cannabisnews.com: Do Alcohol and Marijuana Mix?

cannabisnews.com: Do Alcohol and Marijuana Mix?
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Do Alcohol and Marijuana Mix?
Posted by CN Staff on January 03, 2013 at 06:39:03 PT
By John Ingold, Denver Post
Source: Denver Post
Colorado -- In the debate over what marijuana legalization means for Colorado, the best drug-policy brains in the nation say there is one question getting short shrift: If people can more easily toke, does that mean they will drink less?It is, for now, a question without an answer. But what that answer is, the experts say, will be a big factor in determining whether marijuana legalization is worth it.
"A small change in alcohol has a bigger social impact than a large change in cannabis," said UCLA professor Mark A.R. Kleiman, one of the authors of the book "Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know." "So it ought to matter a lot whether the change is in the right direction or wrong direction."The legalization of use and possession of small amounts of marijuana for those 21 and older in Colorado and Washington will provide researchers worldwide with the best chance ever to study the interplay of alcohol use and marijuana use. The topic is what academics refer to as "cross-price elasticities of demand." It basically means how changes in the price and accessibility of one substance impact the use of a different substance.What researchers will be trying to settle is whether alcohol and marijuana are substitutes — meaning people use one but not the other — or whether they are complements — meaning they are used together.If they are substitutes and people switch from booze to pot, experts such as Beau Kilmer, the co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center, say marijuana legalization could be a net benefit for society, even if problems related to marijuana use increase."The social costs of marijuana use really pale in comparison to what we see as the social costs of heavy alcohol consumption," Kilmer said.SnippedComplete Article: http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_22300820/Source: Denver Post (CO)Author: John Ingold, Denver Post Published: January 3, 2013Copyright: 2013 The Denver Post Website: http://www.denverpost.com/Contact: openforum denverpost.comCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #17 posted by Hope on January 04, 2013 at 21:25:46 PT
Comment 14
Oh man! I hope they don't try that.
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Comment #16 posted by The GCW on January 04, 2013 at 11:37:43 PT
Another in the Post
Colorado marijuana regulators have much to mull, little time to do it http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_22307058/colorado-marijuana-regulators-have-much-mull-little-time
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Comment #15 posted by kaptinemo on January 04, 2013 at 08:30:04 PT:
#14 GCW, I wouldn't sweat it; it can't work
Not won't, but can't. For the same reason when they tried that in Limbergh and Noord Brabant provinces in Holland it failed. Locals began buying for buitenlanders. And the black market began moving back in, after having being thoroughly marginalized for 40 years by the pre-Balkenende laws. The Dutch, generally sensible people that they are, backed off from that cliff, real fast. The CO pols will, too, and for the same reason, when they realize they are stupidly slashing at the udders of the cash cow that will feed them.Idiot pols and prohibs, regardless of nationality, both never seem able to learn from history. Or economics. And neither of the latter two forces are hindered in the least by their moronic posturing and legislative tomfoolery. Might as well lash the waves...
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Comment #14 posted by The GCW on January 03, 2013 at 21:18:25 PT
Important news in Colorado
Work on marijuana regulation continues in ColoradoDENVER — Colorado is considering allowing only state residents to use marijuana recreationally after voters approved a measure to legalize use of the drug for non-medical purposes.Cont.http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20130103/NEWS/130109957/1078&ParentProfile=1055-0-I believe that would be a mistake. It would seem that that decision would not be a "Colorado" decision but rather a PROHIBITIONIST decision.So tourists to the state of Colorado would not have the choice of using a substance which is safer than booze and so would be relegated to booze??? if they choose to party and use a substance like booze???The state then would be in the dubious position of steering citizens into using booze and actually leading them toward alcoholism which is a worse problem for a great many of the population.THE CAMPAIGN EVEN RAN ON THE NOTION THAT CANNABIS IS SAFER THAN BOOZE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So now if You are not a Coloradan, You are not legally entitled to use something safer than booze???Are they catering to businesses which profit off booze and prohibition???Can the prohibitionists be stopped from screwing this up???
