I’m not going to turn this blog into a screed against alcohol, but a major new study makes a point that buttresses my earlier post. From the Associated Press:
Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study.
British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.
Researchers analyzed how addictive a drug is and how it harms the human body, in addition to other criteria like environmental damage caused by the drug, its role in breaking up families and its economic costs, such as health care, social services, and prison.
Heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine, or crystal meth, were the most lethal to individuals. When considering their wider social effects, alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine were the deadliest. But overall, alcohol outranked all other substances, followed by heroin and crack cocaine. Marijuana, ecstasy and LSD scored far lower.
The study was paid for by Britain’s Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and was published online Monday in the medical journal, Lancet.
Experts said alcohol scored so high because it is so widely used and has devastating consequences not only for drinkers but for those around them.
"Just think about what happens (with alcohol) at every football game," said Wim van den Brink, a professor of psychiatry and addiction at the University of Amsterdam. He was not linked to the study and co-authored a commentary in the Lancet.
When drunk in excess, alcohol damages nearly all organ systems. It is also connected to higher death rates and is involved in a greater percentage of crime than most other drugs, including heroin.
But experts said it would be impractical and incorrect to outlaw alcohol.
"We cannot return to the days of prohibition," said Leslie King, an adviser to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and one of the study’s authors. "Alcohol is too embedded in our culture and it won’t go away."
The article continues, but they ‘ve made the point that the reason alcohol should not be outlawed is not because of its destructive nature, but because it could not be enforced. We outlaw heroin because it can be enforced (?), but we shouldn’t outlaw alcohol because that couldn’t be enforced. But if this study is accurate, how do we justify drinking ourselves? Can we say, “I can’t restrict my God-given freedom because I just can’t stop myself”? Should we say, “My freedom is more important than the damage drinking could do to my body, my family, and my church”?
Ok, that’s all I plan to say here about this subject for the next ten years or so.
I love the voice that is unafraid to speak truth in a culture that despises truth and has so little concern for living in a manner that is pleasing to our great God and Savior. And that within the church. We have so embraced in the church that “accepting Jesus” is all that is necessary. We don’t need to deeply imbibe His Word and our lifestyles are our business. Which means the church looks amazingly like the God-hating world. In contrast, God is all about believers living in a manner that denies ungodliness and worldly desires, and living sensibly, righteously, and godly in this present age. The chosen of God have been set apart for Him and our lives should make that clear to the world and glorify the One who has imparted to us His very own righteousness. Thanks, Todd.