Alcohol is often demonised by a wide variety of people. It's a common tactic in the UK to try boosting revenue and political capital by suggesting raising the minimum price of alcohol, allegedly to tackle problem drinking. And when the topic of drug legislation comes up, you'll invariably hear about how alcohol is worse than most other drugs. Many argue that it's hypocritical to criminalise something like cannabis when a much more dangerous drug like alcohol is freely available.
It's hard not to concede the logic of this argument. For my job I have to teach about substance abuse and addiction, a subject which for the UK could be renamed "Alcohol (plus guests)" and still be accurate. Friends who work and study in the field of substance abuse tell similar stories about the scale of alcohol abuse. How can such a dangerous substance be so common?
But could it be possible that alcohol is so dangerous precisely because it is so common? In the UK I'd bet more people are injured by Jack Russells than tigers, but I know which I'd rather encounter when out walking alone. So is it fair to compare alcohol unfavourably to other substances when there is so much more opportunity for alcohol to do harm?
Would alcohol still look so bad if opium dens were as common today as they were in Victorian fiction? If there was such a thing as Cheese and Crack parties? If it was traditional at Christmas to have a nice glass of orange juice and amphetamines? A "Bucks Whizz", if you will.