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Comment #13 posted by MikeEEEEE on January 03, 2013 at 21:10:58 PT
Control
I remember watching a stupid propaganda movie from the 70s. A mother said, "Marijuana is bad, alcohol is okay." I wondered how many victims suffered the toxic effects of alcohol since then.Control is more effective using fear propaganda. Hilter's minions may have developed much of it, but others have read the book, perfected it, added to it, and put it to use.On a positive note: the Internet has helped limit its effectiveness. But their are still stupid people out there, who do not question, and are too lazy to research.
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Comment #12 posted by kaptinemo on January 03, 2013 at 21:08:41 PT:
And Anslinger married one of the Mellon Banking
Empire's nieces. Banks were heavily involved with or owned by the oil companies of the day. And, of course, money laundering has been around as long as smuggling has.How goes the old saying? Once is an accident; twice is a coincidence. Three times is a conspiracy". Plain as day, connect the dots, and wonder why others seemingly can't...but given energy corporations controlling major shares of media companies, busily 'manufacturing consent' http://tinyurl.com/3a8o2 you aren't about to see much in the way of good ol' 'investigative reporting', save for some blow-dried, cranial-vacuum-victim sycophant interviewing some bureaucrat about their wardrobe. Like the 1974 Cancer study http://tinyurl.com/yflgag9 that proved cannabis had anti-cancer properties; how many of you out there have heard much in the American news media about all that? I suspect not many have. Yet every year since the rediscovery in 2000 in Madrid, Spain http://cannabisnews.com/news/5/thread5972.shtml more and more research facilities around the planet are publishing peer-reviewed scientific studies verifying the original - and evidently suppressed - discovery, made here in the good ol' USA, on Joe and Josephine Taxpayer's dime and time.Scores of millions of cancer victims just in America, alonemight not have had to die, many in horrible ways, had the research been pursued further rather than inexplicably, mysteriously cut off. But the cat's out of the bag, and someday, someone must be made to answer for this, for cancer knows no national boundaries, and the anguish of those who've lost loved ones to it can be conveyed in any language. Imagine that howl of anguish becoming a roar of fury that the US government apparently deep-sixed a possible cure for cancer. Particularly when you realize that the present odds resemble a coin-toss as to whether you will get cancer in your lifetime. When I was a kid, in the 1960's, the rate was 1 in 4. Now it's 50%. What does that tell you? That we bloody well better get cracking on a cure, and damn fast, before there's too few of us left.But we already seem to have one, and it will grow almost anywhere, and with a little TLC will produce what may be Nature's greatest possible gifts. Is this prohibition evil, or just insane? You tell me...
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Comment #11 posted by runruff on January 03, 2013 at 19:22:40 PT
Check this out;
FDRjr. married Ethel DuPont. Her father had the ear of FDRsr.The rest is...well...you know.
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Comment #10 posted by disvet13 on January 03, 2013 at 18:02:24 PT:
the question big alcohol has always known
the answer to, and were so scared they have fought with every dollar they could spare. the american people have long suffered from expert mind manipulation propaganda, not only prohibition of cannabis, but has anyone ever noticed how we the people are forever going over the fiscal cliff and we're in debt and broke as a nation? they keep you right where they want you, poor stupid broke americans.
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Comment #9 posted by Relfving on January 03, 2013 at 17:58:17 PT
Also Quit Alcohol and the Unjust Justice System
I also quit alcohol when I started smoking cannabis. Alcohol would dull my senses, while cannabis would elevate them even leading to profound levels of mysticism while meditating. I became a sensitive seeing auras, spiritual time travel and traveling to other places in the world. We have more prisoners in jail than any other nation. "One percent of American adults are in jail...In 2009, half of all federal prisoners in the United States were serving sentences for drug offenses. U.S. spending on the drug war tops $100 billon annually. Each prisoner costs $45,000 per year. That is very expensive public housing." Pot Book, a Complete Guide to Cannabis.President Roosevelt was on the payroll of Rockefeller when when he signed the Marijuana Tax Act into law. "According to one researcher, with today's enzyme technology, hemp ethanol could be produced for $1.37 per gallon plus the cost of raw material, with technological improvements and tax credits reducing the price by another dollar or so per gallon (Castleman 2001).,,Could you imagine paying 50 cents per gallon (united States) or 15 cents per liter (Canadian) for your hemp ethanol? Rockefeller and Mellon could envision it, but they preferred their vision of dirty-fuel monopolies for Standard Oil and Gulf Oil rather than clean-fuel farms for prosperous farmers. It was crucial to their business model that hemp became illegal and stayed illegal" ibid.
