This is the classic apples and oranges debate. Why are drugs like tobacco and alcohol legal when they cause more harm to people than illegal drugs such as cannabis? This is a question many people and professionals ask themselves constantly. Based on past history alcohol was illegal during the 1920s known as the prohibition era. Federal and local government struggled to enforce the prohibition over the course of the 1920s. Even though it decreased drunken arrests and dropped alcohol consumption by 30 percent; there was still people that didn’t agree with the law and found inventive ways to get around it. That’s when “bootlegging” (illegal manufacturing and sale of liquor), “speakeasies” (stores or nightclubs selling alcohol), and the …show more content…
It can cause cancer, peptic ulcers, cardiomyopathy, and liver cirrhosis. Not only that, but people who chronically drink alcohol may get deficiencies in thiamin (vitamin B1), and this can lead to Korsakoff 's syndrome. Alcohol is also extremely addictive. And it is the main reason why drunk driving exists. That’s why organizations such as MADD exists today because they are trying to prevent more innocent lives being taken away because a person was driving under the influence.
Now, just like alcohol people also have an issue as to why tobacco is still legal. Tobacco consumption and its appeal have really changed from the 1920s to today’s society. Tobacco was a global crop by the 1620 and by the 1700s it became very popular in Europe. Everybody was smoking tobacco and there was much money to be made because of it. It also helped that nicotine was highly addictive. During World War I the cigarette was invented. Cigarettes would be used to calm nerves of decrease appetite. By the 1950s Americans were buying a total of 8.4 million pounds of tobacco a year. America was the leading country in cigarette production. Then when it reached Hollywood and how glamorous smoking looked everyone wanted to do it as well. Classic stars such as Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Audrey Hepburn glamorized cigarette smoking making it a big impact to the common people that idolized them to also smoke because their favorite celebrities
In my view I agree with Sandee LaMotte because alcohol does have many types of effects including gaining calories, getting heart disease and cancer, diabetes, loss of memory, and the type of mood your in. More specifically, alcohol can damage your body really horribly. For example, “Alcohol weakens our immune systems, making
Many people don't know how to drink responsibly so that could lead to binge drinking. If you drink a lot you will do things you don't want to do, like drink and drive which could possibly kill someone including you. Drinking irresponsibly can lead to violent behavior which could put others at risk. Also for violent behavior and drinking+driving could get you in jail.
The effects of ethanol on humans starts when the alcohol enters the bloodstream, and the more alcohol that enters the bloodstream, there’s a higher risk for effects. Some of the effects include, “reduced inhibitions, slurred speech, motor impairment, confusion, memory problems, concentration problems, coma, breathing problems, and even death. Additionally, alcohol can cause car crashes and accidents, risky behavior, violent behavior, and suicide or homicide.” Alcohol can also take effect on the brain, heart (cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, stoke, HBP), liver (alcoholic hepatitis), pancreas, can cause cancer, and can cause damage to one’s immune system.
The risks of drinking alcohol are health issues, your body wouldn’t stay fit if you are drinking too much. Health issues for drinking can be a serious and damageable for you.
Alcohol consumption affects every aspect of the human body, specifically the brain, liver, central nervous system, pancreas, stomach, and increased cancer risks.
Marijuana is not a dangerous drug and has never killed anybody. Alcohol and tobacco is extremely addictive. Alcohol causes bodily harm to health and has severe effects on a person behavior. Alcohol alone can cause gastritis, pancreatitis, ulcers, liver cancer, cirrhosis, and other liver diseases. The over consumption of alcohol can lead to alcohol poising, brain damage, and death in severe cases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “In 2013, alcohol overdoses alone caused nearly twenty-five thousand deaths. Nearly sixteen thousand of the twenty-five thousand deaths were a direct result of liver disease”. (Jack Brewer,2014) According to Jack Brewer; In 2012, there was two point two million arrests were the of alcohol-related crimes. Tobacco is just as bad as alcohol. Tobacco causes lung cancer and throat cancer. Tobacco contains at least nineteen different types of cancer and is the major cause of cardiovascular disease. According to the CDC, tobacco is the cause five hundred thousand deaths per year. Medical bills for tobacco-related health complications is approaching one hundred forty billion dollars a year. (Jack Brewer,2014) Despite the known health risks of both of these drugs they remain legal and available almost everywhere. According to __________, it is scientifically proven that marijuana is not toxic to humans. It is physically impossible to overdose on marijuana. Marijuana
The Health assessment of an alcoholic is far worse as they can suffer from a number of health complications and diseases that are associated with alcoholism such as liver disease, alcohol induced pancreatitis, cancer and cardiovascular disease (Rehm136). Not to mention the many types of injuries that be sustained while intoxicated, such as alcohol poisoning, broken limbs, or blackouts (137).
