Alcoholism: Drug Abuse Facts

Question: Why is alcohol, and alcoholism, more acceptable than other drugs or addictions?

(Posted by: Jackie M on 2009-11-09 16:04:23)

Okay, I am an American, as many of you are, and I realize in other cultures it is different. But here in the Western world it seems that alcohol is far more acceptable than any other drugs ... just look at the laws. I have seen more damaging effects or equally damaging effects, of alcohol, than for example, marijuana or other drugs. It is strong and debilitating. How did the culture develop such a strong understanding for alcohol and such a resentment for other drugs? The effects of alcohol are just as damaging, if not worse, in my opinion than other drugs such as marijuana. Any substance abuse is bad, but why is it when we hear of a cocaine addict or a pot head that we immediately experience some sort of horror while your Uncle Tom can be an alcoholic without a job, living in bars and on people's couches, and his behavior is some how more acceptable than the coke head or pot head who has a steady job and a home? I know alcoholism is taken seriously, I'm not saying that it isn't. But the reaction of people hearing of a man or woman in a rehab program is more intense than their reaction to a man or woman in an alcoholism anonymous class. I'm not condoning drug use, and I'm not supporting prohibition, I'm just curious as to what happened along the road to come to that end? Another thing is, these days, it seems cigarettes are considered horrible and disgusting, but drinking yourself into a coma at a bar, where you can't smoke, is totally fine.

Posted by: ~LOU~ on 2009-11-09, 16:08:42

Alcohol is by far worse than maryj....it doesnt matter to our government its ALL about money!

Posted by: Bill on 2009-11-09, 16:10:03

Because alcohol is legal, so using it to an extent wouldnt be thought of as much of the persons fault for becoming an alcoholic however other substances that are illegal have been illegally obtained by the person and therefore people believe that since they did something bad they deserve the consequences becuase they could have stopped themselves also becuase alcohol is a social drug, people dont assume that its the persons fault for becoming an alcoholic

Posted by: BikerChick on 2009-11-09, 16:12:13

GOOD QUESTION - I hate alcohol more than ANY drug out there, and believe me, I have been around and have done almost everything invented. The ONLY reason alcohol is "accepted " is because the government collects TAXES on it. IF the government could legalize, regulate, and collect TAXES on all the other currently illegal drugs, believe me, they would.

Posted by: Your Momma on 2009-11-09, 16:12:29

After the Prohibition ended, marijuana was the propaganda fall guy. So after several generations of those believing that alcohol was the lesser of two evils, some people are just brought up thinking that marijuana is the root of society's problems, and really it is alcohol that does more - a lot more - damage.

Posted by: Katie C on 2009-11-09, 16:13:10

I don't know if i can accurately answer, but perhaps its because alcohol is somewhat on par with food, in that its a consumable alcohol is dangerous in large amounts yes, but its part of our food culture, that is why it seems more acceptable it might be seen as merely a form of gluttony (alcoholism), while drugs like cocaine purely damage your mind and no ones going to think they're ok in any amount of course there are issues with this rationalization because alcohol can damage your mind too (in large amounts)

Posted by: Jake on 2009-11-09, 16:27:38

Nearly 40% of Americans don't drink at all....not even a sip. And 76% of Americans do not get drunk. dawanet.com/ neighbors/ drinkingpoll.asp This would suggest that, as a society, we are less OK with alcohol than you would assume. I rarely hang out with people while they are drinking these days because I've stopped. My friends don't remember details of the night before and they say things that don't come from the heart- it's just the booze talking. Hanging out with them has become more of a burden than something fun.

Posted by: Belinda on 2009-11-09, 16:28:27

It's partly a cultural thing and partly an economic thing. First, alcohol has been a popular part of social life and the relaxant drug of choice in Western civilization since the Ancient Greeks and Romans were fermenting grapes. The stimulant drug of choice for Western civilization has been caffeine. Economically, alcohol became so popular because it is cheap. It is cheap because it is easy to produce. It can be produced simply by storing organic matter that contains sugar of some kind for a long period of time, so that the sugar ferments. It can be produced in both cold and warm climes. It does not require a specific plant to be grown in a particular climate, such as coca, opium or cannabis. I think society regards a jobless, homeless chronic alcoholic as a pathetic loser - the same way it regards addicts of other drugs. It is more socially respectable, however, to have a mild addiction to alcohol if you function OK on the surface than it is for marijuana, cocaine or heroin, for instance, but that is partly because the latter three drugs are illegal and addicts need to break the law to support their addiction.

Posted by: stash on 2009-11-09, 17:17:19

Well First off lets throw pot out of the discussion. 2nd I believe in legalizing drugs for many reasons but that's a separate topic. But here is why alcohol is not considered that bad, one reason is it helped people survive for thousands of years before sanitation of water to survive, its also argued that this may have lead to the development of agriculture which then allowed civilization to flourish. Also its good as in it has an over looked benefit, people are social creatures and alcohol is a social lubricant its helps people get along and even find a love interest, for example my parents meet at a bar. Alcohol helps aid peoples desire to have social interactions by lowering inhibitions. While alcohol makes some people violent the vast majority are more friendly and that's why people drink. Its even been shown that people who drink are more successful on average then those who don't. Another thing is addition rates and this is where illegal drugs excluding weed are illegal, its b/ c every single person has the possibility of dependence/ addiction. Whereas alcohol only cause dependence towards those who are genetically predisposed to alcoholism, that's why no matter how common place the consumption of alcohol from illegal to places like germany there is always a similar portion of the population who become alcoholics. Thats why even frat guys who drink constantly most of them do not become alcoholics even if they drank the same amount as one who did. So really alcohol is legal b/ c not only is it apart of our culture and also aids peoples desire for social interactions, it also is pretty much harmless to the vast majority of the population. Whereas cocaine not only can anyone become an addict, its effects change as our brains adjust to the drug no longer giving the high fun feeling you had in the past and actually ends up people to favor the drug over others. So if you were to only look at the negative side effects of how it ruins a small percentage of peoples lives of course it looks all bad but you can do that with anything. But the benefits of alcohol out weigh the downsides, benefits often overlooked and or can't be measured. Logically think of it this way, if alcohol had no benefits and just text book style hurt you, why would anyone drink? Thats why people don't drink gasoline it just hurts you, nothing good comes of it. Also an historical example may help, Alcohol has been in China for centuries many of the great poets were alcoholics and society was fine. But then the english introduced opium, and everyone became addicted and it became a pandemic to the point that not only did the emperor order all opium addicts heads chopped off it also caused a war between China and England known today as the Opium wars. Now if Alcohol was as bad as Opium then why didn't it cause china to be on the verge of collapse like Opium did? (Its b/ c everyone can get hooked on opium and other illegal drugs, whereas only people geneticallpredisposeded to alcoholism become addicts) That means more people can just get the positive benefits of alcohol, whereas everyone ends up being a slave to drugs like Opium.