Alcohol and cannabis

Ah so you do understand the difference between causation and correlation. You are still however have made claims such as students more likely to fail who smoke pot, so you are choosing to ignore the correlation argument. Science is not perfect you know. So if it says you are 60% more likely to fail if you smoke pot, it means nothing. If you decide to try you will try, statistics are not proof of anything! Indeed they are easily explained how are not getting this yet? I will try once more. You take everybody in the country and give them an average score (School grades). Now this is everybody, the good the bad, the poor the rich etc. Now if you just look at everybody who has smoked cannabis, you will get a skewed view of the population, there will be mostly poor people, deviants, lazy people, people prone to addictions etc. And this is because the kind of people who deviate from the norm (typically poor people) are more likely to do something illegal or seek enjoyment in unconventional ways, because they do not have the means (finance) for conventional happiness (holidays, materialism). So when you take their average it will be less. But this does not mean that it had anything to do with it at all. Also I must add. You cannot set the terms of the debate when I was the instigator. Of course weed has many complications due to its illegality, but if we are short-sighted, we will not overcome problems. Slavery was economically damaging and destructive to abolish, but long-sighted people saw the bigger picture. So I cannot argue with many of your points for they are short-sighted and irrelevant to this discussion. Why would I argue that cannabis is better than alcohol for a society when its criminalized? It doesn't make sense, of course illegality will make it more destructive. And your philosophical point that in reality its legal, as if it couldn't be anything else, is nonsense. I hope you know that it was made illegal to stifle competition in the markets. It was a corperate agenda that had NO OTHER REASON. We made propaganda tapes, I urge you to watch them. Even somebody who is as 'innocent' as yourself in this matter, will find them embarrassing. I cannot believe that with such a history, there are still people that have been completely bought. Think for yourself! Your point. "My opponent"s only response is that "correlation is not causation." However, correlation plus a plausible explanation of a mechanism for causation *does* equal causation" Clearly your not a scientist. This is absurd I hope the readers don't need me to elaborate. YP: "I explained multiple mechanisms for causation: peer pressure and yes-ladders, the false inference that doing other drugs will be similar to doing marijuana, and the illegality problem [that marijuana introduces people to drug dealers]. Illegality problem-irrelevant without illegality. Yes ladders-same with alcohol if all drugs are legal. Worse with alcohol in fact, as a drunk person is more likely to say yes to a line of speed than a stoned person. Also more likely to be in the same vicinity as people doing them other drugs. YP: "Since marijuana is the gateway for most people into hard drugs, it is responsible for the collateral consequences. Illicit drug use costs the American economy $193 billion a year. [5] In addition, drugs cause 38,000 deaths each year due to overdose." Again, inaccurate and misleading because we dont know how much is resulting from its illegality. Also, alcohol costs 223 billion dollars, which is 30 billion dollars more than weed anyway, even though its legal! Just imagine how much less it would be if weed was also legal! (1) Motivation. You say my friend could of had higher dopamine levels anyway, while this may be true, I ask the readers if an alcoholic who was as severe as him could of achieved what he had? You say: " a student who smokes marijuana if four times more likely to be a d grade student than a straight a student" Again, criticise your research. I ask the readers if this statement sounds more likely-the type of students who get d grades are 4 times more likely to smoke weed than the type of students that get STRAIGHT A's ! It's obvious is it not? You say: absenteeism cost's are 120 billion. sounds a lot! Probably because its concerning all drugs including alcohol. I urge the readers to check up the sources, for some are misleading. I apologise if I am mistaken. (I am aware that you used the word 'drug', but in the context it was misleading) . Cancer. My opponent does some maths, using the death caused by smoking and the amount of people that smoke cannabis, and their relationship with his knowledge of cannabis smoke. Don't be mislead, cannabis is harmless when taken in any way but