Elinda wrote:
Well there is no documented physiological chronic effect. Sure, smoking pot all day everyday probably has some real psychological effects but I've not really checked them out.
Most people haven't, yet that doesn't stop them from insisting that pot is completely safe and has no side effects. The side effects of marijuana use
can be pretty significant It is addictive despite lots of people insisting that it isn't:
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Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to addiction; that is, compulsive drug seeking and abuse despite the known harmful effects upon functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities. Estimates from research suggest that about 9 percent of users become addicted to marijuana; this number increases among those who start young (to about 17 percent) and among daily users (25-50 percent).
and it has some nasty long term effects:
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A number of studies have shown an association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia. Some of these studies have shown age at first use to be an important risk factor, where early use is a marker of increased vulnerability to later problems. However, at this time, it is not clear whether marijuana use causes mental problems, exacerbates them, or reflects an attempt to self-medicate symptoms already in existence.
Chronic marijuana use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses - including addiction - stemming from genetic or environmental vulnerabilities, such as early exposure to stress or violence. Currently, the strongest evidence links marijuana use and schizophrenia and/or related disorders.4 High doses of marijuana can produce an acute psychotic reaction; in addition, use of the drug may trigger the onset or relapse of schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals.
and some nasty shorter term effects:
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Marijuana increases heart rate by 20-100 percent shortly after smoking; this effect can last up to 3 hours. In one study, it was estimated that marijuana users have a 4.8-fold increase in the risk of heart attack in the first hour after smoking the drug.5 This may be due to increased heart rate as well as the effects of marijuana on heart rhythms, causing palpitations and arrhythmias. This risk may be greater in aging populations or in those with cardiac vulnerabilities.
... cutting out smoking related stuff since we're assuming different forms of use...
Research clearly demonstrates that marijuana has the potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person's existing problems worse. In one study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement, including physical and mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status.9 Several studies associate workers' marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers' compensation claims, and job turnover.
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Alcohol impact on a liver is well documented.
Really though, I don't see the value in comparing the two. Both are addictive and both can prove detrimental if over-used. But then lots of thing are like that.
Here's the thing though, modest use (even daily use) of alcohol has nearly no negative side effects. Liver damage requires heavy regular use. One or two drinks a night isn't going to do it, even over a long period of time. And alcohol doesn't cause mental problems or aberrations in either short or long term barring heavy use.
It's pretty much impossible to use marijuana in small enough doses to use it regularly (much less daily) and not risk all of the nasty long term symptoms listed on that site.
I know lots of people who drink one or two glasses of wine or beer a night, never get more than a mild buzz, and suffer no ill effects and don't feel any need to drink at any other time. Very very few people who smoke marijuana use it this way. Nearly every pot smoker I've known smokes pot at all times of the day. They may insist that they're just smoking a joint at night, but they'll sneak off during lunch break and smoke, or when hanging out at a friends house, or at a picnic, or the park, or pretty much any free moment when they think they can go off and smoke some pot.
As you say, it's hard to compare them directly since they are very very different substances. However, despite insistence by pot smokers to the contrary, alcohol really is less intrusive as a substance. I happen to support legalization, but I also think we need to be honest about what we're really talking about. Very very few people use pot in the same "one or two drinks a night after dinner" way that most people drink. Most pot smokers, if you equated their smoking habits to drinking habits would be identified as an alcoholic by most observers. It's kinda important for us to realize this.
I'm all for letting people make their own mistakes though. As long as we hold them accountable for them. I don't think we should be arresting people because they're doing something which isn't endangering anyone, but which could if used improperly. To me, that's just a bad way of doing it. I don't support legalization because I think pot is a great drug and is perfectly safe or any of those other claims. I support legalization because I think people should be responsible for their own bad choices. Let them make them if they want to.
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I think pot needs to be legal or not based on it's own virtues and vices.
If we're a free people we shouldn't be regulating behaviors unless they have an obvious and measurable direct negative impact on society. Basically. Lol.
Correct. Pot inherently doesn't put other people in danger (no more than drinking does). My issue is with people who try to insist that it's perfectly safe. It's not. I've just met waaaaay too many long term pot smokers with really really bizarre mental "issues" to not make the connection. Even long term alcoholics can recover if they stop drinking (physical damage aside). The mental damage done over time by pot use will never go away. Once you're a basket case, you'll always be one.
Edited, Jun 23rd 2011 6:00pm by gbaji