What do Americans think of alcohol and cannabis, read this https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/americans-perception-of-weed-and-booze-its-complicated

1. 9/3/2020 Americans' Perception of Weed and Booze - It's Complicated
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ALCOHOL AND MARIJUANA IN AMERICA
Americans' Perception of Weed and
Booze - It's Complicated
How do American reconcile that alcohol is legal and okay, but cannabis is a bad
drug?
Posted by:
BehindTheWaves, today at 12:00am
America’s Perception of Weed and Booze; It’s
Complicated

2. 9/3/2020 Americans' Perception of Weed and Booze - It's Complicated
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/americans-perception-of-weed-and-booze-its-complicated 3/10
In the United States of America, the views of di erent people regarding cannabis are a little bit
spread across the board in terms of acceptance and recognition. As it is in the United States of
America, many regions and parts of the world are gradually accepting the use of marijuana both
for medical and recreational use. As many as 11 states in the USA have legalized the use of
marijuana for recreational use and as many as 33 states have legalized the use of marijuana for
medical purposes. These paint a picture of how far the USA has come and how far we still are from
full acceptance across the board.
These statistics on the legality of cannabis in various states paint a picture but they do not tell the
whole story of how the people view cannabis. One other common substance that has always
raised eyebrows is booze which unlike marijuana doesn’t have such problems regarding
acceptance across the borderline of di erent states. However, today we will be looking deeper to
check the views of the American public on booze and weed, the reasons for their use, the threats
they pose to the body, and how they a ect behavior. The goal of this is to paint a clear picture of
the view of the American public on cannabis and booze and how they a ect the acceptance of the
substances around them.
First o , it is important to do a bit of exposition on the e ects of cannabis use and alcohol use as
understood biologically. Marijuana is used for medical purposes due to the presence of bene cial
cannabinoids and terpenes which are embedded in the plant. It is also used for recreational use
due to the intense euphoric high provided by the e ect of THC which is also a cannabinoid in the
plant matrix. Alcohol on the other hand is commonly used by di erent persons based on the value
they attribute to it as it can be used to erase a negative mood, deal with anxiety, or even elevate a
con dent mood.
In terms of numbers, however, statistics have not been too good to alcohol as the use of alcohol
has been implicated in as many as 88,000 deaths yearly. The main cause of this is as a result of
accidents and violence that commonly occurs under the in uence of alcohol as opposed to
marijuana. The problems of marijuana use are also well documented as high levels of THC pose a
problem of brain damage in the long term and in the short term can bring about memory loss,
anxiety, and problems with cognitive ability.

3. 9/3/2020 Americans' Perception of Weed and Booze - It's Complicated
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This is why a survey (https://americanaddictioncenters.org/learn/perceptions-of-alcohol-vs-
marijuana/) was taken using a decent sample size of Americans to see their views regarding
cannabis and alcohol use. We will be looking into the results of the survey in di erent categories
and interpreting their implications in detail.
Legalization
On the matter of legalization, we have given an indication earlier to the present state of things in
the United States of America regarding the legalization of marijuana. When the members of this
survey were asked regarding the legalization of marijuana and alcohol, a very strong picture of the
people’s view was painted. When asked regarding choice if only one of the two substances can be
made legal, 43% went with alcohol while 57% went for cannabis. Also, 38% of people who do not
use alcohol agreed with the idea that it should be considered illegal while 30% of those who do not
use cannabis agree that it should be made illegal.
Still, on the matter of legalization, 70% of people who do not use alcohol are of the opinion that
cannabis should be made legal while 56% of people who use alcohol agree that cannabis should
be made legal. These numbers would seem to indicate that a good number of the public are open
to the legalization of cannabis.
Dangers and Dependency
When it came to the matter of the dangers of the use of both substances, a good number of those
involved in the survey displayed a good grasp of the dangers both substances pose to human
health. The problems associated with the excess use of alcohol include harm to important body
organs such as the liver, heart, pancreas, and the dangers of cancer. The dangers of marijuana use
in terms of anxiety, memory loss, and impact on cognitive ability are also well known. Nonetheless,
more people who did not use either alcohol or cannabis were of the opinion that alcohol use is
more dangerous when compared to cannabis.
When asked about the perceived view of dependency that alcohol and cannabis in contrast to each
other, more people believed that alcohol is more addictive. Users of both marijuana and alcohol
also indicated that alcohol has a higher degree of dependency when compared with cannabis. The
populace also seems to agree that alcohol poses more dangers in terms of concerns for health as
well as the possibility of addiction in comparison with cannabis.
Stigma
Finally, we look into the views of di erent classes of people on both the users of alcohol and
cannabis separately. The results of this set showed a trend that was di erent from what was
experienced in the earlier categories of the survey. Despite the fact that more people were open to
the legalization of cannabis and the dangers and dependency of alcohol being higher than
cannabis, more people were prone to losing respect for varying classes of people for cannabis use
over alcohol use. When asked regarding elected o cials, re ghters, security o cers, and religious
leaders, more people said they will lose respect more if such sets of people used marijuana as
opposed to alcohol.

4. 9/3/2020 Americans' Perception of Weed and Booze - It's Complicated
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Bottom line
The perception of the American public regarding cannabis and alcohol is as complicated as
anything can be. The view of majority regarding cannabis has been skewed by years and years of
false information, wrong stereotypes and all sorts of other factors that paint cannabis in a bad
way. Although progress is being made we're still a long way from where the industry is meant to
be. Cannabis isn't the devil most think it is and alcohol isn't the angel it is portrayed as. Why can't
we stop pointing ngers and just enjoy what nature has provided us.
MORE ON BOOZE AND WEED, READ THESE...
(https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-should-
be-legal-if-alcohol-is-legal)
WHY IS WEED ILLEGAL AND BOOZE LEGAL, READ THIS...
(https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-should-be-legal-if-alcohol-is-legal)
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