Cigarettes and Alcohol..... worse than LSD, ecstacy, and weed?!?!?

www.newscientist.com...

When it comes to danger, cigarettes and alcohol beat ecstasy, '___' and cannabis, according to a league table of the harm they cause....
Controlled drugs are currently categorised to reflect the penalties they incur for possession and dealing. The highest category, class A, carries the largest legal penalties and includes heroin, coc aine, ecstasy and magic mushrooms. Class B includes speed and barbiturates, while cannabis and some tranquillisers are in class C.
However, the new league table puts alcohol in the top five most harmful drugs, alongside heroin, coc aine, barbiturates and street methadone. Ecstasy and '___', currently categorised as class A drugs, come well below both tobacco and alcohol.

All i can say is its about time... hopefully this report will make it over to the FDA and DEA's desk.... while im not advocating legalizing the substances... i feel that it is important to know the dangers of all substances that one ingests....

do you all think this will change anything... or are the reason drugs like Weed, Ecstacy, '___', and "Mgaical Mushrooms" are illegal is more nefarious? Are they illegal because of the supposed harm they cause or because they make the peole who use them less agreeable to authority and traditional thought modalities?

Either way to the UK....


[edit on 9-8-2006 by Elsenorpompom]

Yeah it's definately cool to hear what most of us already knew,but sadly I doubt it'll change anything.Tobacco is big business meaning no way in hell it'll be made illeagal.Hrm.......unless the tobacco guys get into the marijuana business instead.

I also think what is important here is which drugs are most ''harmful'' when taken in "moderation"....I bet tobacco is right up there at the top, although that depends on youre definition of harmful



[edit on 9-8-2006 by SteveG]

I really don't see the point in this study, I mean we all know the
risks involved with the consumption ciggarettes and Alcohol,
well atleast those of us who have an I.Q. above 90 do.

Anyway, it really does'nt matter, as long as people are aware of the
risks there taking, there's no real problem.
It's there bodies, and no one has the right to tell one what they can
and can't do with their bodies.


Also, I agree with SteveG about the moderation thing.

Drinking alcohol in huge amounts constantly is very bad,
but drinking in small to medium amounts every once in
awhile is'nt bad at all.

[edit on 8/10/2006 by iori_komei]

anything in excess is bad for you...


Ecstasy eats holes in your brain...


Weed is the safer than the others but that really depends on quality and how you smoke it.

'___' can be very bad if you have underlying mental problems.

Cigs? wtf cigs blow talk about population control


Booze? Personal Responsibility goes a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong way.


ever met someone who abused the hell out of X? their a bit more loopy than the rest even the guys who tripped 100+ times.

Interesting, but as it has been said before, we all know how bad cigarettes are for us. I have never been a smoker, and seriously doubt I will take up the habit, but having said that I have done a bit of other drugs, and agree that moderation is the key, and to a certain extent using them for specific purposes.

M@

I have to laugh at the suggestion that ecstasy leaves holes in your brain, that is just too funny.
Scientists are still undecided about what long term effects E's have but there certainly aren't any physical effects like having holes in your brain to worry about.
I would love to see a CAT scan of people with holes in their brains.
The thing about cigs & booze is that it's psychologically addictive like heroin, coke etc..


[edit on 10-8-2006 by mclarenmp4]

Actually there are no studies that show that excstacy eats holes in ones brain... that does not mean that it doesnt have adverse affects.. the study you are thinking about... the one that everyone knows about because of Stupid Dateline NBC was actually thrown out because they didnt use MDMA.... they use actual Meth.. and then gave rats the equivalant of 12 hits multiple times a week... so that myth has been thourly debunked.... However... having met numerous people through my sister who regularly use X... there are several negative side affects most prevalant is cyclothamia or depression.... just thought id throw that in there...

And lets not forget the legal drugs fed to us by our doctors. Some of that stuff is maybe even more dangerous than street drugs. And where are the commercials that shed light on these drugs? I guess it's ok to poison the world with Prozac because the person calls themself a doctor? I guess it depends who is recieving the profit.

Tobacco and alcohol, it's all about responsibility. Enjoying a cigar after a meal or with friends in moderation, I don't see a real problem with that. Enjoying some alcohol responsibly, I don't see a problem with that. And, yeah, I've been piss drunk before, but I wouldn't get rid of some of those memories. I've had some damn good fun while drinking. I'm not saying drinking is for everyone, but damn sometimes it's nice to blow off some steam and take some time and be a little crazy once in a while. Of course it's good to know when to cut yourself off, so you don't get sick or get alcohol poisoning, where you could die. Don't be stupid with it. In other words don't carry drinking to the point of destruction to yourself and others around you.

I think sometimes we close ourselves in a box of what is "right," and what is "wrong." And we lable things like alcohol as bad. Alcohol is bad if you are using it as a crutch to be able to function day to day. Perhaps no alcohol consumptoin is the best thing? I myself like to take care of my body for the most part, but I don't exclude everything "bad" from my experience. I don't take crazy sh*t like '___' or other drugs, but I do allow some cigar smoking and alcohol into my life. Otherwise, there is no Tylenol, no pain pills, allergy pills, sleeping pills etc. in my medicine cabinet. Outside of some tobacco and alcohol, I'm not really a drug user.

