Is Marijuana More Addictive Than Alcohol?

a reply to: TzarChasm

im not hip to all the laws exactly cause i am not a drinker but for the most part i think its well enough.
if it was made legal tomorrow and all the laws for mj were the same as alcohol i would be perfectly fine with that


hey krazysh0t, if you go to norml it breaks it down state by state.. how much you can have. in what forms you can have it..

a reply to: CardiffGiant

The only reason that marijuana could be considered a gateway drug is because it is illegal and forces buyers to go to the black market to buy it. The idea is that since these people are considered shady, they'll try to push harder drugs on them. But that is a load of bullcrap. First off, the term pusher is incorrect since drug dealers don't try to push drugs onto people who don't want them (that's a good way to get dimed out to the police). Second off, most marijuana dealers only deal marijuana and it's usually a network of friends helping each other out. Though all of this is a moot point since legalization would mean that a person doesn't have to go to the black market to buy marijuana and can go to a store instead.

a reply to: CardiffGiant

I know. You said you didn't want to post norml so I posted wikipedia.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

im sure people will still try to argue it saying it is a gateway drug.

i hope not but im sure they will. the whole just cause it is legal dont mean its not bad for you thing. just cause its legal dont mean its not a drug thing.

my mom is 57 and she told me that in the mid 70's, everyone here age was so excited cause it was gonna be legal soon. still not there yet.
she is one of the types that loves to smoke but dont for the fact it is illegal. thats the only reason. she tells me all the time that if it is legalized she will be smoking tat day.
its funny cause she works in an office with only 4 people. no drug test. no drug free work policy.
she still wont touch it cause since it is illegal she is afraid some crazy this or that is gonna happen and since its in her system she will be sued in court and lose her house...

sounds like a paranoid smoker... hahaahah

so how many people like my mom that will become instant users? the answer is a lot of people which equal a lot of tax dollars.

you would think some politician would realize this and get on the ball to making it happen

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Why is this even an argument in the general public?

The government(s) have no problem pushing cigarettes on the public, and they kill more people then the black plague... and are more addictive then Heroin...

Why are we ruled by morons?

a reply to: CardiffGiant

That's because there is a LOT of lobbying money being used towards keeping it illegal.
The Top Five Special Interest Groups Lobbying to Keep Marijuana Illegal

1.) Police Unions: Police departments across the country have become dependent on federal drug war grants to finance their budget. In March, we published a story revealing that a police union lobbyist in California coordinated the effort to defeat Prop 19, a ballot measure in 2010 to legalize marijuana, while helping his police department clients collect tens of millions in federal marijuana-eradication grants. And it’s not just in California. Federal lobbying disclosures show that other police union lobbyists have pushed for stiffer penalties for marijuana-related crimes nationwide.

2.) Private Prisons Corporations: Private prison corporations make millions by incarcerating people who have been imprisoned for drug crimes, including marijuana. As Republic Report’s Matt Stoller noted last year, Corrections Corporation of America, one of the largest for-profit prison companies, revealed in a regulatory filing that continuing the drug war is part in parcel to their business strategy. Prison companies have spent millions bankrolling pro-drug war politicians and have used secretive front groups, like the American Legislative Exchange Council, to pass harsh sentencing requirements for drug crimes.

3.) Alcohol and Beer Companies: Fearing competition for the dollars Americans spend on leisure, alcohol and tobacco interests have lobbied to keep marijuana out of reach. For instance, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors contributed campaign contributions to a committee set up to prevent marijuana from being legalized and taxed.

4.) Pharmaceutical Corporations: Like the sin industries listed above, pharmaceutical interests would like to keep marijuana illegal so American don’t have the option of cheap medical alternatives to their products. Howard Wooldridge, a retired police officer who now lobbies the government to relax marijuana prohibition laws, told Republic Report that next to police unions, the “second biggest opponent on Capitol Hill is big PhRMA” because marijuana can replace “everything from Advil to Vicodin and other expensive pills.”

5.) Prison Guard Unions: Prison guard unions have a vested interest in keeping people behind bars just like for-profit prison companies. In 2008, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association spent a whopping $1 million to defeat a measure that would have “reduced sentences and parole times for nonviolent drug offenders while emphasizing drug treatment over prison.”

Doesn't some of that sound like a conflict of interest?

Exclusive: Why Can't You Smoke Pot? Because Lobbyists are Getting Rich Off of the War on Drugs

At some point in the distant past, the war on drugs might have been popular. But not anymore — the polling is clear, but beyond that, the last three Presidents have used illegal drugs. So why do we still put hundreds of thousands of people in steel cages for pot-related offenses? Well, there are many reasons, but one of them is, of course, money in politics. Corruption. Whatever you want to call it, it’s why you can’t smoke a joint without committing a crime, though of course you can ingest any number of pills or drinks completely within the law.

