their goals anyway.
Go to any elementary school and poll kids about their 'goals.' Obviously most people do not "pursue their goals" ... If they did, we'd all be astronauts, doctors, rock stars and pro sports idols.
Go to any elementary school and poll kids about their 'goals.' Obviously most people do not "pursue their goals" ... If they did, we'd all be astronauts, doctors, rock stars and pro sports idols.
5
Causality please. You are well educated. Is the marijuana a symptom or a cause?
9
Thank you for mentioning the demotivating effect of marijuana use. This is what I've seen in my middle-aged friends who are chronic pot users; none of them has lived up to his potential. They're all saddled with a daily habit that consumes hundreds of dollars a month in income--not an outcome any caring parent would wish on his or her offspring, but neither is it something a parent can control. If the author of the article saw the short-term memory impairment and the social withdrawal I see in these aging potheads, I think he might temper his enthusiasm for cannabis.
That said, I hope we soon see the day when pot is cleared for research, and we can get some long-term studies of its effects on users of all ages, types, and duration.
That said, I hope we soon see the day when pot is cleared for research, and we can get some long-term studies of its effects on users of all ages, types, and duration.
2
But what about the uncontrollable urge of white women to engage in sex with black men after smoking marijuana? This was the basis of the 1937 law that prohibited marijuana and followed by the "war on drugs" which turned out to be a war on black people. The elephant in the room is the racial element in evaluating whether to advise your son whether to choose marijuana or alcohol. If you are a black person having the "talk" with your son on how to survive the police in today's America, would you recommend marijuana use knowing that possession for him could mean incarceration and possible felony conviction whereas alcohol abuse would not? Marijuana is and has been the principal expedient for initiating black men into the totally biased legal apparatus that destroys families and prospects. Legalizing it won't solve all our racial problems; but may give black people to opportunity to evaluate its use on the merits of science rather than fear.
124
Support its legaliztion
2
All points are based on Alcohol abuse versus "responsible" Marijuana consumption.
My wife is Italian and at home we treat our kids as intelligent beings and show them the joy of enjoying a glass of wine or beer with a good meal. My oldest son is now 24 and has shared wine with us since he was 17. He has been through college and is now in graduate school. He enjoys wine and beer and has been drunk very few times. He recognizes the difference between enjoying a good glass of wine and abuse Alcohol. My other two sons are 17 and 21 are following the same path. Not surprisingly, their closest friends have recognized their behavior as smart and even cool and adhere to their style.
Given the choice of having my kids drink or smoke Marijuana, I have no doubts. Responsible drinking is a prove of a good education and a civilized behavior; Marijuana, as good as it might feel, it is not (yet) a civilized behavior.
My wife is Italian and at home we treat our kids as intelligent beings and show them the joy of enjoying a glass of wine or beer with a good meal. My oldest son is now 24 and has shared wine with us since he was 17. He has been through college and is now in graduate school. He enjoys wine and beer and has been drunk very few times. He recognizes the difference between enjoying a good glass of wine and abuse Alcohol. My other two sons are 17 and 21 are following the same path. Not surprisingly, their closest friends have recognized their behavior as smart and even cool and adhere to their style.
Given the choice of having my kids drink or smoke Marijuana, I have no doubts. Responsible drinking is a prove of a good education and a civilized behavior; Marijuana, as good as it might feel, it is not (yet) a civilized behavior.
7
THANK YOU. My family of European immigrants did the same. In the 60s, there was not this hysteria about giving kids alcohol. We were always allowed small glasses of wine, especially at holidays. We were allowed to taste beer (yuck! we hated it!) and sips of bourbon or vodka. We learned the differences between each types and why one was better than the other.
Today, not one person in my family has ever had a drinking problem. Nobody drinks "alone" -- they only consume small amounts of alcohol (usually wine) with meals.
If nothing else: if you drink responsibly, your whole house will never reek from alcohol. But even a casual marijuana user will end up with a house that stinks from pot. It is insidious and gets inside all the carpet and fabric.
Today, not one person in my family has ever had a drinking problem. Nobody drinks "alone" -- they only consume small amounts of alcohol (usually wine) with meals.
