Harmful to Society

[maxx]

Came across this study from the UK. It's aim is to compare alcohol to illicit drugs in terms of actual damage to both users and others. However, I noticed tobacco was included as well. The study confirms what I always felt...that tobacco is disproportionally singled out for sin tax when alcohol is clearly the greater danger by far (almost triple). Here is the US, distilled spirits are probably the highest taxed product on the market with cigarettes second...but beer and wine are taxed at a much lower rate than spirits and none of them are taxed proportionally when compared with the study.

So why post this? Well, it is useful when arguing with dunderheads that still cling to the idea it is OK to sin tax tobacco to offset the "cost to society". If they are really concerned with that cost to society, they are barking up the wrong tree.

BBC - Mark Easton's UK: Drugs debate hots up

 

[BCB]

Thanks! Will send copy to my mother, an adamant anti-smoker who drinks alcohol every single day. Been listening to her crap for 40 years...

 

[Vocalek]

Here is the full text of the original article from the Lancet. You need to register to read the full text, but there is no cost.

Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse : The Lancet

 

[kristin]

Thanks! Will send copy to my mother, an adamant anti-smoker who drinks alcohol every single day. Been listening to her crap for 40 years...

She should also note that excessive alcohol consumption has been linked to oral and pharyngea cancer, too. (Same as smoking.)

Alcohol fuels rising rates of oral cancer in middle age | Mail Online

 

[Stubby]

I'm calling for a repeal of the repeal on alcohol prohibition

 

[maxx]

For the last 20 years or so, it has been smokers blamed for everything from being an eyesore, to global warming. Now if New York City is any example, the overweight people are next on the hit list for societal blame. But those alcohol folks just keep staying off the activist radar....don't they? You can persecute smokers and fat people...but don't touch the drunk at the football stadium....man, that would be just plain un-american....LOL

Go Steelers!

 

[PlanetScribbles]

I was at one time sympathetic to David Nutt's line of thinking on the recreational drugs issue. But to say that alcohol is more harmful than class A opiates is absolute folly. It borders on the irresponsible, and makes me wonder whether Mr Nutt is really, truly qualified to speak in an official capacity. I think his thinking is a menace to society.

 

[BCB]

I respectfully disagree. Having done no studies, I just "felt" that the two most dangerous drugs were alcohol and cigarettes. This is based upon what I've observed. I would have guessed they were equally bad, so am surprised that alcohol is the big winner. Otherwise, I guess MY thinking is a menace to society, too. Like Maxx says, alcohol always seems to fly under the activist radar, but I can see its effects.

 

[PlanetScribbles]

It's about perspective. Of course alcohol abuse is bad, that is a gimme. But a glass of red wine doesn't leave you needing to rob a 7/11 if you can't afford your next fix. No more than 20 cigs will give you lung cancer.
One rock on the other hand, it's the end of the game. A couple of hits, and that is all it takes.
Responsible alcohol use is not even in the same hemisphere as class A.
Professor Nutt is the same guy who brought us the infamous 'Horse Riding is Worse Than Ecstasy' study.

Ecstasy 'No Worse Than Horse Riding', Says Drug Adviser: Professor David Nutt Pens Journal Article | UK News | Sky News

This guy making himself be seen as the David Icke of the scientific world. A complete loon who chooses not to see the big picture before shouting his mouth off.

 

[BCB]

I've never heard of Professor Nutt or his studies. Maybe he is a loon. I don't know. But I grew up when everyone was using every drug they could get in their hands. The misinformation put out by the government is not limited to cigarettes. Responsible alcohol use is in the same hemisphere as responsible Class A use. Most people believe there is no such thing. Most people believe that one rock is the "end of the game." My observations have shown me otherwise, just as people who vape observe better health regardless of what the government says. I don't want to argue with you. I believe that all "drugs" should be legalized. I believe that alcohol and cigarettes are the two most dangerous drugs around. These beliefs are based on a long lifetime of observation of the effects of these and other drugs. I am reminded of the do-gooders who wanted to fund a "just say No" campaign at a middle school in California by having a "wine-tasting." Cracked me up. I find this study to be very interesting. This is probably because it backs up my own beliefs. If the study didn't agree with me I probably would just dismiss it. Isn't that what we all do?

 

[maxx]

The point I took away from this story (which was picked up by every major US news outlet BTW) is the vast chasm between alcohol and tobacco. The other drug rankings don't really concern me for the purposes I brought this story here. I don't know this fellow's reputation in the field of study, but I don't think all the US news services would have run with the story if he was a total and complete whackjob. In short....there must be something there.

Now I smoke, I vape, I drink....I'm a walking, talking vice. So it's not like I am trying to say that something someone else does is worse than what I do, but I think it is high time that someone (anyone) finally point out that alcohol is a worse vice than nicotine. And I think the crown of shame, that society enjoys placing, should be moved from the heads of smokers to someone else for awhile. Ideally....nobody should wear the crown, but people simply must have a whipping boy it seems.