[giantg2]

I see a lot of people pushing weed as being safer than alcohol. There's a huge difference in the available data for both of these, not to mention the risk gradient of each based on dose and frequency. There are more known risks with alcohol, but it's not an apples to apples comparison based on the data. The final verdict is that neither is a "safe" choice based on the data, even if the risks differ somewhat between them.

[nemomarx]

Alcohol is one of the more dangerous drugs on most scales, so it's kind of a low bar?

The drug to beat would be safer than nicotine probably.

[giantg2]

"Alcohol is one of the more dangerous drugs on most scales"

Can you provide those scales?

[joquarky]

Quitting an ethanol addiction cold turkey can often be deadly. There aren't very many other drugs that can do that.

[giantg2]

I thought pretty much any barbituate, benzo, and some opioid based drugs would can also do that.

[guzfip]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HarmCausedByDrugsTab...

[giantg2]

"Note that alcohol (despite being legal and used more often than the other drugs) is by far the most harmful; not only is it the most damaging to societies, it is also the fourth most dangerous for the user. Most of the drugs were rated significantly less harmful than alcohol, with most of the harm befalling the user."

Thanks! Yes, a legal drug that is more widespread and more studied has more aggregate impact. Another sentence in that link specifically calls out legal and cultural impacts on harms. This is also in the UK, so it's worth noting there could be differences with the US. This does not negate my statement and in some areas bolsters it (data discrepancy claims).