Weed vs. Alcohol
 

Weed vs. Alcohol
So... What's your opinion on the matter? My opinion is, that you really shouldn't do neither, but if you do, weed is the best choice. I got experience with both of them, so I mostly know what I'm talking about :)

First of...

The enjoyment
When you wake up after a night of drinking, you will feel absolutely terrible. But when you wake up after having smoken, you will realize that you have never slept better!

In order to get drunk, you need to drink and drink and drink... Toilet visits, toilet visits, toilet visits... With weed, you're just inhaling smoke.

As for the actual effects... I can't talk for everybody, but me and all of my friends who have experience with both agree; being high is much more comfortable than being drunk.

Oh, and alcohol makes you violent. No, not everybody, far from everybody, but some. Weed make you fly 'n chill.

The format
Weed is small solid substances, and I have at most carried 10 grams on me. Alcohol is heavy as f*ck to carry around, and the many bottles and alcohol on the floor leaves an icky mess behind...

Now, for the more serious stuff; the damage.

The damage on the mind
Weed damages your short-term memory, but alcohol all-around eats more braincells away. You might find dumb alcoholics who can barely speak who have never taken other drugs in their life, where as you won't find that many dumb hashomans who got dumb on weed alone; they mixed it up with alcohol and other drugs.

Alcohol is also far more addictive, and got much worse withdrawal symptoms.

The damage on your body
Weed smokers tends to be skinny, alcoholics tends to be fat. I'm skinny, but I prefer that over being fat, but when it comes to looks, it's really a matter of opinion.

Alcohol damages your kidney. Alcohol damages your muscles. Weed, if smoken, do damage the lungs a little (though it can be consumed in other ways).

They both cause a few other side-effects, like reduced sperm count.

Conclusion
Weed is the better choice. No one has ever died from smoking weed, where as tons of people has died from drinking alcohol.

Hmmm, my opinion on the matter.... I just say do neither and be done with it, honestly. Maybe of the two weed is the lesser evil, but in the end both of them have more negative effects than positive on the mind and body and aren't worth the risk or the good feeling. So my opinion, I'll just avoid both of them as much as I can, thanks.

That's by far the healthiest decision... Just stay away from them. However, I got to disagree; the positive effects of weed outnumber the bad effects, IMO.

Your personality will be more laid-back, less stress, you will have something to do and look forward to once in a while, and for the actual ride;

When high, watch a good movie and have plenty of food/candy you like, aswell as a can of water. You won't think so much about the bad sides in that situation :D

However, if you have never tried weed before, you don't know what you're missing out on. So I guess it's best for you not to know :p

It's probably ironic but true: scientists have yet to cause cannabinol-induced death on lab animals.

I'd much rather just miss out on it, thanks. :p I don't think I'm missing too much, anyway.

Let's just say... You're not missing anything, until you try it :p

Yeah, it's a funny world we live in :eyespin:

Alcohol is the more addictive and dangerous of the two, and yet... weed is outlawed in the US. Why?

Answer that question, and you're understanding of the world will grow. :P

As for me, I don't do either. Well, I did a little bit of drinking many years ago with two old friends of mine, but I didn't want to become barflies like they were. So I stuck to light stuff, like Rum'n'coke. And I dated a woman for awhile that really liked her wines (and smoked), but I couldn't get into that. But I don't have any plans to do either weed or alcohol.

That said, I'd like it if they made marijuana legal. What someone chooses to put in their body, or do to enjoy themselves, should be up to them, as long as it doesn't harm others. Someone who is drunk can be mean, abusive, and a danger to others. Someone who is stoned on pot is at worst, just out of it. And usually they just get a bad craving for the munchies while being completely peachy, delightful, agreeable, etc.

Lastly, the benefits of weed extend farther out than just medical pain relief. Hemp as a plant has all sorts of nifty applications; for instance, clothing made from hemp is MUCH cheaper than cotton (there's your first hint as to why weed remains illegal). Fun fact: the founding fathers wore clothing woven from hemp and wrote on hemp paper, among other things. I think they'd be rolling in their grave to see how the US is handling it now.

A wiki link on hemp is always useful for those who want to read more.

Weed is outlawed in USA because they're not ready for such a change... They work without weed, and won't take the risk of working with it. I kinda understand them, although I personally say ban alcohol and legalize weed :D

Here in Denmark, we got a free state called Christiania... Weed is illegal in Denmark, but they sell it in public there. People goes around smoking weed on the streets. They're peaceful people, living in harmony with each other and nature... The only problem is all those thugs showing up there to get their weed, and the police who constantly raids the place...