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Comment #8 posted by Sam Adams on January 03, 2013 at 17:16:41 PT
replacement therapy
cannabis replaces a lot of things. just imagine how good it feels to discover that you can replace the prescription medications that are making you sick with something that makes you laugh.Of course the "replacement value" is precisely why it's been suppressed for so long. Corporations don't want their products replaced! Especially with something that grows like a weed. Something that is, in fact, a weed.
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Comment #7 posted by runruff on January 03, 2013 at 14:07:30 PT
I am a born alcoholic.
Have not drank alcohol in about 40 years thanks to cannabis. Cannabis saved my life and made it possible for me to be productive. Enjoy happy and rewarding relationships. I am very happily married to my ideal woman and she loves and cares for me. She can depend on me.I am the opposite when I drink alcohol and cannot stop drinking once I start.I owe much to this wonderful plant and I am not ashamed or too proud to say so.
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Comment #6 posted by runruff on January 03, 2013 at 12:04:12 PT
One step toward a more humane society.
I am speaking of the Emancipation Proclamation signed into US law 150 years this 1/1/13. I will celebrate today for my fellow man!
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on January 03, 2013 at 09:25:16 PT:
Re-inventing the wheel, a century later
Physicians in late 19th century America used to prescribe cannabis to problem drinkers to get them weaned off the booze, in no small part because of the rampant alcohol-fueled wife-and-child abuse at the time. The reasons were obvious, as were the results. In an aside, amongst the 4 main Hindu castes, only the K'shahtriyah , the warriors, were culturally and legally allowed alcohol. Again, the reason should be obvious...as were the results.If rotgut's your thing, fine, have at it. But only the blessed weed for me, thank you. And I am joined by scores of millions in that choice.
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Comment #4 posted by afterburner on January 03, 2013 at 08:15:05 PT
Here Is a Beginning to that Question
NORML / By Paul Armentano. 36 COMMENTS. Is Marijuana an 'Exit Drug'? Study Suggests Some Are Taking It as a Substitute for Prescription Drugs and Alcohol. A surprising three quarters of medical cannabis consumers say they subbed in pot for more harmful substances. December 26, 2012 http://www.alternet.org/drugs/marijuana-exit-drug-study-suggests-some-are-taking-it-substitute-prescription-drugs-andI have personally met people who are using cannabis to get off of alcohol!
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on January 03, 2013 at 07:47:13 PT
About this article,
I believe cannabis will lower alcoholism in America. And it will lower hard drug addition rates as well.WIN, WIN, WIN, WIN!Except for those people and businesses which have profited off the devil law of cannabis prohibition and extermination.
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Comment #2 posted by The GCW on January 03, 2013 at 07:38:15 PT
Good topic at Alternet
Marijuana Smoothie, Anyone?Could freshly blended cannabis become the health food craze of 2013?http://www.alternet.org/drugs/marijuana-smoothie-anyone
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on January 03, 2013 at 07:25:03 PT
"worth it"
it's interesting to see what direction the new, post-repeal propaganda is taking with the AP, prohibitionists like the Denver Post, LA Times, etc.This sort of "social engineering" BS is one of the reasons why I reject the mainstream political parties. They're wondering if repealing prohibition is "worth it". That's absurd, was it ever "worth it" to arrest 800,000 people per year? All the violent repression that represents?The emperor is wearing NO clothes on this, believe me. This is the political ruling class that brought you the obesity epidemic, the diabetes epidemic, the autism epidemic, cancer epidemic, MRSA, C. Difficile....need I go on? The best thing they could do for health would be to immediately abscond completely from regulation of "vices", repealing all consensual crimes. And let the resulting resources go back to individuals and non-governmental organizations to work on improving health.No police, prisons, military or guns needed. How did they ever convince people that these things are needed for maintaining the public health????
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