Posted on 02/25/2015 11:28:41 AM PST by Wolfie
Marijuana is much safer than alcohol or tobacco, according to a new study
Marijuana is roughly 114 times less deadly than alcohol, according to recent findings published in the journal Scientific Reports. Of the seven drugs included in the study, alcohol was the deadliest at an individual level, followed by heroin, cocaine, tobacco, ecstasy, methamphetamines, and marijuana. Previous studies consistently ranked marijuana as the safest recreational drug, but it was not known that the discrepancy was this large.
The researchers determined the mortality risk by comparing a lethal dose of each substance with the amount typically used. Not only was marijuana the lowest of the drugs tested, but there was such a gap between its lethal and typical doses that they classified it as the only "low mortality risk" drug tested. All others were classified as "medium" or "high."
These findings contradict the efforts of law enforcement agencies around the country which, despite pockets of decriminalization (and in some cases, legalization), typically focus heavily on marijuana-related arrests. The authors suggest that, based on the results, these agencies would benefit from shifting priorities away from illicit drugs and placing them instead on keeping things like alcohol and tobacco in check. In fact, the researchers believe marijuana to be so low-risk that they suggest a broad, regulated legalization of it in the paper.
Attempts to compare the danger of particular drugs have been few and far between. It wasn't until the last decade that studies were done to classify the risk of drug abuse in a qualitative and quantitative manner, according to the authors. (They cite attempts at indexing the toxicity or ranking the harm of certain drugs as examples.) Before that, they claim, the risk assessment of drug abuse was instead based heavily on anecdotal evidence, which often meant that policy decisions were largely based on educated guesses.
The researchers clarified that the study does not suggest that moderate alcohol consumption poses a higher risk than regular heroin use. Environmental conditions, like dirty needles or unregulated supplies, contribute to the overall harm caused by using a drug like heroin. Instead, this study was specifically done to measure the deadliness of the substances themselves.
If only Jesus had known that, he could have supplied doobies and hashish at the wedding.
LOL! “The Verge” of what? What’s the Journal of Scientific Reports?
Oh boy. You gone and done it now. LOL!
Not necessarily GOOD for you ... but safer
Be careful of the words THEY use.
Yeah but it creates a lot of money for law enforcement and others that are still running with the “facts” from the movie Reefer Madness.
Safer? Sure. Especially alcohol.
Alcohol is MUCH more flammable than marijuana.
I’ve read if a child or a teenager does too much smoking, they could reduce their IQ PERMANENTLY!! That, plus the law (and my parents) was enough to keep me away from it back in the old days of High School 1970s. Some say there are medicinal benefits for cancer patients. Those who have gone through the rigors of chemotherapy, say it helps to stimulate the appetite and relax them. So there may be therapeutic uses for this, but I’d be very careful giving it to children without doing mucho research first!
I don't have a problem with someone smoking a joint if they aren't driving or aren't on (my) company time. That all said, this survey won't be taken seriously with where meth was placed.
Alcohol is deadlier then heroin?
I’m surprised they didn’t say that alcohol is worse than bath salts.
In other news, living in a padded cell is much safer than driving to work daily.
WTF? Where exactly is “METH” referenced in this article? All I see mentioned is “marijuana”
Or do you simply not know the difference between the two substances?
It is NOT the proper role of government, to order, regulate and legislate every aspect of our lives.
In my nearly 67 years, I have seen many, many lives lost early, ruined by drink.
I have seen few so severely impacted by pot. (Other drugs are another matter-meth, narcotics, etc.)
Prohibition of both alcohol and pot have been failures, however. Knowledge and recover resources are better.
I’m over 21 years clean and sober, from my alcohol problem.
Self correcting...I do see “methamphetamine” there now
Yeah, and we know that driving while drunk is dangerous. But stoned drivers do spend a lot of time waiting for stop signs to turn green.
;^)
One need only interact with a chronic pot head to see that this "study" is flawed. Tell Cheech and Chong that not everyone is swallowing this BS.
Right before I was about to make a snarky comment. :)
Interesting factual rebuttal to the insinuation cannabis is now more dangerous because “it’s stronger than it was fifty years ago.”
You need to go to the link and view some of the hyperlinks imbedded. There’s a fancy are chart or two that ranks all the popular mind altering substances.
as factual as global warming
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