Aug 31st 2009 By Jeremy Taylor

Americans Think Pot Is Less Dangerous Than Alcohol

Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with.

Fifty-one percent of Americans rate alcohol more dangerous than marijuana.

According a survey by Rasmussen Reports, only 19 percent of adults are of the opinion that marijuana is the more dangerous substance, with 25 percent pegging them "equally dangerous." In particular, women and younger adults are likelier to express the belief that drinking is worse than smoking pot.

Although married people were more critical of marijuana's comparative dangers than average, couples with children living at home swung in the other direction.

Believe it or not, this poll was not sponsored by Doritos.

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Tags: alcohol - marijuana - rasmussen reports

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Monday 31 August

By Robert

Highest Rank

Well, anyone who has actually tried it knows that it is less dangerous than alcohol. I'm betting that 19% has probably never tried it and is relying on the information they got from DARE in their school years. Time to legalize.

Monday 31 August

By Heavytoka

Neutral

I Love you Mary Jane!

Monday 31 August

By Ben

Neutral

Well, are they right?

My guess is yes...

Tuesday 01 September

By d

Highest Rank

Legalize it… who ever heard of people getting ripped and going on a shooting rampage.
Legalize it.
I mean if you are 21 or older… it should be legal to smoke it in privacy ... just like alcohol.
not like it's crack, meth, coke, etc.
Legalize it!

Tuesday 01 September

By brewers_rule

Highest Rank

I agree w/the notion of legalizing pot in a controlled environment like in Amsterdam where it stays at the bars. I HATE to envoke the children here but we already have sober irresponsible parents and drunk parents, adding pot to that mix in homes will cause more problems like those. Even Brad Pitt, who's an advocate, admitted he quit b/c you can't be a responsible parent while high. Unfortunately, as w/everything else in this country (see abortion), once a door's opened, the ACLU storms through until a simple right is trampled into something it was never intended to be so I've always been highly leery of legalizing the stuff. That, and the sheer hypocrisy of pot supposedly not causing any ill health effects while damning the cigarette industry is laughable. But, I'll support it nonetheless, I guess since I try to remain true to my libertarian roots and not Charlie Brown the issues by being wishy-washy.

Friday 11 September

By Sean Harlow

Neutral

I won't argue that SMOKING marijuana doesn't have negative health effects, after all you are lighting something on fire and then inhaling the smoke. The chemical makeup of the smoke is different and as far as I'm aware it is less harmful, but it's still smoke.

That said, unlike tobacco there are ways to consume marijuana which have zero long term health risks. First is the vaporizer, which is basically smoking without the smoke. You apply heat to the plant matter in a controlled manner which raises the temperature enough to vaporize the THC (the main active chemical in marijuana) but does not ignite the plant matter. The result is a fog of THC vapor, free of particulates and other things you don't want. Certain higher-end vaporizers even have a "whip" attachment which allows the vapor to be fed in to a water pipe for extra cooling and possibly a slight bit of filtering.

There is also the old favorite of eating the weed, which is more time consuming to prepare and has a longer-lasting but generally weaker effect, but since it bypasses the lungs entirely it has no currently known health risks.

Regarding stoned parents, as far as I'm concerned that is a matter of personal responsibility, not the government's job to police. I'd argue that the kind of person who would neglect their kid(s) over weed is probably already smoking it regularly. If you don't care about your kids, caring about personal possession laws (which in many states are no more than a slap on the wrist) isn't likely to be a high priority. I also agree with badtrip1, I'd much rather have those people getting stoned and crashing on the couch all mellowed out than drunk and angry. I've never met a pissed off stoner and don't expect to any time soon.

Legalize it. This isn't a matter of "americans think" this is a matter of fact. Go to any college campus this time of year on a Friday night and you can probably find someone approaching an alcohol overdose. It is for all intents and purposes physically impossible for a human to overdose on marijuana.

Tuesday 01 September

By badtrip1

Neutral

Yeah? If your abusive Dad goes out to smoke a fattie vs booze it up, he probably wont come home and beat your ass. He is more likely to ask you to bake some chocolate chip cookies and mix em with vanilla ice while they are still warm!