The verdict of science : Booze kills faster than weed

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A study found weed is 114 times less deadly than alcohol, according to the journal, Scientific Reports.

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Weed is less harmful than alcohol, according to IFLScience, which reviewed several
studies into the subject – finding that it’s less addictive, and simply less dangerous than booze. 

Alcohol contributes to 3.3 million deaths per year, with one person dying from booze every 10 seconds. Another study of the drug habits of 8,000 Americans found that 15% could be classified as addicted to alcohol – but just 9% were addicted to weed.

A study also found it is actually 114 times less deadly than alcohol, according to the journal, Scientific Reports. The reports‘ authors studied the effects of alcohol, heroin, cocaine, tobacco, ecstasy, crystal meth and cannabis.
The idea that cannabis is harmful because it’s a ‘gateway drug’ which leads people on to the harder stuff is also pretty shoddy, research has found. In fact, alcohol is actually more of a gateway drug. 

Treatment4Addiction used data from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to track how people progress from one drug to harder substances. While around 60 per cent of cannabis users went on to try other drugs, 88 per cent began with alcohol. 

Coffee’s addictive effects mean that it might actually be a more harmful drug than weed, an expert has argued. Matthew Lazenka, a researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System argued this year in Science 2.0 that caffeine ticks off just as many boxes as for drug abuse as THC, the active ingredient in cannabis. 

Coffee’s addictive effects mean that it might actually be a more harmful drug than weed