Pot distracts Public on Alcohol’s harm
Ask any law enforcement official which domestic situation they’d prefer to avoid:
1) An individual or group high on liquid drugs… alcohol?
2) An individual or group high on marijuana?
Does anyone really doubt which drug has the statistically higher ratio of violence & death… even though marijuana smokers face much harsher penalties… including longer prison terms and forfeiture of assets… a drunk person would have to kill somebody to perhaps warrant such justice!
The societial sentiments of this imbalance of justice can be traced to the advertising of alcohol particularly beer. The image of that drug is portrayed as funny and harmless. The only image of marijuana is one of addiction and endless bad results that accompany it. Of course, the Alcohol industry benefits not only from the misleading PR, it also trashs one of it’s biggest competitors, pot.
If our drug policy were based on the harm inflicted by the drug in question, alcohol wouldn’t be advertised so freely and marijuana would be de-criminalized at the very least.
Tags: advertising, Alcohol, drug policy, Marijuana
April 10th, 2008 at 9:16 am
From the literature I have read on the effects of marijuana, I don’t think the drug is as innocent as this blog implies.
April 10th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Interesting comparison of drug vs. alcohol use. I am always struck when going to professional sporting events, and the parks are named “Busch”, “Miller” etc. what are the fans expecting to do? And then on television sporting events the unending beer commercials - it’s all fun!
Well we have a relative of a family friend that is now serving nine years for killing someone she barely knew while driving drunk after the party where she and others were “just having a good time, drinking a “few” beers”. Had they been smoking a little bit of “marijuana” instead of drinking, this never would have happened - but in the eyes of many, she would be a “drug addict”, and much less accepted in many circles of family and friends.
Keep up the good work and thoughtful analysis. I love your Blog!
April 11th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
As someone who worked on marijuana reform, I would have to seriously disagree with Mr. Rohr. See me as biased, fine, but the effects of marijuana pale in comparison to those of alcohol. In fact, literature that suggests marijuana is a deadly and dangerous drug is often false and used as propaganda or to put fear in those who use it, whether it be for recreational or medical purposes.
Marijuana has not been proven to be a gateway drug to harsher substances and those who use it are far less likely to become dependent on the drug than those who drink alcohol. In fact, the Institute of Medicine released a study a few years back stating that those who drink alcohol are nearly TWICE as likely to become dependent on it than those who use marijuana. And, the percentage of marijuana users who become dependent on the drug is the smallest percentage in the study — tobacco, alcohol, cocaine and heroin addiction levels were studied as well. The percentage of cocaine users who become dependent is almost equal to that of those who become dependent on alcohol. Funny, you don’t hear many people suggesting that drinking beer is just as bad as doing cocaine…
How many times to you hear, read or see something about a drunk driver killing someone else, or themselves? Seems to be an almost daily occurrence. How many times do you see the same about marijuana users? Rarely … if ever.
Go and looks at the facts, the real ones, not leaflets and stories published by anti-marijuana groups. Alcohol use is significantly more dangerous, and yet our society is glorifying the entire drinking culture. Pathetic.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I really enjoyed the comparison of pot to alcohol. this issue could use a lot more coverage based on facts about the real life results of using them. Marijuana also has a helpful medical benefit for those suffering from chemotherapy.
my observation is that the “war on drugs” has effectively obscured the very real problems we have with legal drugs like alcohol(and I want to add prescription medications). I believe all substances should be legalized and controlled to undermine the black markets which wreak havoc on communities everywhere.
I love the new RID website, thank you Evan!
Kalika