BDKJMU wrote:Have a group of people drink a 6 pack of soda a day for a year. Have another group smoke 6 joints a day for a year. Then compare the 2 to see which was more harmful..
Aside from comparing apples to oranges...i think it's generally understood that drinking 6 sodas a day isn't healthy. 270mg (I think 1,500mg/daily is suggested) of Sodium and 234g (I think 100-150g/daily is suggested) of Sugar just from the beverages is a lot.
I'd like to see the results of that study though. Actually,a few studies.
Take this with a grain of salt but...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/1 ... 49974.html
Sugar, an additive to many kinds of food and drink, is difficult to avoid. The American Heart Association recommends that women get no more than 100 of their daily calories from added sugars, while for men the upper limit is 150 calories. However, for many people around the world, added sugars are contributing an additional 500 calories a day.
Sugary sodas can be so dangerous, doctors say that soda intake should be limited to less than one can of soda per day.
And what about marijuana? The drug is not without some health risks. Excessive use can lead to respiratory discomfort (although the drug itself does not impair lung function). Among people prone to the development of psychosis, research has shown that smoking pot can lead to an earlier onset of the disorder. And there’s understandable concern about adolescent marijuana use and its effects on the developing brain.
Still, in at least 10,000 years of human consumption, there have been no documented deaths as a result of marijuana overdose. It only takes 10 times the recommended serving of alcohol to lead to death, a recreational drug study from American Scientist found. By contrast, a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount of THC in a joint in order to be at risk of dying, according to a 1988 ruling from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Meanwhile, a number of studies in recent years have demonstrated the medical potential of pot. Purified forms of cannabis can be effective at attacking some forms of aggressive cancer. Marijuana use has also been tied to better blood sugar control, and may help slow the spread of HIV. Legalization of the plant for medical purposes may even lead to lower suicide rates.
“Anyone who takes a truly objective look at the evidence surrounding these substances could not possibly arrive at any other conclusion,” Mason Tvert, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, told The Huffington Post. “The public’s understanding of marijuana is more in line with the facts than ever before. Marijuana is not entirely harmless, but there is no longer any doubt that it poses far less harm to the consumer than many of the legal products engrained in American culture.”
