This is a great question – one that you should be asking your representatives in congress.

I was going to ask a question like this but I forgot: Why do humans love alcohol so much? We even banned it, and re legalized it because it caused so much trouble lol.

Maybe it’s because the fun effects outweigh the slow, detrimental effects that we aren’t aware of until it’s too late.

@Blackberry Like gout?

I think other drugs can add to your quality of life when used in moderation and in the appropriate context.

@mowens There are fun effects of gout?

Because it’s use is so widespread, there was no momentum around the movement to ban it.

Because it garners the government lots and lots of money?
If people smoked weed instead of drinking alcohol, the world would be a better place.

@all I don’t just mean ok by the standards of the law… I mean generally speaking, alcohol is socially acceptable… and something like Meth isn’t.

@mowens: ”@all I don’t just mean ok by the standards of the law… I mean generally speaking, alcohol is socially acceptable… and something like Meth isn’t.”

Unfortunately, I think it comes back to the law. Alcohol is legal, so it is socially acceptable. If pot was legal it would eventually be as socially acceptable as alcohol. Meth…hmmm.. I’m not familiar enough with meth to comment.

@tom_g Neither am I. The only reason I know about it is because of the show Breaking Bad. However, on your theory… in prohibition… everyone still fouund it acceptable…. even though it was illeagal.

I seriously think the fact that the Bible says Jesus drank wine may be part of the reason. If there were some verses that talked about Jesus smoking weed, I bet that would be OK too.

Alcohol is so controlled in its manufaturing by the Federal Government and illegal drugs are not and dangerous. Alcohol is dangerous, if its not used responsible. At least the Feds know what goes into the making of alcohol, where illegal drugs can contain anything.

Could it be the controlling factor of its chemical makeup, both in its manufacture and consumption?

@mowens: “in prohibition… everyone still fouund it acceptable…. even though it was illeagal”

Pot is pretty acceptable with most people I know. With prohibition, however, it was something that had been legal that they were no longer able to consume. If everyone grew up smoking joints with their parents and smoking during baseball games, then it was made illegal, it would be much more socially acceptable in all circles. Most people I know have a stash that they smoke – but are afraid to let you in on their little secret unless they really know you.

@mowens – For the record, I think all drugs should be legalized. I currently only consume caffeine and the occasional alcoholic beverage.

Why are other drugs “not okay”? Because someone else says so? Because they’re “illegal”?

I agree with @tom_g. I’m in favor of legalizing “victimless crimes”, including so-called “drug abuse”.

@CWOTUS @tom_g See I disagree. I think that one of the the jobs of a government is to protect the masses from their own stupidity. If something is addictive and can ruin your life. ( like alcohol) it should be carefully controlled.

@mowens: “See I disagree. I think that one of the the jobs of a government is to protect the masses from their own stupidity. If something is addictive and can ruin your life. ( like alcohol) it should be carefully controlled.”

I couldn’t disagree more with a statement. Maybe we can take this to another thread. I don’t want to derail this by making it a drug legalization thread.

@mowens OK. Then that leads me to the media and advertising, along with generations of alcohol drinkers. If people grow up seeing other people drink alcohol, they’ll think it’s ok. This applies to family and friends, as well as television and movies. (I think smoking cigarettes was made popular through movie stars).
In my house growing up, there was no alcohol, ever. When I got to be 18 or 19, my dad started going out to bars with his work buddies, but there was still no alcohol in the house. My mother always reminded me that both her and my father’s parents were alcoholics, and that I was predisposed to go down the same path if I ever drank. She’s very much incorrect (I have have alcohol several times, and have very little interest in it), but that’s not the point… My point is that I think alcohol is ok because people have been saying it is for many, many years. I don’t see any other explanation– it burns your insides when you drink it, it causes liver damage, it can cause you to black out. I don’t see the appeal of being a regualr drinker, but if people want to drink alcohol or do any other drug, I think they should be allowed to do so.

You can’t really compare alcohol to meth, they aren’t sitting on equal ground. Over time you can become an alcoholic, whereas meth tends to be incredibly addictive, right from the first use. I’m still for the legalization of all drugs, I just think we’d (at first) have a lot of stupid people ODing, and neck deep in debt trying to support their addiction.

Alcohol’s benefits don’t outweigh its negatives in my opinion. It just something we’ve been doing for a long time, like cigarettes. And old habits die hard.

Why is it ok? I guess because enough of society wants it and not enough of society believes it a great enough bane to make it illegal.

Well from my personal perspective socially you’re free to use whatever you like but in order to retain that freedom you have to consume so responsibly (no endangering the lives of others) and as an informed user (you shouldn’t have to guess whats in the needle or what it will do to you). Whether you should is a decision only the individual can (or should) make.

To general social acceptability I think certain drugs tend to develop their own social groups as it were. Hanging out with hard core meth addicts isn’t something I’d choose to do on a daily basis. So the social acceptability is probably to some extent self reinforcing – people who do it don’t mind being around others who do it or similar things and people who don’t do it might not appreciate the company of those who do also expectation and tolerance play a part, even if you don’t drink hanging out with people who do (but not to great excess) isn’t a whole lot different than hanging out with people who don’t, I wouldn’t say the same with someone regularly shooting heroin. So there’s a degree of comfort thing going on too (with the effects of use, in this case, rather than the act of use itself).

