Health Alcohol more dangerous than heroin, cocaine

[Prometheus]

Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study.

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

Researchers analyzed how addictive a drug is and how it harms the human body, in addition to other criteria like environmental damage caused by the drug, its role in breaking up families and its economic costs, such as health care, social services, and prison.

Alcohol more dangerous than heroin, cocaine, study finds

www.nbcnews.com

 

[seph ir oth]

I always wondered how alcohol is legal but pot is not in our modern times. Either pot should be legalized or alcohol should be illegal, or even both should occur.

 

[FireCat]

Everybody knows that alcohol are dangerous, if you drink to much, and It's very dangerous to use alcohol and drugs at the same time.
But say alcohol are more dangerous then crack, heroin? and the other crap drugs? What a BULLSHIT!
Seriously, what's this guy been smoking?

 

[Romek]

> But say alcohol are more dangerous then crack, heroin? and the other crap drugs? What a BULLSHIT!
I read an article on the same topic on Telegraph. These rankings also factor in the damage to society the drug does. Alcohol does considerably more damage to society than heroin.

...Apparently. Then again, that might be because of how easy it is to obtain.

 

[phyrex1an]

But say alcohol are more dangerous then crack, heroin? and the other crap drugs? What a BULLSHIT!
Seriously, what's this guy been smoking?

You should probably read the article again. At no point does it say that crack and heroin are less dangerous that alcohol. What it does say is that alcohol has a higher social impact and that other drugs, like lsd and ecstasy, are less dangerous.

 

[FireCat]

At no point does it say that crack and heroin are less dangerous that alcohol

No? Well, they should not say "Alcohol is more dangerous" Isn't that so?

Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine

...Apparently. Then again, that might be because of how easy it is to obtain.

Yeah. maybe so

 

[sqrage]

Everybody knows that alcohol are dangerous, if you drink to much, and It's very dangerous to use alcohol and drugs at the same time.
But say alcohol are more dangerous then crack, heroin? and the other crap drugs? What a BULLSHIT!
Seriously, what's this guy been smoking?

I don't get why you go into every post pertaining to drugs and try to against scientific arguments with, "omg no, that's not the way I see it, so it can't be!".

You quoted the article's title...what good does that do for your argument other than verify that you haven't read beyond the headline?

 

[phyrex1an]

No? Well, they should not say "Alcohol is more dangerous" Isn't that so?

I probably should have used the word "lethal" or "dangerous to the individual". The article is actually pretty specific that it means "dangerous to the society as a whole", if you read more than the first two lines.

Edit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660210 contains the weight used to merge the two different rankings together. It doesn't delve any deeper on why those particular weights are in any way significant though.
Edit2: Paper: http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61462-6/fulltext I wouldn't really call this a study though, it's a panel of experts trying to dumb down the science so much that decision makers can understand it. I guess it makes good headlines but doesn't really contribute anything new.

 

[FireCat]

I probably should have used the word "lethal" or "dangerous to the individual". The article is actually pretty specific that it means "dangerous to the society as a whole", if you read more than the first two lines.

I read the whole article, well kinda fast. but it wasent nothing new news on it Really.
And the article are a bit misleading. Well, however, like romek said It's easier to obtain, than drugs and maybe is more dangerous for whole society.
but I highly doubt it is. Its equally. Well, and this study wasn't about the whole world right?

Anyway, a summary: Alcohol are bad if you abuse it and drugs screw your life. That's It

 

[Samael88]

and to society as a whole.

This is where it fails according to me.
Heroin and Cocaine is more difficult to obtain, if it was legal to use them I can without a doubt say that they will do more harm to society than alcohol. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand that:thdown:

 

[perkeyone]

probably because coke and heroin and not particularly "social" drugs, especially compared to alcohol.
EDIT: how do you measure social damage anyways?

 

[Zakyath]

>EDIT: how do you measure social damage anyways?

"Researchers analyzed how addictive a drug is and how it harms the human body, in addition to other criteria like environmental damage caused by the drug, its role in breaking up families and its economic costs, such as health care, social services, and prison."

 

[Ninja_sheep]

Okay guys, hear me out here!

Cus there's this one thing that is even more dangerous then alcohol. It kills thousands of people every day.
It's high calory foods! It raises the cholesterol of so many people making them much closer to getting heart attacks.

No more coke! No more candy!



See the similarities? (I confess to exagerating)

 

[Slapshot136]

Anyway, a summary: Alcohol are bad if you abuse it and drugs screw your life. That's It

that's half of it, and personally that's the half that I don't care about (for reasons that you said) - what I do care about is if a drunk driver hits me and then I get hurt because of it, or I develop cancer because of smoke from smokers who refuse to smoke off-campus

so what is the danger to me (or others) if a person uses Heroin or Cocaine, and does it compare to the impact of alcoholics/smokers?