If nothing else: if you drink responsibly, your whole house will never reek from alcohol. But even a casual marijuana user will end up with a house that stinks from pot. It is insidious and gets inside all the carpet and fabric.
3
Yes I see the "civilized" folk wrapped around trees every Friday night, and stumbling out of bars after they've taste tested every civilized brand of beer in the joint. Alcohol is a hard drug, marijuana is not. The social norms need to change if that is the case.
6
What's "civilized" or not is personal opinion. Look into how many extremely successful, creative and "civilized" people are regular marijuana users and you may consider changing yours. Besides, marijuana users almost always hold their pinky in the air when inhaling.
6
Binge drinking will always be a terrible choice but moderate, responsible drinking is what I would prefer my kids to choose. Perhaps part of the problem is that alcohol use is restricted until age 21 in this country. Young adults do not get to experience the occasional glass of wine with dinner or other forms of responsible drinking in the family setting. Instead they are let loose, all on their own at college where binge drinking is apparently quite common. They also need to be taught that drinking and driving is never acceptable under any circumstance. Indeed we need to model responsible behaviour.
10
Perfect point. It is totally absurd to have an 18 year old adult having dinner with other adults and not being allowed to drink wine or beer.
3
I agree strongly with the medical evidence here, but I'd still rather my offspring have the occasional underage drink, rather than the occasional illegal toke ... depending on the state in which they are located. The laws about marijuana are so draconian in many states that the legal (and hence lifelong) consequences of being caught far outweigh the medical consequences of partaking.
9
But in a legal environment, cannabis use is clearly the least harmful. Generally the worst parts about using cannabis are due to the laws against it.
7
I'm confused about something. In the 7th paragraph the writer acknowledges that it's abuse that is the problem then says "but for alcohol" as if to indicate this isn't true of alcohol. He then points out the relationship of problems to the presence of an alcohol use disorder.
As an alcohol use disorder is the new name developed for the DSM-5, the bible of psychiatric diagnosis, to cover both abuse of and dependence on alcohol, I don't understand what he wrote.
And three other issues the author doesn't point out or downplays:
1. We really have limited knowledge about marijuana addiction (and yes, it does exist). With alcohol, binge drinking can be dangerous to your health but it won't make you into an alcoholic; for that there appears to need to be a genetic predisposition which is why alcoholism tends to run in families. We really don't know whether if you use a lot of marijuana on a frequent basis it can make someone addicted to it.
2. Another concern a parent should have. As the writer notes, marijuana possession is still a crime thoughout much of the country as is underage drinking. The difference is that the former may put the buyer into touch with criminals who may also be dealing in more dangerous drugs such as cocaine and heroin while the buyer of alcohol, even if underage, is unlikely to be buying from a criminal element.
3. There is a great deal of concern about the lung and heart damage that may be done by smoking marijuana.
As an alcohol use disorder is the new name developed for the DSM-5, the bible of psychiatric diagnosis, to cover both abuse of and dependence on alcohol, I don't understand what he wrote.
And three other issues the author doesn't point out or downplays:
1. We really have limited knowledge about marijuana addiction (and yes, it does exist). With alcohol, binge drinking can be dangerous to your health but it won't make you into an alcoholic; for that there appears to need to be a genetic predisposition which is why alcoholism tends to run in families. We really don't know whether if you use a lot of marijuana on a frequent basis it can make someone addicted to it.
2. Another concern a parent should have. As the writer notes, marijuana possession is still a crime thoughout much of the country as is underage drinking. The difference is that the former may put the buyer into touch with criminals who may also be dealing in more dangerous drugs such as cocaine and heroin while the buyer of alcohol, even if underage, is unlikely to be buying from a criminal element.
3. There is a great deal of concern about the lung and heart damage that may be done by smoking marijuana.
2
Marijuana addiction exists because you say so. It has been illegal for 90 years. And being used. The only problem seems to be the curse of the law and legal system. Most drugs that go on the market from big pharma are tested for maybe 5 years. Maybe. And the results are usually biased by the manufacturer. That should be illegal.
6
To HT:
Addiction to marijuana is identified as a disorder in all the standard medical disease classifications. I can assure you that I didn't write them so apparently many other experts believe it exists.
