Can we stop saying “drugs and alcohol?”

It's surprising how many people do not realize that alcohol is a drug. For most of my life I never realized alcohol was a drug, and certainly not one on par with cocaine. We need to stop separating them as “drugs and alcohol.” It's so stupid! Alcohol is a drug, and don’t give me that “legal” bullshit. We don’t say “drugs and aspirin.” It's fucking redundant! It's like saying milkshakes and vanilla milkshakes! Our society has a huge misperception on alcohol and drugs. If the DEA was not so heavily lobbied, then according to their standards, alcohol should be illegal on the same level as cocaine. But that does not mean alcohol (or cocaine) should be illegal, it just means that our current system is fucked.

Alcohol is a Drug

There is a belief ingrained into our society that alcohol is distinct in some way to other “ickier” drugs. In fact, many people I've talked to are surprised to hear that alcohol is a drug in the first place.

Alcoholic contains the drug ethanol. Ethanol is a depressant and one of the most used recreational drugs in the world.

DEA Standards: Alcohol Should Be Illegal

The DEA sets standards for drugs in the US. If the DEA stayed true to their legislation, where would alcohol be placed on their drug schedule? There are 5 classes of drugs, where schedule 1 contains the most harmful drugs and schedule 5 contains the least harmful drugs relative to those in other schedules. Schedule 1 drugs are illegal in the US for recreational use.

Schedule 1 Drugs

1. Dangerous/addictive: high potential for abuse
2. No accepted medical use
3. Cannot be used safely under medical supervision

Take a look at alcohol: what the fuck is the medical use? (Helping us handle Christmas dinner doesn't count :D) Other than rare medical applications, alcoholic beverages have no medical use. Further, alcohol is highly dangerous compared to other drugs. It causes cancer and liver damage, the overdose amount is only 10x the effective dose (worse than cocaine), it causes poor decision-making while under the influence, and is addictive.

According to current DEA legislation, alcohol should be illegal. However, it would be schedule II rather than schedule I because it can be used safely under supervision. Schedule II substances are dangerous, have a high potential for abuse, and have limited medical use.

Alcohol Should Be Legal—And So Should Cocaine

Saying “No to Drugs” means saying yes to legalizing drugs

When there are obvious contradictions within law, corruption may be at play. Alcohol lobbyists made sure that the DEA did not impact their business. This is one reason why marijuana and other psychedelics are illegal (federally) and are schedule I drugs.

Why should drugs be legal? The black market leaves areas impoverished from the violence it creates, which turn away businesses. Poverty creates more drug use because addiction is caused more by bad situations than the drugs themselves. This is why people can get addicted to food or do not get addicted to pain relievers in surgery even though the opiates used are chemically close to heroin. The black market also sells impure substances. Impure substances cause overdoses because users cannot gauge the size of their doses. Given the violence that the black market creates and the impure substances that come from this market, most or all drugs should be legal so that less drug users and drugs will be safer. Further, when drugs are legal, more users will go to rehabilitation programs and more research on the drugs will take place.

I will talk about these topics in future posts.

Drug-truth out!

Learn More: Shrooms for Depression

TL;DR

1. Do not say “drugs and alcohol”
2. Alcohol is a dangerous drug
3. If the DEA was consistent (and not corrupt), alcohol would be an illegal schedule II drug
4. If the DEA was smart (and not corrupt), drugs such as cocaine and cannabis should be legal as alcohol is legal

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