Based on these findings, the researchers believe that drinking alcohol is likely to be much more harmful to brain health than using marijuana. Their findings linked alcohol consumption with long-term changes to the structure of white matter and gray matter in the brain. Chronic or excessive alcohol consumption is known to affect balance and disrupts normal walking patterns. This is because alcohol can damage parts of the brain responsible for coordination, including the cerebellum. Akin to this, cannabis use can also affect coordination and motor skills because THC can interfere with the functioning of specific sections of the brain like the cerebellum and the basal ganglia. For the study, which was published in January, researchers used fMRI scans to see how two alcoholic drinks impacts brain function in 50 healthy adult males.

1. This means that they can help protect nerve cells from damage which can decrease your chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
2. This post will explore all the differences between these two intoxicants and explore their impact on your health and society at large.
3. Drinking alcohol before using weed can ramp up the effects of THC.
4. Gray matter contains the majority of neuron cell bodies and axons and is responsible for helping the brain process information.
5. One likely reason for the growing public aversion to drinking is the rise of the sober-curious movement.

“They’ve been able to measure that cannabis intake, in whatever form, can activate these receptors, and they actually end up having some potential negative effects, especially physiologically,” Brandt said. Although cannabis is less addicting than some drugs, it can be as severe as other substances. A panel of University of Michigan Health, Michigan Medicine, experts discuss how the use of cannabis and alcohol can be linked to cardiovascular health. Marijuana use, however, appeared to have no impact on the structure of gray or white matter in either teenagers or adults.

How we should evaluate drugs and the harm they do

With proper tolerance breaks, you can lower your tolerance of THC and become less reliant on large amounts of cannabis to feel the same way and regulate your cannabis use.

Which is worse? Alcohol or marijuana?

Some relate to muscle control, such as muscle spasms, tremors, coordination problems, overactive reflexes, and loss of bladder control. Others relate to overstimulation, like agitation, restlessness, sleep issues, and uncontrollable Does Alcohol Help You Sleep No, Sleep Expert Explains Why excitement. It comes in the form of a capsule that you take with water or another drink. The standard capsule immediately releases the medicine, providing a quick and strong benefit, while the delayed-release capsule slowly releases the medicine into your system, to produce a milder effect that lasts longer. Explore lifestyle hacks, how-to guides, and the latest in cannabis news.

While, due to alcohol being legal for decades and drunk driving being illegal for a significant amount of time the law has preset blood alcohol levels to dictate how much alcohol is too much in your system while driving. Suffice to say that alcohol causes more deaths due to violence, accidents, car crashes, and disease than cannabis to the point where there are ever-growing statistics tracking these numbers. While there is the possibility for occasional deaths and accidents caused by cannabis use there isn’t sufficient data to compare it to alcohol. While the growing increase in medical and recreational cannabis legalization is providing a larger data set there isn’t enough tracking to link specific medical deaths to cannabis. The statements made regarding cannabis products on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Short-term effects

Alcohol can cause cognitive impairment which can lead to poor judgment, decreased coordination, and memory loss and in some cases blackouts. It’s important to understand the distinct difference between alcohol and cannabis addiction. Common and minor side effects include aches, frequent urination, excessive sweating, sleep issues, and weight loss. It might seem harmless to mix alcohol and weed, but doing so can be a slippery slope toward getting overly intoxicated. But if you do decide to mix the two, start slow and keep track of how much you’re consuming of each. When mixing weed and alcohol, there are a lot of other variables to consider in addition to which one you use first.

All of this helps prove that marijuana isn’t totally harmless — and some of its risks are likely unknown. Drug experts broadly agree that individuals and society would arguably be better off if marijuana became the most accepted recreational intoxicant of choice instead of alcohol. Jon Caulkins, a drug policy expert at Carnegie Mellon University, gave the example of an alien race visiting Earth and asking which land animal is the biggest. If the question is about weight, the African elephant is the biggest land animal. And if the question is about length, the reticulated python is the biggest. There’s also some divergence within the specific categories of harm.

The finding aligns with some previous research on alcohol’s connections with violence. “Alcohol use is a leading risk factor for global disease burden and causes substantial health loss,” the researchers wrote in their paper, “and the level of consumption that minimizes health loss is zero.” Dr. Amen is also the founder of BrainMD, a fast growing, science-based nutraceutical company, and Amen University, which has trained thousands of medical and mental health professionals on the methods he has developed. Compare that to just 19% of Americans, including young people, who said they used marijuana in 2019, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Although not as widespread, the harmful effects of marijuana on the brain, including brain development, may be greater.