Alcohol and cannabis

Not true.C1: Marijuana is a gateway drugA recent study by researchers at Yale confirmed that marijuana is a gateway drug to harder substances. [1] There are two possible mechanisms for this result. First, people who smoke marijuana become habituated to the idea that drugs are not harmful and that they are in control of their drug habit. Marijuana, as a safe drug, lulls them into a false sense of security and control. When they start doing highly addictive prescription pain killers and heroin, they realize that marijuana misled them to believe that they were in control of their drug habit. Marijuana is also a yes ladder - i.e. due to the principle of commitment and consistency, if you say "yes" to someone for a lesser request, you become more likely to say "yes" to them again for a more serious request. For example, in the book Influence by Robert Cialdini, he discusses the use of this as a sales tactic. A man comes up to a woman in the street and says he needs to take a picture with a beautiful woman for a scanvenger hunt he is doing with his friends. She says yes. After the picture, he says, "I'm sorry, I was lying. I'm here selling magazine subscriptions, will you buy one?" The fact that the woman said yes to the first request makes it more likely she will say yes to the second. In the same way, when kids are hanging out and one says to the other, "do you want to smoke some weed?" and the first child says yes, if the same friend later pressures the child to try shrooms or coke, they second child has become more likely to comply with the second request to do additional drugs. So the first mechanism works through habituation to drugs, a false sense of control, yes-ladders, and peer pressure.The second mechanism is peer group. People who smoke weed start getting to know drug dealers (who supply them). The drug dealers they meet often have access to more than one type of illicit drug. Thus, marijuana usage introduces children to a source where they can obtain harder drugs. If they never smoked marijuana and suddenly decided they wanted to try acid, they would likely not know anyone who could supply them.Conclusion: marijuana is a gateway drug.C2: Brain damageStudies have found that teens that smoke marijuana are more likely to develop permanent brain damage and are more likely to develop schizophrenia. [2] The liver regrows itself every 5 years (and replaces all of its cells with new ones), but certain types of brain damage are irreversible (such as triggering a mental illness).Conclusion: marijuana is worse because it causes irreversible brain damage.C3: Marijuana uses permanently decreases motivationStudies have confirmed that marijuana use permanently decreases the brain's motivational faculties by decreasing its capacity to increase its dopamine levels. [3] The stereotype of the lazy, unmotivated pothead is true. Lower motivation is bad for society because it decreases everyone's productivity, and guys who are too lazy to leave their parents basements will never be able to procreate. So our species will die while the next generation of potheads just sits at home, smokes weed, and browses Reddit.C4: The muchies will make everyone fatterThis country already has a serious obesity crisis. Studies have found that weed triggers the munchies first because the cannabinoid receptors trick the brain into thinking its hungry and because marijuana enhances the sense of smell. [4] So if more people smoked marijuana, we would have an even fatter society.C5: Pot is addictiveStudies have found that pot is psychologically addictive. [5] When occasional users were not allowed to get high "when they wanted to," 1 in 12 experienced physical withdrawal symptoms. [5] The rate of withdrawal is even higher among heavy users, although none were willing to quit smoking weed for the experiment. In addition, I have personally observed friends who quit smoking for finals week becoming extremely irritable. Experts have confirmed that quitting weed can lead to aggression, anxiety, and depression. [5]C6: lower sperm countSmoking weed kills your best swimmers. [5] Decreased male sperm count and libido due to weed smoking leads to fewer children, which is bad for society. The US fertility rate has already fallen below replacement levels (of 2.1 births per female), so we are going to have a serious problem when the Baby Boomers retire and there are not enough working-age people to support them.C7: Marijuana causes cancer6000 of the same chemicals are found in marijuana smoke and cigarette smoke. [6] Combustion is what causes most of the carcinogens in cigarette smoke, and the same combustion process is usually used to smoke weed. [6] The only difference between the two smokes is that one contains THC and the other nicotine. [6] But otherwise, they are the same. [6] Thus, one half of long-term marijuana smokers are expected to die of some type of cancer of the mouth or lungs. [6] There is even reason to believe that marijuana users are more at risk because they take bigger hits (bong rips), deeper into their lungs, and hold the smoke in longer than cigarette users, who sometimes only mouth hit their cigarettes.For all these reasons, marijuana is way worse than alcohol.C8: Alcohol is good cuz it will get you laidAlcohol lowers inhibitions. It makes it easier to talk to girls. It makes it more likely they will like you. It makes it easier to have intimate and difficult conversations with friends ("I love you man, I can't believe you're moving away in 5 days.") Alcohol is a social drug. People with more friends are happier. [7] Weed is an anti-social drug: people sit around, smoke, and watch a move and listen to music. They are usually too zonked out to talk. Thus, alcohol is a lot more fun and better for long-term happiness.Vote Con.[1] http://www.ctpost.com...;[2] http://www.dailymail.co.uk...;[3] http://www.huffingtonpost.com...;[4] http://www.tokeofthetown.com...;[5] http://www.webmd.com...;[6] http://www.psychologytoday.com...;[7] http://www.huffingtonpost.com...;