Consequences of Prohibition
Drug War Issues
Did you know that the harmfulness of a drug can be rated with at least 16 different criteria? Read the details in "Ranking 20 Drugs and Alcohol by Overall Harm," on the web site medicalmarijuana.procon.org, part of the ProCon.org family.
This is the second in a six-part series of ProCon.org teasers being published in Drug War Chronicle. Keep tuning in to the Chronicle for more important facts from ProCon.org the next several weeks, or sign up for ProCon.org's email list or RSS feed. Read last week's Chronicle ProCon.org piece here.
ProCon.org is a web site promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan primarily pro-con format.
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Comments
Overall harm?
Pretty charts, but little help in deciding public policy. It is impossible to separate the harm caused by the drug itself from the harm caused by it's prohibition.
little help?
I love to drink but any sensible drinker knows the harms risk and takes it into account.
"...little help in deciding public policy..." I don't agree, if there is any harm caused by prohibition we should get rid of it. We still recall the harm caused by alcohol prohibition and, thus, tolerate the harms caused by alcohol. The chart clearly shows that the harms caused by prohibition far outweighs the harms caused by the drugs themselves.
Sorry, I don't trust these
Sorry, I don't trust these guys since they rated Meth use as less harmful to others than Cannabis. And, how is huffing Butane, stacking steroids, or consuming Methadone a better health choice to Cannabis? Plus they spelled Methamphetamine and Amphetamine wrong.
Most of the drugs they rated as more harmful than Cannabis will cause much more health problems Upon regular usage than Cannabis. There is absolutely no way that I would consume Benzodiazepines, Ketamine, Metadone, Butane, Mephedrone, Khat, Steroids, Ecstacy, LSD, Mushrooms, or Buprenorphine multiple times a day- Cannabis is a different story.
About that chart in one word
BULLSHIT
Statistics
Lies, damned lies, statistics.
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