And if you use your logic, then heroin and cocaine should also be legal as they've been illegal for just as long and are still being used. Or do you believe the only problem with their use is that they are illegal.
And as virtually all the evidence for the medical use of marijuana, apart from its use for nausea and vomiting related to cancer treatments and as an appetite stimulant for patients with AIDS, is anecdotal and thus far short of the evidence of pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to submit to get their products approved, you must certainly oppose medical marijuana use
Addiction to marijuana is identified as a disorder in all the standard medical disease classifications. I can assure you that I didn't write them so apparently many other experts believe it exists.
And if you use your logic, then heroin and cocaine should also be legal as they've been illegal for just as long and are still being used. Or do you believe the only problem with their use is that they are illegal.
And as virtually all the evidence for the medical use of marijuana, apart from its use for nausea and vomiting related to cancer treatments and as an appetite stimulant for patients with AIDS, is anecdotal and thus far short of the evidence of pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to submit to get their products approved, you must certainly oppose medical marijuana use
1
Pot makes you stupid and alcohol is addictive, so the choice is between a high probability of stupidity or a somewhat lower probability of alcoholism. These probabilities are affected by personal makeup, age in the case of pot, and family history. Personally, I'd rather my kids drink and take the risk of alcoholism. Better a smart capable drunk than an idiot.
7
Pot does not make you stupid. I am a regular user, parent, and successful business owner. It is relaxing, stress relieving and helps my creativity flow. I watch people at evening events get uglier and more "stupid" by the hour with each fancy cocktail. That does not happen when you smoke pot. Sorry, Bill, you are wrong.
11
How many 'stupid' pot users do you personally know. I would hate to think that somebody would generalize millions of American pot users to a character portrayed by Hollywood. Get with the times Bill, the tides are changing from the propaganda that your generation was so susceptible to.
5
There may be short-term effects, but there are no reputable studies proving that cannabis causes permanent brain damage in adults, unlike alcohol. In fact, teen drinkers who also smoke cannabis may suffer less brain damage than drinkers who do not smoke cannabis [Mahmood et al. 2010; Jacobus et al. 2009]
Even the U.S. Government has a patent on the cannabinoids found in cannabis for protecting the brain: Patent 6630507 - Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants. Filing date: Apr 21, 1999.
This extensive review of studies which examined the long-term cognitive effects of using cocaine, (meth)amphetamines, ecstasy, opiates, alcohol, and cannabis, sums it up:
"All substances of abuse, except cannabis, were associated with sustained deficits in executive functioning, especially inhibition."
"There was little evidence for sustained cognitive impairments in adult abstinent cannabis users."
van Holst RJ and Schilt T. Drug-related decrease in neuropsychological functions of abstinent drug users. Curr Drug Abuse Rev. 2011. Review.
Even the U.S. Government has a patent on the cannabinoids found in cannabis for protecting the brain: Patent 6630507 - Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants. Filing date: Apr 21, 1999.
This extensive review of studies which examined the long-term cognitive effects of using cocaine, (meth)amphetamines, ecstasy, opiates, alcohol, and cannabis, sums it up:
"All substances of abuse, except cannabis, were associated with sustained deficits in executive functioning, especially inhibition."
"There was little evidence for sustained cognitive impairments in adult abstinent cannabis users."
van Holst RJ and Schilt T. Drug-related decrease in neuropsychological functions of abstinent drug users. Curr Drug Abuse Rev. 2011. Review.
8
"Having a blood alcohol level of at least 0.05 percent, though, increased the odds of being in a crash by 575 percent.'
If the goal is saving lives, it's obvious where attention needs to be paid.
This article should put every last nail that needed in the coffin of alcohol supremacism over cannabis. Ending this nonsense is a matter of life and death.
If the goal is saving lives, it's obvious where attention needs to be paid.
This article should put every last nail that needed in the coffin of alcohol supremacism over cannabis. Ending this nonsense is a matter of life and death.
24
Thanks, Dr Carroll. We need more clear eyed, data driven advice. Although I would say as an adult who did my share of experimenting and observing others indulging, the data, in this case confirms what seems to me obvious.
