大麻並不比酒精更危險：英語精讀講義

Here's something most people don't know about marijuana.

關於大麻，有件事大多數人都不知道。

Officially, the U.S.

按照美國的官方規定，

federal government classifies it as a schedule one drug. 講解

聯邦政府將它列為第一級管制藥品。

That is the strictest classification they have, period, full stop. 語氣意圖

這是他們最嚴格的分類，就這麼定了，沒什麼好說的。

That means the government thinks marijuana is more dangerous

這表示政府認為大麻比

than schedule two drugs like cocaine or meth.

古柯鹼或甲基安非他命這類第二級管制藥品更危險。

It means they think marijuana is on the same plane as heroin. 慣用語

也就是說，他們認為大麻和海洛因處於同一個等級。

About 3,000 people died from heroin overdoses in 2010.

2010年，約有3,000人死於海洛因過量。

You know how many people died directly from overdosing on marijuana? 表達脈絡

你知道有多少人直接死於大麻過量嗎？

Zero.

零。

And I don't mean zero in 2010. 表達脈絡

我說的可不只是2010年為零。

I mean zero in basically recorded human history.

而是說，在人類幾乎全部有記載的歷史中，都是零。

Which isn't to say smoking hay bale's worth of pot 講解

但這並不是說，抽上整整一捆乾草那麼多的大麻

is a good idea.

是個好主意。

It's not.

當然不是。

But notice what I did there.

但請注意我剛才做了什麼。

You hear that all the time.

這種話你總是會聽到。

That's what we in the media business

這就是我們媒體工作者所謂的

call the to be sure paragraph. 文化背景

「話雖如此」段落。

It's the paragraph where we cover our asses. 慣用語

這一段就是用來替自己留後路的。

Almost everyone says that.

幾乎每個人都會這麼說。

Even the people who think legalizing marijuana is a great idea

即使是那些認為大麻合法化很棒的人

don't say it's a good thing.

也不會說大麻本身是好東西。

The argument for legalizing pot isn't that pot is good, 文法

支持大麻合法化的理由，並不是大麻有多好，

but that the war on pot is bad.

而是這場打擊大麻的戰爭很糟糕。

But there is a way in which legal pot

不過，大麻合法化卻有可能

could be a huge public health win. 片語搭配

成為公共衛生領域的一場巨大勝利。

I mean one of the biggest public health wins we've had in decades,

我是說，這可能成為幾十年來最重大的公共衛生成果之一，

saving huge numbers of lives.

挽救無數人的性命。

Let's go back to that drug schedule.

我們再回頭看看那張管制藥品分級表。

There is one drug you won't see on there

有一種藥物你在表上根本看不到，

even though it is a hell of a lot more dangerous than pot or even cocaine. 用詞

儘管它比大麻，甚至比古柯鹼都要危險得多。

That's alcohol.

那就是酒精。

The thing about alcohol is it's really bad for you, 文法

酒精的問題在於，它真的對身體非常有害，

lethally bad for you.

甚至足以致命。

I don't want to be a hypocrite here. 語氣意圖

我可不想在這裡裝虛偽。

I enjoy a drink.

我自己也喜歡喝一杯。

But the evidence on this

但這方面的證據

you cannot run away from it. 慣用語

是你怎麼也無法迴避的。

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there are

美國疾病管制暨預防中心表示，

88,000 deaths each year attributable to alcohol. 片語搭配

每年有8.8萬人因酒精而死亡。

About 25,000 of them are just direct overdoses.

其中約2.5萬人直接死於酒精過量。

The numbers here are really amazing.

這些數字實在驚人。

A Columbia University study found that being drunk

哥倫比亞大學的一項研究發現，喝醉酒

increases the risk of a fatal accident 13-fold. 用詞

會讓致命事故的風險增至原來的13倍。

Pot, by contrast, 表達脈絡

相較之下，大麻

increases the risk by less than 2-fold.

