Since the early 1900s, the United States and the vast majority of other countries have forbade the use of THC (marijuana) with harsh penalties while, other than prohibition in the U.S., merely regulating the use of alcohol and tobacco. And, for most of that time, that has been exactly what an overwhelming majority of Americans wanted.
However, according the Gallup, since the 1990s, American support for legalizing THC has gone from the low 20s to over 40% of support. With talk of legalization and taxation of the drug in California, 42% of Americans favor such a law in their state. And recently in Massachusetts, non-medicinal THC made its first ballot appearance as Bay Staters voted overwhelmingly to decriminalize possession of small amounts of it.
However, when comparing these data to data on American support for lowing the drinking age, almost 80% of Americans are opposed to lowering the drinking age to 18 (although the poll does not ask more specific questions that are important we’ll get into later).
What may be at the root of this confusing data is the fact that this has become a national issue and thus, as with any other issue, public opinion has changed as people learn more and more facts. The fact is that alcohol poisoning kills thousands of people per year while there has never been any known case of death directly due to THC.
The only deaths THC causes are those caused by marijuana’s tendency to inhibit vomiting lowering the lethal dose of alcohol, however, those deaths are ultimately caused by alcohol not THC.
One measure of safety of a drug is the lethal dose. For alcohol, it is typically .4% of a person’s blood (meaning the percent of a person’s blood composed of alcohol exceeds .4%) which is only five times the legal limit to drive in most states. Most sources say that the lethal dose for THC is 1500lbs in 15 minutes—street value $120,000. In laymen’s terms, there is no known amount of THC that can kill a person.
Another interesting issue is addiction—the fact that THC has no known physically addictive element. Marijuana addiction is purely psychological. This is not to say that it is not addicting because, using the definition that an addicted person is a person who will continue use of the drug even if continued use will have negative consequences, people do become addicted. However, this does suggest that marijuana is less addictive than alcohol.
On the issue of cigarettes, while the CDC indicates (and I have no reason not the believe them) that joints have more carcinogens than cigarettes by a large margin, it should be noted that very few people become addicted to marijuana. Most tobacco smokers smoke several times per day—even double digits—while few THC smokers even smoke daily. In this respect, THC joints or pipes are safer than cigarettes.
These facts, which an increasing number of Americans are aware of, may explain why so many Americans favor legalized recreational marijuana while so few favor deregulation of alcohol.
K2—“Synthetic Pot”
A relatively not well researched drug has surfaced throughout the US known as “K2”. It is a drug that is chemically similar to THC and perfectly legal in all corners of the United States.
While a couple of states, counties and towns have discussed banning it (even making possession a felony), the US Government has yet to get involved.
Given the public opinion above, it is very likely that K2 will remain legal for a long, long time to come if not permanently. This is a major issue because while THC is well documented as a relatively safe drug, K2 is not. Additionally, it is made in China which has a recent history of making products that do not live up to our strict safety standards.
My Comment
After carefully researching this piece, my opinions changed quite a bit, primarily because I was convinced that THC is safer than ethyl alcohol.
But then I thought, while THC is safe, street marijuana might not be. So, just as the government makes sure that when you buy a fifth of Captain Morgan’s rum it is no less safe than any other type of alcohol, regulating the safety of marijuana is an excellent idea.
Marijuana should only be sold under strict conditions, however. First, it should not be smoked in public, not even outside—there shouldn’t be Weed Bars on 42nd Street. Second, it should only be sold to people over the age of 19 (no high schoolers). Third, it should only be sold in licensed stores that check IDs upon entry (not at the point of sale—no one under 19 should even be allowed to enter such a store.
My opinions haven’t changed all that much on alcohol. At age 18, you should be able to drink beer, wine and anything less hard than wine. At age 20, you should be able to drink anything.
Having a zero tolerance 21 years old+ drinking age makes no sense because people under 21 drink anyway and when they get their hands on alcohol, especially after a long time of having none, they binge. It is dangerous and counterproductive while exposing kids to small amounts of alcohol before they enter college makes a whole lot of sense.
Many will disagree arguing that when the drinking age was raised to 21, drunk driving accidents plummeted. I remind them that nearly all states have adopted strict drunk driving laws since then. It is the drunk driving laws, not the drinking age itself, that is responsible for our safer roadways.
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