One of the most common things people want to know is whether alcohol or marijuana is worse for your brain and overall health. The scientific evidence and the brain imaging work at Amen Clinics show that neither one is good for you. Alcohol is not a health food, and marijuana is not an innocuous substance. But is one of them more damaging than the other?
At first glance, it might seem that alcohol does the most damage to our brain health and general well-being because it is more widely used. Over 85% of American adults say they’ve consumed alcohol at some point in their lives, and nearly 70% say they’ve had a drink in the past year, as reported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Compare that to just 18% of Americans who said they used marijuana in 2019, according to the CDC. Although not as widespread, the harmful effects of marijuana on the brain may be greater. Let’s take a closer look at some of the worst consequences of drinking and marijuana.
