Study: Alcohol more lethal than heroin, cocaine

[bfdd]

Sweet I like booze, so can we legalize all the other stuff now?

 

[CRXican]

well crap, point me to the nearest heroin store

 

[911paramedic]

Mexico would disagree.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

cupholders are for my beer

 

[sandorski]

Yes, I'd say it makes them inherently less trustworthy. That's the kind of person that'll stab you in the back when things get rough.

I disagree. Alcohol or other Drugs don't Reveal Personality, they exaggerate certain Personal Traits. Everyone is an asshole, to varying extents, but most people most of the time do not act on those traits.

 

[darkswordsman17]

This study is retarded. It is completely subjective based on the fact that alcohol is widely used, when in reality, if you sat an alcoholic and a heroin addict next to each other, the heroin addict would obviously be much more of a wreck than the alcoholic.

I think that's kinda the point. Just because it is legal and widely socially acceptable does not mean it isn't every bit as damaging as the illegal drugs.

This study is just highlighting the hypocrisy concerning drugs.

Sure, many rational people already know and understand what this study showed, but average people really don't. There's a lot of people that don't consider alcohol a drug at all or think that binge drinking is really bad for you. Hell, there was a thread here about binge drinking and most people had the attitude that "that's no big deal, I do that regularly" and act like its not every bit as bad as (if not worse than) doing a line of coke every so often (or say do psychedelic drugs or smoking a joint a few times a week).

 

[Eli]

Who cares? Alcohol, unlike heroin and cocaine is LEGAL.

I think that's kinda the point.

At the very least, we should demand equality when it comes to drug laws. This is saying there is inequality.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I think that's kinda the point. Just because it is legal and widely socially acceptable does not mean it isn't every bit as damaging as the illegal drugs.

Alcohol only does damage because there's such a large volume. Something like 60% of the adult population drinks alcohol, even if only 5% of them did ANY harm at all, that's still 3% of the adult population.

Those other illicit drugs have MUCH lower overall usage, and, also much higher "per capita" danger.

While there are "casual" users of coke, I'd venture to bet the majority of people who use hard drugs are addicts. Only a very small portion of people who drink alcohol are alcoholics.

 

[classy]

I don't even have to read that article, because I know that study is full of crap and I don't drink, even socially.

 

[Farang]

While there are "casual" users of coke, I'd venture to bet the majority of people who use hard drugs are addicts. Only a very small portion of people who drink alcohol are alcoholics.

That's a good point, I imagine the ratio of addicts to responsible users changes the more difficult the substance is to get. For example a casual coke user is probably put off by the cost or availability.

I mean would you pay $20 for a can of Pabst that someone had mixed with water? No, but an alcoholic would.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Alcohol only does damage because there's such a large volume. Something like 60% of the adult population drinks alcohol, even if only 5% of them did ANY harm at all, that's still 3% of the adult population.

Those other illicit drugs have MUCH lower overall usage, and, also much higher "per capita" danger.

While there are "casual" users of coke, I'd venture to bet the majority of people who use hard drugs are addicts. Only a very small portion of people who drink alcohol are alcoholics.

You're doing pretty much exactly what I'm saying, you're downplaying alcohol by saying, well its just because its so widespread. That is the point. Just because alcohol isn't as dangerous as heroin and meth individually doesn't mean its not doing more damage to society, and yes the main reason for that is because it is so widespread.

Also, you don't have to be an alcoholic for you to be damaging yourself or others with it. That is another big fallacy that some people use, "I'm not an alcoholic so its not a big deal if I drink myself stupid a night or two a week", which is just stupid. There are a lot of people that go to college and have years of binge drinking. Some stop, some don't. Both have damaged themselves. People like to act like its not a big deal (actually there's a lot that act like its a good thing). That is the point, is to understand that it is a bigger deal than people accept. Ritualistic binge drinking doing just as much damage to your body as going on coke (or other drug) benders every so often, but people don't want to admit that. Its even become socially accepted to brag about your excessive drinking, whereas you'd get frowned on if you said, yeah, so I did a line of coke, or dropped acid, or ate some shrooms.

There are actually a lot of people that are casual or even regular users of cocaine that are not addicts. Yes, it is more addictive, and other drugs are even worse, but you hear the government cracking down on drugs, smoking, food even, but not alcohol (drunk driving, sure, but not alcohol consumption). Oh, I guess they did make them start adding "please drink responsibly" to their ads, but that's about as effective as those shitty anti-pot commercials.

I'm curious if they lumped crack in with cocaine in the study.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

You know what is best? Not putting crap into your body. If everything were legal, it does not mean that it would be good for you. if some things that are bad are legal, it doesn't make them good. If everything were banned, you'd actually be best off.

 

[BurnItDwn]

You're doing pretty much exactly what I'm saying, you're downplaying alcohol by saying, well its just because its so widespread. That is the point. Just because alcohol isn't as dangerous as heroin and meth individually doesn't mean its not doing more damage to society, and yes the main reason for that is because it is so widespread.

Also, you don't have to be an alcoholic for you to be damaging yourself or others with it. That is another big fallacy that some people use, "I'm not an alcoholic so its not a big deal if I drink myself stupid a night or two a week", which is just stupid. There are a lot of people that go to college and have years of binge drinking. Some stop, some don't. Both have damaged themselves. People like to act like its not a big deal (actually there's a lot that act like its a good thing). That is the point, is to understand that it is a bigger deal than people accept. Ritualistic binge drinking doing just as much damage to your body as going on coke (or other drug) benders every so often, but people don't want to admit that. Its even become socially accepted to brag about your excessive drinking, whereas you'd get frowned on if you said, yeah, so I did a line of coke, or dropped acid, or ate some shrooms.

There are actually a lot of people that are casual or even regular users of cocaine that are not addicts. Yes, it is more addictive, and other drugs are even worse, but you hear the government cracking down on drugs, smoking, food even, but not alcohol (drunk driving, sure, but not alcohol consumption). Oh, I guess they did make them start adding "please drink responsibly" to their ads, but that's about as effective as those shitty anti-pot commercials.

I'm curious if they lumped crack in with cocaine in the study.

Ok, I agree, abuse or excess consumption is pretty much always bad, addict or not.
With alcohol though, there are "safe" amounts that do no measurable damage. 1 or 2 drinks with dinner a few days of the week isn't going to hurt.

Also, lots of people drink things that contain alcohol because they taste good. You don't hear about people snorting cocaine because it smells good....