Marijuana.com

Mr_Master2

Let's say hypothetically that both marijuana and alcohol were illegal in this country and our society was going to legalize one of these options. I'm just curious, how could you ever rationally argue for the legalization of alcohol, especially when compared to marijuana? Any takers?

 

troublemaker_42

I couldn't do it. If i could snap my fingers, and reverse both their legal status's this moment, i'd do it in a heartbeat (making weed legal, and alcohol illegal). I'd only do that if I were forced to make a choice, though. I believe people should have access to their drug of choice, whatever it may be. prohibition is what causes a lot of the harm associated with drugs, and banning alcohol in favor of legalizing marijuana would simply create another black market, and likely one that would dwarf that of marijuana currently. AS long as theere is someone saing "no, you can't have that" there will be a certian segement of the population bound and determined to get their hands on it.

Lit_Match

Weed should be legal, alchohol is too addictive and dangerous. Unfortunatly the public is used to alchohol use, not marijuana. I wonder what how a government official would answer that question though.

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urania3

Its intoxicating properties aside, ethanol is used in medicine as a vehicle for non-polar drugs and in chemistry to make ethyl esters and ethylamines. The vinegar you have at home is even made from ethanol.

While ethanol is probably more addictive than marijuana, it is less so than other off-topic drugs.

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Why is it that we cannot face the simple truth? Religion is at best unsubstantiated superstition. (Massimo Pigliucci)

troublemaker_42

actually, alcohol is one of the more addicitng drugs out there. Which off-topic drugs do you consider to be more addiciting? Many sources I've read portray alcohol as addicitive as most "street" drugs

 

urania3

I will cite the Institute of Medicine's report, "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," published by the National Academy of Sciences.

Specifically, Table 3.4, Prevalence of Drug Use and Dependence in the General Population.

Buzzby

I couldn't argue for any kind of prohibition, except controlling access to potentially dangerous substances by those incapable of making a reasoned decision about their use (children, animals, and the mentally incompetent).

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Buzzby

The difference between alcohol and other addictive drugs-of-abuse is that alcohol addiction (physical dependence) develops fairly slowly by comparison, often a matter of years rathers than days, weeks, or months. Once the addiction was become established, the effects of alcohol withdrawal are more serious than most, the exception being barbiturates with which unmedicated withdrawal can easily be fatal.

Mr_Master2

Note that I wasn't asking for an argument for prohibition, rather it was a hypothetical situation where alcohol was already illegal for one reason or another. I just don't know how you would be able to justify its legalization if it is already illegal. If ethanol has medicinal purposes like another poster said, the proposal to create products with ethanol in them but still banning alcohol consumption would be the logical course of action to take. Again, this would never happen in our society, but is worth thinking about because our society (along with many others) is very restricted in our collective thinking. "Since alcohol has mostly been legal, it's good, and since marijuana has been illegal for the past 75 years, it's bad."