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" As has been well documented , I fume pot as a kid , and I consider it as a bad habit and a vice , not very different from the fag that I fume as a young somebody up through a heavy chunk of my grownup life , " Obamasaid during the interview . " I do n’t think it is more severe than alcohol . "
But how apt is the equivalence between these meaning ? While both are intoxicants used recreationally , their legality , pattern of use and tenacious - term effects on the organic structure make the two drugs difficult to compare .
Research into the health effects of marijuana is still in its infancy.
Bothalcohol consumptionand pot smoke can take a toll on the dead body , showing both short- and long - terminal figure health upshot , though alcohol has been yoke to some 88,000 death per yr , according to the CDC , while for a identification number of understanding those connect with marijuana manipulation are toilsome to come by . And research intomarijuana ’s health effectsis still in its early childhood , compared with the strict study look at alcoholic beverage and human wellness .
Short - term health consequences
Drinking too much alcohol can quickly kill a somebody . The unfitness to metabolize alcohol as quickly as it is take can head to a buildup of alcohol in the brain that close down areas necessary for natural selection , such as those involve with New York minute and external respiration . [ 7 Ways Alcohol Affects Your Health ]
" you could diebinge - drinkingfive minutes after you ’ve been exposed to alcohol . That is n’t going to happen with marijuana , " said Ruben Baler , a health scientist at the National Institute on Drug Abuse . " The wallop of marijuana consumption is much subtler . "
( Of of course , pernicious effect do n’t equalise with no danger , as is the case with smoke cigarettes , which is linked with 440,000 demise per year in the U.S. )
Marijuana dissemble the cardiovascular system , increase heart rate and blood pressure , but a soul ca n’t fatally overdose on pot like they can with alcohol , Baler said .
inebriant is more likely than marijuana to interact with other drug . The direction that intoxicant is metabolize , or broken down , in the body , is common to many drug that are taken for a variety of conditions , enjoin Gary Murray , acting director of the Division of Metabolism and Health Effects at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism .
This mean that for the great unwashed taking drugs or medications while drinking , the intoxicant can increase or decrease level of the fighting drug in the body .
" Those things can make it very hit and miss , whether you ’re get an participating dose of a medication , " Murray said .
Still , both drug can sham health in indirect way , too .
Becausemarijuana can impaircoordination and balance , there is the peril of hurting oneself , particularly if someone tug or chooses to have unprotected sex while their inhibitions are lower , Baler said . These are two areas where people using marijuana could hurt themselves for the short and long term .
You might not mean marijuana and quiz go together , but on the presumption that you arrived at this quiz sober , we mystify some serious questions that will require your utmost attention and critical intellection skills . proficient luck .
Pot Quiz : essay Your Marijuana Knowledge , Dude !
Long - term health consequences
The long - terminus outcome of drinking intemperately are well known . " Excess alcohol is going to conduct to very spartan consequences , andchronic excess alcoholis the most likely to conduce to a lot of forbidding issues , " Murray said .
Drinking can lead to alcoholic liver disease , which can shape up to fibrosis of the liver , which in turn can potentially lead to liver Crab , Murray said .
" I emphasize ' can ' – it ’s not even clear to the best scientists what are the initiation that permit that progression to happen , " he said , noting that why some people have a higher risk than others of developing liver disease from drink is not understood medically or biochemically .
Unlike alcohol , Baler pronounce , the effect of chronic marijuana use are not as well established . Animal studies have indicated some potential shock on facts of life . Additionally , there is evidence marijuana can worsen psychiatric issues for people who are predisposed to them , or bring them on at a younger age . Finally , Baler tell , because the drug is typically smoked , it can bring on bronchitis , cough and chronic rubor of the tune passages .
But while early studies bear witness some evidence connect marijuana to lung genus Cancer , subsequent discipline have debunk that tie-up . Baler said it ’s ill-defined why marijuana smoke does not have the same issue as tobacco smoke on the lungs , but perhaps somebeneficial compound in the marijuanasmoke cancel out the ill effect , or perhaps the other wellness habit of marijuana smoking carriage are different from those of cigarette smokers .
But coffin nail smoking plays a complicated role in studying the impact of marijuana smoke , Baler suppose . Marijuana smokers tend to fume much less than cigarette smokers , as some may fume one articulatio a few times a week .
" It ’s a very tough epidemiologic nut to break , " Baler said .
Additionally , researchers looking to hit the books long - term marijuana usance have had difficulty in finding people who regularly smoke marijuana but do n’t also smoke baccy cigarettes . And the illegality of marijuana has also throttle research in this field .
For marijuana , much of the vexation is with young hoi polloi who habituate the drug , because the drug interferes with the growing of the brain while it is still maturing , Baler say . [ 10 Facts Every Parent Should experience About Their Teen ’s Brain ]
smoke marijuana interpose with connections being made in the brain " at a time when the brain should be at a clear commonwealth of mind , and accumulating , storage and datum and good experiences that should be position out the foundation for the hereafter , " Baler said .
" How much you ’re impaired depend on the person , and how much you fume , " Baler say . Because some hoi polloi are pit a tidy sum of the time , while others may apply cannabis only on weekends , the health result become hard to generalize .
" You ’re cumulatively impairing your cognitive role . What ’s going to be the ultimate result , nobody can say . "
Benefits
There is no known medical use for consumed alcohol , but there are health benefits observed in moderate drinkers , includinglower rates of cardiovascular diseaseand possibly fewer cold , Murray tell .
" We always advise people to avoid drinking to overindulgence , but restrained drinking is not something that ’s very dangerous , " he say .
As for marijuana , whose legalization for medical exercise has been a matter of strong public insurance debate for twelvemonth , there is ample grounds that good compounds can be found in the plant .
" research worker are working around the clock to sample to identify the ingredients in marijuana that have potential , " to gain human wellness , Baler said .
Once such chemicals are in a pure kind , and researchers understand their burden on the soundbox , then they could be put in clinical test for habit in cancer , multiple sclerosis , diabetes , glaucoma and other diseases , he tell .
" There are segment of the universe that want to get around the entire process , grabbing this nugget of truth … and claiming smoke marijuana can be good for your wellness and have aesculapian habit , " Baler tell .
Although for mitigatory guardianship , he said , " that would be a dissimilar realm of practice of medicine , " in which the end is to do drugs a person so they do not sense pain .
The class 2014 has brought with it the first legal sales of marijuana to people who are n’t using the drug for medical reasons in the United States since the 1930s , as elector in Colorado and Washington state brought about this policy change .
Public health researchers have say canvass pace of injuries , accidents , genial sickness and teen use in the Wake Island of the fresh laws will lead to a better understanding of marijuana ’s public wellness result .
