Getting drunk or high can feel similar to some people, while others describe the sensations as very different. Of course, the way you feel when you’re intoxicated also depends on how much of the substance you consume. Weed may appear to be safer than alcohol simply because we aren’t yet aware of certain risks. Before getting into comparing alcohol and weed, it’s important to understand some of the factors that make the comparison tricky. It can also protect against neurological issues like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. A lakefront oasis providing a continuum of personalized addiction treatment surrounded by scenic views with private rooms, luxury amenities, and group outings.
What’s Worse for Your Brain — Alcohol or Marijuana?
There is no disagreement among experts, and most likely the population at large, about the need for more studies on the effects of marijuana use on our bodies and brains as more states vote to legalize it. In his clinical experience, Maxwell said, smoking pot can exacerbate existing anxiety and depression, as well as psychotic conditions. Studies have found a connection between increased fastest way to flush alcohol out of system psychotic episodes and regular pot use. The scans revealed that the drinkers’ brains had reduced gray matter and compromised white matter. Gray matter contains the majority of neuron cell bodies and axons and is responsible for helping the brain process information. It contains nerve fibers that help neuron cells communicate across different brain regions.
How Many Deaths Are Caused By Driving High?
There are countless cannabis products on the market and a number of consumption options, from vaping to edibles. Blending modern and traditional approaches, a residential treatment center addressing substance use disorders with equine therapy in Scottsdale, Arizona. Monarch Shores offers luxury housing with beautiful ocean views and individualized addiction treatment in Southern how to make myself pee California. With proper tolerance breaks, you can lower your tolerance of THC and become less reliant on large amounts of cannabis to feel the same way and regulate your cannabis use.
While there can be the odd allergic reaction or bad interaction or even a child may inadvertently consume cannabis, there isn’t sufficient data to point towards any deaths caused by cannabis. As for marijuana, whose legalization for medical uses has been solution based treatment and detox a matter of strong public policy debate for years, there is ample evidence that beneficial compounds can be found in the plant. This means that for people taking drugs or medications while drinking, the alcohol can increase or decrease levels of the active drug in the body. On the other hand, self-harm and suicide are much more common among people who binge drink or drink frequently. But scientists have had a hard time deciphering whether excessive alcohol use causes depression and anxiety or whether people with depression and anxiety drink in an attempt to relieve those symptoms. In 2014, 30,722 people died from alcohol-induced causes in the US — and that does not count drinking-related accidents or homicides.
Alcohol’s effects on behavior can also lead to more crime, while marijuana use appears to have little-to-no effect. Alcohol is a factor in 40 percent of violent crimes, according to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. But various studies found marijuana doesn’t make users more aggressive or lead to crime. There’s also some divergence within the specific categories of harm. But alcohol’s crime risk is due to its tendency to make people more aggressive (and more prone to committing crime), while heroin’s crime risk is based on the massive criminal trafficking network behind it.
Excessive alcohol use can cause brain damage and degenerative conditions like Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which can cause severe memory impairment and other cognitive deficits. It can even decrease brain matter and this damage can be permanent. Alcohol and cannabis are vastly different but often get lumped together because they are intoxicants. The way they make you feel may make them seem similar but their impact on your body and any lasting damage are not remotely the same. “There are segments of the population that want to bypass the entire process, grabbing this nugget of truth … and claiming smoking marijuana can be good for your health and have medical uses,” Baler said. But cigarette smoking plays a complicated role in studying the impact of marijuana smoke, Baler said.
It’s also important to remember that there aren’t many high-quality, long-term studies on weed and its effects. The immediate effects of weed can vary quite a bit from person to person. If you do get hungover, you might experience other effects, including headaches and diarrhea. It’s important to find a program that can support your personal goals for recovery. If you need help with marijuana addiction, learn more about treatment at marijuana rehabs. Providing tailored treatment for addiction and co-occurring disorders with evidence-based therapies, a holistic approach, and specialized treatment tracks.
That doesn’t mean just legalization or prohibition, but regulation, taxes, and education as well. Both alcohol and marijuana can be dangerous substances, and addiction is a potential risk regardless of perceived safety. It’s important to exercise caution and make informed decisions about substance use to minimize potential risks and harms. One of the main negative issues of weed vs. alcohol is all of the issues with smoking marijuana. Edibles cut down on one of the major issues with cannabis because they don’t require smoking and eliminate many of these risks.
Is Marijuana More Addictive Than Alcohol?
For example, one person may have a very low tolerance for weed but be able to tolerate alcohol well. Another person might not have any issues with misusing alcohol but still find it hard to function without weed. Sure, research on the topic is ramping up a bit, but there’s still a lack of large, long-term studies.
They ultimately found a 5.8% increase in injury crash rates and a 4.1% increase in fatal crash rates when comparing the data of cannabis being legalized and when states opened recreational sales. They did find that recreational sales did not increase crash rates as much as the initial legalization did. While the growing increase in medical and recreational cannabis legalization is providing a larger data set there isn’t enough tracking to link specific medical deaths to cannabis.
Marijuana smokers tend to smoke much less than cigarette smokers, as some may smoke one joint a few times a week. Because marijuana can impair coordination and balance, there is the risk of hurting oneself, particularly if someone drives or chooses to have unprotected sex while their inhibitions are lowered, Baler said. These are two areas where people using marijuana could hurt themselves for the short and long term. Studies have found that these effects can persist for several weeks after stopping marijuana use. There may also be a link between daily weed use and poorer verbal memory in adults who start smoking at a young age. For a 1994 survey, epidemiologists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse asked more than 8,000 people from ages 15 to 64 about their drug use.
It affects gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) which can cause relaxation but long term use of alcohol can affect your levels of GABA or glutamate in the nervous system. Alcohol can lower inhibitions but it can also impair judgment, coordination, and memory. Alcohol on the other hand can heavily impact your cognitive function. It can lead to impaired judgment, decreased reaction times, and difficulty concentrating.
- The amount of research regarding marijuana’s long-term effect on brain health, however, is not so ample.
- Vox is here to explain this unprecedented election cycle and help you understand the larger stakes.
- Health risks are just one way to measure whether marijuana is safer than alcohol.
- That doesn’t mean just legalization or prohibition, but regulation, taxes, and education as well.
Over time, it can temporarily decrease the prevalence of CB1 receptors which can cause memory issues but, overall, the compounds in cannabis including many of the terpenes can be neuroprotective. This means that they can help protect nerve cells from damage which can decrease your chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease. It can be challenging to ascertain how many deaths are caused by cannabis.
Researchers will always need to balance making information simple and accessible for policymakers and the public with the inherent complexity of drugs and their effects. This makes the task of building scientific drug policies very challenging. Alcohol and marijuana are both intoxicants, but one study from Columbia University researchers estimated that alcohol multiplies the chance of a fatal traffic accident by nearly 14 times, while marijuana nearly doubles the risk.