Alcohol and Tobacco Need To Be Included

A recent study conducted in the UK made a finding that alcohol and tobacco constituted the two most harmful substances when compared to drugs such as marijuana and ecstasy. The study was undertaken by professors at the famous Bristol University. A proposal was mooted so as to create a new framework intended to classify harmful substances based on the genuine risks posed to the society at large. Their research papers place alcohol and tobacco in the list of goods that cause harm to one’s body as well as to the whole society.

The three main aspects that were considered while determining the harm associated with different drugs by these researchers include the physical harm to the user, the drug’s potential to cause addiction, and the drug’s influence on society. The researchers took the help of psychiatrists who specialize in addiction to drugs, and various officials in the police department who have got scientific and medical expertise. They were asked to rate twenty different drugs including heroin, ecstasy, amphetamines, cocaine and LSD.  The senior researcher Nutt and his fellow professors then analysed the overall rankings. The findings did not agree with the classifications done by the British agency.

In their report, heroin and cocaine were ranked as the top two harmful substances. They were followed by barbiturates and street methadone. But alcohol and tobacco came fifth and ninth respectively in the list of the most harmful drugs. The irony is that, even then British and U.S. drug policy makers have made alcohol and tobacco legal, while marijuana and ecstasy are included in the list of illegal substances. Some previous studies, including the one conducted by the British parliamentary committee in 2006, had expressed concerns regarding the scientific rationale behind the country’s drug classification system.

While a majority of the experts are of the opinion that moving alcohol and tobacco to the illegal drugs list would be very challenging. They opine that the policy makers should review the penalty imposed for drug abuse and other such acts. They have to make them realize the actual risks and damages caused by substance abuse and this called for more informative education to make people aware of the risks associated with drugs and their use. Tobacco is the main causative factor of 40 percent of all illnesses, while alcohol constitutes more than 50 percent of all hospital emergency cases. These addictive substances are damaging to family relationships and to the society in various ways.

These findings will kick start a debate in the UK about how drugs including alcohol need to be regulated. Different countries have different criteria to classify dangerous drugs, but no country uses a system like that proposed by the Bristol University professors which has the potential to serve as a benchmark. Experts in other fields who are in no way connected to such research studies feel that this study is the true step towards creating an evidence-based classification system of various drugs. And, alcohol and tobacco cannot be excluded from the list, considering their bad influence on society.

PART 2 – www.youtube.com “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” (First Amendment to the Constitution, Bill of Rights) Genesis 1:29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you EVERY HERB BEARING SEED, WHICH IS UPON THE FACE OF ALL THE EARTH, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Congress has passed a law which prohibits the cultivation and possession of an HERB BEARING SEED, Cannabis, promised to mankind by GOD Himself, on the very first page of the Scriptures commonly referred to as the Holy Bible. Therefore, Cannabis Prohibition is a direct violation of the US Constitution, as well as the LAWS OF GOD. TIREDOFBEINGALIVE.COM
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