Alcohol
and marijuana are both commonly used recreationally these days. I always here problems coming from drinking
alcohol and that that many about marijuana use.
The big difference is that alcohol is legal and marijuana is not. Why is it that alcohol is legal and weed isn’t
when so many more problems arise from alcohol?
I will admit I drink and smoke weed often and I’m in no way saying that I
think alcohol should be illegal. I’m
simply saying that if alcohol is legal, there should be no reason why weed isn’t.
When it
comes to alcohol, like anything, it all depends on the person and how
responsible they are with it so I’m not speaking for everyone here. That being said, alcohol is responsible for
most of the car accidents that occur and result in death often. The drunk driver, people in his car, and
people in the other car are all at a much higher risk of death when someone is
driving drunk. Also, alcohol, while
making people happy sometimes (ex. “I love you bro!”), is proven to cause a
high raise in anger and irritability.
This is of course based on the person and what they’ve been going
through but it can lead to domestic abuse situations or other violent tendencies
like fighting. Finally, alcohol can make
people completely lose control. We’ve
all heard that one story from our friend who “totally blacked out last night”. This, obviously, can become very dangerous
because if you’re not in control and blacked out, you can get lost, hurt,
robbed, or raped.
When smoking weed, car accidents rarely occur
because you either don’t want to move, you’re focused on driving hard, or still
in control enough to know you’re ok.
Along with that, the only emotions you feel are: happy, tired, and
hungry. I have never in my life seen
someone who was both high and mad. Lastly,
weed doesn’t make you lose control like alcohol does. You are always in control and aware. So again, if alcohol is legal, why shouldn’t
marijuana be?
"Why is it that alcohol is legal and weed isn’t"
ReplyDeleteThe answer to just about all "Why is it that..." public policy questions: "Money".
"alcohol is responsible for most of the car accidents that occur"
Citation Needed. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol-related_traffic_crashes_in_the_United_States for a discussion of why this is disputed.
I see what you're saying, but if money is the issue there, then marijuana should be legal. I fee like weed and hemp would make way more money than alcohol
ReplyDelete"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Especially when the vested interests who benefit from the current system would not be the same ones reaping rewards from marijuana. And all those people with full time jobs would need to find gainful employment doing something productive.
ReplyDeleteI mostly agree with you. As someone who has not smoked weed I cannot speak from personal experience, but from my understanding weed does not have lasting negative effects and tends to just put people into a state of bliss. While I would not allow it in circumstances such as driving where the lack of focus can cost lives, I do think that it should be legal if alcohol is. Carl brings up the point that it is better for the economy, and that, along with our history of accepting alcohol but rejecting marijuana, is why I think that the current system is in place despite the fact that marijuana actually is the less harmful substance between the two. So as much as it makes sense to change the legality of these substances in some way, it won't change.
ReplyDelete"Carl brings up the point that it is better for the economy"
ReplyDeleteAh... no.
Someone cited factslides.com to that effect. I hunted down the source material from the Cato Institute to that effect, and threw in a critical review by two well-respected economics professors of their position.
"along with our history of accepting alcohol but rejecting marijuana"
Depends whether you consider the past hundred years to be "history", or the past hundred thousand.