"What governments decide is illegal is not always based on science."The libertarian Jacob Sullum quoting from a new study in The Lancet that "rates the harmfulness of 20 psychoactive drugs according to 16 criteria and finds that alcohol comes out on top."
Too bad this won't help the Proposition 19 vote in California, which seems to be heading for a defeat.
As usual, defenders of drinking are outraged by the comparison between alcohol and illegal drugs. Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, tells The Sun, "The vast majority of people know it's just not rational to say that enjoying a social beer with friends in the pub or glass of wine over dinner has the moral or societal equivalence of injecting heroin or smoking a crack pipe." Such reactions are based on the observation that the vast majority of drinkers are not alcoholics. Despite alcohol's very real dangers, they generally manage to consume it in a way that not only does not harm them or others but on balance enhances their lives. Here is the point that defensive drinkers like Simmonds miss: If this is possible with alcohol, it is possible with any intoxicant that large numbers of people have shown an interest in consuming.alc
No comments:
Post a Comment