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Alcohol is much more damaging to the brain then marijuana is. Not only is alcohol damaging to the brain but it is damaging to the mouth, throat, stomach, liver, and kidneys. There is absolutely zero scientific evidence that marijuana damages the brain - as I've said before there has been little research into HOW marijuana effects neurotransmitters but there has been nothing to suggest brain damage. Some research suggests that marijuana may have therapuetic value that goes beyond killing pain. The only evidence of negative effects on the brain is that it temporarily effects short term memory.
However, marijuana can burn and damage the lungs. Marijuana has something like four times the amount of tar that tobacco has but marijuana does not have poisons such as nicotine or cyanide. It does not have a fifth of the known carginogens that tobacco has and is therefor much safer to smoke then tobacco. THC actually releases chemicals in the body that open up lungs much in the same way inhaled steroids treat restricted lungs in people with asthma. When we can synthesize THC cheaply it will replace most asthma medication. THC is a neurotransmitter we don't know a lot about but it appears to have healing qualities and should be researched further.
Alcohol is much more addictive then marijuana. There is no such thing as cannabisism but alcoholism is a pathology that is as deadly to our society as heart disease and cancer. Alcohol releases neurotransmitters in the reward pathways of the brain which physiologically reinforce alcohol consumption - this is how physical addictions are created. Physical addiction to alcohol (which is often accompanied by addictive personality) is something that is virtually impossible to really rid yourself of and usually takes decades to treat. Marijuana is only psychologically addictive as some have pointed out - psychological addictions are the result of addictive personalities not of drugs. Addiction to marijuana is always a symptom of addictive personality and bigger psychological problems - not a result of consumption of marijuana. Like all forms of self medication, the more of it there is the less your personality grows, the less your personality grows the harder it is for you to cope with real stresses and problems, the harder it is for you to cope the more immature you are emotionally - a lot of addicts who self medicate can appear to be brain-damaged but you can self medicate with videogames, or ice cream, or sex - addiction to marijuana is a symptom of bigger problems.
Substance abuse is almost always a symptom of bigger problems - legalizing substances can only help to treat the real problems and the symptom (the abuse itself) in more effective manners.
The gateway drug argument was a fallacy from the beggining and it's mostly not used anymore. The initial argument was based on polling people who had used harder drugs and asking them the question "did you smoke marijuana before you started using heroine" - they did not poll every person who used marijuana and they did not take into account the very relevant factor of addictive personalities looking for things to be addicted to or the fact that those people with addictive personalities are going to have access to weed before access to heroine. There was never a strong argument that supported the idea that marijuana use caused addiction to harder drugs. Of course, if there were, legalizing, regulating, and taxing marijuana would be much more effective at combating the problem then what we have now - that is if we REALLY cared - which judging from the lack of education most people have about this, I don't think we do.
Of course though the most important point is that marijuana was NEVER made illegal because of the effects it has on peoples health, and the initial claims about psychological and social effects have been thoroughly dismissed even by those who fight in the war on drugs. Marijuana was not made illegal to protect people it was made illegal because it was profitable for those with lobbying power. Once you get to that fact it is hard to justify it being prohibited while alcohol is not unless you use a market-based argument about the rights of businesses to lobby and change laws - which, though most of you seem to be republican (and therefor theoretically support an unregulated market), I doubt will happen.
Alcohol is a drug, caffeine is a drug, tobacco is a drug (and one that contains hundreds of chemicals and known poisons), if you have an addictive personality almost anything is a drug - mormons don't condone drug use but I think the United States government is pretty neutral on the issue most of the time. Hard drugs are illegal because of how unhealthy they are - alcohol is certainly a much harder drug then marijuana. Marijuana is officially classified as a soft drug and it is the softest drug that is illegal in the united states. Anyone care to wage a slippery slope argument? Slippery slope arguments by definition are fallacies, you know.
However, marijuana can burn and damage the lungs. Marijuana has something like four times the amount of tar that tobacco has but marijuana does not have poisons such as nicotine or cyanide. It does not have a fifth of the known carginogens that tobacco has and is therefor much safer to smoke then tobacco. THC actually releases chemicals in the body that open up lungs much in the same way inhaled steroids treat restricted lungs in people with asthma. When we can synthesize THC cheaply it will replace most asthma medication. THC is a neurotransmitter we don't know a lot about but it appears to have healing qualities and should be researched further.
Alcohol is much more addictive then marijuana. There is no such thing as cannabisism but alcoholism is a pathology that is as deadly to our society as heart disease and cancer. Alcohol releases neurotransmitters in the reward pathways of the brain which physiologically reinforce alcohol consumption - this is how physical addictions are created. Physical addiction to alcohol (which is often accompanied by addictive personality) is something that is virtually impossible to really rid yourself of and usually takes decades to treat. Marijuana is only psychologically addictive as some have pointed out - psychological addictions are the result of addictive personalities not of drugs. Addiction to marijuana is always a symptom of addictive personality and bigger psychological problems - not a result of consumption of marijuana. Like all forms of self medication, the more of it there is the less your personality grows, the less your personality grows the harder it is for you to cope with real stresses and problems, the harder it is for you to cope the more immature you are emotionally - a lot of addicts who self medicate can appear to be brain-damaged but you can self medicate with videogames, or ice cream, or sex - addiction to marijuana is a symptom of bigger problems.
Substance abuse is almost always a symptom of bigger problems - legalizing substances can only help to treat the real problems and the symptom (the abuse itself) in more effective manners.
The gateway drug argument was a fallacy from the beggining and it's mostly not used anymore. The initial argument was based on polling people who had used harder drugs and asking them the question "did you smoke marijuana before you started using heroine" - they did not poll every person who used marijuana and they did not take into account the very relevant factor of addictive personalities looking for things to be addicted to or the fact that those people with addictive personalities are going to have access to weed before access to heroine. There was never a strong argument that supported the idea that marijuana use caused addiction to harder drugs. Of course, if there were, legalizing, regulating, and taxing marijuana would be much more effective at combating the problem then what we have now - that is if we REALLY cared - which judging from the lack of education most people have about this, I don't think we do.
Of course though the most important point is that marijuana was NEVER made illegal because of the effects it has on peoples health, and the initial claims about psychological and social effects have been thoroughly dismissed even by those who fight in the war on drugs. Marijuana was not made illegal to protect people it was made illegal because it was profitable for those with lobbying power. Once you get to that fact it is hard to justify it being prohibited while alcohol is not unless you use a market-based argument about the rights of businesses to lobby and change laws - which, though most of you seem to be republican (and therefor theoretically support an unregulated market), I doubt will happen.
Alcohol is a drug, caffeine is a drug, tobacco is a drug (and one that contains hundreds of chemicals and known poisons), if you have an addictive personality almost anything is a drug - mormons don't condone drug use but I think the United States government is pretty neutral on the issue most of the time. Hard drugs are illegal because of how unhealthy they are - alcohol is certainly a much harder drug then marijuana. Marijuana is officially classified as a soft drug and it is the softest drug that is illegal in the united states. Anyone care to wage a slippery slope argument? Slippery slope arguments by definition are fallacies, you know.
