Chronic or excessive alcohol consumption is known to affect balance and disrupts normal walking patterns. This is because alcohol can damage parts of the brain responsible for coordination, including the cerebellum. Akin to this, cannabis use can also affect coordination and motor skills because THC can interfere with the functioning of specific sections of the brain like the cerebellum and the basal ganglia. Similarly, the THC in cannabis causes an increase in levels of dopamine in the brain and this motivates people to keep using it.
If using weed does indeed slow the absorption of alcohol, it might also delay feelings of drunkenness. This might seem like a good thing, but it makes it harder to know how impaired you really are. Weed appeared to slow down the rise of blood alcohol levels after consuming a high dose of alcohol.
How to handle a green out
Both CUD and alcoholism are predicated on the idea that users have developed an attachment or addiction to the way their substance of choice makes them feel and have transitioned from recreational to disordered use. The way you consume weed can have a big impact on its short- and long-term effects. For example, smoking is rough on your lungs, but this risk doesn’t apply to edibles.
Because marijuana can impair coordination and balance, there is the risk of hurting oneself, particularly if someone drives or chooses to have unprotected sex while their inhibitions are lowered, Baler said. These are two areas where people using marijuana could hurt themselves for the short and long term. Marijuana affects the cardiovascular system, increasing heart rate and blood pressure, but how long after taking clonazepam can i drink alcohol a person can’t fatally overdose on pot like they can with alcohol, Baler said.
- Of course, the way you feel when you’re intoxicated also depends on how much of the substance you consume.
- Finally, Baler said, because the drug is typically smoked, it can bring on bronchitis, coughing and chronic inflammation of the air passages.
- “There are segments of the population that want to bypass the entire process, grabbing this nugget of truth … and claiming smoking marijuana can be good for your health and have medical uses,” Baler said.
- But cigarette smoking plays a complicated role in studying the impact of marijuana smoke, Baler said.
“Alcohol use is a leading risk factor for global disease burden and causes substantial health loss,” the researchers wrote in their paper, “and the level of consumption that minimizes health loss is zero.” Hutchison’s study, he said, was different than other studies in the fact that he looked at gray and white matter across all regions of the brain, and also compared the two vices. But experts are cautious to declare that marijuana is not harmful to the brain based on the evidence of this study. There’s plenty of research about alcohol’s long-term effect on your brain and overall health.
Edibles Vs Alcohol
Again, there isn’t significant data to point to specific deaths caused solely by weed. Again, a cannabis overdose can cause increased nausea and vomiting but is not fatal. Even heavy marijuana abuse can at worst cause schizophrenia in people with a history of mental illness. The main reason we don’t know is because marijuana isn’t just one thing. Alcohol is alcohol, whether you’re talking about beer, wine, or spirits. They may all taste different, but in terms of the effect that alcohol has on your body, they act the same way.
What other drug experts say about the UK study
As BAC rises, alcohol users can segue from excitement to confusion and even a blackout state where consciousness is temporarily lost. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), 15 million people in the United States deal with it. While one person might feel relaxed while drunk, another might feel restless. Heavy drug use is never ideal — and marijuana is no different in this regard. Cannabis on the other hand can make you feel relaxed covert narcissist and drugs as well decrease your depression or anxiety.
How Weed and Alcohol Stack Up Against Each Other
For example, a 1992 study had 15 participants smoke a placebo, a high dose of THC, or a low dose of THC on three occasions. On each occasion, they’d rank a different dose of alcohol, including a placebo, as a low dose or a high dose. However, this study was pretty small, making it hard to draw any firm conclusions. Plus, a similar (but equally small) 2010 study found that alcohol consumption didn’t have much of an effect on THC concentrations. This is because alcohol increases the absorption of weed’s main psychoactive ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
This refers to a range of unpleasant physical symptoms that can result from a strong high. Read on to learn more about the potential reactions and what to do if you have a bad one. Blending modern and traditional approaches, a residential treatment center addressing substance use disorders with equine therapy in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Decreased cognitive function
But while early studies showed some evidence linking marijuana to lung cancer, subsequent studies have debunked that association. The drug policy experts I talked to about Nutt’s study generally agreed that his style of analysis and ranking misses some of the nuance behind the harm of certain drugs. Overall, cannabis use can be healthier and less addictive than alcohol use.
We will break down where the candidates stand on major issues, from economic policy to immigration, foreign policy, criminal justice, and abortion. We’ll answer your biggest questions, and we’ll explain what matters — and why. One way to develop a healthy relationship with cannabis is to use it intentionally. If you want to seek out medical marijuana for a specific condition consider finding a doctor with Green Health Docs. Getting a medical marijuana card can ensure that you have access to regulated medical marijuana simply and easily. One thing that’s clear about the alcohol vs. weed debate is that both should be used responsibly and driving while intoxicated on anything should be avoided at all costs.
The idea is lawmakers could look at this model to help decide on an individual basis which policies are better for each drug. Although drug policy experts generally don’t dispute the assertion that alcohol is more dangerous than pot, the study, led by British researcher David Nutt, is quite controversial. Experts see the rankings as deeply flawed, largely because they present the harms that come from drugs in a rather crude, one-dimensional manner. Alcohol is everywhere yet we are well aware of the risks and dangers of alcohol use and abuse.
You might not even know that weed is addictive.7 As legalization becomes more widespread in the U.S., so do studies shedding light on cannabis use, weed’s potential risks and benefits,8 and addiction. The other factor that makes it hard to answer this question is the relative lack of studies on the negative health effects of weed. While some consumers are chasing sobriety in its entirety, others are becoming “Cali-sober,” meaning they cut out alcohol but continue to consume other substances such as cannabis. If health and wellness how to recover from being roofied are the ultimate goals, does smoking weed have similar effects as drinking liquor?