9
From a 'health' perspective, what you say is true. Alcohol is a much greater risk to our teen's health than marijuana. However, my son is an African American. He is at much greater risk of being stopped and searched for pot than a white kid. If he is caught with it (or in a car where somebody else has it or simply in their presence) he is much more likely to be charged with a felony than if he were white. He is also much more likely to spend time in jail, than if he were white. Both a felony conviction and time in jail would do more long term damage to his health and future prospect and a night of binge drinking might. In the context of a white kid, your reasoning is compelling. However, for a black kid in the US, your focus is too narrow and consideration of the legal jeopardy and consequences to his future health and well being inadequate in the context of race in America. The lessons is clear, avoid both, but above all else if you have to choose, pick alcohol over marijuana. For getting caught with pot, just once, can (and if your are black, will) ruin your life.
301
While I might agree with you that your son could be treated unfairly compared to a white kid in the same situation, Louisiana law says unless him and his buddies are riding with 60+ POUNDS he would get a slap on the wrist and a small fine. I don't think he's looking at a felony charge for riding in a car with a joint.
3
This is an incredibly valuable perspective. The potential costs of pot for black kids are much higher than for white kids.
9
Fair enough but if your son moved to the West Coast it is no longer illegal to have it on you in small amounts. Over the border from me in Washington it's being sold in mini-malls and downtown storefronts and miraculously life has continued on as normal.
Yes, the laws in your state to keep it illegal are to trap young men and keep the prison industrial complex chugging along. What are you going to do about it?
Yes, the laws in your state to keep it illegal are to trap young men and keep the prison industrial complex chugging along. What are you going to do about it?
10
Bravo, Dr. Carroll .
What a reasoned & thoughtful article (from someone "with skin in the game").
What a gift to parents to use in their "conversation" with their children.
As a nurse in my 7th decade, who has sampled both substances, I concur.
What a reasoned & thoughtful article (from someone "with skin in the game").
What a gift to parents to use in their "conversation" with their children.
As a nurse in my 7th decade, who has sampled both substances, I concur.
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Both of them cause a terrible damage to a one's personality if he can't control himself. Choosing the leasser evil is a right position usually, but such articles may look for someone as justifying a pot using. I know many people, who's changed for the worse, no matter what they prefered(usually both), and when it's about teenagers adults should take it serious, talking with them about dangers of drug addiction.
3
I wonder what the author would say if asked, would you rather have a child that was a lifelong causal user of alcohol or pot? There is a reason why we have the term Pot Head.
6
Pot heads are annoying, but they're still far more tolerable than alcoholics. On is spaced out often, but the other is more prone to be dangerously irrational.
1
An alcoholic or a pothead? That's just as easy.
2
I'm a pothead. I'm 74, have used marijuana since the '60s, now I have my medical marijuana card so it's semi-legal. As a pothead, I've successfully held jobs in management, software and marketing. Since my retirement I've been buying, maintaining and operating our rental properties. I used to run marathons; now I cycle many hundreds of hilly miles a month. I do enjoy a glass of wine or two occasionally with dinner but never to the point where I get a buzz on. I've never smoked tobacco and don't take any prescription medications. Marijuana is a much better way to kick back and relax compared to alcohol.
So what's my point? Almost anything in moderation is better than anything in excess. Choose your drugs wisely and don't be led astray by "common wisdom" (potheads are stupid, marijuana use leads to heavy drugs), marketing hype ("Is this drug right for you - ask your doctor"), or misguided legal prohibitions (pot is illegal, alcohol is legal).
Just some thoughts from an old pothead.
So what's my point? Almost anything in moderation is better than anything in excess. Choose your drugs wisely and don't be led astray by "common wisdom" (potheads are stupid, marijuana use leads to heavy drugs), marketing hype ("Is this drug right for you - ask your doctor"), or misguided legal prohibitions (pot is illegal, alcohol is legal).
Just some thoughts from an old pothead.
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excellent analysis, doctor. i am posting this article for a wider audience that will be more inclined to read this on FB rather than the NYT. thank you.
5
Huh, I would have though the NYT had a pretty wide reaching net. Who knew?!
