How can Alcohol be legal?
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Join Date: Dec 2011
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How can Alcohol be legal?
I hope in 100 years alcohol will be a thing of the past, but doubt it ever will. As an alcoholic i have 2 different opinions 1) I abused it and became addicted and let it destroy my life, while others can drink "normal" and that should not be taken away from them because us alcoholics can't keep control. 2) my other view: all the deaths, broken homes, health problems, and the fact that it IS A DRUG, makes me wonder why it Is legal while cocaine, marijuana, heroine are all illegal. As a world/society we have been brought up accepting that alcohol is acceptable. As times goes on and we progress and advance in our world it seems alcohol is the one thing that never changes. I struggle with this illness, its a living hell, and its legal. Baffled.
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Ever since man stepped on a grape...It's been a problem...That's not going to change. It's like why isn't marijuana legal?...Can't tax it...It's too easy to grow....No money in it...It's a hassle making a still...
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Location: Midwest USA
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90% of people who consume alcohol do so without many problems. It certainly has some benefits for the moderate drinker. I think they should legalize all drugs as well. Not just pot either but "hard" drugs like cocaine/heroin as well.
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Originally Posted by Justfor1 
90% of people who consume alcohol do so without many problems. It certainly has some benefits for the moderate drinker. I think they should legalize all drugs as well. Not just pot either but "hard" drugs like cocaine/heroin as well.
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It's all money...Look how well prohibition worked...
The Mob got it instead of the government...Kind of like Pot/Coke/Heroin or anything else...The government makes it's cash on locking people up for it...Everybody wins...
The Mob got it instead of the government...Kind of like Pot/Coke/Heroin or anything else...The government makes it's cash on locking people up for it...Everybody wins...
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Join Date: Apr 2010
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Originally Posted by jc76
I hope in 100 years alcohol will be a thing of the past, but doubt it ever will. As an alcoholic i have 2 different opinions 1) I abused it and became addicted and let it destroy my life, while others can drink "normal" and that should not be taken away from them because us alcoholics can't keep control. 2) my other view: all the deaths, broken homes, health problems, and the fact that it IS A DRUG, makes me wonder why it Is legal while cocaine, marijuana, heroine are all illegal. As a world/society we have been brought up accepting that alcohol is acceptable. As times goes on and we progress and advance in our world it seems alcohol is the one thing that never changes. I struggle with this illness, its a living hell, and its legal. Baffled.
High on Life
Join Date: Aug 2010
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For every person that can't drink, there's probably 20 or so people that can. I just made that figure up, and it's probably a lot higher. Why should alcohol be illegal, because we can't drink? That's silly. Diabetics can't eat certain things, should I be deprived to make their life easier. It's not my problem, and it's not non-alcoholics problem either that I must abstain. We have to learn to live with this issue, not the other way around.
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I've been thinking more about this issue recently. And the OP makes a good point. Moreover, if we were able to somehow magically remove all the alcoholics from the world, we would still have significant levels of social, criminal & health-related problems 'thanks' to alcohol.
I don't smoke marijuana - nor do I plan to. However, when I rally up some of the anti-social behaviors - especially acts of violence - committed by cannabis smokers versus drinkers ... it really makes me wonder whether the legal prohibitions and controls ought not to be reversed(!)
The degree of rationalization that goes on in defense of alcohol is amazing. "It's traditional ..." "...it's a part of our Judeo-Christian heritage...." "... our Founding Fathers brewed alcohol.." (they also grew hemp...)
Sometimes I think the biggest alcohol addict is our own society/government.
I don't smoke marijuana - nor do I plan to. However, when I rally up some of the anti-social behaviors - especially acts of violence - committed by cannabis smokers versus drinkers ... it really makes me wonder whether the legal prohibitions and controls ought not to be reversed(!)
The degree of rationalization that goes on in defense of alcohol is amazing. "It's traditional ..." "...it's a part of our Judeo-Christian heritage...." "... our Founding Fathers brewed alcohol.." (they also grew hemp...)
Sometimes I think the biggest alcohol addict is our own society/government.
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: West Bloomfield, MI
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I don't care if it's legal or not......... as far as I'm concerned, it might as well be poison. That doesn't mean though, that it's like that for everyone nor does it mean everyone else should give it up because I can't drink it.
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From the U.S. Department of Justice. Drinking in America: www.udetc.org/documents/Drinking_in_America.pdf
With the majority of Americans being abstainer or drink at low risk levels, alcohol is and has been for a very very long time here to stay.
IMO early intervention by employers family, justice system, friends for heavy problem drinkers. Along with awareness of the potential pitfalls of heavy drink at an early age may help reduce the harm of becoming a heavy drinker or alcoholic.
- Most American adults either abstain or drink very
little. - A relatively small percentage of drinkers drink
most of the alcohol. - Alcohol is cheap and becoming cheaper.
- Americans are bombarded with $4 billion of alcohol
marketing each year.
With the majority of Americans being abstainer or drink at low risk levels, alcohol is and has been for a very very long time here to stay.
IMO early intervention by employers family, justice system, friends for heavy problem drinkers. Along with awareness of the potential pitfalls of heavy drink at an early age may help reduce the harm of becoming a heavy drinker or alcoholic.
01/28/2017
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Vancouver
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one word, prohibition. it isn't about whether alcohol is a drug or dangerous, it's about practicality and money. prohibition was an utter disaster, hence alcohol became legal again.
personally i think all drugs should be decriminalized, the war on drugs is nothing more than another industry making billions. there has never been any "progress", drug problem are as bad or worse now than when the war was declared. but this is our society, it is all about perception. the govt piles on a bunch of propaganda to get the public to "demand" something be done, then the govt is justified in creating far reaching rules and laws that undermine our civil liberties. same thing has been happening with the nebulous war on terror.
and to those who think decriminalization will not work, look at prortugal. Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal - Forbes
/end political ranting.....
personally i think all drugs should be decriminalized, the war on drugs is nothing more than another industry making billions. there has never been any "progress", drug problem are as bad or worse now than when the war was declared. but this is our society, it is all about perception. the govt piles on a bunch of propaganda to get the public to "demand" something be done, then the govt is justified in creating far reaching rules and laws that undermine our civil liberties. same thing has been happening with the nebulous war on terror.
and to those who think decriminalization will not work, look at prortugal. Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal - Forbes
/end political ranting.....
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 269
Alcohol is not a problem unless it's abused. In moderation it can actually be beneficial to your health.
I'm really on the fence about legalizing all recreational drugs. Marijuanna--maybe. But what benefit can drugs like heroin, cocaine, or meth really have to a recreational user? Plus, look at some drugs that are already totally legal and moderated by the goverment--oxycontin, vicoden, percocet--all legal when prescribed by doctors but look at the huge underground trade and the havoc its causing.
I don't have the answers, but I do think that people need to be accountable for their own actions and addictions.
I'm really on the fence about legalizing all recreational drugs. Marijuanna--maybe. But what benefit can drugs like heroin, cocaine, or meth really have to a recreational user? Plus, look at some drugs that are already totally legal and moderated by the goverment--oxycontin, vicoden, percocet--all legal when prescribed by doctors but look at the huge underground trade and the havoc its causing.
I don't have the answers, but I do think that people need to be accountable for their own actions and addictions.
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