Over-the-counter drugs, too, kill an estimated 40,000 people a year, with the worst deaths caused by gastrointestinal bleeding from painkillers. But public safety is not the mission of the DEA. Their mission is to gain power and, in the process, incarcerate as many people as possible, regardless of whether those people "deserve" to be jailed. As the WHO says, alcohol and tobacco are far more dangerous than even crack cocaine and heroin. Maybe the DEA will start arresting anyone drinking a beer, too.
BRASILIA, Brazil - The health threat from legal drugs like alcohol and
tobacco is much greater than that from illegal narcotics, the World
Health Organization said Thursday.
The first report of its kind by the global body found that dependence
on alcohol and cigarettes has a much greater cost for societies than
illegal drugs like cocaine and crack.
The Neuroscience of Psychoactive Substance Use and Dependence report
said that drug addiction is a growing problem, especially in poor
countries that have rising rates of alcohol consumption and smoking.
"Like major psychiatric disorders, substance dependence may not be
curable but improved effectiveness of available treatment has
contributed significantly to recovery," said Dr. Catherine Le
Gales-Camus, assistant-director general of noncommunicable diseases and
mental health at WHO.