It’s one of the biggest hypocrisies in modern society:
You can stroll down the street with a glass of wine in your hand, smelling like a vineyard dumpster, and no one bats an eye. But light up a joint—something with proven medical benefits—and suddenly you’re a criminal, a “problem,” or a “bad influence.”
Here’s the truth nobody wants to say out loud:
Alcohol has zero medical use. None. Zilch. Unless your definition of “medical” is “liquid courage for karaoke night,” it’s purely recreational—and it kills more people every single year than all illegal drugs combined. It wrecks livers, destroys families, fuels domestic violence, and clogs up our hospitals. Yet somehow, it’s not just legal—it’s celebrated.
Meanwhile, cannabis has been shown to help with chronic pain, PTSD, epilepsy, nausea from chemo, and a dozen other real medical conditions. Veterans use it to manage trauma. Cancer patients use it to eat again. People with crippling anxiety find relief without wrecking their organs. But in many places, you can still get cuffed for it.
So why the double standard?
The answer’s ugly: alcohol is deeply embedded in our culture, our economy, and our politics. There’s a century-old industry that spends billions making sure you see booze as “classy,” “social,” and “normal.” Weed, on the other hand, was demonized for decades with racist propaganda and fearmongering—lies that still echo in laws today.
If the smell of weed bothers you, fine. But don’t pretend a cloud of merlot breath is somehow more “respectable.” If we’re going to judge a plant with medical benefits, then we need to be honest about the bottle in our own hand.
It’s not about health. It’s not about safety. It’s about old money, outdated laws, and a society that still hasn’t admitted it was wrong.
Legal for one, legal for both. Anything else is hypocrisy—straight, no chaser.
Shane higdon 