Greg: All right, what’s going one everyone. It is Greg and Matt here from Unbroken. As you know, we’re former heroin addicts, and we’re trying to get the word out and help people. Just rebuild their lives and get healthy and all that. So congratulations to Matt, number one, he’s got some new hardware on his finger, just got married. So today, we’re going to be talking about marijuana versus alcohol.
Greg: Now, marijuana is still illegal in most states and alcohol is legal. What do you think about that.
Matt: That goes back … We’ve had videos about all the drugs and the legality. And how cigarettes kill more people than any other drug besides sugar, but they’re legal. So I think a lot of that has to do with lobbyists and money, and big business and stuff like that. Statistically, it’s very clear that alcohol is more dangerous across the board than marijuana is. I don’t think that’s even up for debate anymore.
Greg: I mean, why would you say that’s so. Why is alcohol more dangerous?
Matt: If you’re looking at just deaths caused by alcohol per year it’s …
Greg: 88,000.
Matt: 88,000. Now, marijuana, as a substance alone, has never killed anybody. It’s the toxicity rate is too high to even consume for it to kill you. I’m sure marijuana has definitely been involved in causing deaths. But still, it doesn’t pose nearly as much of a threat as alcohol does in those statistics. When you’re looking at domestic violence, mental health, stuff like that, if there’s a substance involved, it’s going to be alcohol more than it is marijuana.
Greg: Yeah, you know what’s crazy, is the amount of families that alcohol negatively effects and are even in a lot of the stats. You know what I mean?
Matt: Yeah.
Greg: I mean, they say 10% of children in the United States are growing up with an alcoholic parent. That is a huge stat. Having alcohol in your house can greatly effect your personality and your life. I think alcohol is, I agree with you, by far more dangerous. And I’m not …
Matt: Did you say 30%? What was that, 10%?
Greg: 10% of children are growing up with an alcoholic parent. That’s a stat I read on …
Matt: That’s crazy.
Greg: So I’m not greatly into politics, I don’t get too deep into that, but honestly, it probably it has to do with money. But how is alcohol legal and weed is not?
Matt: It’s government, it’s lobbyists. It sucks. And it goes way back. There’s all the stories about how marijuana was first made illegal and why it was made illegal. And there’s a lot goes into that about race and things along those lines. But there’s so many medical benefits to it now that we found and still considered a class one drug, which is up there with heroin and cocaine. Meaning that it has no medical benefit. Which is just simply not true at all. There’s enough science out there now that we can determine that. We tried prohibition and what happens is it goes into the black market, and it’s still going to go out there.
Matt: Then you got bad guys selling it, and you can regulate it at all. That’s the issue, which I was thinking about this even the other day, just in my mind, about every other drug … Are people naïve one to think that if they bust one drug dealer, that another one’s not going to pop right up immediately? I know I would sound like a crazy person to say you should legalize all drugs across the board, but how else would you regulate it? I think that’s why alcohol’s legal right now, is because they tried prohibition and it just doesn’t work.
Matt: But back to the point of alcohol and marijuana. I don’t know how it’s not flip flopped.
Greg: It’s crazy. I read another stat, I think alcohol makes our government $9 billion a year. They profit $9 billion a year off it, so I’m sure that helps.
Matt: Yeah.
Greg: I’m sure that helps.
Matt: That has something to do with it.
Greg: Every commercial you see as well. You’re going to a football game, have a Bud Light. You’re going to the baseball game, have a Bud Light. Going to happy hour, have a drink. Dinner, specials on drinks. It’s everywhere, it’s crazy. And alcohol is the thing that’s causing people to act erratic and drunk driving, and abuse people, and be aggressive. I mean, how many times were you fucking aggressive on weed, when you were smoking weed? I mean it chills you out.
Matt: Yeah.
Greg: I’m not saying it’s great. I’m not saying it should or shouldn’t be legalized, but it’s far less dangerous than alcohol. I can tell you from experience. I was never trying to fight anyone when I was high.
Matt: You never flipped any cars when I was high.
Greg: Right, or flipped cars from alcohol.
Matt: Yeah.
Greg: It’s just crazy to me that weed is still illegal across the board but alcohol is so widely accepted. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Obviously, I know it has to do with government, and money, and all that type of stuff, which I don’t really pay attention to. It’s a crazy concept to me that it’s still that way.
