Compared to Alcohol
Alcohol, a perfectly legal substance that is approved by the government and socially acceptable, is responsible for millions of American deaths. Marijuana is not associated with crime regarding its users but alcohol, however, is involved in 70% of all murders, 41% of assaults, 50% of rapes, 60% of sex crimes against children, 37% of suicides, and 55% of all arrests (Rushmore). These are staggering numbers that clearly pair alcohol and crime together, yet it is still legal and viewed in a more positive light than marijuana. The problems associated with alcohol go even farther as they affect American tax payers by causing them to pay for the damage alcohol has caused. These problems translate into billions of dollars as
“studies show that the U.S. collects about $8 billion yearly in taxes from alcohol. The problem is, the total cost to the U.S. in 2008 due to alcohol-related problems was $185 billion, and the government pays about 38% of that cost (approximately $72 billion), all due to consequences of alcohol consumption, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism” (Stutman).
All that money has to go towards fixing the damages alcohol has single-handedly caused, but you do not hear anyone trying to criminalize alcohol. Marijuana use certainly does not cause the damage alcohol does, but it is still too dangerous to be made legal, whereas society has accepted alcohol and all the damaging side effects that come with it. The root of these accidents come from accidents caused by drunk driving. These accidents have destroyed more than cars and guardrails, but have destroyed too many families and households, yet society still has no problem with alcohol consumption. Marijuana, on the other hand, poses no serious threat to the impairment of the driver but, if anything, makes the driver more cautious, whereas drunk drivers have no control on the road and drive with a more risky behavior (Gierenger, Rosenthal & Carter). Driving drunk is not only a serious health risk for the driver, but also for those who are sharing the road with them. According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 10,839 people will die this year as a result of drunk driving incidents which is a death every fifty minutes (MADD.com). That is 10,839 more deaths alcohol will cause than marijuana will.
Can It Be Fatal?
Binge drinking is becoming a phenomena that is occurring at a younger age with teenagers and effecting college campuses across the nation. Mothers Against Drunk Driving presents scary statistics about binge drinking as it occurs with one out of five teenagers and kills roughly 6,000 people annually (MADD.com). Alcohol is also the third leading cause of death between people ages 15-24 and binge drinking accounts for approximately 1,700 college student deaths a year (talkrehab.org). It should be noted, again, that marijuana has accounted for zero deaths among its users. It baffles me to think that society can accept these losses each year and continue to buy and consume alcohol and still think marijuana should remain illegal. Marijuana is also safer because it is impossible for users to overdose on. In order for someone to overdose on marijuana it would take roughly 40,000 times the amount of THC to intoxicate them in order for marijuana to be fatal (answers.com). To make this clearer, let us assume that it takes three puffs of marijuana in order to feel the effects. It would then require you to take 120,000 more puffs in order for an overdose to occur which is an impossible amount to consume in one sitting. However, when it comes to binge drinking or drinking in excess, the results are much different as it leads to thousands of American deaths annually, most of them being underage drinkers. To provide another example, if it takes three beers to feel intoxicated it would only require 15 to no more than 30 beers to cause fatality (answers.com). Rapid alcohol consumption occurs all too often at colleges and universities where reaching those fatal numbers is not uncommon. With all the evidence that clearly demonstrate the problems both alcohol and cigarettes cause, I do not understand why they are not questioned for being legal. The facts do not add up to support the claim that marijuana is unsafe for adults to consume. With all the horrific statistics presented above, how are marijuana users still seen as criminals? If legalization concerns parents about the message it might send to their children, my response is that it would be no worse than the message having beers in the fridge or cigarettes on the counter sends. No one is trying to get people to smoke marijuana, but rather to make sure those that are do not face jail time.
Sources
Gieringer, Dale, Rosenthal, Ed, Carter, Gregory T. “Marijuana Medical Handbook.” Quick American. Oakland, California, 2008. <https://books.google.com/books?
Gumbiner, Jann. "Is Marijuana Addictive." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 05 Dec 2010. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-teenage-mind/201012/is-marijuana- addictive>.
Kaufman, Marc. "Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection." Washington Post 26 May 2006. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729.html>
Rushmore, Louis. “Legal But Lost: Alcohol” <https://www.come-over.to/FAS/alcoholfacts.htm>
Stutman, Bob. "A False Economy." 2009. Online Posting to
<https://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2010/03/
legalize_marijuana_for_tax_revenue.html.>
< https://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/tobacco.html>
Compared to Cigarettes
Cigarettes can be purchased at any gas station or convenience store in America and we see nothing wrong with people becoming addicted to nicotine or developing tobacco caused cancers. No one is denying the fact that marijuana can be habituating, but in no regards does it compare with the addictive qualities possessed in cigarettes. Marijuana, unlike cigarettes, is not physically addictive and it has been proven that users have the ability to simply stop use when they want to whereas cigarette users cannot escape the need for nicotine. In a medical handbook written by a team of doctors, they ranked marijuana lowest in terms of dependence and withdrawal potential in comparison to alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine (Gieringer, Rosenthal & Carter). In chronic, everyday users, the potential for developing an addiction is higher, but that is the case with all drugs, and marijuana is more habit forming than addicting. Tobacco users struggle with trying to quit as 32% of all tobacco users will become addicted (Gumbiner). In knowing this information, how can cigarettes still be accepted by the public, but marijuana cannot?
Is It Cancerous?
Not only does marijuana not cause serious addiction, but marijuana has also never killed anyone. The same cannot be said for cigarettes as they have accounted for more than 12 million deaths between the years of 1964 and 2004 (Drugabuse.gov). Of those deaths, 4.1 million have been caused by cancer, 5.5 million from cardiovascular diseases, 1.1 million from respiratory diseases, and 94,000 infant deaths related to mothers who have smoked during pregnancy (Drugabuse.gov). The nicotine found in cigarettes not only causes physical dependence, but it is also the root cause in all smoking related deaths. Donald Tashkin, a pulmonologist who has studied marijuana for thirty years, conducted the largest study of its kind on marijuana smoking and it’s relation to lung cancer. What he and his team found was “no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect” against lung cancer (Kaufman). The chemical THC found in marijuana actually kills aging cells which prevents them from being cancerous, which has proven to be helpful in many medical cases. David L. Bearman, MD, physician, and medical marijuana expert, said, “We know if you smoke cannabis your chances of getting lung cancer are less than if you don’t smoke anything at all” (Procon.org). Smoking in general is not good for anyones health, but after considering the facts it seems that smoking marijuana is much healthier and cleaner than smoking nicotine. The public should be concerned with the amount of cigarette smokers that are out there as marijuana has proved to be healthier and safer than cigarettes in almost every category.
But Isn't It A Gateway Drug?
The theory of marijuana being a “gateway drug,” meaning it leads users down a dark road chasing stronger psychedelic drugs is blasphemy. Countless studies have put that theory to rest proving that the “gateway drug” theory is nothing but an old wives tale used to scare people into thinking they will be injecting heroin right after they have been exposed to marijuana. By this logic, eating meat must then lead to cannibalism, right? Drinking milk leads to soda, which then leads to beer? This does not make any sense and marijuana should not be associated with this term. It can actually be considered as an "exit drug" which alcoholics use to get off alcohol.