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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Behind enemy (head)lines: The real point of drug-hazards study is NOT pot safety






The argument over which is safer misses the point.
scottchan, FreeDigitalPhotos, used with permission

An accurate headline for the widely circulated Feb. 23 Scientific Reports study showing comparative risks of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other illicit drugs would read 'Yes, alcohol really is that dangerous.' However, the material of the study has instead become cannon fodder for those who wish to see marijuana legalized. Which wasn't the point of the effort.
The other drugs involved in the study were heroin, cocaine, tobacco, ecstasy, and methamphetamine. Only the danger of the substance was used to determine their findings. Researchers did not take any other factors into account. “Much of the harm from drug use is not inherently related to consumption, but is heavily influenced by the environmental conditions of drug use,” the researchers stated in their study.
The narrative of the study aims to give a relative probability of dying from ANY of the drugs. According to the book, Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, quantitatively, alcohol is the third leading cause of preventable death and illness in the United States, claiming at least 89,000 deaths a year, and by the author's estimate, the number is significantly underexaggerated. Qualitatively, it causes more than 60 diseases aside from the disease of alcoholism. It creates complications for more than 200 different medical conditions from osteoarthritis to the common cold.
The new study does not reveal new information about how lethal the toxin and known carcinogen, alcohol, can be to otherwise healthy human tissue. Alcohol – and its metabolite, acetaldehyde (30 times more volatile than alcohol) – is the most dangerous drug, illicit or otherwise. The study merely announces the fact that the dangers of alcohol are exponentially higher than the dangers of marijuana, not that marijuana is safe, as pro-cannabis forces would claim.
A rattlesnake's venom is less toxic than an Inland Taipan's. So, which would you like to bite you today? It may be a good thing that meth users aren't as well financed, otherwise we would see a headline from the tweakers that 'Meth is safer than alcohol' as a conclusion to the study.
When the dialogue has digressed to the point of comparing one drug's safety to another, the conversation is akin to choosing on which side of the Titanic to place a deck chair. Where the research falls short of being a true call to expand legalization of marijuana, it should instead serve as a warning that the status-quo of alcohol policy may need to be addressed.
Pro-cannabis and pro-alcohol forces both miss the forest by bumping into trees like this study...  another cliche, but sometimes the cliches get it right. When you take the emotion out of the dialogue and stick to evidence-based -- not observational -- studies, the overwhelming preoponderance of research, including the new study, shows neither drug extends life or improves health.

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of CBS Sports' Power Up Your Health featuring Scott Stevens.  Host Ed Forteau led a discussion on the health risks and myths of health benefits of drinking.  Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  Download the FREE Alcohology app in the Google PlayStore today.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Physical withdrawal from alcohol in The Sobriety :60+



It's the only drug withdrawal other than benzodiazepines that can kill a person. Find out the physical symptoms on YouTube  or read the transcript.

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of CBS Sports' Power Up Your Health featuring Scott Stevens.  Host Ed Forteau led a discussion on the health risks and myths of health benefits of drinking.  Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  Download the FREE Alcohology app in the Google PlayStore today.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Alcoholism screening examined in The Sobriety :60+ episode 28


There are tests for alcoholism, the only price is a willingness to be truthful and accept the results most people around an alcoholic already knew.  The video is on YouTube or read the transcript.

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of CBS Sports' Power Up Your Health featuring Scott Stevens.  Host Ed Forteau led a discussion on the health risks and myths of health benefits of drinking.  Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  Download the FREE Alcohology app in the Google PlayStore today.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

The Sobriety :60+ connects slow-to-heal injuries and alcohol use


Binge drinkers and patients who also have the disease of alcoholism combined with surgical-site infections are hospitalized for twice as long, have a higher rate of re-admission and are twice as likely to die as patients who did not binge drink. Read the transcript or share the YouTube video segment.

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of CBS Sports' Power Up Your Health featuring Scott Stevens.  Host Ed Forteau led a discussion on the health risks and myths of health benefits of drinking.  Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  Download the FREE Alcohology app in the Google PlayStore today.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

The Sobriety :60+ #26 explains Adult Children of Alcoholics



Episode #26 -- our half-year milepost -- looks at how our drinking changes little lives when they're all grown up. Read the transcript at  or catch it on YouTube.

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of CBS Sports' Power Up Your Health featuring Scott Stevens.  Host Ed Forteau led a discussion on the health risks and myths of health benefits of drinking.  Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  Download the FREE Alcohology app in the Google PlayStore today.