Which is more harmful to the brain and body, marijuana or alcohol?

Answers:
Both can cause damage to the brain with heavy use over long periods of time, although it's much, much worse with alcohol. Prolonged alcohol abuse will also damage the liver, while heavy marijuana smoking can cause forms of lung damage also caused by cigarette smoking. So irresponsible use of either carries some health risk.But it's very clear that alcohol abuse is much more likely to cause severe, irreversible, often fatal health effects than even the heaviest use of marijuana. In theory, marijuana smoking could cause lung cancer in some people, but this is certainly very rare if it happens at all. In contrast, the number of people in the U.S. who develop dementing brain damage (sometimes called "wet brain") or fatal liver disease, as a direct pharmacological effect of years of heavy drinking, is in the thousands. Indirect damage (i.e. not pharmacological) to the user or others is also much more frequent with alcohol abuse than with pot smoking, given that alcohol is involved in approximately half of all motor vehicle fatalities, small aircraft crash deaths, drownings, fatal burn injuries, falls, homicides, suicides, and non-fatal injuries as well. Marijuana smoking may be associated with some number of fatal and nonfatal injuries, but that number is probably very small. As if all that didn't make for a vivid, persuasive comarison favorable to marijuana, its also certain that the amounts of social, psychological, and spiritual damage associated with alcohol vastly exceed those possibly linked to pot smoking. "Reefer Madness" turns out to have been just a bad movie, and I suspect that intelligent space aliens would be astounded to discover a supposedly rational society in which alcohol use is accepted and promoted while marijuana smokers fill up jail cells. I'm not suggesting, of course, that there aren't good reasons for discouraging irresponsible use of alcohol OR marijuana by anyone, and children and adolescents should, in my view, be discouraged from using them at all even if both were legal for adults.

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alcohol, no body has ever smoked themselves to death in one night

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alcohol

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alcohol..unless you smoke maijuana non stop seven days a week..but i have never hear of a marijuana overdose..

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ALCOHOL!

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alcohol

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marijuana

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Twiggy You might as well ask which is better to get shot in the head with a .357 or a .44 Magnunm. Both will take years off your life. I've heard all the arguements, I have freinds who have made a life of these abuses, believe me there is no difference. Both are really bad!

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I would agree with the guy above who says that both are bad, but numerous studies have shown over and over that alcohol messes you up more and in more ways and for much longer than smoking weed (or eating it, or vaporizing it, or drinking it in a tincture, but I guess that one is both.)the funny thing is, many other studies have shown that certain types of alcohol consumed in moderate amounts can actually improve health be unrestricting blood flow, lowering bad cholesterol, etc. (of course, i am only really talking about a glass of red wine a day)overall, weed is much less harmful. both are bad, but weed is much less so. besides, you can grow your own weed much easier than making some homemade moonshine.

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It is my belief that both marijuana and liquor are harmful to a person's body and brain.
Many people do not realize that marijuana contains other deadly chemical substances that have been environmentally acquired by the plant.
On several of my excursionary treks (explorations) around the globe I managed to witness the eradication process used to get rid of marijuana plantations. It seems that when the helicopters or duster type planes fly over these plantations they spray the marijuana with a chemical that is extremely related with the exfoliating agent such as that used in Vietnam. I hope that this will give you a broader view into the risks of drug use.
Another observation was that as soon as the dusters flew away the indigenous groundkeepers would take machetes in hand and run to the recently sprayed crops, chop them down and prepare them for packaging. By the time that it took the crop workers to begin the chopping (a vain attempt to save the crop) the six to seven foot tall marijuana plants would already be wilted and bowing into the ground. How fast this chemicals works is astounding. Can you imagine the 'wilting' within a user's body and mind.
As for liquor it is only hangovers, screw-ups, jail, penitentiary, memory lose, domestic violence, child abuse and an open door into drug abuse.
Geez Fella, you sure can pose a question. Jose

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he man alcohol may be bad after prolonged periods but MJ is good for the brain and body because there is a receptor in the brain called the dopamine receptor it only reacts with dope or MJ while when it is working it allows you to think much clearer and better it makes you smarter but if you overload it then thats when it becomes bad

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Both. Alcohol can diffuse through the cells even the blood brain barrier. for marijuana it affects the neurons

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Most of the people answering your question have no idea what theyre talking about. So, heres the truth. Alcohol destroys your brain cells, hurts your liver, and may cause other damages to your body.Marijuana on the other hand, does not harm your brain at all. Someone else on here said it contains the chemical "dopamine". It doesnt. The chemical in marijuana that gets you high is called THC (TetraHydraCannabinol). When you eat or smoke pot, the THC goes into your system, travels to the brain, and once there, it connects with specials cells in your brain called Cannabinoid Receptors. It lands on the receptors and lightly coats them, which in effect sort of tickles them, releasing endorphins in your brain and getting you high. There is absolutely no damage caused to your brain by pot. The only damage you can do to yourself with pot is by smoking it. Because smoking anything isnt the best thing in the world. However, if you use a bong (water pipe) 50% of the carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) are removed from the smoke. So thats much safer. Also, if you get or build a vaporiser, which just releases the THC by heating the plant, but produces no smoke, its completely safe. If you eat it, again its completely safe.So to answer your question. Alcohol causes far more damage in general than does pot. Hope that helps you.Peace

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duh! alcohol and to all those people saying both: smoke first then talk :) really try it!

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