I'm agog at this stuff about Professor Nutt saying alcohol is more harmful than hard drugs like heroin. Even more annoyed that national newspapers are reproducing his rubbish illustrated with photos of real ale. Tell you what, next time I go down the pub I'll have a pint of Doom Bar and my mate can bring his crack pipe. We'll see pretty soon who does themselves and others the most harm.
Ridiculous.
I don't know why you are "agog", I would have thought it was pretty obvious myself.
You need to look at the bigger picture. If you consider the UK as a whole I'm pretty sure that Alcoholism and alcohol related things such as crime, domestic violent, non-domestic violence, strain on resources and services such as NHS and Police, are much more wide spread and damaging to society that those related to drug abuse.
It's all a matter of numbers!
I understand the report says alcohol is more harmful 'to the public good' than heroin (perhaps because of its widespread use) while the latter is clearly far more harmful to the individual who takes it.
Let's hope the comment is seen for the attention-grabbing headline that it is intended to be, and not an excuse to make life harder for perfectly healthy moderate drinkers and the businesses that rely on their custom.
GomezAdams: I don't know why you are "agog", I would have thought it was pretty obvious myself. You need to look at the bigger picture. If you consider the UK as a whole I'm pretty sure that Alcoholism and alcohol related things such as crime, domestic violent, non-domestic violence, strain on resources and services such as NHS and Police, are much more wide spread and damaging to society that those related to drug abuse. It's all a matter of numbers!
A matter of numbers, yes. But it has been presented as if alcohol is simply "worse" regardless just to grab a few headlines. I don't see why the sensible majority can't be allowed to enjoy the odd drink in peace. Or maybe I can:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6874884/Alcohol-substitute-that-avoids-drunkenness-and-hangovers-in-development.html
Looks like Prof Nutt has a bit of a vested interest in talking down booze.
boggler: I don't see why the sensible majority can't be allowed to enjoy the odd drink in peace. Or maybe I can: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6874884/Alcohol-substitute-that-avoids-drunkenness-and-hangovers-in-development.html Looks like Prof Nutt has a bit of a vested interest in talking down booze
I don't see why the sensible majority can't be allowed to enjoy the odd drink in peace. Or maybe I can:
Looks like Prof Nutt has a bit of a vested interest in talking down booze
Very interesting spot there boggler.
If the question was simply 'is alcohol more of a problem to society than other drugs?' than I would have thought they could have saved themselves a few bob by using basic logic. There are more people in society that consume alcohol than there are that take crak or smack therfore the impact will be greater.
It's like asking where bears go to do the proverbial. The answers obvious but benefits nobody.
I just hope the Government doesn't listen to this nonsense. It's not like pubs aren't hard pressed enough. We've got the VAT rise and I'm sure the Government will slap another big duty rose on all alcohol later in 2011. It suits them to go along with the demonisation of alcohol. Its a real cash cow in tough times. Nevermind if pubs are good places to learn responsible drinking in a social atmosphere. We all know it is the supermarkets selling boxes of cooking lager as loss leader that's the real problem. Do they ever tackle that one? No. Too many vested interests. Nutt should just shut up. Doesn't surprise me that he is doing the research Boggler mentions.
I don't buy that at all. I believe that not every person that drinks alcohol is an alcoholic. The government should implement responsible service of alcohol measures to curb irresponsible drinking. Anyway, I don't think alcohol is more dangerous than heroin.