Marijuana vs. Alcohol: The Stigma

As the legalization of recreational marijuana gains traction around the country, people are starting to push back and ask: what are marijuana’s effects on the body?

Although there are studies on both sides of the aisle, both outlining the positive and negative effects of it, most of those studies are not as thorough as they could be. This is because marijuana is still illegal and can be difficult to study. But something about the debate behind legalizing marijuana catches my eye… And that is in the comparison to how our society treats alcohol.

Alcohol is not known to have any positive health benefits and it is not used medically (unless you’re counting something like rubbing alcohol). Alcohol use is, for the most part, purely recreational. Most people argue that it isn’t dangerous as long as it is used in moderation and I think most people would laugh at the idea of banning it. It’s interesting to think that we have two amendments to our constitution dedicated to the consumption of alcohol–one banning it and the other allowing it.

But when you pit the two substances against each other, barring the idea of abusing either substance, I would argue that consuming marijuana has more health benefits than alcohol. I have witnessed alcohol be used to take advantage of others. I have seen people abuse alcohol. On the contrary, I have seen many people use marijuana to help with things like anxiety or soreness and pain. It seems to me that, if we have space in society for a substance like alcohol, we can also make space for marijuana.

To add to that, legalizing marijuana would make it easier for the government to regulate it and it would also make it easier to understand its effects. Right now, because it is illegal in so many places still, it is difficult and costly to understand the implications of its use. Whether it is legal or not, people will still use it, so why not introduce it into society in a way where it can grow to benefit it?

Additionally, there are many people sitting unfairly in jail for minor drug offenses because they got caught smoking or dealing marijuana. Legalizing and regulating marijuana would hopefully allow these people to get back to their lives instead of wasting away for what many people think is a petty crime. Not to mention that it would open up a new vein in the United States’s economy.

Overall, I think it is hypocritical to stigmatize marijuana use when we so clearly allow substances like alcohol (and tobacco for that matter. At the end of the day, it is important to understand how marijuana affects your body, but that will only be fully understood once it can be used recreationally and responsibly.

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