Overall I just find drugs to mess up your mind too much to out weigh the positives. I definitely think that alcohol is far worse then marijuana, however I just find being addicted to one thing that you HAVE TO HAVE if you can do it. I consider that unhealthy in any regard. But hey that is just me. I don't really care if you smoke weed as long as it doesn't disrupt my lifestyle.

Stoned driving could be as bad, if not worse, than drink driving. So, I wouldn't be so quick to assume that smoking pot is necessarily "less dangerous" than drinking alcohol.

I'm a social drinker, which means I consume about a can of beer per week on average. That doesn't mean I literally drink that much every week; rather it's the approximate mean derived from spreading out the rough total I consume over a year.

In short, I don't drink anywhere near enough alcohol these days to cause immediate damage. Now, I used to consume more, but because I've stopped drinking regularly since college, my tolerance is no longer what it used to be. And, as a result, the last few times I drank heavily in the past three or four years, things got, ahem, messy. Since then, I've learnt my lesson — to the long-term benefit of my liver, no doubt.

As for weed, sure I've tried it, just to see it is like. But I'm not a smoker, so half the time I was choking on the joint rather than inhaling. It's a different kind of buzz compared to that from alcohol and, yes, without the nasty after effects of alcohol-induced hangovers.

So, yes, it's a good question why marijuana is banned while alcohol is not. Still, while I readily admit that I'm being hypocritical, you wouldn't find me actively campaigning to make it legal here. We all agree that smoking joints is a bad idea to begin with, however harmless it might seem in comparison to other forms of substance abuse. That being the case, I don't see why it should be made more easily available than it is today.

I might consider allowing marijuana for medicinal uses though. It would probably be a more preferable anaesthestic compared to morphine, which is so very much more addictive.

Hmm, well despite Pineapple Express and Cheech and Chong, there is something almost classical about the comedic drunk, and sadly, the comedic drunk beats the modern comedic stoner any day of the week...

"Which is more humourus" is the OP question, right?

Damn you beat me to it.

What you said may be right, but keep in mind that these lab animals are kept in pristine habitats, unlike the average human bean in the rat race who ingest all sorts of growth hormones and chemicals that degrade their already slagged body parts, which are a result of air pollution, stress, etc.

Cannabis is a psychoactive drug. It supposedly makes the brain more active, and allows you to think more. However, in long term, the body adapts to it and thus it becomes a necessity for the brain to function : and when the brain relies on something to work, it heightens the chances of it being damaged without the presence of the drug.

The good thing that cannabis is outlawed or under stringent control. Drug use is progressive, either volumetrically or in strength once the body gets used and becomes numb to it.

Alcohol has artistic value in cocktail mixes, and can add as a finisher to meals. Since when did someone explicitly described a joint as tangy, with a little smooth at start and harsh at end?

Besides, really good joints are made from specially grown cannabis plants. The common one which the TS probably smoked is nothing as pure. ;)

P.S I don't smoke anything more than tobacco, which caused a hospitalisation for 2 weeks once, and after which, I had to force myself to kick that cuckoo habit of dependence. And no, I don't recommend anyone else take up smoking no matter how cool or social it looks, or whatever it contains.

@ TRL : I think you didn't inhale deep enough when you smoke it, or you inhaled too much at one time. You have to let the smoke go through your lungs to get the cooling feeling, but not substitute your entire breathing process with it. And no, PLEASE don't try it again.

You've probably answered it right there. It's so addictive (perhaps in more than one ways) that there's not enough people that would agree to alcohol being banned. Hence why they repealed the 18th amendment. (Of course, I'm sure there are probably other factors that help as well.)

One is illegal in the US no matter what the age ... too much risk to your career, etc. It doesn't matter that weed is relatively innocuous in minor doses. For example, if my son were convicted of possession of weed, my wife would lose her license to practice pharmacy at the state's option. End of her professional career. If I were still doing defense work, I'd likely lose my security clearance. Such a scenario invokes quite a bit of family disaster.... of course, my son would just soon slug a pothead as stand near them. He finds them stupid.

The other is legal after 21 in the US but tends to bring out the unpleasant in most people if overdone.

Both can be beneficial medically in small doses... both have toxic and long term effects if heavily used.

(shrug) lobby to decriminalize weed - until then, under most circumstances you're basically an idiot to use it.

@ OP: Why do I have to choose? Both are pretty awesome, and they make a good team. If I had to choose one though, I would probably choose weed because I can get high and go about my day normally, but if I start drinking, I can pretty much give up on any chance I had of doing any thing productive.
Anyone who says that has obviously never done either. Drunk driving is WAY more dangerous. I drive high like every single day with no problems, but I would never drive drunk (again) because of how dangerous it is.