As stated, the effects of alcohol are much more dangerous than pot, the only thing I have seen a pot smoker get violent with is a bag of Doritos.
31
All drugs can be abused. And all have benefits. This one is a excellent drug. Well tested. Why is it illegal?
24
What benefits does alcohol have?
1
This issue really became clear for me after the case of the girl in Steubenville, Ohio who was gang-raped. A partial video was aired by some news outlets and I watched those (also drunk) boys violate that that poor, senseless, barely conscious girl and I recognized that an incident like this would never happen if these young people had been smoking marijuana. Smoking pot might cause you to fall asleep, but you would never lose consciousness and it certainly does not cause the lack of inhibition that led those young men to degrade her (and themselves) so horribly.
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Culture is such a pervasive force. Alcohol is a part of that culture. At least half of auto deaths in this country are due to the mix of booze and driving. We could prevent most of that with ignitions that prevent the drunk from driving. But we choose not to - primarily as a cultural and not an economic choice. Can you imagine how much we would spend to prevent terrorist from killing 15,000 plus Americans per year?
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This is a powerful anti-alcohol argument, and that's where the focus ought to be.
To frame it any other way--i.e., my drug is better than your drug--is avoiding the issue.
To frame it any other way--i.e., my drug is better than your drug--is avoiding the issue.
2
Great article and well reasoned. It doesn't buy into the false and hysterical comments promoted by the parties that have vested interests. Thanks.
10
I completely disagree. You cannot allow one man to drink booze while arresting his neighbor for smoking a joint, that makes a mockery out of the entire justice system. Besides, marijuana's illegality pushes people towards alcohol, and that is a major issue. States with medical marijuana laws have enjoyed a 9% average decrease in fatal car accidents (because people drink less when given legal options), and a 25% reduction in prescription drug overdose deaths. When people can choose something safer than alcohol, many will. That alone saves thousands of lives. Marijuana is a tool, yes it can be harmful, but when used the correct way it can be very beneficial to society. It should not be illegal for adult use, and that has to be part of the discussion.
7
You hit the nail on the head Joey. Our entire justice system is a mockery (of actual justice).
3
I couldn't agree more. I'm sure that the numbers you gave pertaining to alcohol related violence and risk taking behaviors is very conservative, and know that unreported attacks, accidents, and destructive behaviors are much higher than the research shows. The other issue is that parents who abuse alcohol regularly, often begat children, who at an early age also follow suit. I live in a small rural community and work with numerous adolescents who believe getting drunk, driving, having sex, while under the influence of alcohol, are considered cultural norms and not only acceptable behaviors, but desirable ones.
18
Perhaps because the writer has advanced degrees, he ignores practical matters for those without. Many employers, including the military, drug test regularly, omitting alcohol. Alcohol therefore can be "safer" for continued employment compared to marijuana. On the other hand, an OVI (operating a vehicle while impaired) for underage drinking) charge in my state only requires .02 percent blood alcohol. Brain development matters, too. Genetics, eg. alcohol and other addictions in the family, matter. I tell my kids to wait until clearly they are adult before considering regular marijuana use to minimize brain impact. We model very minimal alcohol use and only when driving is not planned.
11
Many kids do not work through college, and low level jobs barely test, if they test at all. By the time your child graduates, they will be an adult and free to do as they like. The question is this, while in college (and let us say unemployed) which one would you prefer your kid used? I just can't see alcohol winning that argument.
1
Dr. Carroll, there is one major fallacy in your logic. If acute fatalities were the only issue, we would have to regulate water use because ingesting too much in one sitting will kill. Instead, you should ask the question, what are the comparative harms of light, social use of alcohol as compared to marijuana? Here the equation shifts dramatically, with alcohol actually having some mild health benefits if used weekly or even once per day, but marijuana at that rate of use is associated with some significant harms, most notably a doubling in the rate of psychosis and eventual schizophrenia. About 15% of users will experience isolated psychotic symptoms (Thomas et al., 1996; Barkus et al., 2006; Smith et al., 2009), compared to 0.5% of those who use alcohol (Perala et al., 2010). Of these about 35% could be expected to progress from such prodromal symptoms to full psychosis (Cannon et al., 2008). From cannabis-induced psychosis, nearly half progress to chronic schizophrenia spectrum disorders versus 5% of those with alcohol induced psychosis (Arendt et al., 2008; Niemi-Pynttari et al., 2013). And that's just psychosis, without considering the increased rates of anxiety, depression, panic and suicide. So the next time you talk to kids about this question, talk about responsible use while making it clear that there may be no such thing as responsible use of marijuana until we can figure out who among them will be harmed and who can expect to escape relatively unscathed.