If there was EVER a conspiracy worth talking about, this is it. And frankly it's REAL!

a reply to: Akragon

Answer: Lobbying money from various sources and useful idiots believing the lies and influencing the public with them.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Of course it's addictive! And I'm addicted to Dr. Pepper. Let's just hope I don't OD on the good old DR!

originally posted by: Akragon


Why are we ruled by morons?

because most people are morons. morons follow each other and they are very worried about the safety and long term health of non morons.
ha....i really dont know

i have a thought on it though.

this is not for everyone across the board but for the most part i think we are ruled by morons because they people that want the power to rule are morons. its simple and it may be wrong but it makes sense.

think law makers. think politicians.

i think people that truly are intelligent and smart dont want anything to do with passing laws and governing people.

whenever i think genius, you know i never think about a politician
scientists, musicians, doctors, artists, philosophers, etc etc...sure.... politicians though.

its kind of funny but for me, someone wanting to be president of the US should be enough to disqualify them from the position.
i think the people that want to be in 'positions of power' really dont have the best interest of the people in mind.
they may say they do but i dont believe them.

i may be getting a bit off topic here but that is my long answer to the question you asked

Comparing driving stoned to driving drunk is as silly as comparing which substance is more addictive.

There is no comparison.

The regulations for mj should be minor

I never thought mary-j-wanna or alcohol was addictive to me anyways. I think it depends on the person and thier mind and body maybe.

To me cigarettes are the worst, I had an EXTREMELY bad coc aine habit back in the 80's and then one day I just quit.
Never looked back, never craved it again & never did it again. Cigarettes I can't seem to do that.

Show a little understanding for smokers, it's almost impossible to quit for some people

originally posted by: TzarChasm

originally posted by: GoShredAK
a reply to: CardiffGiant

To be honest I would be absolutely thrilled if people started toking up all around. Sounds like a step closer to paradise...

I hoping that the regulations aren't too strict ya know? Certainly some regulation required, but our society seems to get over regulatory sometimes.

i think megan fox tweeted something to that effect.

Good for her

here I was this whole time thinking she was just a dumb celebrity.

originally posted by: GoShredAK
Comparing driving stoned to driving drunk is as silly as comparing which substance is more addictive.

There is no comparison.

The regulations for mj should be minor

i know you didnt address this to any one person but in case you had me in mind.
i never compared the two and i never said i agree with the laws when it comes to alcohol.

i just think that the alcohol laws make a pretty damn good first draft...
im sure most people that are for legalization will have no problem applying those alcohol laws to mj.

a reply to: mwood

i quit 2 years and 10 months ago when we found out my wife was pregnant. quit cold turkey and so did my wife and we both still get cravings. that is a crazy addiction.
cigarettes are for sure the worst.

but hey, theyre totally legal and we can buy them on any corner of america

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Honestly any drug is addictive. Though some have effects that forces your mind to be addictive, naturally one can simply become addicted to a drug simply because 1. They like it, 2. They want to keep feeling the effects.

So saying that a specific drug isn't addictive, is incorrect. Heck it doesn't even have to be a drug. Anything can be addictive!

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Lol Budweiser is probably paying her to write the article

a reply to: Kuroodo

I never said that marijuana wasn't addictive. In fact if you had read the whole thread, you'd see that I have further clarified that marijuana IS addictive, just not as addictive as alcohol.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

I don't often do this. I just don't have anything else to say.

No it isn't. I'm not even saying anything else.

The anti-marijuana camp is pathetic these days. From the baby boomers who used it as a party drug and think everybody else will be as careless with it, to those stuck in the Anslinger days, it's pathetic.

Theres a difference between addictiveness and habit.

Pot isnt physically addictive. If you were to have a smoke after work to unwind, relax and pump up your appetite for dinner for a year and then stopped, youd simply miss it and therefore want it. Your body would be just fine about it, your mind however would crave the feeling and effect.

Its just the same as having a cup of tea or coffee in the morning, its a nice hot drink to get some fluid in you as well as a little caffeine pick-me-up. If you didnt have that every morning, youd simply miss it, it would make your body or mind break down and go mental.

Its the same with sugar, or really anything with additional properties than plain sustenance. Heck some people are "addicted to sports", but are they really addicted? no, they just like it as its a habit and routine they have, if they stopped they would simply want to play, they wont end up in bed shivering and crying.