When you start treatment for alcohol addiction, you’ll probably need to attend detox first. Without proper medical care, alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous or even fatal. fentanyl detox guide A luxury center treating addiction and co-occurring mental health with evidence-based therapies, a continuum of care in bespoke facilities, and private bedrooms.
Millions rely on Vox’s clear, high-quality journalism to understand the forces shaping today’s world. Support our mission and help keep Vox free for all by making a financial contribution to Vox today. Heavy drug use is never ideal — and marijuana is no different in this regard.
For many people, it’s perfectly safe to have a drink or 2 with friends on occasion. But if you’re getting drunk every day, or blacking out every time you go to the bar, you may be more vulnerable to addiction. As with the short-term effects of alcohol and weed, the long-term effects differ from person to person. There probably isn’t a perfect way to evaluate and present all drug harms. 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.
How addictive is alcohol compared to marijuana?
Less than 50% of Americans have even tried marijuana, and a much smaller percentage are using it on a regular basis. So the sheer numbers of people showing up in the ER after smoking pot are going to be a lot less than for alcohol. However, having worked in ERs since pot was legalized, I can tell you that people who smoke weed are showing up a lot more now than in the past, and those numbers are climbing. The main reason we don’t know is because marijuana isn’t just one thing. Alcohol is alcohol, whether you’re talking about beer, wine, or spirits. They may all taste different, but in terms of the effect that alcohol has on your body, they act the same way.
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A lot of research has also linked adolescent marijuana use with a range of negative consequences, including cognitive deficiencies and worse educational outcomes. While it’s not clear whether marijuana’s role with these outcomes is cause-and-effect, experts generally agree that people younger than their mid-20s should avoid pot. That study has drawn widespread media attention, appearing in outlets like the Washington Post, the Guardian, the New Republic, and here at Vox.
- So, the answer to that question may depend on which strain of cannabis you’re smoking or what mix of cannabinoids are in it.
- If you think you need help, you can contact a rehab or share your thoughts with a specialist.
- These drinks are not the beverages that contain small doses of CBD, a compound found in marijuana and hemp that doesn’t get you high, which have been trendy for the last decade.
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. But it doesn’t seem like anyone is taking on this kind of approach — and Nutt’s style of analysis remains popular around the world. Although Nutt couldn’t get funding to do an analysis in the US or Canada, he said a similar study is being published later this year assessing drug use in several countries in Europe. The analysis may be flawed, but its simplicity and accessibility have won over many policy circles. But it’s up to you to decide if marijuana products will benefit you in the long run.
Frequently Asked Questions About Alcohol vs. Marijuana
But the reason for that is because many more people in this country drink alcohol than smoke pot. Cannabis-infused beverages are often branded as a healthier alternative to alcohol — “No painful days after drinking or regrets,” a tagline on Cann’s site reads. These kinds of drinks carry a connotation of health, said Emily Moquin, a food and beverage analyst at Morning Consult. They tout themselves as all opiates detox “hangover-free” and without the high calories of alcohol; they claim to help you feel “focused,” balanced, relaxed. One cannabis beverage company even suggests pairing their drinks with a spa day. According to BDSA, a market research firm in Colorado that specializes in legal cannabis, dollar sales of marijuana beverages are up by around 65 percent from 2020 to 2021 in the 12 states they track.
Cannabis addiction is surprisingly common, however, according to 2015 study. The immediate effects of weed can vary quite a bit from person to person. Getting drunk or high can feel similar to some people, while others describe the sensations depressant wikipedia as very different. Of course, the way you feel when you’re intoxicated also depends on how much of the substance you consume. Sure, research on the topic is ramping up a bit, but there’s still a lack of large, long-term studies.
But various studies found marijuana doesn’t make users more aggressive or lead to crime. A countryside campus on the Brazos River providing modern-style homes and a focus on full continuum care with detox, residential, and long-term options. People’s responses to each substance can vary greatly, so what seems safer for one person might not work for someone else. Both can also leave you feeling a bit worse for wear the next day, though this is more likely to happen with alcohol. If you answered yes to some or all of these questions, you might want to share your responses with a clinical expert.
Marijuana Use
It’s important to exercise caution and make informed decisions about substance use to minimize potential risks and harms. Between alcohol and cannabis, many people see marijuana as the lesser evil. You might not even know that weed is addictive.7 As legalization becomes more widespread in the U.S., so do studies shedding light on cannabis use, weed’s potential risks and benefits,8 and addiction. «The main risk of cannabis is losing control of your cannabis intake,» Mark Kleiman, a drug policy expert at UCLA, said. «That’s going to have consequences in terms of the amount of time you spend not fully functional. When that’s hours per day times years, that’s bad.»
Alcohol vs. Marijuana: Is One Safer Than the Other?
With a clearer sense of your own drinking habits, you can decide on next steps. However, only a professional can diagnose you with alcohol use disorder. If you think you need help, you can contact a rehab or share your thoughts with a specialist.
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. Treating addiction and co-occurring/primary mental health conditions with expert-led, personalized care at beach-side facilities in Malibu. Alcohol and marijuana use are both socially acceptable, and they can both be dangerous.
When to Seek Help for Marijuana Abuse
A full service substance abuse provider offering an original approach blending traditional and holistic wellness methods for a personalized treatment experience. On the surface, weed appears to be safer, but there’s simply not enough evidence to declare a winner. It’s also important to remember that there aren’t many high-quality, long-term studies on weed and its effects. While being intoxicated with weed feels different than being intoxicated with alcohol, the two have roughly the same effect on your cognitive abilities, reflexes, and judgment.
That’s a complicated question—partly because “safety” means something different for everyone. No matter how safe a substance seems, addiction is always possible. Both weed and alcohol can carry a potential for misuse and addiction, but this appears to be more common with alcohol. Weed seems to have fewer long-term risks than alcohol, but again, there’s a huge discrepancy in the amount of research on weed compared with alcohol.
The question policy experts typically ask isn’t which drug is more dangerous, but how marijuana and alcohol should be treated through policy as individual drugs with their own set of unique, complicated risks. That doesn’t mean just legalization or prohibition, but regulation, taxes, and education as well. The drug policy experts I talked to about Nutt’s study generally agreed that his style of analysis and ranking misses some of the nuance behind the harm of certain drugs. But how much does all of this information really tell policymakers or the public? It would matter if marijuana ends up substituting alcohol once pot is legalized (since a safer substance would be replacing a more dangerous one), but the research on that is still early. Both alcohol and marijuana can be dangerous substances, and addiction is a potential risk regardless of perceived safety.