Show Menu

41 Arguments Against the Drug War

By

April 21, 2020

The popular website Eat This, Not That! recently ran an article titled “41 Ways Alcohol Ruins Your Health.”

Here is the article’s brief introduction:

If you like to have a drink once in a while, chances are you’re having a few more than usual, given the fact that we’re all self-isolating. But the reason why we’re self-isolating—to protect against the coronavirus—is all the more reason to drink less. You need your immune system at full strength to combat COVID-19. Read on to discover the ways alcohol ruins your health, and share this story with someone who needs to read it.

Then follows a list of 41 ways that alcohol ruins your health:

  1. Eating more The Free Society Laurence M. Vance Best Price: $13.55 Buy New $17.54 (as of 04:55 UTC - Details)
  2. Circulatory issues
  3. Seizures
  4. Dehydration
  5. Diabetes
  6. Ulcers
  7. Belly fat
  8. You’ll eat more sugar
  9. Cancer
  10. Dementia
  11. Muscle cramps
  12. Lower immune system
  13. Decreased fertility
  14. Mental decline
  15. Pancreatic pain
  16. Depression
  17. Increased obesity risk
  18. Stroke
  19. Heavy carb intake
  20. Bloating
  21. Inherited alcoholism
  22. Decreased kidney function Free Trade or Protecti... Laurence M. Vance Buy New $5.95 (as of 04:55 UTC - Details)
  23. Salty food cravings
  24. Muscle atrophy
  25. Nerve damage
  26. Medication complications
  27. Reduced sperm count
  28. Anemia
  29. GERD
  30. Gout
  31. Anxiety
  32. Increased breast cancer risk
  33. Insomnia
  34. High blood pressure
  35. Blood sugar spikes
  36. Increased heart attack risk
  37. Cirrhosis
  38. Drinking more than you intended
  39. Leaky gut
  40. Less sound sleep
  41. Exhaustion War, Empire, and the M... Laurence M. Vance Best Price: $5.24 Buy New $9.79 (as of 09:10 UTC - Details)

Each item includes a nice graphic and a short paragraph of explanation. For example, here is what the article says about item number 4, dehydration:

Alcohol is a diuretic, and when consumed in sufficient quantities, it leaches water from all over your body, including your brain. The result is often a crippling headache, muscle pain, and a thirst you just can’t seem to quench, no matter how much water or how many sugar- and calorie-packed sports drinks you guzzle down.

None of these 41 things should come as any surprise to anyone who drinks alcohol.

It should be noted that the authors of the article (the “Eat This, Not That! Editors”) approach the subject of alcohol from a health standpoint. They neither promote abstinence from alcohol nor  government prohibition of alcoholic beverages.

I am pleased to see the publication of this article, but not because it’s about alcohol. I view this article as 41 arguments against the drug war.

If consuming alcohol ruins your health in this many ways and can ultimately lead to premature death, then why would the government spend billions of dollars waging war on drugs and not also wage war on alcohol?

Every bad thing that could be said regarding drug abuse could also be said of alcohol abuse—and even more so.

Alcohol abuse is a factor in many drownings, home accidents, suicides, pedestrian accidents, fires, car accidents, violent crimes, boating accidents, child abuse cases, sex crimes, and divorces. The War on Drugs Is a ... Laurence M. Vance Best Price: $5.87 Buy New $5.95 (as of 09:10 UTC - Details)

Alcohol abuse is one of the leading causes of premature deaths in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), short-term health risks include injuries, violence, alcohol poisoning, risky sexual behaviors, and miscarriages and stillbirths, while long-term health risks include high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, digestive problems, cancer, dementia, depression, anxiety, social problems, family problems, and unemployment.

It seems pretty obvious that the government is fighting against the wrong enemy or should, to be consistent, include alcohol in its war on drugs.

Yet, support for returning to the days of Prohibition is limited to some fundamentalist Christians and members of the Prohibition Party.

Drug warriors are some of the biggest hypocrites on the planet.

The Best of Laurence M. Vance

Tags: 

$post_author: WP_User Object
(
    [data] => stdClass Object
        (
            [ID] => 231
            [user_login] => laurence-m-vance
            [user_pass] => $P$B5G3ZxuOAlYjSeiYi35AMZHpWcfrCr.
            [user_nicename] => laurence-m-vance
            [user_email] => [email protected]
            [user_url] => 
            [user_registered] => 2011-12-07 16:12:28
            [user_activation_key] => 
            [user_status] => 0
            [display_name] => Laurence M. Vance
            [type] => wpuser
        )

    [ID] => 231
    [caps] => Array
        (
            [author] => 1
        )

    [cap_key] => wp_capabilities
    [roles] => Array
        (
            [0] => author
        )

    [allcaps] => Array
        (
            [upload_files] => 1
            [edit_posts] => 1
            [edit_published_posts] => 1
            [publish_posts] => 1
            [read] => 1
            [level_2] => 1
            [level_1] => 1
            [level_0] => 1
            [delete_posts] => 1
            [delete_published_posts] => 1
            [email_single_user] => 1
            [email_multiple_users] => 1
            [tablepress_edit_tables] => 1
            [tablepress_delete_tables] => 1
            [tablepress_list_tables] => 1
            [tablepress_add_tables] => 1
            [tablepress_copy_tables] => 1
            [tablepress_import_tables] => 1
            [tablepress_export_tables] => 1
            [tablepress_access_options_screen] => 1
            [tablepress_access_about_screen] => 1
            [author] => 1
        )

    [filter] => 
    [site_id:WP_User:private] => 1
)

get_the_author_meta: 
$bio: Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] writes from central Florida. He is the author of The Free Society; War, Christianity, and the State: Essays on the Follies of Christian Militarism; War, Empire, and the Military: Essays on the Follies of War and U.S. Foreign Policy; King James, His Bible, and Its Translators, and many other books. His newest book is The U.S. Proxy War in Ukraine.
$bios: Array
(
    [0] => Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] writes from central Florida. He is the author of The Free Society; War, Christianity, and the State: Essays on the Follies of Christian Militarism; War, Empire, and the Military: Essays on the Follies of War and U.S. Foreign Policy; King James, His Bible, and Its Translators, and many other books. His newest book is The U.S. Proxy War in Ukraine.
)
Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] writes from central Florida. He is the author of The Free Society; War, Christianity, and the State: Essays on the Follies of Christian Militarism; War, Empire, and the Military: Essays on the Follies of War and U.S. Foreign Policy; King James, His Bible, and Its Translators, and many other books. His newest book is The U.S. Proxy War in Ukraine.

creativecommons.org

Previous article by Laurence M. Vance:

Political Theatre

LRC Blog

LRC Podcasts

    creativecommons.org