As far as the job of the government to protect the masses from their own stupidity, I disagree. In this case I’d say the government should make sure you’re not a victim of anyone but yourself.

It’s purely for historical reasons. Alcohol is probably as old as humanity, so we grow up with it. It is only recently that people have become aware that alcohol causes serious problems with some people.

Weed and other drugs are newer on the scene in the west. Products of the poppy are more common in Asia, since they grow there. Back in the early part of the last century all kinds of poppy based products were legal. Hemp was legal, too. I think we were able to make them illegal because they didn’t have such a large constituency.

Morally and sociologically speaking, there is little difference between all the drugs. They all are problems at certain levels of consumption. They all have negative side effects. With some the negative side kicks in sooner than with others. There could be a reason to target those drugs for banning, since they might cause problems more quickly.

But bans are kind of useless. People use drugs anyway. The key is to identify the problems and educate people about these problems and help them if they get into trouble. This is working with alcohol to reduce the instance of alcohol addiction. It seems to me that it should work with other drugs.

I really think drugs recreational should be legalized unless they are instant killers. They shouldn’t be allowed to be advertised, but there should be special places to go to get them, and people should have to register to get them. Then they could get the drugs at a price below street prices—low enough to prevent the black market from being competitive, but no lower.

All registered drug users should get constant information about drug treatment programs, and be urged to join these programs and stop using so much. The education component should be supplemented in as many ways as people can think of.

That’s my drug policy, and if elected, I shall work to get Congress to pass it. LOL!

I think it’s dangerous for people to use their own brains. Perhaps those should be tightly regulated as well.

@CWOTUS The problem is that people demand the right to use their brains…. then refuse to.

Yet here you are using yours for an evil purpose – to agree to control others in the way you think is ‘best for them’ – and you think that’s a good thing.

I agree it is good to let the idiots have their mind controlled. :)

Because we live in a world full of hypocrites. Alcohol is the most dangerous drug that causes some type of mental impairment but if you argue for prohibition critics will say ‘it didn’t work’. Say the same thing about Cannabis and many of these same critics will point out that the prohibition on this drug is justified despite not working in itself because it will just lead to more people using it and it will just add to the problems we face with alcohol consumption. It seems like a double standard to me regardless but the slight majority seems to rule for the moment on this one.

The only way to eliminate this double standard is to elect candidates such as Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, etc that would fight to end federal legislation against Cannabis and leave this decision up to the people of each state to decide for themselves whether they want it decriminalized/legalized.

Just ‘cause it’s more socially acceptable. It’s not really any more okay than other drugs but there have been reports of benefits to drinking alcohol. But there are benefits to drugs like marijuana as well.

I guess what @wundayatta said. Alcohol has been around forever, and has become a natural part of just about every society and culture. Then again, some drugs have too. Weed was big with Indians, and tripping out on some leaves or whatever was a rite of passage in some African cultures. But I guess somehow it never made its way so widely as alcohol has, at least not legally haha.. There’s also the fact that things like cocaine or heroin mess an abuser up so much faster than alcohol. (alcohol can fuck someone up just as bad, but the process, in many cases, is long enough for it to be considered a lot of the person’s fault, rather than the substance) Maybe since those act faster in destroying lives, that keeps them barred in a lot of standards. At least over here anyways. A lot of people drink alcohol in proportion to say, a cocaine addict, so maybe it’s a whole number/statistic thing? I denno. Compared to the amount of casual drinkers, alcoholics are considerably less, or so it seems. Maybe that helps to convince society that alcohol is okay, as long as you don’t fuck around with it too much. Whether it’s true or not, (personal thoughts not included) I base that on the thousands of casual weed smokers who have families and keep jobs. Then again, there’s WAAAY worse shit than weed. But I guess if the government could make money with weed and coke, they prolly would.

@mowens Here you go

Beer and wine are relaxants that if used in moderation (1–2 drinks per day tops) have some healthful side effects. And, from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous: Drinking means conviviality, companionship, and colorful imagination. It means release from care, boredom and worry. It is joyous intimacy with friends, and a feeling that life is good.

Most other drugs, except perhaps weed, don’t allow any kind of moderation of usage. You either get stoned or amped up, or you don’t.

The problem with alcohol though is that 10–15% of the population cannot handle it in moderation. I never could, that’s why I now don’t drink at all.

It’s legal, fairly accepted and I’m too drunk to find reasons otherwise. I hope that’s a sufficient response.

Alcohol was often the only thing that people had to drink that they could store before refrigerators. I think that the long history is one reason it’s looked at the way it is. @thorninmud is correct that it was used by Jesus, but it has a long history other than that.

Living is dangerous. Everyone who is now living is predicted to die, some horribly. Maybe we should outlaw that, too.~