It is a enquiry frequently and endlessly debated , often with quite a lot of vitriol : is alcohol or marijuanamore harmful ?

The question   is really quite a hard one to answer . There are many conflicting factors that make it backbreaking to do a direct compare between intoxicant and marijuana , not least the differing legal position of the two drug . While decennium of research   examine the effect and dangers of alcohol , the   illegality of locoweed means that studies attend into its impact   are incredibly modified .

Then there is the trouble of what “ worse ” or “ dangerous ” really mean , which is not as promiscuous to define as you might assume . Are we referring to how habit-forming something is ? Or perhaps the damage it does to a taker ’s own body ? What about   how particular drug harm society ? These are all factors to take into consideration , and quantify them is not an easy task .

But that does not mean hoi polloi have not seek , and you could probably guess what the results are .

For a start , marijuana seems to be   much less addictive than alcohol . In one surveyabout the drug habits of 8,000   Americans , researchers found that while 15 percent could be classed as addicted to alcoholic drink , just 9 percent could be diagnosed as addicted to pot . In fact , for those smoking weed mixed with tobacco , the nicotine is far more probable to get you hooked , with 32 percent of user showing signs of addiction .

Healthwise it ’s a tricky one . We ’ve jazz for a farseeing meter that alcohol is linked to a wholehost of different types of cancer , from mouth   to liver , to peradventure even pancreatic . On the contrary , there are many who argue that cannabis does the opposite , hint it can actually be used to bring around genus Cancer . Unfortunately , the evidence for this latter call isstill not conclusive , with many studies channel out on malignant neoplastic disease cells in the lab giving modified insight into how it   would work in the eubstance .

But one of the most comprehensive study looking into the harm of the drugs found overwhelmingly thatalcohol was the most harmful . And that ’s not just between booze and corporation . No , in fact ,   principally due to the wider matter relate with it , inebriant has been rated by far the most harmful drug , even whencompared to heroin and crack cocaine , which ranked second and third , respectively . On this scale , which included both individual and societal risks , marijuana take a crap an appearance at number eight .

In fact , globally it ’s think that alcoholic beverage contributes to a pretty terrible 3.3 million dying   each class , which correspond to one person dying every 10 seconds . Yet due to the queerness of story and gild , it ’s still the one that end up legal .