Earlier quoted context omitted.
People talk about obesity all the time. The problem is nobody knows what to do about it.
I think we know what to do but nobody has the courage to do something.
Oh? What should we do?
Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol
21–30 of 167 posts
Re: Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol
#22Alcohol is definitely one of the most harmful drugs out there. In terms of addictiveness, physical side effects (short and long term), and the kind of behavior that people are likely to engage in while under the influence, the only things worse are probably IV painkillers and smoked meth/crack. As a society we need to get our heads out of our asses and challenge our notions of what kind of drug use is and isn't accep…
There is a case to do policy that relates to dealing with addiction and public health, but I garner immediate rejection at the idea that the State should devise policy with the goals of affecting what people should or should not do with themselves. The 'war on crime' is a modern example of what happens to both consumers and providers when the State gets between them. Edit: I meant 'War on drugs'.
I agree completely, but in reality people will just think "lol he wants to make cocaine legal, what a whack job." The war on drugs is entirely contrary to the concept of personal liberty.
In fact if you read up on the history of the war on drugs, usually it wasn't even motivated by public health. Alcohol was first made illegal largely because of anti-catholic and anti-Irish sentiments (also, interestingly, as part of the women's movement!). Marijuana was made illegal because it was associated with Mexicans. Psychedelics were cracked down on because of the hippies. Crack possession carried harsher penalties than cocaine because it was used by poor black people.
Re: Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, the impact is greater because the availability is much wider. Social acceptance can make most any evil the norn. Just look at obesity/diabetes. Now there's a killer no one REALLY wants to talk about.
People talk about obesity all the time. The problem is nobody knows what to do about it.
Eat less and be more active.
Re: Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol
#24Alcohol is definitely one of the most harmful drugs out there. In terms of addictiveness, physical side effects (short and long term), and the kind of behavior that people are likely to engage in while under the influence, the only things worse are probably IV painkillers and smoked meth/crack. As a society we need to get our heads out of our asses and challenge our notions of what kind of drug use is and isn't accep…
IDK but more than one addict has told me their habit was a symptom of a deeper (emotional?) ill. So we could ban alcohol but then what? Would that solve a problem or will something else just take its place?
It definitely is, but that doesn't mean that you can't be more likely to develop an addiction as a response to that deeper ill.
For example, suppose persons A and B are both very stressed due to work and are worried about their marriages falling apart. Individually each is definitely more likely to become an alcoholic than if they didn't have those problems. However, if person B has addictive genetics, that may mean a 40% chance of developing alcoholism (obviously this is more complicated than a simple probability) vs. person A's 5% chance.
I'm not advocating banning alcohol at all, I would actually be very opposed to that. I just think it shouldn't be the default drug of choice considering how harmful it is. Now, I have no idea how to change that, but ACCURATE and UNDERSTANDING (i.e. non-adversarial) drug education would be a good place to start.
Basically I see drug education now as analogous to abstinence-only sex education. Instead of spreading scientific information about dangers, side effects, etc. it just focuses on fear-mongering and misinformation. We currently view a "drug-user" (someone who uses drugs, not necessarily an addict) the way people saw "sluts" not so long ago.
Re: Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol
#25Of course alcohol increases the risk of some cancers - it's a known carcinogen. On top of that it can be highly addictive.
On the other hand, though, it's something a lot of people enjoy as as social lubricant, and there is also the evidence that drinking in moderation lowers the risk of heart disease.
So like many things in life the question is whether the positive outweighs the negative - that of course depends largely on your own risk factors for cancer, heart disease, and, yes... alcoholism.
Re: Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
My favourite is always Professor David Nutt, fired from his position advising the Home Office for saying ecstasy and LSD were less dangerous than alcohol. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/oct/30/drugs-advis... EDIT: David Nutt on how ecstasy isn't as dangerous as "Equasy" http://www.encod.org/info/EQUASY-A-HARMFUL-ADDICTION.html
Well, MDMA did in fact start as a therapeutic drug. It's roots are not a street / designer drug.
And while most of that research is now banned, Dr Robin Carhart-Harris (who studied under David Nutt) is one of the few researchers still allowed to experiment with psychedelics.
I'd highly recommend reading / watching some of his work.
Re: Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol
#27Alcohol is definitely one of the most harmful drugs out there. In terms of addictiveness, physical side effects (short and long term), and the kind of behavior that people are likely to engage in while under the influence, the only things worse are probably IV painkillers and smoked meth/crack. As a society we need to get our heads out of our asses and challenge our notions of what kind of drug use is and isn't accep…
IDK but more than one addict has told me their habit was a symptom of a deeper (emotional?) ill. So we could ban alcohol but then what? Would that solve a problem or will something else just take its place?
Most addictions, or at least vice dependencies, are probably symptoms of deeper emotional issues. People wouldn't try to knock themselves out or change how they perceived the world if they were happy with how it was at the moment.
Sure, drugs like alcohol and heroin can introduce severe physical dependencies with consistent use, but I don't think many people start slamming whisky every night on a whim.
So okay, fair enough, regulating alcohol more strictly won't solve the malaise of our zeitgeist, but it might steer people towards other vices that are less likely to seriously hurt them or others in the short or long term.
Like...well, that's probably a pretty short list right now, but if we were more open-minded as a society about more victimless vices, that might change.
Re: Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol
#28Of course alcohol increases the risk of some cancers - it's a known carcinogen. On top of that it can be highly addictive. On the other hand, though, it's something a lot of people enjoy as as social lubricant, and there is also the evidence that drinking in moderation lowers the risk of heart disease. So like many things in life the question is whether the positive outweighs the negative - that of course depends lar…
The best evidence we have suggests that there is no safe amount of alcohol from the standpoint of heart disease[1]. The data supporting the safety (or even benefit) of a small amount of alcohol came from observational studies, which are often heavily confounded. This study used Mendelian randomization (MR) to get around that limitation. MR can be confounded by pleiotropy, but this study (which suggests harm from alcohol intake) is still higher quality evidence than the observational studies done previously.
Re: Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol
#29Slightly sarcastic, but on point: Doctors say a glass of red wine per day is good for your blood. But now, they also say it'll increase chances of getting cancer. So I guess I need to choose between these two. Too much of anything is a poison.
Re: Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol
#30Slightly sarcastic, but on point: Doctors say a glass of red wine per day is good for your blood. But now, they also say it'll increase chances of getting cancer. So I guess I need to choose between these two. Too much of anything is a poison.
See my other post here [1], but alcohol probably isn't good for your cardiovascular system.