Marijuana: The Cure for Alcoholism?

It makes me chuckle when people refer to marijuana as a gateway drug. The conversation is especially amusing when had over cocktails. Easy accessibility, societal acceptance and manageable effects of weed are often cited as the reasons people choose it for experimentation. Once that door is open, further experimentation often follows, goes the argument. But this argument ignores the obvious. No drug opens the gateway quite like the most available and most abused drug in the history of the world: alcohol.

Weed is not to blame for the addiction epidemic. The biggest danger related to marijuana is not about what it leads to, but rather what it follows. Increasingly, smoking pot is viewed as a preferred alternative to drinking alcohol. As recreational marijuana gains legal status across the country, the idea that it is a safe alternative to booze for those of us who suffer from alcoholism is a scary proposition.

It makes sense, on the surface, because of the way weed impacts human behavior differently than alcohol. Pot usually makes us mellow and lethargic while alcohol often makes humans angry. Someone who gets really high might leave a trail of Taco Bell wrappers in his wake, while an alcoholic has splintered relationships to recover in the aftermath.

A lot of people in recovery, and most traditional therapy professionals, call it…