smoking, FACT, also it is cancer fighting (4). (Bare in mind, this is when it taken thought the same biological mechanism as you take alcohol) Also (5) alcohol is proven to cause 5 types of cancer, and does very often, as well as 60 medical conditions, which result in aproximatly 100,000 deaths a year (5). In comparison, cannabis causes... Well look at the headlines a few days ago '2 men have actually died, scientists believe, from cannabis alone!' Its news! It's news that somebody might of died from cannabis alone! Do I need to say any more about health? Social-ness You say: Alcohol is more sociably acceptable to do in public, and that's a key factor. I agree, that's my point. Cannabis is not bad for the individual of society by being un-sociable, the society has made it so. So you cannot legitimately argue that it is unsociable, based solely on this argument. Rebuttals to alcohol. You say that the victim was effected by alcohol more than the attacker. Firstly, is this still not a negative consequence of alcohol, to have half conscious girls walking about? But secondly, this was not the case, the attackers where drunk. It makes sense, if there was ever a mindset that would make someone more likely to do such an impulsive thing, its drunkenness. The stats show it-50%! Of sex attacks Cannabis most common chemical in sexual assault. Totally false as the figures show. Question the sources readers I urge you. You say, "8 times more likely to beat wives if smoke weed". Correlations! Up to 85% of domestic abuse is alcohol fuelled! (13) YP: It causes schizophrenia. Don't forget what I keep telling you! In the general population, 1 out of 100 in the general population get schizophrenia. If you take just the cannabis smokers out of the population (like I said, the poorest, more deviant, addiction prone people) then 4.5 out of 100 get schizophrenia (2). Does this sound conclusive that cannabis has even anything to do with schizophrenia? I am sorry but you cannot argue with that, whatever MRI scans show. Do you know how they work? do you know what the Amygdala is and what its function is? Do you know how is plays its role in the limbic system? Or how neurons work? You must look at the definitive evidence, cannabis does not cause schizophrenia. Summary, lets just put things in perspective here. Deaths per year, as result of accidents: (5) (6): Cannabis 23 alcohol 8748 Death due to drug alone, and thus a representation of how physically damaging the drug is to the individual(7) (6): Cannabis 6 Alcohol 100,000 Driving (alcohol level is at the LEGAL level)(8)(9): Cannabis, twice as likely. Alcohol: 13 times as likely Brain damage ect. Cannabis (schizophrenia) 4/100, Alcohol: hard to find statistics, much research done however, look at chart (9) alcohol is far worse for brain than cannabis. Hospital admissions (uk) per year(5): cannabis (could not find any) Alcohol: 1.2 million. Crime(5) : Cannabis (no crime, as a result of being high is found) alcohol: 47% of All violent crimes Cost of crime because of alcohol, EVEN THOUGH ITS LEGAL ! 11 billion a year! (5) Sexual assault (11): Cannabis (not even considered a factor) Alcohol 3 million sexual assaults a year Risk of overdose, measured by fatality levels (10): Cannabis 1000, alcohol 10 . (To give people some perspective, heroin is 5) Addictivness(11): Cannabis 8, Alcohol 23 So abuse of any drug is bad. But alcohol is far worse for the individual and society, than cannabis, in as many ways as I can think these abstarct cocepts could be measured in. So alcohol as a substance, causes so much more death than cannabis it can hardly be compared. As a recreational drug to use, it kills an incomparable number of people to cannabis. It's far worse for driving, crime and violence, indeed again, I would say the figures are incomparable. And despite these figures, cannabis is illegal, imagine how much they would be reduced if it was legal-which the argument was actually concerning. So I don't know if i need to say much more, my opponent has been very articulate and concise, he has argued better in many ways and I would hand the grammar award to him. But these figures cannot be disputed and I have truth on my side, even if I didnt have the linguistics or argumentative skill. Its been a pleasure arguing with you, thank you. (1)http://www.cdc.gov... (2)http://www.schizophrenia.com... (3)http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov... (4)http://www.collective-evolution.com... (5)http://www.alcoholconcern.org.uk... (6)http://www.drugscope.org.uk... (7)http://t.answers.com... (8)http://healthland.time.com... (9)http://freethoughtblogs.com... (10http://www.womensmarijuanamovement.org... (11)http://www.drugwarfacts.org... (13)http://www.taadas.org....