Scientists are discovering that life is the leading cause of death

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article belong solely to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Fresh Toast.

Alexander Woollcottquipped, “All of the things I really enjoy doing are either immoral, illegal, or fattening.” He died in 1943, missing out on so many other dangers that modern science would discover.

For example, The guardreports that researchers recently discovered that “Lots of alcohol consumption that is harmful to the brain.

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“A senior clinical lecturer at Oxford University said that” a UK study of 25,000 people finds that even moderate drinking is associated with lower gray matter density “.

The study’s authors suggested that “Wine drinking’s associations with higher education and socio-economic status may explain the perceived health benefits. “

“If you look at who drinks moderately, at least in this country, they are more educated, wealthy people who would do much better on a memory test… Author Anya Topiwala, a senior clinical lecturer at Oxford University.

In other words, smart people, everyone from Jesus to Bill Buckley, drank wine and gave it a good name, but now we know they would have been even smarter if only …

Of course, there have been countless articles warning of health risks from using marijuana, such as “How occasional marijuana can cause brain abnormalities“.

One of the standard arguments against legalizing marijuana is based on the view that the human brain is not fully developed until the age of 25, so cannabis should not be legalized for people who are not at least that old.

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Of course, there are no age limits in the smuggling markets and scientists must take this into account when making policy recommendations. In addition, public health decisions are not a “zero-sum game”.

SEE: They Say the brain doesn’t mature until we are 25, but does marijuana help the brain mature?

Now consider that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “Excessive drinking is responsible for more than 95,000 deaths, or 261 deaths per day, in the United States each year. These deaths shorten the life of the deceased by an average of almost 29 years, which corresponds to a total of 2.8 million potentially lost years of life. “

And yet Alcohol ban was a disaster abandoned after 13 years, while it took nearly a century to lift the marijuana ban, even though marijuana can help with alcoholism.

SEE: Marijuana is replacing alcohol for nearly half of cannabis users during the pandemic

The most direct answer to Woolcott’s joke is that “The dose makes the poison“.

This is the only realistic answer to those who claim there are no “harmless” levels of alcohol or cannabis use. And that also applies to pandemics.

Another quote from Woollcott seems very relevant today:“I’m tired of hearing that democracy doesn’t work. Of course it doesn’t work. We should work on it. ”

In the real world, people should try to take care of their health, but public health advice should be realistic.

SEE: We Know Too Much About Marijuana To Be Illegal

Richard Cowan is a former NORML National Director and author of Unconventional Ways To Use CBD.