If you don't drink at all and that works for you, then that's perfectly fine, it's not a requirement. But folks, no matter how well you live your life, I believe there is allways a little room to be "naughty" if you want to do so. Eat a piece of cake now and then if you're on a diet, and take a little time away from the calorie and carb counting. If you go to another country, like Ireland, take time to sit down and enjoy an Irish beer if you want to.

We can go through life walking on a tightrope, watching every step very, very carefully, or we can jump in and enjoy life.

Troy

Cigarettes are bad for you? I thought they had vitamin C in em and stuff

But seriously, Moderation is the Key. I would not recomend smoking to anyone. But certain Herbs I think can be usefull if not abused. I have never tried '___' so I cannot say one way or the other, but I don't think I'll try it, way too old for that sorta stuff now. I missed my window in college

the sad part of it all, is I can go to the bar and drink 10 beer right now legally, but if I wanted to smoke a joint alone in my house before bed, I legally can't.

Nice to see what a lot of ppl know already is bein talked about in the u.k. On a side note,peyote has been found to cause no long term brain damage.At least in native americans.Makes you question exactly what's bad about the bad drugs,and why is alcohol and ciggarettes so socially execptable. The answer is money. One of the side effects of capitalism is greed. Or as wu-tang clan put it,"C.R.E.A.M. cash rules everything around me"

(AP) A study of the effects of peyote on American Indians found no evidence that the hallucinogenic cactus caused brain damage or psychological problems among people who used it frequently in religious ceremonies.

CBS news article

In the first study of its kind, researchers have found that peyote -- for now, the only legal hallucinogenic drug in the United States -- doesn't rob regular users of brain power over time.

Wired news link

As someone who started out in the rave techno scene early in the 90s i have this to say about drugs :

„Alle Ding' sind Gift und nichts ohn' Gift; allein die Dosis macht, dass ein Ding kein Gift ist."

This sentence was spoken by Paracelus.Translated this means :"All things are poison and nothing (is) without poison; only the dose makes that a thing is no poison."
What people need to realise is that some common sense should be used.

As to extasy eating holes into your brain , thats the best what ive heard yet.

Yea the Ecstacy causing holes in the brain reminds me of the propoganda videos we had to watch in public school about drugs..
It shows a Marijauna user on top of a building who is 'so high he thinks he can fly', it shows him flapping his arms as he walks off the edge...
Umm I don't remember being so high I thought I could fly, but I guess it was only a few decades earlier they thought Marijuana users eventually become crazy rapists

'___', and Shrooms aren't that bad Shrooms are mostly Natural and '___' is a little less but mostly natural aswell. You can't O.D. on them but you can however kill yourelf when your on them which alot of people do The drugs themself aren't harmful. On '___' as long as you don't have a bad trip you can be an acid head for years and be fine but one bad trip can end it all. Ex is my most feared drug I am seriously scared of it. Weed? Well who cares, thats seriously the least harmful drug I've ever seen or heard of in my life. My dad smokes weed he has since he was about 10 hes now 40, Still smart, still smokes... Hes done it just about every other day for his entire life. Weed isn't bad and it should be legalized. The government would make money of of it but they don't seize the oppurtunity. I know it can be grown but you can also make your own Root Beer pretty easily but that doesnt mean you do? Most of the time you go buy some A&W, if they sold weed in packs like cigarettes they'd make cash. Convience people... As for Cigarettes the deadliest drug EVER, not only do you kill yourself, you ill our atmosphere, you kill anyone within a 10 feet of you, you kill everything. Cigarettes smokers should be charged for murder. Alcohol, Hell yea lol. No problem with alcohol as long as you drink with responsibility...

From what I learned in college, marijuana was categorized class A because of politics, not because of any actual studies. The US wanted to demonize Mexican immigrants with their association to marijuana like they did Chinese immigrants and their association with opium.

So began the propaganda with this "study" or that "research" or whatever statement from "experts" on how "marijuana is bad" and such. Meanwhile, cigarettes continue to be legal despite all kinds of study showing how bad that insecticide is.

Money can buy you a hell lot. Money can buy you legislation. The power of lobbies.

First and Foremost... Insipiring Youth... you can OD on Acid and Mushrooms... you need to know that..... i work in the mental health field so trust me being an Acid head has definitive long tem negative affects... now that dosent happen with everyone and you can trip a few times with lil or no long term damage to your brain... but so you know ... the reason you trip on mushrooms is because your brain is bleeding and it interfeers with neuro-transmitters... Acid makes ur neurotransmitters speak in a "different langauge"... and the reason you feel good on E is two fold... primarily its the huge amounts of Dopamine, serotonin, and noepenphrin... coupled with your spinal fluid running backwards...

and to the above poster... there are varying stories as to why marijuana is illegal in the states... from what youve said to cotton rope manufactures in the east losing money to hemp manufactures in the west....

thanks for posting everyone

Marijuana not harmful.

What about the link between psychosis and mary jane? Pretty cutting edge stuff, only recently being studied. My best friend befell to psychosis he'd smoke it a lot everyday. Perhaps it only affected those predispositioned to it but. Who really knows?

Take care and peace,
- Naz

Originally posted by kleverone
Cigarettes are bad for you? I thought they had vitamin C in em and stuff

...yo, hold up a sec. They don't?

nazgarn where's the link to that report... i had not heard of any link between psychosis and MJ.... while some people do get "paranoid" and if you have a preexisting condition it can in some rare cases exacerbate it... but in most people weed acts as a depressant/hallucinogen .... either way... do you have a link to the report you are talking about?