Been wondering about how people experience these substances differently. I've noticed a few things upfront: Alcohol dulls and distorts. Marijuana makes me feel and experience things more viscerally, more intensely. Alcohol tears up my system. Marijuana has calming, medicinal effects. Alcohol makes me crave social engagement, more alcohol. Marijuana locks me into a task and encourages introspection and thoughtfulness. Alcohol is socially acceptable/expected. Marijuana continues to carry stigma. I was forced to stop drinking entirely b/c of crohns disease (it exacerbates my symptoms horribly), but my relationship with drinking was problematic even before that. I started with medical cannabis to help with nausea and symptoms of autoimmune disease. At first, I found it deeply uncomfortable. I didn't want to feel that much. It forced me to look inward, feel anxiety more deeply, to reflect on uncomfortably realities, to grieve, to examine, and ultimately - to get me out of my comfort zone and find new things in healing, fitness, with radical diet changes and a focus on longevity and health. Alcohol seems to be the antithesis of those things (though obviously it can be enjoyed carefully as part of a healthy lifestyle by many). Has anyone else had a similar experience? I have trouble seeing how, with all of this, it's still marijuana with the stigma. Thoughts?
You're absolute correct the two are largely the antithesis of each other (not absolutely but in many ways). Alcohol mostly harms and cannabis mostly helps. Obviously the way it's used is a big factor, can't deny that misuse of any substance can be bad. Beyond the points you made alcohol makes you more apathetic where weed makes you more empathetic. I think one of the biggest problems with alcohol is people get so used to that apathy that it becomes normal and they depend on it. That's as unhealthy for the mind and the soul as the physical negatives imo. Perhaps even more so. And alcohol abuse can really do a number on the entire body, more so than most realize.
i love marijuana but i think pot heads really over do the alcohol bashing lol. alcohol is great if you know your limits. just dont drink too much, dont drink if alcohol makes you act like an ass hole and dont drink and drive. i love combining the two as well. alcohol and weed is a great combo but again you have to know your limits. its really easy to over do it when you are mixing the two. as far as the feeling the two drugs give me... id say weed definitely makes my senses more sensitive lol. physically as well as mentally. i feel more focused and zero'd in. i feel light. but it can also make my mind go all over the place from time to time. as for alcohol, it doesnt give me the instant light feeling but it builds over time. it doesnt make me belligerent or apathetic. in fact theres been many times ill come across something sad or touching when im drinking and i will cry lol. its a different feeling than being super high, but its kinda similar to being buzzed if that makes any sense. overall i prefer weed or a mixture of the two but drinking is a good time too if you can handle your shit.
Yeah I don’t mean to bash it so much, the above is limited to my experience. I love craft beer and good wine — it just makes me sick now. Your experience sounds more balanced and enjoyable, though, without any of negative or addictive effects.
I Smoke Weed an ere Once ina While i Drink or Do Whatever. I Will Be Blowin On The Ganja When ima Old Woman Still I Don Bash Anyting Alchohol Included i Do Stuff To Get High Sometimes Other People Might Not Approve of My Choices but IDC. That Bein Said iain as Much of a Drinker as i am a Weed Smoker but i Do Like to Have a Strawberry Margarita or Tequila Rose on Rare Occassions. ~Toni~
Alcohol kills more people than opiates but isn't called an epidemic. Downplaying alcohols harm is engrained into western culture.
if youre not an idiot who doesnt drink and drive then your chances of dying from alcohol are slim to none. know your limits, dont drink and drive and its perfectly safe and perfectly fun.
This isn't accurate. People die of alcoholism-related causes all the time. Alcohol Facts and Statistics | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Exactly. It's not an opinionated issue it's just factually correct that alcohol kills many people. And surely for every person that dies there's multiple that maybe don't die but suffer health consequences. People don't want to accept that alcohol is worse than most think. The stats are out there. You can say it's "perfectly safe" but the stats don't agree.
Marijuana is way better. I'm not saying alcohol is worse. Everything has to be done in moderation. Unfortunatley I've experienced, and still am, the negative effects of alcohol. I'm going to therapy, seeing a psychiatrist, going to my GP every few months. Yet I still struggle, but I guess trying is what counts.
These are facts. Both of my parents were alcoholics. My mother's decades of alcoholism led to her total physical and mental breakdown. She committed suicide at age 59. My father's love of alcohol caused a huge weight gain and liver damage. The last time I saw him he weighed about 300 pounds. He slipped and fell in the bathroom, hitting his belly across the side of the bathtub, and damaged his liver even further. He died in the hospital a month later, aged 66. I consider his alcoholism as a major contributing factor in his death. I'm 74, and far healthier than either of my parents were even a decade before their deaths. I use cannabis on a daily basis (usually 2 pipefulls topped with some hash and a 30 to 40 mg capsule or edible). So far this year, I've had 3 small glasses of red wine. (On one of my 2 shopping trips this year, the Dollar Store had some cute little half-sized bottles, so I bought one on a whim). FYI- Most folks say I look a good decade younger than my 74 years. I know I feel younger! There's a photo of me in 2020 here- Higher Profile: Granny Storm Crow, Grass Roots Advocate Granny
I love my weed and beer. Want to make beer with weed someday. Best if it's weed I grew and beer I brew. Each person is different. It's up to them to decide what to do. I smoke weed and drink beer. You do you.
I'll smoke over drinking, due to the fact I'm in a full control and enjoy myself, when I'm drunk i can't remember shit and i always msg people weird shit lmao.
I see no benefit in drinking. I have a large family and My life has been full of whatever negatives become and I emphatically avoid emulating the situation. Sent from see through door in another dimension
Alcohol is one of the most toxic drugs there is. People die from detoxing from booze. As with all things, if you can use it in moderation more power to you.
I'll drink on occasion but I would rather use cannabis. My uncle was an alcoholic. He was abusive in all sorts of ways(never to me though) and likely had an undiagnosed mood disorder. I didn't go to the viewing or funeral.
Alcohol is a pretty terrible and dangerous drug. But People are capable of having a few beers, just like I can do a few lines of coke every now and again, or shrooms or weed or whatever. Alcohol though? Poison. Can't touch the stuff.
Every time I smoke, like in about 20 minutes from now, I have two fingers of a high quality bourbon. Talk about getting wiped out. Alcohol does affect everyone differently, some can't take a drink w/o drinking 8 more. Others are like me who can have 1-2 and just mellow out, I am a happy drunk when I DO drink more at least. That doesn't happen very often though. My experience is that people drink to escape their current situation, to block the feelings of life. In moderation I say go for it if it doesn't put you over the edge.
Alcohol turned me violent. Just isn't for me. I have almost 4 months sober. Thankfully MJ helps the cravings. Trying not to use it as a crutch though.