Cannabis and alcohol seem to be the two most spread types of recreational substances people widely use for relaxation, fun, and stress relief. Alcohol has been the market leader in recreational use for many decades due to weed’s illegal status. However, with the steady pace of weed legalization across the USA, cannabis use has also increased.
Experts note that the rising use of weed among drinkers and non-drinkers is explained by a popular myth about weed’s less harmful nature. A nationwide survey revealed that Americans think alcohol is more addictive and dangerous than weed. But is that opinion evidence-based? Let’s conduct a quick fact check to see the extent of addictiveness both have.
Alcohol vs. Weed: Impact on Humans
The first thing we need to clarify is, why do people use alcohol and weed so often? What makes them stick with these methods of relaxation and stress relief?
Similarities
The answer is in human physiology; alcohol and weed act as depressants on the human brains and bodies, triggering muscle relaxation and slowing down motor reactions. The components of alcoholic beverages and marijuana bind to GABA neurotransmitters, causing people to slow down and unwind.
Differences
Besides the depressant activity, alcohol and weed have nothing more in common. In a nutshell, ethanol is an outcome of yeast fermentation. To scare you off even more, let’s get it straight – ethanol is the yeast’s excrement that acts as a poison on the human brain cells. Weed acts in a whole different way. There’s still little understanding of the cannabis impact’s mechanism, as humanity is only at the threshold of cannabinoid research. Still, what is known is that weed has a psychoactive effect and can cause depressant and antidepressant reactions in the CNS (for instance, the Fruity Pebbles strain is ideal for high-quality sleep, while the Mendo breath strain will make you feel happy and relaxed). The unique combination of weed compounds also ensures its considerable therapeutic effect for patients with pain, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, etc.
Weed as a Substitute for Alcohol
The use of weed as a lighter substitute for more addictive alcohol and prescription drugs is widespread in clinical practice. Some alcohol withdrawal protocols presuppose a transition from heavier alcohol dependence to abstinence with the help of weed’s symptom-alleviating effects.
- In a study by Lau et al., the participants reported using cannabis as a safer alternative to alcohol, drugs, and pharmaceuticals. The respondents associated fewer adverse side effects and lower addiction risks with cannabis intake. They also claimed that weed alleviated pain better than other options.
- Mikuriya also found that many former alcoholics use medical cannabis as a harm reduction approach to managing their addiction. This evidence suggests that people with alcohol addiction consider weed less addictive and use it as a withdrawal assistant.
- Reiman studied a sample of medical cannabis patients and found that 47% of the sample used it as a substitute for illicit drugs, more than 50% substituted alcohol with weed, and ¾ of the sample used weed instead of prescription drugs. The researcher’s findings suggest weed’s strong association with lighter side effects and addictive potential.
Weed as a Hazardous Drug
Regardless of the rich evidence of weed’s therapeutic value and benefits for patients, one should still note that disorderly, chronic cannabis use is potentially dangerous and addictive.
- Al-Amin’s 2019 presentation at APHA’s annual meeting and expo shared the findings of her study with a large sample of 42,000+ individuals participating in the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. The researcher inquired whether alcohol or marijuana use was stronger associated with a major depressive episode in the past year. The findings suggest that marijuana abuse is more detrimental to mental health than alcohol abuse.
- Bahorik et al. also associated marijuana with worse symptoms and impaired mental health functioning among psychiatry patients with depression.
- Rhew et al. found that marijuana, not alcohol, was associated with greater loneliness, psychological distress, and less flourishing among youngsters.
- La Spada discovered worse verbal learning skills and delayed recall in a sample of young marijuana users, suggesting that marijuana adversely affects youngsters’ verbal learning and memory.
These facts prove the need for more careful dosage and administration of weed for medical and recreational purposes, as the whole spectrum of its effects on the human body and mind is far from understood.
Addiction vs. Dependence
An important argument in the alcohol vs. weed addictiveness is the very concept of addiction. Simply put, addiction is a maladaptive behavior that a user can correct with proper and timely interventions. Dependence, in turn, is a much more serious health condition characterized by a physiological disorder.
If we consider weed and alcohol from this perspective, weed turns out to be a safer option. Research findings suggest that around a quarter of young males and females who regularly drink alcohol develop some form of alcohol dependence, while only 7% of weed users experience similar problems. The risk of dependence development increases manifold if weed and alcohol are used simultaneously. Thus, users considering alcohol vs. weed as recreational alternatives should keep these figures in mind and dose these substances responsibly, avoiding mixed-use by all means.
