Alchohol or Marijuana

Both drugs are in use by man since prehistory! About 2500 years ago, the Greek historian Herodotus describes the Scythians of central Asia throwing hemp onto heated stones under canvas: 'as it burns, it smokes like incense and the smell of it makes them drunk'. Even earlier evidence includes cannibis seeds found in 5000 year old settlements, although it is possible that the people only used hemp as fiber and not as intoxicant. Ethanol, a product of the fermentation of sugars from grain and grapes, is even older in human use. Ethanol has the advantage that our bodies readily metabolize it and excrete the products, so it is rapidly detoxified. Except for fetal alcohol syndrome, ethanol has rather mild effect on human health--it certainly does not cause the major pathologies such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer or Alzheimer's. Psychotic Christians in the early twentieth century in the United States convinced the US Congress that ethanol was "evil", and had it criminalized for 14 years (1919-1933), the era that gave rise to organized crime syndicates in the US (like Al Capone, the notorious gangster). The same sort of mentality has been used to criminalize cannabis, but many states and muncipalities have decriminalized possession of small amounts and even growth of plants by individuals (Michigan). Most likely, the future of cannabis in the US will include increased acceptance and further decriminalization.