Word: alcohol
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...that followed the purity requirements traditionally used to make beer." That meant a product with natural ingredients only: malt, water, sugar, fruit essences. No corn syrup, nothing artificial. And he'd use the same fermentation process he used to make beer - the trick would be leaving out the alcohol...
Hypocrisy is hardly foreign to Harvard University, yet I still find it ironic and somewhat disconcerting that so many Harvard students are willing to consume obscene amounts of alcohol every weekend but blithely stigmatize the minority of their peers who like to get high. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen people—who apparently have no problem blacking out, puking in a toilet bowl, and hooking up with utter strangers—shudder with horror and righteous indignation when someone mentions smoking weed. Of course, this silly taboo among Harvard students...
Before I embark upon an angry tirade, let me start with the disclaimer that I love the bacchanalian decadence of the college drinking scene. But let’s have no illusions about our behavior. Alcohol is a dangerous drug. It’s a depressant; it’s carcinogenic; it leads to reckless and potentially deadly behavior; it causes brain and liver damage. Marijuana, on the other hand, is relatively harmless. As studies have shown, there is no conclusive evidence that it causes cancer or a significant decline in cognitive functioning. Nor does it necessarily lead to dangerous...
...what really motivates my aversion to the marijuana taboo is not a paternalistic concern for people’s health and safety. I truly believe that everyone—but especially wound-up, self-important Harvard students—could benefit from getting high once in a while. While alcohol is boorish and mindless, marijuana is intellectually stimulating, relaxing, and mellow. Alcohol is fun because it makes us less aware of what’s going on, and thus less inhibited, while marijuana makes us hyper-alert, perceptive, and thoughtful. Alcohol is a fantastic social lubricant, but there is nothing...
Despite what many people believe about the perils of marijuana use, the real reason for the double-standard is cultural, not rational or scientific. Alcohol is a deeply ingrained part of our culture. It has been around for thousands of years. It is indispensable to both blue-collar pastimes and polite society. Many of us even drink wine in church, believing that we are actually consuming—through a magical process known as “transubstantiation”—the mystical body of Christ. Marijuana does not enjoy the same totemic status. Largely because...