Cannabis vs Alcohol. Why shouldn't Cannabis be allowed if Alcohol is....

Siddhart1998

So this was actually a GCSE Mock question however out of interest me and my friend had a pretty fierce debate on whether Cannabis should be legalised.
I think it should be and he says it shouldn't...

however he says his opinion on Alcohol is alright as long as accidents caused by drunkenness shouldn't be free as part of the NHS.

Well fair enough
So I ask him why he believes that Alcohol is alright but not Cannabis when Cannabis causes no long term health problems. The only thing it causes is schizophrenia when Alcohol causes way worse health problems
.
His best argument is that Cannabis is more likely a gate-way drug but people who get drunk every weekend may be prone to try worse drugs. Is this a solid enough argument against Cannabis.

The only other thing for Alcohol is its culture and history in Britain but this shouldn't effect Cannabis being legal right?

What do you think? If alcohol is allowed, then should cannabis be allowed? Of course lets assume that if we allow Cannabis then there should be many laws put up to make it safe as possible.
Thoughts?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

mysterymeat

Cannabis should be legalised and alcohol should be banned. Cannabis would really help out economy and you can get so much out of it, more than just weed. Hemp seeds are healthy and hemp oil is good for your skin. They even have hemp oil products in the body shop.
Just for the record, I've never had recreational drugs of any form but I happen to be a little bit knowledgable about the uses of cannabis.

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Reply 2

Siddhart1998

Original post by mysterymeat

Yes that's a different argument to one I have heard before but interesting :P
Although I believe alcohol shouldn't be banned either because it is of cultural significance.

Reply 3

Ronove

Any evidence for the schizophrenia thing?

One of the main arguments for legalising drugs is taking control and profits out of criminals' hands. However that doesn't really work with cannabis so much - it's not really a big money drug.

Edit: To the poster above - the idea that cannabis is as 'equally damaging' as alcohol is laughable.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

savhannah

I agree with your friend weed shouldn't be legalised. After a while the more weed you smoke the highs reduce so many people will use harsher drugs to get the same high from when they started weed.

Medical marijuana is purer than the marijuana sold on the street (obviously) but legalising it will make people abuse it and that's when it starts to have fatal effects.

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Reply 5

0xygen

They should make alcohol illegal.

- Alcohol abuse is resulting in many deaths.

- It's quite expensive

- Damages the body really badly

- People don't think straight when drunk.

What's the upside? People drink because they can have fun (those are responsible drinkers) But there are to many irresponsible drinkers.

Weed just makes you lazy. And it smells disgusting. I think the smell of beer and the smell of cannabis are on the same level in my eyes.

Reply 6

Chlorophile

Original post by Siddhart1998

I find it slightly amusing how you say "The only thing it causes is schizophrenia" as if that's not particularly serious!

But yeah, I think it probably should be legalised simply because I don't see why the state has the right to ban it. Cannabis can have harmful effects (anyone who claims otherwise is cherry-picking information), but I believe that people are rational enough to make their own decisions. If they want to run the risk of having long term mental health issues for the sake of short term pleasure, then they have every right to take that risk.

Reply 7

monoamineoxidise

Original post by Chlorophile

I find it slightly amusing how you say "The only thing it causes is schizophrenia" as if that's not particularly serious!

Schizophrenia itself is actually pretty rare (well... something like 1 to 2% of the population is millions of people), IIRC the rate has remained consistent. Symptoms of psychosis are more common, but have a diverse range of causes. Some causes i know of: sleep deprivation, bipolar disorder. Probably other causes too. The stereotypical image of Schizophrenia symptoms like delusions, hearing voices etc. etc., can be treated effectively with neuroleptic meds for **most** people.

I personally do not think it's possible for cannabis to cause Schizophrenia, but i do believe it's can precipitate or aggravate a latent mental illness. I think a lot of who experience psychosis from weed are probably just experiencing depersonalisation and/or a panic attack... which isn't really harmful. You should just mentally reassure someone experiencing these symptoms.

There seem to be other causes that are far weirder than cannabis. Like cities (seriously):
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/07/the-enigma-of-urban-psychosis/491141/