只會讓這種風險增至不到原來的2倍。

Then there's all the other nasty stuff 文法

此外，還有其他種種惡果，

alcohol leads to.

都是酒精帶來的。

It's a big contributor to violence, 片語搭配

酒精是暴力的一大推手，

to crime, to addiction.

也會助長犯罪和成癮。

It breaks up families, 片語動詞

它會讓家庭破裂，

gives people cancer.

讓人罹患癌症。

It gives them liver failure.

還會導致肝衰竭。

People forget this, but Prohibition, 文化背景

人們忘了這一點，但當年的禁酒令

we laugh at it now,

現在看來很可笑，

but it was happening for a reason.

可它的出現是有原因的。

People drank more then

當時人們喝得更多，

and it was a scourge. 用詞

酒精成了一大社會禍害。

So, this is the question with legal pot.

所以，大麻合法化的關鍵問題就在這裡。

Would people use it as a replacement 用詞

人們會用它來取代酒精，

or a complement to alcohol?

還是把它當成酒精的補充？

If it's a replacement,

如果是取代，

it's a huge deal.

那可就意義重大了。

Marijuana is a lot safer to use than alcohol.

使用大麻比喝酒安全得多。

People don't die from it.

人們不會因為大麻而死。

They rarely kill others while on it. 用詞

他們吸食大麻後也很少殺害他人。

More marijuana and less alcohol 表達脈絡

多用大麻、少喝酒，

means fewer deaths from intoxication,

就代表因中毒而死的人更少，

fewer drunk driving fatalities,

死於酒駕的人更少，

less crime, less violence.

犯罪和暴力也更少。

But if marijuana complements alcohol rather than replacing it,

但如果大麻不是取代酒精，而是成了酒精的補充，

then it's a problem.

那就麻煩了。

If it makes people, for whatever reason, 文法

如果不管出於什麼原因，它讓人們

drink more,

喝得更多，

then legalizing pot

那麼大麻合法化

might actually make our alcohol problem worse.

反而可能讓我們的酒精問題更加嚴重。

Now, I'm going to say something that kind of sucks. 用詞

接下來我要說的話有點掃興。

We actually don't know the answer here.

其實，我們還不知道答案。

There's encouraging early evidence.

目前已經有一些令人鼓舞的初步證據。

In a survey of Canadian medical marijuana users,

一項針對加拿大醫療用大麻使用者的調查顯示，

41% said they replaced alcohol with marijuana. 片語搭配

41%的人表示，他們用大麻取代了酒精。

Another survey of California medical marijuana users

另一項針對加州醫療用大麻使用者的調查

found they drank less than the national average.

發現，他們的飲酒量低於全國平均。

But those are medical marijuana users. 表達脈絡

但這些人都是醫療用大麻使用者。

They might be different than the general population.

他們可能和一般民眾不一樣。

People using marijuana for fun 文法

為了消遣而使用大麻的人

might have a very different relationship to alcohol

與酒精的關係可能和

than people using marijuana because they're sick.

因為生病而使用大麻的人截然不同。

But this isn't just something we can study. 表達脈絡

但這不只是一個可供研究的問題。

It's something that we can affect,

這還是一件我們能夠影響、

that we can change.

能夠改變的事。

Since we know a lot of people want to use some kind of mind-altering substance, 用詞

既然我們知道很多人都想使用某種能改變精神狀態的物質，

we could arrange public policy to push them towards the safer one. 片語搭配

我們就可以制定公共政策，引導他們選擇更安全的那一種。

But right now,

但目前，

we can't because the federal government, against all the evidence,

我們做不到，因為聯邦政府無視所有證據，

thinks marijuana is an incredibly, insanely dangerous substance

認定大麻是一種危險到難以置信、危險到近乎瘋狂的物質，

with absolutely no redeeming value under any circumstance. 語氣意圖

無論在什麼情況下，都絕對沒有任何可取之處。

What are they smoking? 慣用語

他們到底抽了什麼？