Alcohol More Lethal Than Hard Drugs

When I think of the most lethal drugs to stay away from, cocaine, heroin and meth automatically pop in my mind. They’re highly addictive, easily detrimental to your health and not to mention illegal. In a recent London study, these drugs definitely made the list, but didn’t rank as high in their all-around lethalness as something millions of Americans are much more familiar with: alcohol.

According to the study, British experts took substances like alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy, heroin and marijuana and ranked them based on how destructive they are to the person using them and to society as a whole, reported The Washington Post. Analyzing their addictiveness, how they harm the body, damage families and affect economic costs like health care and social services, among other things, was some of the criteria the study researched.

The study didn’t dismiss that harder drugs like crack-cocaine and crystal meth are the most lethal to individuals, but when taking into account the wider social effects, alcohol was number one. Marijuana, ecstasy and LSD scored far lower. I’m definitely inclined to believe much of this report because even though I haven’t dabbled in the harsh drugs, I have had or do drink alcohol. I also know far more people that drink than do some other of the other substances on the list.

In my younger days I’ve seen how far the devastating effects of utter intoxication can go. Bar fights, car accidents, regretful decisions, irrational decisions and much more. I’m not exempt from ever having one too many and regretting it the next day, but luckily it has never gotten me into trouble I would regret for the rest of my life. I also agree with the reasoning behind why experts believe alcohol scored so high. Because its consequences impact drinkers along with those around them.

I’m interested to see what type of response this research study ignites. Will it be received as a common sense conclusion and slide in and out of the minds of the public? Or will it rattle readers into understanding just how dangerous alcohol abuse really is when given a place in the spectrum of lethal drugs? The article mentioned the impracticality of veering back to the days of prohibition to help keep people safe, which is true. Alcohol is too wide spread in our culture to ban it now. I do wonder if this type of research will influence the way government officials choose to qualify substances and the punishments associated with their abuse too. With alcohol ranking number one in over all lethalness, I’d think it would demand some government attention.