Alcohol use and cannabis use can have adverse effects on the body, with both short- and long-term health consequences. Although their patterns of use, their legal aspects, and their long-term effects on the body are different, there is indeed a subject that makes the debate, which of these substances is the most dangerous?
According to WHO, alcohol is linked to about 3 million deaths a year, while cannabis-related deaths are extremely difficult to find, which is the real bridge to other substances? Although cannabis is generally considered a gateway to other substances, it is not always the first thing people choose to experiment with.
Cannabis or alcohol, which is the worst?
In the 1930s, cannabis was considered the main gateway to drugs, while anti-cannabis campaigns highlighted the dangers that could result from using this drug. Using films and literature, these campaigns sought to create fear among the population, portraying cannabis users as slackers and drug addicts for life. And, while evidence supports claims that some drugs may lead to the use of others, recent studies claim that, by comparison, alcohol is potentially the most dangerous "entry drug".
American university researchers wanted answers
The study aimed to correct some of the stigma and propaganda that permeated American culture. Their results showed that the theory of a cannabis-related "entry drug" was not entirely true. The consumption of alcohol leads much more often to the consumption of additional substances, including illegal drugs.
According to the study, at the individual level, alcohol represents the highest risk of death, followed by nicotine, cocaine and heroin, suggesting that the risk of alcohol use has probably been -stimated in the past. Cannabis was considered significantly less lethal and was at the other end of the spectrum, consistent with previous research that had always considered it the safest recreational drug.
The study represented data collected from 14,577 individuals at 120 public and private high schools nationwide. The data, collected as part of the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future survey, tracks trends in drug use among young people in the United States. By comparing substance use rates among drinkers and non-drinkers, those who had been drinking at least once were 13 times more likely to use cigarettes, 16 times more likely to use cannabis and other narcotics and 13 times more likely to use cocaine. Of the students, 72.2% reported having consumed alcohol in their lifetime, making it the most common substance and the most consumed substance.
Educate teens with alcohol
The results of this study and others support the idea that alcohol should be given more attention in school-based substance abuse prevention programs. Understanding that the use of other substances could be delayed and impacted could be significant. If there is a higher level of prevention from learning and a better understanding of alcohol and the effects of alcohol consumption, it will be necessary to inform people of the real dangers of substances, especially alcohol.
That being said, researchers are quick to point out that these results in no way mean that drinking a moderate amount of alcohol is worse than taking heroin. Much of the damage associated with drug use is not only due to the drug itself, but also to the environment in which it is taken, for example sharing dirty needles, and this has not not taken into account by the study.
According to the authors, it would be better to devote more time to alcohol and tobacco risk management than to illicit drugs. In addition, they suggest that for low-risk drugs such as cannabis, regulation rather than prohibition is a better and more justified approach.
