I was gonna do a research piece on how alcohol and tobacco kill more people in the world today than all other drugs combined, and how they are still legal, and why they are still legal – because governments make a killing of the financial kind from taxing them, and how the long term costs from lost productivity and caring for the diseased caused by these two drugs, are more than the tax revenue, and how that despite the windfall from the taxes on these two drugs health-care is still a constant pain no matter where you are …
And what was the first thing that came to mind as I thought up all those wonderful points and arguments to make? The bottle of vodka in the kitchen pantry.
Which brings up the obvious hypocrisy – they kill so many people and yet they are so easily available, while all other drugs are demonised and countless billions are spent on the war on drugs. And the war will never end because there will always be people who like the feeling of mind-altering substances, because there will always be willing drug mules and because the legal prohibition on these drugs make them too damn profitable for criminal organisations to stop making them. Like the drugs that they are manufacturing, the profits from dealing and trafficking are addictive.
And we’ve come full-circle: the taxes on alcohol and tobacco are also too addictive for governments to give up.
If we want to be sensible about it, we can start by legalising certain recreational drugs, have more drug-awareness being taught in schools (like the evil tobacco companies, you gotta get them when they are young), tax everything on a sliding scale, according to the harm each and every one of them caused going by the available statistics, and spend the windfall on harm minimisation, treatment and rehabilitation, and even more education.
Perhaps more good can come out of that than going round and round with the war on drugs and endless scary anti-drug campaigns which are ineffective because the majority of recreational drug users are not dying from them. Plus you’d reduce the criminal element.
Drugs are here to stay. As long as there’s a craving to feel good, there will always be a market for them. We might as well be smart about them.
p.s. “Traffic” talks about all this in a more eloquent and impactful fashion. And so do the following opinion pieces from the Sydney Morning Herald, three of which are by the same writer, Lisa Pryor. She argues brilliantly but is anyone in government listening?
Facts and figures for partygoers – Opinion – smh.com.au
Let’s all grow up, stop pushing lies and have an honest debate about drugs
Breaking taboos – it’s time we recognised that illegal drugs are fun – Opinion
Hyperbole can leave you just as high (and dry) if the message is cast aside
This rant was brought to you by a shot of fine Swedish vodka.
14 Responses to “Being smart about drugs”
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Agreed. It’s a battle that will never be won. As someone who “dabbles” occasionally, the ease with which I can buy just about anything, is kinda scary.
I agree.
People go on and on about how drugs kill, but so does drinking. Yet alcohol is sold everywhere and encouraged (how many parties, even hosted by companies, do you go to where alcohol is not provided?). It’s ridiculous and unfair. They shouldn’t be just targeting one thing when there are other things that are doing the same.
And after reading steph’s comment … I mentioned to my boyfriend one day a while ago that I’d never tried drugs and I wanted to, just once, to see what it’s like. And two days later he had a present for me. I was stunned, and it completely destroyed my bubble in which the world was a perfect place and drugs were only sold in back alleys in dirty places.
I love that the google ad is for an alcohol rehab centre. *grin*
steph: yup, too bad any politician brave enough to think of alternatives is instantly branded “soft on drugs”. The reality is being “hard on drugs” is not doing much anyway.
Katie: hehe interesting story about your experience. That is indeed how most ppl will experience it too and that is why those scary anti-drug campaigns don’t work for the most part because they don’t gel with ppl’s realities.
Totally agree with everything you’ve said. A friend of mine is the perfect example. She is a full-blown alcoholic…she has destroyed her relationships with friends and potential lovers, she has almost lost her job, and all her money is spent on alcohol and gambling.
She drinks every morning when she gets up and every evening before she goes to bed. She will often skull a bottle of alcohol before heading out to meet up with friends.
She is in therapy and a re-hab program now and is trying to get better but the damage has already been done. She has completely ruined her liver, and her kidneys, and she has suffered from brain damage. She may never be the same again and she’s still in her 20s.
This girl doesn’t do recreational drugs, but alcohol has done much more damage in this case.
I say, in moderation, anything is ok. Recreational drugs can be fun, but be careful, and don’t over-do it. Same goes for alcohol.
girlstar7: agree, everything should be in moderation. Meanwhile, the consumption of alcohol is widely accepted, advertised and even encouraged and expected. I don’t want to see it being banned like it is now in NT, but I do like to see a bit of equity in how all drugs are treated from a legal stand point.
I know of a person who dabbles in recreational drugs occasionally, but does not drink nor smoke. His verdict is alcohol kills your liver,tobacco kills your lungs, but rec. drugs if taken with morderation and of course, responsibly (as in stay at home when you are doing it with a big bottle of water), does not do any harm.
I was told that every time you do drugs, brain cells die (that don’t replace themselves). I don’t know if that’s true, but it’s scary. For those people who do drugs. Just like the “every cigarette is doing you damage” ads.
But those ads just make people want to do it even more, I think. Or at least the people I know. *sigh*
sourrain: hahah take party drugs and stay at home? to each his own I guess. But I agree with everything with what he said. Moderation of course, because the long term effects of some recreational drugs have not been proven yet.
Katie: that can be said about just any drug, especially alcohol. And did you know Paracetamol is bad for your liver? Anything can kill you – if they want to be consistent, they should legislate against fatty food too but I don’t want to live in a nanny state.
Obviously you had more that a shot of that fine Swedish vodka before you wrote this…”If we want to be sensible about it, we can start by legalizing certain recreational drugs…” Sensible would be to make ALL drugs above certain concentrations illegal…Alcohol less than 0.01% only and nicotine like the last stage of Nicorette gum. * sigh * Ignorance isn’t an excuse anymore since we know that the misuse of drugs are bad. Yet people still drink and/or smoke copiously or worse. Also, I don’t know about drug awareness being taught in schools…I mean they already do that and it seems that it’s just another way for these companies to gain access to the young and impressionable minds of the tots. The taxing on a sliding scale sounds interesting, but there so many questions…like how do you penalize a product for harm it hasn’t yet caused(?)…like nicotine…it isn’t bad for us it’s when we abuse this drug or mix it with other stuff that’s found in cigarettes that it becomes harmful over long term use. This brings back memories of my Environmental Science class at Uni when we were all debating Global warming and fuel companies. Why can’t we just treat all drugs as drugs…if you need some, go to a doctor who will then prescribe you some at the correct concentration that you need. Anything over the counter should be of such a low concentration that even abuse of it would not cause harm. Since we all can’t be responsible, we all will have to have our right to purchase harmful substances revoked globally. *This is why I lost all the votes for student president…sigh*
And this is the longest comment I have ever written.
usuallyquiet: I never said that the issue wasn’t debatable and certainly never claimed that my ideas were workable. My gist was that anything other than the current wasteful war on drugs should be considered because it is not working, and it is pulling attention away from the two biggest killer drugs which are legal.
As for education, I was talking about the Australian condition. I went through school here and there is not enough of it, even less than sex education which was already minuscule.
I wasn’t drunk but I freely admit that other ppl express similar ideas on this more eloquently, hence the links.
You don’t smoke rite, don’t recall seeing you smoking before
Lupin: I do occasionally, so I’m not gonna be a hypocrite and say that it’s not nice.
[...] I don’t remember when it was, maybe it was a year or so ago, but I remember the moment quite clearly. There was a sensationalistic piece on the news about the dangers of the drug, and how people are dying from it. I’d said to her that although people have died from taking it, we don’t really see the same sensationalism about the dangers of tobacco and alcohol which kills more people than all other illicit drugs combined. [...]
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