Marijuana vs Alcohol: Which Is Really Worse for Your Health?

The cannabis industry is making marijuana as readily available thanks to recreational legalization; it could be as common as alcohol. While there are some issues to the abuse of cannabis they are nowhere near as hazardous as alcoholism and the toll of alcohol on the body. 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.

How Weed and Alcohol Stack Up Against Each Other

In 2014, 30,722 people died from alcohol-induced causes in the US — and that does not count drinking-related accidents or homicides. If those deaths were included, the number would be closer to 90,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 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. “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.

Drinking alcohol before using weed can ramp up the effects of THC. But if you’re sensitive to weed or don’t have much experience using it, it’s best to avoid mixing the two. It’s also important to remember that people can have very different reactions to the same mix of alcohol and weed. If you’re out in a group, one person’s reaction might be very different than yours. Occasionally mixing alcohol and weed — also known as crossfading — likely won’t lead to major health problems. But there are a lot of variables to consider, including which one you use first and how you consume them.

Alcohol is strongly linked with several types of cancer; marijuana is not.

Although for palliative care, he said, “that would be a different realm of medicine,” in which the goal is to drug a person so they do not feel pain. “Researchers are working around the clock to try to identify the ingredients in marijuana that have potential,” to benefit human health, Baler said. “You’re cumulatively impairing your cognitive function. What’s going to be the ultimate result, nobody can say.” One of the most common ways to ingest cannabis is through smoking. THC, the psychoactive chemical in cannabis, is almost instantly absorbed and quickly reaches high blood concentration after inhalation through the lungs.

Further research is needed to better understand the relationship between marijuana use and addiction. One argument I often hear is that many more people end up in the emergency room after drinking alcohol than smoking pot—and that’s true. But the reason for that is because many more people in this country drink alcohol than smoke pot. For the study, which was published in January, researchers used fMRI scans to see how two alcoholic drinks impacts brain function in 50 healthy adult males.

This also skews any data because someone engaged in an accident or having a health issue may have more than cannabis in their system. It might seem harmless to mix alcohol and weed, but doing so can be a slippery slope toward getting overly intoxicated. If you take medication, talk to your doctor before using weed, alcohol, or both.

Is Marijuana More Addictive Than Alcohol?

It can also lower your inhibitions making you more likely to make riskier or rash decisions that can lead to an accident. Cannabis can affect your ability to pay attention, memory, and decision-making. It can overall slow your reaction time and your general perception of time and distance which can increase your likelihood of getting into an accident. It narcissistic alcoholic mother can be challenging to ascertain how many deaths are caused by cannabis. While there can be the odd allergic reaction or bad interaction or even a child may inadvertently consume cannabis, there isn’t sufficient data to point towards any deaths caused by cannabis. Additionally, while you can have a cannabis overdose it’s not remotely fatal while an overdose of alcohol can cause lasting damage and even death.

Thankfully, as more states legalize cannabis and recreational sales we can observe more data about the effect on death and accident rates. One study examined these data points exploring when cannabis was legalized vs. when retail sales began. Additionally, cannabis is not always the only drug or substance that someone might be using.

In fact, studies suggest that regular smokers have a slightly reduced risk of obesity. Having a blood-alcohol level of at least 0.05%, on the other hand, increased that risk by 575%. For marijuana, some research initially suggested a link between smoking and lung cancer, but that has been debunked. The January report found that cannabis was not connected to any increased risk of the lung cancers or head and inspiring recovery quotes neck cancers tied to smoking cigarettes. On the other hand, low to moderate drinking — about one drink a day — has been linked with a lower risk of heart attack and stroke compared with abstention.

Usually, a bad reaction to mixing weed and alcohol will pass within a few hours. The researchers reported that combining THC and alcohol consistently impaired driving performance, with worse performance during nighttime simulations. For example, you might feel like you’re good to drive, but your blood alcohol level may be well over the legal limit. Recognizing when to seek help for marijuana or alcohol abuse can be challenging. If you find either substance interfering with your life, or if you find yourself questioning your substance use, talking to a professional can be helpful.

1. 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.
2. Even heavy marijuana abuse can at worst cause schizophrenia in people with a history of mental illness.
3. People attribute it to be a social lubricant that allows people to stave off social anxiety and be more outgoing and talkative.
4. While both are intoxicants used recreationally, their legality, patterns of use and long-term effects on the body make the two drugs difficult to compare.
5. If you think you need help, you can contact a rehab or share your thoughts with a specialist.

People’s responses to each substance can vary greatly, so what seems safer for one person might not work for someone else. There are countless cannabis products on the market and a number of consumption options, from vaping to edibles. Alcohol can contribute to social and behavioral issues, including aggression, mood swings, outbursts, relationship issues, and legal troubles. It’s important to note that when cannabis gets legalized many people may use cannabis semi-legally by consuming illegally purchased cannabis which can lead to them consuming more than standard dosages. This almost points to the importance of regulation so people can use standardized dosages to track their usage of cannabis. Adding alcohol to a low dose of THC impaired driving simulator scores by 21 percent.

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.

Weed Deaths Per Year USA

That being said, alcohol still faces all of the same aforementioned tolls on your health and drinking when bored risks of addiction. Additionally, compounds in cannabis can help prevent some diseases, stunt oxidative damage, and can also help prevent major conditions. Some compounds in cannabis have been found to be anticancer, antibiotic, and antifungal. Alcohol is legal and can be purchased almost anywhere and everywhere. However, is available necessarily a sign that it’s better for you? Some people may consider both substances similar because of how they make you feel.

That’s a complicated question—partly because “safety” means something different for everyone. No matter how safe a substance seems, addiction is always possible. The Well is Northwell Health’s commitment to the future of health care.

It’s a commonly held belief that smoking weed has fewer negative health effects than drinking alcohol, especially now that marijuana is legal in New York and many other states across the country. The truth is, both alcohol and weed may cause negative health effects, including addiction. If you find that smoking weed starts to affect your life in unhealthy ways and leads to unwanted consequences, those are signs you might be developing an addiction and should seek medical care. The research on other health effects of marijuana is inconclusive but should warrant some caution. One study linked the use of potent marijuana to psychotic disorders, but other studies suggest people with psychotic disorders may be predisposed to pot use. Research on whether smoked marijuana causes lung disease or cancer has yielded conflicting results, with studies that control for tobacco smoking finding no significant effect from marijuana on lung cancer risk.