This is a strange thread.

Don't do either? But alcohol hurt others.

Because :

1. Cannabis is illegal in Singapore. Ownership = death sentence.

2. Drink driving can get you into jail for 6 months and have your license permanently revoked. Over here we have a bloody long accreditation test to pass before having a license - and it costs around $1,000-2,000 just to take the license + course, and that is alot of money.

That is a pretty bigoted statement you made - we would certainly like to try if it wasn't for the stringent legal system. But then again, it looks more stupid to drive haphazardly (whether under the influence of drugs or alcohol or moe or whatever) since our roads are pretty heavy in traffic almost every day. So basically :

i have a childhood friend who uses marijuana.

he uses it a lot. and he uses it more and more

when i go to see him these days, he's stoned. it's like talking to someone who is half asleep. i've stopped going to see him

we used to go fishing and backpacking. he doesn't want to do those things any more.

and then there's all that money he spends on weed that he should be spending on his wife and kids

never say that marijuana is harmless. it's pretty much robbed my friend of his life

I don't want to get into an argument with you, but if you don't smoke weed, then why are you trying to compare how dangerous driving high would be compared to driving drunk? And I don't see how I was being a bigot.

SaintessHeart meant you were "bigoted" because you didn't take into account that in some countries they will kill you for smoking weed. So, in those countries smoking is much more hazardous to your health (considering that you will be killed if you light up)...

I like both, but I don't do neither on a regular basis. If I were to chose the safest choice, it would be weed. I don't drive neither high or drunk, though it's easier driving high. I have no moral problem about neither, and I can't really see why weed is illegal. My drug of choice is salvia btw, it's perfectly legal here, probably because not many people know about it. It's a guaranteed trip, compared to weed when you don't get the kicks out of it every time. The trip is also shorter, and more fucked up since it's a real hallucinogen, unlike weed which doesn't deserve to be called a hallucinogen at all.

Hey, isn't it illegal to do weed?

Kind of...
Where I live its a misdemeanor for anything less than an ounce, and all you get is a $100 dollar ticket. Its also ridiculously easy to get a medical license, there are ads in newspapers, and I even saw a billboard once. :heh:

Oh, and we are hopefully going to legalize it on Nov. 2. It will then be taxed like alchohol or tobacco. :D

Why's weed illegal and not alcohol? Tradition perhaps. And that the politicians don't smoke weed, so why bother trying to make it legal? All that criticism it would get, and the marketing issues it would create...

I'd buy it if it were legal though.

I can do it only if politicians do it??

Hoh, which country do you live, man? I'd like to move there/take a trip by November :D

It would be a start. Otherwise are they gonna start speaking in congress about weed? It's just a minority of people that even care about it becoming legal. Not to mention all those conservatives they'd have to go through.

At least that's how I imagine it: There are no people on those seats motivated to make weed legal. It has a way too bad reputation to begin with, being grouped with all those hard drugs.

Both are bad and you will get seriously injured if you get addicted to either. That is my view on this matter.

We should not discuss good topics because the mods don't like us discussing such things freely.

Hey who here has done weed?? 8DDDD You have broken the law!

I did. And having let stoners freeloading in my apart while the parents were gone to Cambodia for a whole month in 1997, I also do know the damage it can do to people. Do people supporting legal weed enjoy sitting and lying around like dead fat whales while doing nothing but stare at the ceiling and laughing like idiots at the first unfunny joke? It was fun in the first days, but in the end I was happy they were gone.

Take the middle of the road: a couple of beers + half a gram = heaven.

I don't smoke or drink so my opinion maybe bias.

While both have negative side effects, weed might be the better of the two since i remember reading that weed helps those with chronic back pain.

I live in the Netherlands, I am not breaking any law smoking my freshly bought stack from one of the many shops in my city selling it like hot cakes

I thought I had already replied to such a topic.. but this is yet another one D:

Anyway... alcohol vs weed hmmm...

Well, as far as I know alcohol has caused more problems than weed. It is either people getting obnoxious, falling into things or puking everywhere vs. people being too bacon to do anything and simply hang around..

I have seen the typical "I drink as much as I can" folk and the "hippie" folk that squad for a living. I must say group one is one I would rather avoid of the two.

Both are things that you should not overly abuse, I know people who smoke every day and people who drink a couple bottles at home before going to a party where they try and get into a drinking coma. There is nothing wrong with either of them if you know how to use it.. someone who smokes too much vs. someone who drinks too much hardly has any differences...

As for myself, I smoke only with friends never alone.. it isn't fun to do it alone..
I go out like once in the 3-4 weeks and get stoned that I do not even dare getting out of my chair.. it isn't always the weed but the nicotine rushes you can get from the tobacco they make things spin so fast that even I don't dare shutting my eyes..

