Gov. Doug Ducey gets his wish after prompting for fact check on marijuana safety
Sep 11, 2016, 8:05 AM | Updated: Sep 12, 2016, 10:45 am
(AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey prompted someone to check the facts on marijuana in a speech Friday.
Ducey, against the vote for marijuana legislation coming in November to the state of Arizona, made several statements on the drug, including the broad “unintended consequences” of the drug and saying, “I don’t think that any state became stronger by being stoned.”
“I would check your facts when you say something is not addictive, that something’s safer than alcohol,” he said in a press conference Friday.
As it turns out, the Washington Post did just that.
One of those remarks referred to marijuana users as, “people that are addicted and abusing drugs.”
The Washington Post said that it is addictive, but the addiction comes for nine percent of those who use it.
The standout statement by Ducey is him claiming that alcohol is safer than marijuana. The fact check, however, proved otherwise.
For starters, as noted above, marijuana users are less likely to become dependent on the drug than drinkers. Overall, research suggests that 15 percent of drinkers become dependent on alcohol.
Marijuana is also considerably less toxic to the human body than alcohol. Compared to marijuana, there’s a much smaller difference between a “recreational dose” of alcohol and a “fatal dose.” If, say, five shots get you drunk, 15 could kill you.
With pot, on the other hand, there’s currently no known fatal dosage level — at least not any that a human being could reasonably consume in one sitting.
There’s also other areas that favor marijuana in this discussion according to the Washington Post, such as impairment numbers related to car crashes jump substantially for alcohol while they have minimal change for marijuana. Violent behavior also shares a much deeper connection to alcohol than marijuana does.
The Washington Post was quick to say, however, that this doesn’t mean marijuana is actually safe. Research has linked marijuana with a handful of negative physical and mental health outcomes.
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