BBC Britains Most Dangerous Drugs

[Bsiren]

EXCELLENT special, MDMA is mentioned in this section, listed as the least dangerous illegal drug: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR3gIuWYnQo&feature=&p=2F5BAF485D9FF54E&index=0&playnext=1

 

[Bearlove]

Alcohol is (IMHO) the most dangerous drug in britain - I would imagine if you put all the party/hard drug statistics up against it, alcohol would win hands down.

Addicts, deaths, cost to the state etc

 

[junkie skumbag]

i totally agree with you there bear ive seen soooooo much bad shit happen (lost my step mum to alcoholism) when people are piss.but if they were on MDMA it would be a totally diffrent story.....

 

[rickolasnice]

Alcohol is (IMHO) the most dangerous drug in britain - I would imagine if you put all the party/hard drug statistics up against it, alcohol would win hands down.

Addicts, deaths, cost to the state etc

It's true. Can't remember the stats but alcohol costs and causes like 100 times more problems than all other drugs put together. (minus probably nicotine)

 

[Bearlove]

It's true. Can't remember the stats but alcohol costs and causes like 100 times more problems than all other drugs put together. (minus probably nicotine)

I think with nicotine you really only have the health issues - with alcohol its the fights, accidents that go with it.

Problem in the UK is the binge culture 'why have one pint, when you can have 10' mentality and the very cheap and competitive pub prices. Buying a treble spirit is sometimes cheaper than buying a single or buy two glasses of wine and get the bottle free etc.

Add to that happy hours where pubs do buy one get one free, or all drinks half price and you normally have a very drunken crowd.

When I've been in the US the bars are quite spaced out but in the UK most city centers have a load of bars all next to each other all fighting for business.

 

[rickolasnice]

^ Aye + the super strength cider you can get for 60p a can (500ml)..

I used to drink alot of White Star (super strength white cider) and within a month or so i could feel it rotting my inside.. always felt sick etc.. those white ciders are lethal. I now drink stronger cider but obviously better quality (K cider.. 8.4% oh yeah ) and no longer have those issues.

By the way.. I'm not an alcohol! I swear!

 

[rickolasnice]

This is all for UK..

However, smoking is the largest single cause of
preventable illness and premature death in the UK. It kills 106,000
people every year and costs the British taxpayer more than -L-1.7billion a
year in treatment bills alone. It causes 84 per cent of deaths from lung
cancer and 83 per cent of deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease,
including bronchitis.

Wonder how much the government MAKES from smokers, though?

Binge drinking apparently costs 2.7 billion a year.. and i don't think that's even including long term alcoholics NHS fees?

So.. drinking costs more, smoking kills more

Facts and Figures

Either on its own or in conjunction with other factors, alcohol is estimated to be responsible for at least 33,000 deaths in the UK each year.(1)

In Great Britain, just under a third of men (31%) and one in five women (20%) drink more than the advised weekly limits of 21 and 14 units a week respectively. Some 8% of men and 2% of women drink more than the levels regarded as harmful, namely 50 and 35 units a week respectively. (2)

More than one in 25 adults are dependent on alcohol, and the UK has one of the highest rates of binge drinking in Europe (3)(4)

An estimated 17 million working days are lost each year due to people missing work due to the effects of alcohol. (5)

Around 6% of road casualties and 17% of all deaths on the road occur when someone has been drinking over the legal limit. (6)

In young adults, binge drinking is also associated with a range of risky behaviours, including a higher risk of contracting a sexually transmitted illness.(7)

The harmful effects of drinking are almost entirely related to the alcohol content of what you drink, not the type of drink. In other words, beers are no safer than spirits. What matters is how much you drink.

The alcohol content of drinks is measured in ‘units’. Each unit is equivalent to around 10mls or 8g of pure alcohol (ethanol). The number of units in any drink is related to the strength of the alcohol content (the concentration) and to the volume of the drink.

For example, a single (35ml) shot of spirits contains roughly the same amount of alcohol as a small (125ml) glass of wine. This is about the same amount of alcohol (1.4 units) as is contained in a half pint of normal strength beer.