Every year, 400,000 Americans die of complications caused by tobacco products. Smoking kills more Americans each year than alcohol, crack, heroin, murder, suicide, car accidents, fires, and AIDS all put together. Every week, eight children under the age of eighteen die from alcohol related crashes. Alcohol abuse contributes to almost 50% of all traffic accidents, suicides, and homicides. However, despite the proven dangers of these "socially acceptable" drugs, they are still legal. Marijuana, a much less acceptable drug, is not legal however, despite the fact that research has yet to pin any specific dangers to this drug.
Alcohol can have numerous effects on your body such as high blood pressure (hypertension), pain in the pancreas, shrinking frontal lobes poor coordination, slurred speech, it can put you in a diabetic danger zone, your liver takes most damage, you could suffer from blackouts, have shifty eyes you could become dependent in it you could have stomach distress, suffer from malnutrition, you could have major mouth problems, hallucinations you could have strange sensations, having to use the bathroom a lot you could be fighting fatigue, it could also cause infertility, muscle cramps birth defects, and not to mention the stress it puts on your heart.
Alcohol is a depressant that affects every part of your body because once it’s consumed, twenty percent is absorbed in the stomach and eighty percent is absorbed in the small intestine. Excessive use of alcohol could cause other health problems such as, arthritis, cancer, heart disease, hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, kidney disease, liver disease, nervous disorders, obesity and psychological disturbances. Alcohol related liver disease is a major cause of death in the United States.
Alcohol is a chemical resulting from fermentation or distillation of various kinds of vegetable matter (AP Psych). Alcohol has many effects on the body including your brain, the digestive system, sexual and reproductive health, the heart, the liver, the pancreas, and the immune system. Alcohol can cause a shrinking brain, behavior changes, hallucinations, blackouts, dependence, slurred speech, cancer, fatigue, lung infections, heart damage, liver damage, stomach distress, pancreatitis, birth defects, frequent diarrhea, infertility, thinning bones, sexual dysfunction, changes in coordination, malnutrition, muscle cramps, diabetes complications, and numbness in extremities (The Effects of Alcohol on Your Body). For heavy drinkers, ulcers and hemorrhoids can occur. If a woman is pregnant and drinks alcohol, this can harm the unborn child. “Women who drink alcohol while pregnant put their unborn child at risk. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders (FASD) is a serious concern. Other conditions include: learning disabilities, long-term health issues, increased emotional problems and physical developmental abnormalities” (The effects of alcohol on your body).
Alcohol and Tobacco is both legal and harmful to human beings but marijuana is illegal and is not harmful yet it is considered an illegal substance compared to legal substances that are harmful to the human body.
The fact that marijuana is not legal could simply be a government thing. There was an magazine I read doing this research called ‘Hightimes’, stating that “Under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug”, which means it would have potential for high chances of abuse. Pretty much stating that the chances of people get on marijuana get hooked, become addicts and dominate their lives are very high. This unquestionably happens in some cases. This also happens in the case of alcohol, and alcohol is perfectly legal. Other sources claim that marijuana is a ‘gateway’ to other drugs, which has been known to be true. The majority of people that accept marijuana see is as a step to pretty much saying its ok. One of the famous statement abusers use are “If they say marijuana is bad and obviously it is not, then I wonder what else is not bad”. This mind set could lead you to the use of recreational drugs, such as alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine, and "abnormal" recreational drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and meth.
If you would’ve asked someone what is the deadliest drug in America, he will probably say its, heroin or meth, but the answer is sadly none of these Illegal drugs, actually, the deadliest of them all, is the one that is Legal in 50 states! Its alcohol. Alcohol causes an estimate of two hundred thousand unparalleled deaths a year in America, where Marijuana casualties are close to zero. So, the question that asks itself is, why is it socially acceptable to drink, but pot is permissible and people who do it are either demonized or criminalized? It’s mainly
Often, the alcohol will bring out a violent temper and often, alcoholics abuse, physically and mentally, their friends and family. Drinking makes the drinker feel he is more confident. The drinker thinks he is in control, even if a little high, and he might get behind the wheel of his car and go for a drive. Drunk driving is deadly. Hundreds of thousands of people get killed every year due to drunk driving.(Castro 60) Other physical effects of drinking are vomiting, passing out and sometimes, if enough alcohol is consumed over a long enough period of time, or if mixed with other drugs, death.