Alcohol more dangerous than heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs...new study..

[Stuart G]

AP/Yahoo.news...
By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng, Ap Medical Writer – 1 hr 40 mins ago

Published in Lancet, British Medical Journal.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101101/ap_on_he_me/eu_med_dangerous_alcohol

LONDON – 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.

Heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine, or crystal meth, were the most lethal to individuals. When considering their wider social effects, alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine were the deadliest. But overall, alcohol outranked all other substances, followed by heroin and crack cocaine. Marijuana, ecstasy and LSD scored far lower.

The study was paid for by Britain's Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and was published online Monday in the medical journal, Lancet.

[Skink]

1. If there was 24/7 advertisments for the other stuff like there is with Alcohol..

and it was available in supermarkets it would be just as bad.

[Go2Peace]

2. Heavy drinkers have lower mortality rates than abstainers

http://singularityhub.com/2010/09/02/heavy-drinkers-outlive-non-drinkers-longevity-never-tasted-so-good/


Of course, there are other reasons that too much alcohol can be bad for you or for society.

After being around and reading stuff like this for many years, the most healthy lifestyle is generally a moderate one.

Puritanical/irrational inhibition and fears have a far greater detrimental health effect than most any drug or alcohol if you really think about it.