[Protagoras]

Alcohol is a bad thing. Drink enough and you can be impaired for a day or even two.

Drink enough and it will impair your ability to live.

Marijuana, however, impairs a user for weeks.

Nonsense. Even though the two substances take different amounts of time to be eliminated from the system, taking that to mean that any level "impairs" the user is baloney.

It's use is also tied to the development of schizophrenia and clinical depression.

Like alcohol? So they are the same, kinda?

Equating the two is pointless.

If you are trying to avoid being on the wring side of an argument, yes it is pointless for you to concede.

They are different substances, yes. So they do different things. But they are similar in enough other aspects to make the comparisons on those levels valid.

And no, I have never used it.

[frogjerk]

Alcohol is a bad thing. Drink enough and you can be impaired for a day or even two.

Drink enough and it will impair your ability to live.

Drink the right amount and you will live longer.

[BenLurkin]

"Like alcohol? So they are the same, kinda?"

Except that it is not the same. The effects of Marijuana are much more insidous. (Sorry for the cut and paste but I gotta get going for the day)

Addictive effects
Marijuana use affects dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in the brain's pleasure producing or reward mechanism, which helps explain its potential for dependency.

Memory impairment
Marijuana use can negatively affect short-term memory, especially memories trying to be recovered during the time when one was using this drug.

Amotivational syndrome
Since testosterone levels are temporarily lowered, users of marijuana don't feel like doing much besides eating and hanging out with the small group of friends with which they are most comfortable.

Disease
Long-term marijuana use can cause irreversible changes in both male and female reproductive organs, such as lowered sperm count in men and altered shape of the uterus in women. Lung cancer, emphysema, and lowered immune system responses, such as decreased white blood cell count, could also result from extended marijuana use.

Mental health
Marijuana increases the risk of developing depression and/or schizophrenia the more that one uses it.

[IamConservative]

I am now middle age. In my younger days, I smoked some pot and yes, I did inhale. I have also drank my share of alcohol. In neither case did I overindulge to the point it effected my ability to perform in school or in my professional life. The key to is moderation.

I can tell you unequivocally that when used responsibly, alcohol is much harder on your body and the ill effects last much longer than smoking a joint.

[cyberaxe]

.....the thing that makes me pause on this subject.....

.....is that myself included.....

.....I know hundreds of people that occasionally "use" alcohol (a glass of wine at dinner, a spot of Irish cream in coffee after dinner).....

.....in quantities that DO NOT impair.....

.....but I have never met anyone that used pot.....

.....in the same manner.....

.....I dunno, it just seems that there isn't the "safe" consumption going on out there in the pot users.....

.....maybe it's a non-issue.....

.....but that's just my take on it.....

[7thOF7th]

A voice of reason and fact, I'm with you on this.