I must say I prefer weed over alcohol, alcohol makes me somewhat more of an idiot if I smoke I can stand up straight and do about my business after an hour or so.. alcohol lasts almost the entire night if you're wasted. I have been able to get home at 4AM on my bike with ease when high but when under the influence of alcohol I sort of spin in all directions on it and most likely fall...

Mornings after have been better with weed, I have never really had a hang over like I had with alcohol. You feel a little cranky and don't want to do anything for a day or so, but the head aches have never happened to me with weed...

I know many people look down on people who smoke weed, some even say it is dangerous but it has a lot less dangers than alcohol. Try and OD on weed.. just about impossible. The guidelines are the same, if you feel like crap don't start smoking... I had a friend in England that I was visiting who thought it was dangerous, the thing was he was already wasted on ale when he tried to smoke weed. He was puking all over all night and felt bad from it, but that is the mistake some people made. If you smoke a first time do not combine it with alcohol it is like aspirin it triples the effect and if you have never done it before then you're a fool for doing so. Only people who are experienced weed smokers drink during smoking, I could do it but I don't because I don't like combining things..

People wondering if in my country everyone hits the bong, not true. The rules are strict, you have to show your ID and be at least 18 to buy it. Building joints yourself is not the easiest thing in the world, the friends who introduced it to me taught me how to build and it took months to learn it properly (cause I don't use it regularly), a lot of teens do not even bother because of this cause in the smaller towns like mine without all the tourists you can't buy ready made joints. There is no dealing every where, not at schools nothing I mean why would you? The price is right, not over prized and the quality varies.

In the bigger cities you obviously have more of a ruckus about it with all the tourists coming here to smoke and thinking they can do whatever they want, but in the eastern side there are hardly any problems.

Crack, cocaine and other illegal hard drugs cause more trouble than weed does.

My parents are against it, they don't know the difference between hard and soft drugs.. my mom thought I was smoking in her house, all of a sudden she tried to look out for strange things and tried to find any possible connection to smoking weed.. like me being cranky being because I smoked last night.. me gaming a whole afternoon in my room on Mass Effect 2 which just came out being that she thought I was rather absent minded probably due to drugs...

But then again my parents are foreign and not used to any of this, my mom slapped me when she found some weed in my pocket and I told my class mentor about. He laughed and told me she shouldn't react like that, we had a conversation about it and he merely thought that my parents were too old fashioned about it and later on my mom admitted to that also.

Before people start saying that one bad thing is that it makes you forget things, alcohol has a lot of negative effect too if you over abuse it, same goes with weed.
If you put both next to each other and compare then both are just as bad..

Oh this is a nasty thread :heh:

I drink alittle bit, but nothing more than the occasional glass of wine, and I know a few people who do smoke weed.

You really can't justify either of the two, though alcohol is much more socially acceptable and actually legal in most countries. They're both things that damage your body with long term use. My friends don't really act that different when they're high; they laugh a bit more, they're winded down; but they were already rather chill people. Alcohol does bad things to the rest of them though; uninhibited speech, fuzzy memories etc. but at least they don't smell.

Should marijuana be legalized? I think yes, but it ought to be quite heavily regulated. And to be honest, like alcohol you won't be able to stop people from getting it to minors. But hopefully the effect that legalizing will have is that it'll make it less attractive to "rebellious" youth.

And on the topic of drinking while intoxicated... honestly there's no excuse for doing it. It's not that you can screw yourself over, its that you can screw other people over.

Alcohol rules! :heh:

"waiter!!! 1 Smirnoff Vodka pls!!" :heh:

Can you tell me what drug enables you to play games of the future? :p

I disagree. I have had two bad experiences with weed (out of 500+ or something). One of them was due to mixing weed and alcohol...

It was at a family party. Here in Denmark, everyone is drinking, even the family is drinking together. Kids down to the age of 9 are drinking (yep, we sadly are the most alcoholic country in the world).

I had made 3 cigarette joints before the party (you know, joints camouflaged as cigarettes), and I was pretty drunk. I went outside, smoked all 3 of them around a corner, and... Damn...

I went inside again, but I couldn't speak properly, had tunnel visions, and felt really really sick.

I don't like mixing alcohol and weed, but that's just my opinion :D

Chances are that you won't get addicted to weed. I smoked it almost everyday for one and a half year, and when my girlfriend didn't like it, I was able to stop instantly. Well, not instantly, I DEMANDED the rights for a last joint, but who wouldn't? After that, nope, I could go without weed for months :)