What’s more dangerous?  Being able to buy shot after shot at a local bar and leave drunk or being able to smoke marijuana in a private dispensary and leave high?  I hear a lot of people making the argument that if you can buy and drink alcohol in a bar you should be able to consume marijuana in a dispensary.  Let’s look at the facts first, and then you can give your answer.

The US Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) records instances of drug mentions in medical examiners reports, and though marijuana is mentioned, it is usually in combination with alcohol or other drugs. Marijuana alone has not been shown to cause an overdose death.  So let’s say these numbers are off a little… heck I’ll multiply it by 100 so we’ll say 100 deaths a year from Marijuana.  If you look at report from the same company, they state “In 2006, a total of 22,073 persons died of alcohol-induced causes in the United States”.  Keep in mind neither of these statistics include accidents caused by driving under the influence.  When you include these, alcohol reaches numbers in the 85,000. 

In my opinion, what this data represents is it isn't possible to ingest a fatal dose of THC (the active compound in marijuana) from smoking or eating marijuana. On the flip side, lots of alcohol in a brief period of time can lead to alcohol poisoning, an emergency medical condition that can be fatal.

So my question is, why can ANYONE over the age of 21, legally buy and consume alcohol, (a substance if abused can lead to death) but individuals cannot consume a drug that cannot kill someone?   The Denver City Council just passed an ordinance (that will go into effect in March) that prevents individuals from medicating or consuming marijuana in a dispensary.  This is absolute crap! 

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It’s sad to think about all of the money that has gone into the Denver marijuana dispensaries making a nice, comfortable place for patients to medicate which now cannot be used.  Now this really does not matter in the argument of which is more dangerous but if you live in Denver and you need to use marijuana to treat an illness, you are now forced to find a new place to do so.

When I think about medical marijuana and why it has become legal, none of this makes sense.  It has become legal for individuals who have been medically cleared by a doctor.  These patients use marijuana the same way others use Vicodin or Oxycontin; for pain relief.  There are no laws about where you can take these pain relievers, however lawmakers have created restrictions on marijuana.  Can someone explain to me why officials are regulating something legally prescribed to individuals to treat an illness? 

Please leave me a comment on your thoughts on medical marijuana and alcohol.  Should they be compared?  Is one more dangerous than another?