Originally published May 3 2004
World Health Organization says alcohol and tobacco are far more
dangerous to public health than illegal drugs
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The World Health Organization says legal drugs -- alcohol and tobacco --
pose a far greater threat to public health than illegal drugs. Yet in
the United States, the ill-fated War on Drugs continues, imprisoning
hundreds of thousands of Americans for victimless crimes. If the War on
Drugs were really concerned about public health and not just political
power, it would focus on educating people to avoid alcohol and tobacco,
not to mention highly toxic prescription drugs (which kill 100,000
people each year, even when taken as directed). 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.
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