What is the difference between alcohol abuse and put use? I wouldn’t use pot no matter what because I like my brain. But if people want to destroy their brain and act stupid should we spend zillions stopping them? I am not providing the answer just asking the question.
There are many functional differences. In the interest of not writing a 10,000 word article, I’ll just touch on a couple.
Alcohol is a water soluble small molecule that often contaminates foods that we eat, for example fruit that has fermented for a few days before consumption. This was such a problem that our early evolutionary ancestors evolved a mechanism to detoxify alcohol. For this reason, even if you drink alcohol to the point of having severe symptoms of toxicity, your body is busy detoxifying it. You have to drink a lot of alcohol in a short time to overcome the body’s natural detoxifying process.
Marijuana, on the other hand, is not water soluble. Since it is fat soluble, it very quickly goes into fat deposits throughout the body. Thus, even though liver enzymes can destroy the active components of marijuana, much of it is bound up in fat instead of circulating in the blood where it can be processed when it goes through the liver. So marijuana can remain in the body for weeks after use.
Marijuana also has physical effects that alcohol does not have. For example, the epigenetic effects mentioned in the article. The word epigenetic refers to a process of chemically changing the DNA without changing its sequence. This affects gene expression, which, in turn, affects the function of the body. For example, if a neurotransmitter gene is modified in a way that decreases the production of the neurotransmitter, the function of that neurotransmitter is impaired, leading to impairment of brain function. And because epigenetic changes might never be reversed, this impairment can be permanent. Epigenetic changes can happen in germ cells, too, so they are passed down to future generations.
On top of that, exposure to chemicals in marijuana causes some kinds of cells to die. So if cells that are important for normal brain function die, they are gone forever, and brain function is permanently altered.
The brain develops until about age 25. People who use marijuana while their brains are developing are more likely to develop psychotic disorder than non users.
Hmm, I went on a little longer than I had planned...
While asking the question, ponder this fact: Alcohol causes FAR more brain and neurological damage than weed.
‘if people want to destroy their brain and act stupid should we spend zillions stopping them?”
I think that is the question we should be asking.
Well I guess that depends on who is obligated to pay their medical bills ...
If those zillions are voluntarily donated to the cause, fine - if they're extorted from taxpayers, no way Jose.