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I believe that these studies note correlation, not causation. Further, most of the subjects studied also use alcohol, so it's hard to disentangle which drug might be complicit if causation is discovered.
Which is not to say that marijuana is definitively safe. More study would be most welcome. However, sufficient study will only happen of marijuana is rescheduled so that researchers can have easier access to it.
Which is not to say that marijuana is definitively safe. More study would be most welcome. However, sufficient study will only happen of marijuana is rescheduled so that researchers can have easier access to it.
14
We have much higher (marijuana) use rates than many other countries on earth yet we all share the same rate of schizophrenia and psychosis, around 1-2%. Marijuana does not cause either, and no study on earth claims otherwise.
9
The major and greater fallacy in your logic, Ms. Miller, is that we are not discussing potential fatalities but actual fatalities. Very few people die every year of acute water intoxication, whereas far more die of acute alcohol intoxication and other alcohol-related health issues and accidents. According to the CDC, in 2013 more than 18,000 people in the US died of alcoholic liver disease. I don't have the capability to look up ICD-10 codes to examine specific causes, but the number of alcohol-related deaths overall in 2013 per the CDC was ~29,000. The number of water intoxication fatalities per year is so low in comparison there's no data for it.
6
Well said, doctor. I appreciate your structured analysis, but it may lend too much credence to a question with an obvious answer.
This isn't a tough choice at all. If I had kids, I would rather them smoke a joint every day than binge drink on Friday and Saturday nights. It's not even close. Mild depressive effects versus a combination of CNS depression and euphoria; the latter is clearly more dangerous. Anyone with significant exposure to people who are really high and people who are really drunk know which group is more dangerous to themselves and others. People who equate the two are clueless or worse.
This isn't a tough choice at all. If I had kids, I would rather them smoke a joint every day than binge drink on Friday and Saturday nights. It's not even close. Mild depressive effects versus a combination of CNS depression and euphoria; the latter is clearly more dangerous. Anyone with significant exposure to people who are really high and people who are really drunk know which group is more dangerous to themselves and others. People who equate the two are clueless or worse.
147
If they needed to smoke a joint every day, I'd be more concerned than if they binge drank on the weekend.
2
Steve
Nobody said the word "need" - that changes much. But honestly it would still be safer.
Nobody said the word "need" - that changes much. But honestly it would still be safer.
6
I totally agree, especially since I now have a college grad, a college freshman daughter, and a high school junior. The amount of drinking and binge drinking happening in their social circles is shocking, and the stories I hear from my daughter about the inebriation of some her female friends in high school and college is horrifying. If my kids are going to experiment with drugs or alcohol, I hope it's primarily with pot.
Thank you. You've said it all and well. No one chooses to have a son or daughter use substances that might damage their brains or bodies. But alcohol is supremely deadly, especially for young people, and often treated with a wink. The massive damage it does to adults is generally treated in the media as if it only affected a small number of abusers, when in reality if you dig beneath the surface, I suspect it can be found in most. And for most adults, use started when they were teens.
87
I agree. This is exactly what I told my kids. We always have the option to start with the facts and to assess risk properly. Great article.
111
I still remember years ago when our son's pediatrician told me in front of my fourteen-year old that he'd much rather have him smoke marihuana than cigarettes. I was shocked that he was giving my son permission--but I knew he was right and now see how he thought things through as you. Thanks for a great essay!
3
And if your son was then arrested for marijuana possession, I wonder if you would have thanked your pediatrician for his advice.
1
The fact that I THOUGHT he was giving permission is not the same thing as him actually giving permission--he was a wise doctor, and he'd probably already had a serious private talk his patient that made the consequences clear. That seems the right way to handle it.
4