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Comment by CadellFastro | Hacker News Reader

What percentage of Americans even know that alcohol is a drug? As a Wisconsin native, I've seen first hand the toxic culture surrounding drinking in America, including having a relative die of alcoholism. Still, we don't seem to look at it like other drugs, even though it ruins lives just as effectively as something like heroin.

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There are many drugs with many different properties. Some are medicinal, some are addictive, some are illegal, etc. They all effect people in varying negative and positive ways. The word "drugs" typically has a negative connotation since people tend to use the term "drugs" to refer to "illegal drugs". You don't really hear people calling "medicinal drugs" just "drugs"; well at least in everyday conversation.

Legal drugs are usually pushed by huge corporations with big budgets. They have heavy marketing and a lot of advertising that manipulates public opinion. All of this advertising of course portrays the "drug" in a positive way. You don't ever hear the word "drug" used in alcohol or pharmaceutical commercials.

Also, whenever a study comes out saying anything good about alcohol the media picks it up since that's what people like to hear. I'm not sure I've ever seen the news feature a study on the negative effects of alcohol. Another reason the media may focus on positive stories is that big alcohol is such a huge customer.

Any advertisement mentioning illegal drugs portrays them in a negative way since they are put out by groups that are against the drug since you can't promote a product that's illegal. So in conclusion, it's because alcohol is legal and the loads of advertising that give people such a positive view of alcohol.

Narcotics Anonymous was founded largely due to Alcoholics Anonymous treating alcohol as different from other drugs. That cultural delineation exists to this day. I'd ask... what percentage of patients and workers in addiction recovery agree with the assertion that alcohol is a drug?

Curious abut the Wisconsin specificness you added. Does WI have a larger percentage of alcoholics than other places?

Yes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/05/29/wisco...

I'd like to see a study on alcohol addiction that shows that all or some specific alcoholic drinks are as addictive as heroin.

The comment said that it ruins lives just as effectively, not that it's as addictive.

Two things don't need to be equally strong or powerful to each get the job done.

That's an interesting distinction. Many people drink in moderation quite successfully without ever being addicted and without ruining their life. How many people successfully maintain a moderate heroin habit?

The distinction, at least to me, comes from the fact that alcohol is more prevalent, and even though the rate of addiction may be lower, still harms more lives given the much larger population of people who consume alcohol.

That is exactly my point. Additionally, if you do want to look at things statistically, alcoholism is far more prevalent, at least in the United States, than heroin. In terms of raw number, alcoholism affects are larger range of people and arguably therefore destroys more lives.

That's hardly a correct comparison. Alcohol is far more readily available and accepted than heroin.

Hence, if you consider the effect on the entire using population, alcohol has a greater potential for damage considering its greater availability. Heroin is a bomb. Alcohol is fireworks. One is legal, and arguably less dangerous, but there are far more fireworks injuries in the ER than bomb injuries.

"addictive" is not exactly the same as "effectively ruins lives". cigarettes are highly addictive, but they don't really ruin people's lives in the same way as alcohol/heroin.

Not about addictiveness, but about overall social harm: alcohol beats out heroin.

> MCDA modelling showed that heroin, crack cocaine, and metamfetamine were the most harmful drugs to individuals (part scores 34, 37, and 32, respectively), whereas alcohol, heroin, and crack cocaine were the most harmful to others (46, 21, and 17, respectively). Overall, alcohol was the most harmful drug (overall harm score 72), with heroin (55) and crack cocaine (54) in second and third places.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6...

Of the myriad drugs I've taken, alcohol is the least deserving of ready availability IMO. I suspect that if it were invented post 1950, and not so ancient and ingrained in our culture, there's no way we would let people buy the stuff.

Depends on the definition. E.g. alcohol withdrawal can kill you, heroin withdrawal can't.

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