Matt: Yeah, 100%. And again, Greg and I have gotten into these conversations about all different sorts of substances and why they are they are. And a lot of it has to do with just social acceptance. And to Greg’s point, if I ever sit at a bar in a restaurant just because there’s no tables, or we’re in a hurry, or whatever, I feel morally obligated to order a drink. It’s so crazy, I guess I got to get something.
Greg: It’s funny, I can just picture myself, or just anyone, sitting at a bar or something and lighting a joint, and some older people are like, “Oh, my God, he’s smoking marijuana while they’re sipping on their fucking cocktail.” You know what I mean?
Matt: Yeah, they would fucking freak out.
Greg: So it’s just that needs to be changed. I’m not saying if one’s legal, the other should be, but I just don’t see how weed is still illegal and alcohol is legal. It’s crazy.
Matt: I think at least in the general population, it’s most people are starting to grasp that. But by the way people behave, you wouldn’t really notice it. Again, you don’t see people just lighting up joints everywhere. Where it is recreationally legal, you see that more and more. But alcohol still just has a strong hold on drug of choice in America.
Greg: Definitely. And it’s not like I’m saying I don’t think marijuana’s … I don’t know if it should or shouldn’t be legalized. Really, when it comes down to that, I don’t think people make the argument should be, shouldn’t be and they compare stats. But really, it’s never been legal, so you can’t really compare.
Matt: Yeah.
Greg: So at the worst, I would say maybe try legalizing it. Let’s some compare some stats and see what happens.
Matt: Well, again, if anything, legalize it, control it, regulate it. And then at least you have a grasp on it. I remember, right now, we’re in Pennsylvania, but just right across the line in Delaware there a kid that was murdered over weed. What the fuck? That should not be an issue right now, people should be getting shot and killed over weed. It’s not a crazy enough drug. If it was regulated and people could control it and you tax it, and the government makes money, and give back money to schooling systems, that makes sense. It does not make sense to have people getting murdered over black market sales of marijuana, to me.
Greg: So we did a video on marijuana before and the person commented and they said, “Watch this documentary and you will not be for legalizing marijuana.” What was that documentary, do you remember?
Matt: God, I forget the name of it.
Greg: I got halfway through this documentary and I was like, “Get the fuck out of here.”
Matt: So much propaganda bullshit.
Greg: Yeah, so it was basically …
Matt: Weed X, or something.
Greg: Yeah, something X. Marijuana X, I think it was called. And they were complaining, the first state to legalize weed, who was that? Was it Colorado?
Matt: Yeah, Colorado.
Greg: So the first state to legalize weed, there had been an influx in crime. And they’re talking about this the whole first part of the movie. They’re like, “Yeah, we have all these homeless people moving here because weed’s now legal.” I’m like, “No shit, your fucking crime rate went up, because you’ve got a whole bunch of homeless people there.” If the whole United States legalized it, it wouldn’t be the same issue.
Matt: Yeah, not everybody’s going to flock to the one spot.
Greg: Weed does not cause people to be aggressive and cause crime. I’m not saying it can’t, but over across the board, it does not. I’ve never seen anyone on weed really acting erratic. Of course, there’s strong strains that could, but for the most part, compared to alcohol, people are pretty chill on weed. Not saying it’s a great drug for all people, but it’s nowhere near as dangerous as alcohol in my opinion.
Matt: No, not at all. And again, there’s going to be propaganda for and against everything. It’s been that way for sugar, and for alcohol, and for heroin, and for everything else. So there’s different opinions, but that stuff in Colorado, too. You can take statistics about anything and spin them however you want. The money that they are able to make off of marijuana sales and invest back into their schooling systems has been just tremendous. The drinking and driving rates, and domestic abuse rates, and all that other stuff has gone down. Yeah, people are going to flock for the wrong reasons sometimes, and that might cause a spike in this or that.
Matt: But overall, I do not think it’s … I mean, it’s been great overall for people who live there at least.
Greg: Yeah, and last point is marijuana has been proven to cure people for certain stuff, cure a lot of disease and stuff like that.
Matt: 100%.
Greg: What fucking diseases has alcohol cured?
Matt: None. Nothing.
Greg: So when you’re comparing the two, again, I’m not necessarily all for marijuana and legalizing all that. But when people ask us to compare the two, it’s a way fucking better option than alcohol which is legal and accepted by pretty much everyone.
Matt: Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I agree.
Greg: So hopefully that clears up … Someone asked us to compare marijuana and alcohol. If you have any more questions, let us know and we’ll get into it. We’ll see you all soon.
Matt: Thanks guys.
