Cannabis vs Alcohol

As long as human beings have been human beings, we have tried to get a buzz on.   The first fossil evidence of cannabis use is believed to date back to roughly 7000 B.C.E.  The first fossil evidence of alcohol is from roughly the same period.   Suffice to say, humans have been altering their consciousness for a long long time one way, or the other.  Arguably, human beings have used cannabis as medicine and a social tool for far longer than the roughly 100 years of prohibition.  And what a time to be alive!   Delta 8, Delta 9, THCa, diamonds, distillate, gummies, we have more options than ever before, and people are responding.

In 2022, The US National Survey on Drug Use and Health discovered that with 24 states legalizing recreational use and 38 legalizing medical use, approximately 18 million people aged 12 and over are copping to use cannabis daily.  Now the same study found that the number of people who admitted to drinking daily was only 15 million.  Frankly, that makes absolute sense to us.

Some of you might be saying hold up, didn’t we decide as a culture that smoking was bad?  Well yes, cigarette smoking is bad because it causes all sorts of health issues.  Alcohol abuse does as well.   Respectively, The World Health Organization estimates more than 8 million people die each year from tobacco, and in the US alone the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimates 178,000 deaths a year from alcohol related emergencies, making it one of the leading preventable causes of death.

Do you know how many people die from cannabis overdose every year?  None.

While the scientific jury is still digging into things like lung cancer rates, because we have about 100 years of catching up to do, we know that cannabis is killing cancer cells in laboratory settings.  The list of medical conditions proven to be effectively treated by cannabis grows every single year and encompasses every system of the body.  In some states, you don’t even need to have a specific condition, just a symptom it is known to treat, because it’s considered about as safe as it gets.  It is far from the only medication where we understand that it does work, even if we don’t completely understand how.  We are just now discovering and learning about the endocannabinoid system.

As far as health effects, if the fact that mammals have an entire system devoted to using cannabinoids in our bodies doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will.  Our bodies manufacture, in much smaller numbers, the same cannabinoids that we ingest or inhale from the plant.  I know you haven’t heard of an “endo-alcohol” system, because it does not exist.  Our bodies view alcohol as a poison, pure and simple.   Every health effect that we experience is as a result of the alcohol poisoning our bodily systems, both acute and long term.  Nicotine as well.  But our bodies don’t make ethanol or nicotine on our own.  We do make cannabinoids.   As a culture, we’re finally starting to come around to the idea that just as we supplement ourselves with melatonin, vitamins, and nutritional supplements, cannabis can also work to keep our bodies healthy and functioning properly.

You know what else you don’t really get with cannabis?  Hangovers.   I mean, sure if you’re up until 2am eating ramen and watching Netflix, you probably won’t feel amazing the next day.  But there’s something about not having to force one’s unwilling carcass from bed after a night of drinking that is deeply gratifying.  No vomiting, no light sensitivity, no headache, and your biggest problem is forgetting to floss after you took that snack to bed.  If you’re like me and believe water is for the bong and not for drinking, you’ll probably end up dehydrated but that’s about it.  Frankly, even while you ARE still drinking, you’re not much fun to be around.  Have you ever tried to be around really drunk people while sober on DD duty?  Have you ever tried to get one of your asshole friends to pay the cleaning bill after they yak in your car, or go through the drive through and try to figure out what they’re mumbling they want?   Absolutely brutal.

Frankly, the social consequences of alcohol are as bad as the physical ones.  Mood changes are common with alcohol use and abuse.  Anger, violence, depression are common, as is taking an inappropriate pass at your boss at the Christmas Party.  Pretty sure there are very few folks out there who are actually as witty, charming and coordinated while drinking as they think they are.  For something often used as social lubrication because of a decrease in inhibition, there are often very real social consequences for getting sloppy in public.  Most folks seem to have had at least one “I got so drunk and embarrassed myself” story.  

Still not convinced after years of prohibition propaganda?  Some folks get stuck on the smoking part.  The great news is those options I mentioned!  Don’t like flower?   Try edibles.   Can’t do sugar?  A dropperful of tincture on your plate can be tasteless, odorless and sugarless.  Need something quick and discrete that doesn’t smell?   A vape might be more your speed.  Many people are incredibly surprised to learn that the cannabis beverage industry is one of the fastest growing segments of the market.  And why wouldn’t it be?  When you can buy a THC beverage at a bar or liquor store, places we’re already socially programmed to connect drinking to a good time?  Doesn’t the place where legal restrictions already in place make more sense to sell THC than a dispensary trying to be an I-Store?  We have cigarettes, lottery, alcohol, all those socially acceptable addictions, but heaven forbid THC.

By now, I hope your only remaining objection is “but won’t anyone think of the children?!”  We strictly regulate advertising aimed at children and have ID laws in place already.  For alcohol.  Let that sink in for a moment.  As a society, we have collectively agreed that while alcohol is dangerous, addictive and deadly, we’re not willing to give it up because it might risk children’s safety.   Our current system isn’t perfect obviously, but we have collectively decided the risk is worth, well certainly not a reward, but at least grudging acknowledgement that this is probably as good as it’s going to get.  

So why are we okay with the current regulations surrounding alcohol for children’s safety, but if I want to buy a joint, I have to drive to an industrial part of town, show my ID twice before they agree to sell it to me, get my information recorded, can only buy an ounce a day and can’t even unstaple the bag until I get home?  Does it make sense to anyone else that alcohol that can kill a kid the first time they use, but we have far stricter controls on cannabis than alcohol?  Frankly I’d think that the substance that can’t kill a kid should be less regulated, but what do I know?  Can high dose edibles hurt children by making them very ill?  Yes.  But so can that nip that got left out too.  Acute water intoxication can kill, but the water company hasn’t made me show my ID to keep the pipes full.

Thankfully, the times they are a-changin.   The statistics alone are showing that.  And part of that change is safe, legal access to cannabis online, from companies like Indacloud.  I can order legal, safety tested flower, edibles and more, delivered directly to my door.  Gone are the days of going to your shady plug’s house to sit on the couch for 3 hours before they remembered you didn’t come over to enjoy their company.  Gone are the days of spending several hours picking out stems and seeds to wind up with barely anything smokeable.   Gone are the days of hiding.  

Because buying cannabis should be the easiest part..

Remember, when you’re choosing your buzz perhaps the most important part is that cannabis never told you to text your ex. That one is on you.