For around 10,000 years humans have been drinking fermented beverages, beverages that have adopted the title of alcohol. Even in the bible alcohol gets its turn in the limelight. There, its �medicinal properties,� which have been harnessed through out recorded history, �are mentioned 191 times."
Concerning the Effects of Alcohol, Positively...
Ethanol, a simple molecule and the active ingredient in alcohol, has a myriad of affects on the human body. It directly influences the stomach, brain, heart, gallbladder, and liver. It affects levels of lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides) and insulin in the blood, as well as inflammation and coagulation. It also alters mood, concentration, and coordination. With so many affects in the body, research began utilizing the results from their studies, especially concerning heart attacks. Reviews of the research beginning as early as 1900 show that a connection can be made between moderate drinking and reduced cardiovascular disease. Most notably, drinking in moderation helps improve coronary heart health. 13 studies have shown �that as many as 135,884 additional deaths would occur each year in the US� from coronary heart disease alone because of abstience. Moderate drinking is also associated with �improved cognitive (mental) functioning� (Hanson).
Concerning the Effects of Alcohol, Negatively...
Yet, we must put these benefits into perspective. In Italy, 42,000 deaths were attributed to alcohol from injuries, liver cirrhosis, cancer, and hemorrhagic strokes. These deaths did not include drunk driving. On the other hand, only about 6,600 deaths were prevented from moderate drinking (Corrao; Giovanni). Drinking alcohol, especially too much, can have massively negative effects on many parts of the human body, considering all of the parts above that it directly influences. Since 1990, drinking alcohol has caused over 700,000 deaths and injuries in the US. Police arrest over 1.5 million people every year for driving under the influence, and 3 out of every 10 Americans face the possibility of being directly involved in a drunk driving crash (�Be Responsible�).
Concerning the Effects of Cigarettes, Negatively...
The numbers get significantly worse when the spotlight is turned onto the smoking of cigarettes. According to the Center for Disease Control, an estimated �438,000 Americans die as a result of smoking or exposure to second hand smoke� each year. Also, for every one person that dies from a smoking related disease, 20 are living with a smoking attributed illness, putting the number per year up to 8,760,000. Between the years 1997 and 2001, 123,000 people died of lung cancer, 34,000 people died from other cancers, 90,6000 died from chronic lung disease, 86,800 died from coronary heart disease, 17,400 died from strokes, and 84,600 died from other causes. All of these deaths were directly caused by smoking (US Department of Health and Human Services).
Concerning the Effects of Cigarettes, Negatively, Continued...
Smoking reduces the health of smokers in general, causes many diseases, and �harms nearly every organ of the body.� The list of diseases caused by smoking include �bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, and throat cancers, chronic lung diseases, coronary heart and cardiovascular diseases, as well as reproductive effects and sudden infant death syndrome. The list has been expanded to include �abdominal aortic aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, cervical cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, pneumonia, peridontitis, and stomach cancer.
Concerning the Effects of Marijuana, Comparatively...
In contrast to these fatalities and health hazards attributed to alcohol and cigarettes, the Surgeon General, reported from the Center for Disease Control, has only suspected chronic effects of marijuana use. These suspected effects include interference with aspects of mental functioning and acute effects on perception and skilled performance, such as driving and other complex tasks involving judgement or fine motor skills. The other suspected effects warned against include �short term memory impairment and slowness of learning.� It may also decrease sperm count and sperm motility, interference with ovulation and pre-natal development, impaired immune response, and possible adverse effects on heart function.� The Surgeon General also tells us that America can expect 340 thousand to 450 thousand deaths each year due to tobacco, well over 150 thousand deaths each year due to alcohol, and zero deaths due to cannabis sativa (US Department of Health and Human Services). Why, then, is marijuana still illegal, while alcohol and cigarettes remain far, far from illegality?
A Brief Summary:
Annual Deaths due to Alcohol: 150,000
Bodily Concerns with Alcohol: Stomach, Brain, Heart, Gallbladder, Liver, Cholesterol, Triglycerides, Mood, Concentration, Coordination.
Benefits of Alcohol: Economic, Cardiovascular Disease, Coronary Heart
Concerning Alcohol...
Annual Deaths due to Cigarettes: 438,000
Annual Illnesses Caused by Cigarettes: 8,760,000
Annual Deaths due to Marijuana: 0
Bodily Concerns with Cigarettes: Nearly Every Single Organ of the Body.
Bodily Concerns with Marijuana: Potentially Lungs, Potentially Reproductive Organs
Benefits of Cigarettes: 0
Benefits of Marijuana: Appetite, Pain Suppressant, Nausea Suppressant