Alcohol 'more harmful than heroin' says Prof David Nutt

what you guys think about those facts?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660210

 

I took a course on "Drugs and Society"...most of the literature would agree. Alcohol is certainly dangerous. Heroin is mostly dangerous because it is so expensive and so addictive. Addicts can actually function quite well in society, other than usually having to turn to crime to fuel their heroin addiction.
Certainly not saying that people SHOULD be hooked on Heroin, but we handle the problem in the worst way...well, unless you are a stock holder in The Prison corporation of America or Wakenhut.

 

Did that study take into account the vast amount of petty crime some heroin addicts generate in their pursuit of the money needed to feed their addiction? That has quite a level of financial damage and inconvenience and contributes to feelings of a lawless society.

 

Bogus study that only equates as true because alcohol is legal and far more widely used than all other drugs combined.

Have a glass of wine with dinner and see if it hurts anyone, and then have a drop of acid and see the results.

The study explains the professor's dismissal.

 

Drink a pint of vodka and see how you get on. Alcohol is a hugely damaging drug when used in excess and will kill you as surely as heroin will.

 

What is a safe level of heroin ingestion?

The point is, there is none. A glass of wine with dinner will not kill or harm you.

 

Of course there's a safe level of heroin/diamorphine. It's used daily as a powerful analgesic.

 

I think that depends on whether you are an addict or not. A heroin addict who is able to obtain inexpensive, medical-grade heroin is generally able to function. The alcoholic may be far less able to function when drunk and probably cannot stop with just one glass but will drink until physically unable to consume any more.

 

And the users are taking a safe hit of tar, what, just because it goes well with brie and french bread?

I understand LSD best compliments red meat, but also goes well with chicken and M&Ms.

 

yes , it did

 

That's exactly right. However, you can drink alcohol in moderation. In fact, many studies prove that some alcohol intake (red wine) each day actually helps improve health. What dosage of heroin helps lower blood pressure and can/should be taken in moderation?

This study doesn't make sense. It looks like it compares heavy drinkers to recreational drug users.

 

It is flawed, certainly. In the UK heroin addicts who are prescribed a daily dose of diamorphine are given a safe dose which they are obliged to drink in front of the dispensing pharmacist. I have no idea what the dosage is.

 

Well, in the US, heroin is bought on street corners and..well.. who knows what people are shooting into their veins or digesting. I'd rather go buy some red wine at the liquor store than purchase heroin on the street corner in Kansas City, MO. I suppose though, that the study would make more sense to other countries which dispense those drugs through 'legal' means.

 

I forget what it is...but I do remember that the LD/ED (lethal dose vs. effective dose) ratio was around 2.5.
In other words, it would take 2.5 times as much to overdose as it would to get the desired effects.
A lot of the overdoses come from people partaking in an unregulated industry. The purity of heroin on the market fluctuates from like 10% to 90%...or something like that. So, when someone is used to using very weak mixtures to get high, then they get very strong heroin, they are likely to overdose.

 

alcohol, by the way, has a ratio of about 6-7/1. So, if you are intoxicated on 3 drinks, then 18 may kill you.
Marijuana, best estimates is somewhere around 20000/1. So, basically if one were to smoke a joint the size of a telephone pole...theoretically, they could overdose.

 

+1, + marijuana´s smoking is a part of black sub-culture, you can t lock them for this

 

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day...

The Drunkest Cities in America
March 15, 2011 - Drunk Town, U.S.A : The United States has a drinking problem.

 

Lock up whoever gave it to the kid...

3-year-old alcoholic treated by hospital
3/15/2011 - Child had been given alcohol regularly, officials say

 

Marijuana is more dangerous to the user than anabolic steroids?

Mushrooms are less dangerous to the user than marijuana?

I'm not sure I buy either of those.

 

Would imagine a family history of drug or alcohol abuse sets the genetic stage...

Brains may be wired for addiction
2 February 2012 - Abnormalities in the brain may make some people more likely to become drug addicts, according to scientists at the University of Cambridge.

 

in terms of long term physical health effects, mushrooms are virtually harmless. While there can be psychological problems that arise from their use (although exceedingly rare and many believe it only happens to people with latent psychological problems already) the worse long term physical problem I can imagine is stomach ulcers, and only if your a long term and regular user.

Psychedelic can cause adverse reactions in behavior when on them (obviously), but most are relatively benign when it comes to long term physical health.

Mushrooms are gross. Acid is better.

 

I would pretty much agree with the study simply due to the widespread ABuse of "demon alch". However, if you really want to get on the fast track to doing some heavy duty destruction to yourself and those around you, meth and crack will get the job done in a hurry.

 

My wife just got me a new set of nosing crystals and I'm enjoying myself a wee dram of Ardbeg Uigeadal.

I'll let you guys know if I end up hurting anyone.

 

So the moral of this thread is drink a pint of heroin instead? It sounds to me as if we are comparing unsafe amounts of alcohol consumption to safe levels of heroin.

People use drugs to get high. Not everyone drinks to get drunk. I'm drinking right now, but I'll have one or two drinks tonight. I don't drink more than that. What's the heroin equivalent to drinking one glass of wine before bed? There is none. I understand that many of you are still in the binge drinking stage of childhood. However I assure you there is more to alcohol than that.

 

There is no indication of the indicators of "harmful". Is the addiction factor taken into account?

I doubt is since nicotine is the single most addictive substance in the world. Does the study account for the fact that some many people can get addicted to crystal meth with one or two exposures?

Does the harm factor include incidents of violence as a result of use? Does it include crime committed in support of the habit. Doubtfully, if marijuana is rated as high as it is...no one ever stared a fight because they has too much to toke.

There is reason, I suspect, the good doctor got his ass fired. I suspect it was because he's an incompetent fool.