In legal recreational markets, people up for a big night out have the choice of alcohol or cannabis. Here are nine reasons to choose the latter: cannabis is better than alcohol.
Many people view alcohol as an acceptable social dink. For some families, the first bottle marks a rite of passage into adulthood. Cannabis on the other hand, is demonized for being both illicit and detrimental with no inherent good whatsoever. Given that cannabis is illegal in most parts of the globe, while alcohol is legal in the same space, these biased conclusions are not surprising. But drawing objective comparisons tells a different story, as cannabis clearly stands out as having greater good to offer.
Alcohol Use Directly Kills More Than 30,000
In the year 2014, there were 30,722 documented deaths in the U.S. that were directly related to alcohol. This figure did not even include those of alcohol related accidents and homicides, adding this would push the figure up to 90,000.
On the other hand, there are no recorded deaths attributable to cannabis overdoses, reports from the Drug Enforcement Administration indicate. Another study — published in the American Journal of Public Health (1997) — backed this finding, indicating that healthy cannabis consumers were no more at risk for death than non consumers. This means that while alcohol use may shorten your life span, cannabis consumption will not.
Alcohol Makes You Fat
It’s true that cannabis is an appetite stimulant; however it does not cause weight gain. Some studies have suggested that regular consumers actually have a reduced risk for obesity.
Alcohol on the other hand has been linked to an increased risk for obesity. Also alcohol itself is high in calories, so the more you drink the more calories you are piling up.
Cannabis, Not Alcohol has Proven Medicinal Benefits
It’s long been common knowledge that cannabis can treat numerous health conditions. This includes the treatment of chronic pain, PTSD, convulsive disorders, tumor suppression and many more.
Alcohol on the other hand has no known medicinal value.
Alcohol is Highly Addictive
You probably know more alcoholics than you do cannabis addicts. But before you conclude that alcohol is more widely used than cannabis, recent statistics revealed that over half of Americans had at least tried cannabis. A 1994 survey conducted by epidemiologists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse interviewed 8,000 adults aged between 18 and 64.
From this cohort, nine percent of those who experimented with cannabis developed some form of dependence on the drug. This is quite low considering that addiction rate to nicotine is at thirty two percent. While for alcohol, the figure stood at fifteen percent which is significantly higher than that of cannabis.
Alcohol Impairs Motor and Cognitive Functioning
Both alcohol and cannabis impair judgment, which may lead to reckless driving, it is worse when consuming the two together. However, this study published by the NHTSA (2015) found that having a blood alcohol level of just 0.05% will increase your risk for a car crash by a staggering 575 percent.
The same can not be said for THC.
Alcohol Causes Liver Cirrhosis and Cancer
Excessive consumption of alcohol will cause cirrhosis of the liver, a fact widely acknowledged. Research from the National Cancer Institute has also reveals that alcohol is a carcinogen.
While smoking has unquestionable links to lung cancer, research suggests that cannabis does not increase one’s risk for lung cancer. But smoking does increase ones risk for throat cancer due to combustion.
Alcohol is Strongly Linked to Violence
When people overindulge in alcohol, they tend to become aggressive and may direct this energy into physical violence. This is why alcohol abuse is strongly correlated to domestic violence.
Cannabis has the opposite effect, tending to relax people. Consumers of weed are also less likely to show aggressive and violent behavior towards a partner.
Cannabis Stimulates and Sustains Sex Drive
Alcohol may limit your inhibitions so that any potential mate will fit the bill. Unfortunately it will not make the moment magical as your sex drive may dampen soon after. Alcohol can also cause erectile dysfunction.
Cannabis, on the other hand, enhances and sustains sex drive. Cannabis can enhance sexual performance of both males and females but it can have a negative effect if you are trying to get pregnant.
Alcohol Gives You Big Hangovers
If you have yet to nurse an alcohol hangover, it is not an experience to look forward to. From continuously throwing up to pounding headaches, unquenchable thirst and tummy aches, this case of personal poisoning is brutal. Crossfading (combining alcohol and cannabis) may cause you to green out, which will make you feel nasty too. Cannabis, on its own, will not give you much of a hangover if any.
Given these facts, cannabis is indisputably the winner. So the next time you have to choose between the two, consider these nine facts!
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