@ Ninja sheep - same thing, they don't adversely affect me, (or nowhere near as much as alcoholics/smokers do), so I don't really care so much

 

[DDRtists]

Anyway, a summary: Alcohol are bad if you abuse it and drugs screw your life. That's It

SOME drugs screw you life, Drugs like heroin, meth, PCP, and those types screw you up. Recreational use of drugs like MDMA (Ecstasy), LSD (Acid), and Shrooms are not as bad for you as you think, they only really get harmful if you overdose or misuse them.

I go to raves quite often and have seen and experienced said drugs myself. The ONLY people you ever see getting hurt at these events are the ones that drop way too many rolls of ecstasy or another drug and overdose, or drop pills and not keep hydrated. All ecstasy does is make your serotonin releasers in your brain release serotonin at a faster rate than normal, which is why your senses and self confidence and love are much higher, as your emotions are raised. However, if you take too much of it at one time, you have no more serotonin and therefore you have problems, it causes brain damage and what not. If you take ecstasy responsibly, the only downsides to it is that you constantly clinch your jaw the whole time, so you HAVE to chew on something like gum, or some people use pacifiers (not my thing...), or you chew your tongue up. The second being that after you're coming down from your trip, you get REALLY depressed, sometimes to the point where you start crying and have no idea why. This is due to your serotonin levels being lower than they're supposed to, and your emotions are skewed.

Not saying you're wrong or anything, Firecat, but you really should do a bit more research before making these "I know it's true" claims. It seems like all the "knowledge" of drugs that you know are all stuff the government throws out. While some of the stuff the government says is true, a LOT of it is scare tactics to make people scared of them. Look at ACTUAL research on the drug, and not what some higher-up tells you.

Note: I don't condone or recommend drug use. While I have dabbled in certain things, I research them a lot. Discussions about drugs interest me, it's not that I want to do them or anything, I just like knowing things like this. I'm just weird I guess. Lol

Heres some sites to check out for some actual FACTS about the drugs and not just what some government tells you.

http://dancesafe.org

 

[perkeyone]

i dont really care how safe or unsafe a drug is.
what concerns me is how doing drugs changes people.

people who use drugs are often really annoying to me.
i went to alternative school for doing a prank in highschool and most of the other kids there were in for drug related stuff.
all they talked about all fucking day was how one time they did x number of such and such pills and smoked x amount of pot and drank x number of beers how high and drunk they were and how awesome it was. i went to a party and we were listening to one of my favorite albums and a guy across from me said to me how great it would be if he was rolling right now while listening to it, as if to say the things are so much better when drugged out of your mind.

my point is, i dont like drugs not because they can be dangerous, but because people who use them get to the point where the only way they can enjoy themselves is by getting high, and i dont want to ever get to that point where all colors and sensations seems dull and bland unless i am intoxicated.

 

[DDRtists]

@perkeyone: While I agree that sucks, never have I felt that way. Sure, some people do, but those ones are going to do it whether it's legal or illegal anyways. I said recreational use, not constant use. Just like every other thing in this world, there will be those dumbasses who abuse it, yes. But with that theory in your head, we should take away cars because there are the few that speed and get in wrecks and kill people. You can't punish the general public for the stupidity of a very small percent.

 

[perkeyone]

i totally agree about not punishing everyone for a few mess ups but i guess i just havent really met many of the tolerable ones =/

the halloween party i went to, i greeted a guy at the door and shook his hand, introduced myself. the other people there were playing a game called apples to apples. i took it upon myself to explain to him briefly how it was played and his reply was something along the lines of "oh yeah, my friend tried to explain the to me earlier but i was high" this was the first time i had met this person and already... within 5 mins of talking to him... he decided to would be appropriate to share that he does drugs.

he, along with a few other guys ended up talking about drugs for most of the night night. the game of apples to apples hadnt even finished and out of nowhere they asked if they were the only ones there who smoke pot... you could feel the awkwardness in the air pressing down on everyone. they proceeded to go into a long discussion about all the benefits of smoking pot and about how it is not that bad for you. i really didnt give 2 shits about any of the points he made my only problem was that he, being the drug user that he is, took it upon himself to change the topic of group conversation to drugs...

 

[DDRtists]

Yeah, I don't like people that do that either...

 

[FireCat]

what I do care about is if a drunk driver hits me and then I get hurt because of it, or I develop cancer because of smoke from smokers who refuse to smoke off-campus

Thats about you. lol But If your child might start using drugs, "alcohol abuse". Well, maybe your friends Or a family member?
I mean if you doesn't really care so much. hmm So would you do something about it or not?

Note: I don't condone or recommend drug use. While I have dabbled in certain things, I research them a lot. Discussions about drugs interest me, it's not that I want to do them or anything, I just like knowing things like this. I'm just weird I guess. Lol

LOL DDRtists Well, you can be a bit stubborn in your ways
But from what I am reading on your posts, Well, I can't fully accept it.
but some was kind of interesting to read. lol

"Just if!"
If all of your research wasn't right at all, well, say after a couple of years
What would you say?