Professor David Nutt, salve the former UK chief drugs adviser thinks that he has statistical evidence that alcohol is more harmful to society than heroin or crack cocaine! Nutt’s politically outrageous (but annoyingly scientifically sound) views about the relative dangers of various drugs got him fired by former home secretary, Alan Johnson from the Governments Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs last year. Now Nutt has simply gone too far.
Its empirical formula is C2H60. It’s certainly a chemical but is it a ‘drug’? Surely not. Surely all you boozers, barflies, alkies, dipsos, dredge-heads, dronkies, shickers, waste cases, winos and international piss artists aren’t drug addicts?
How could any of you heavy hitters, gin-soaks, rumheads, brandy-shunters, hop-heads, old soakers, grog artists, toss pots, beerheads, barstool jockeys, brew hounds, ale-knights and other aristocrats of the bottle be considered to be addicted to anything?
How dare anyone suggest that you lovely lushes from bag ladies to queens of Scotch are addicted to a drug? This country – and many others besides – would have an even more serious ‘drug problem’ if it irrationally counted every harmless drunkard as part of the enemy in our ongoing war on drugs ?
Calling all drinking class people drug addicts is a politically incorrect insult. Your beverage of choice is legal, socially acceptable and generates huge revenue for hard-pressed governments all over the world.
What’s wrong with that?
Cheers!
Legal Disclaimer: This post has been written in the spirit of Provocative Therapy, the cutting edge in the use of reverse psychology and humour in psychotherapy. Thus nothing above should be taken ‘seriously’. As Oscar Wilde put it: ‘Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it’.
So remember to DRINK RESPONSIBLY
Now watch Liz & Ed discuss the issue of alcohol the non-drug.
Doc,
That is funny stuff!
Nutt is likely correct, but many truths are hostile to having a job. He was probably wise with regard to not mentioning cigarettes at all. The latter causes more morbidity and mortality than alcohol. However, their political lobby is much more powerful and incoming state revenues from taxes is massive. Cut this and your lights won’t work.
If alcohol and cigarettes were outlawed, it would then allow non-corporate, private individuals to cash in on demand in the black market and ZERO taxes will be collected. There would also be other crimes.
When Prohibition (of alcohol) existed in the USA, Al Capone was elated. He said:”I, too, support Prohibition.” He made a fortune from alcohol, but died from syphilis. Drinkers should pay special attention to safe sex.
But lets get real.
Alcohol and tobacco will not be outlawed, and drugs like heroin, etc. will certainly not be legalized. Think of how many police and prison guards will be out of work. An industry has been built on this foundation. In USA-USA, most prison space is privately owned by corporations, and they have a strong lobby. The ticker symbol of the largest provider is CXW (NYSE) and it has gone up almost 150% in the last year. Over 50% of inmates are drug offenders. Big business, pal! The CEO makes a base salary of >$700,000 per year.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=CXW
Fortunes are also made by investing in stocks of companies that monopolize these arenas. Philip Morris International (PM) is currently at all-time highs and pays a 5% dividend. It is arguably a near-perfect stock, given the nature of demand and its dominance in supply. Also, non-Americans don’t sue (PM supplies tobacco products, e.g., Marlboro, ex-USA).
Altria (MO), its USA affiliate (renamed from Philip Morris USA, because lawyers and marketers say the sheeple are less likely to make ‘naughty’ associations) is also at all-time highs and pays a dividend of 5%. The CEO’s base salary exceeds $4,000,000 per year. He probably smokes and possibly has money stashed away for a lung transplant (not insured), so he can push on with the habit, in case his current airbags fail to deploy.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=CXW
British American Tobacco (BTI) is approaching all-time highs, too (also pays a 5% dividend).
Budweiser (BUD) is about 3 dollars off its all-time high.
There is more detailed information about alcohol stocks here:
http://www.tickerspy.com/index/Alcohol-Stocks
Many people simply invest in a mutual fund (VICEX) that focuses on ‘sin stocks’. This achieves diversification and negates the homework and risk associated with individual companies. It is a bull performer and has outrun the major indices.
The science of investing; balance sheet analysis, returns on investment, etc., is very much alive and, for those who choose to smoke and/or drink, the stock market can help pay for the well-taxed pastimes. Even if you don’t indulge, it can pick up other expenses, such as a week in Vegas (legalized gambling and medically-certified prostitution, just outside Vegas).
There is ALWAYS a bright side, Doc. Liz should recognize this, stop being so righteous, and move her money out of <1% savings accounts (which I bet she has), into the arena of big bux! The 'sin stocks' do particularly well in depressions, such as now.
Looks like she needs to get laid, too….imho.
Keep up the good work!
Warm Regards from The Empire!
Fritz Kabongo MD
DISCLAIMER: This is definitely NOT investment or ANY other advice. You will likely lose everything under several circumstances, especially if politicians suddenly decided to legislate in favor of truth (tainted, of course, by Original Sin). Consult your broker, banker, lawyer, astrologer, spouse and accountant, before planning for anything.
Goodness Gracious Me! I thought you were joking Kabongo so I looked up VICEX and there it was ‘The Vice Fund’. And now you advise Liz to invest? It’s certainly a possibility. The markets don’t lie, it seems.
@Drs.Kaplan & Kabongo,
Great Revelations and congratulations! Shades of Socrates and his wise paradox rhetoric. Thanks to Dr.Kaplan for initiating the spirit of provocative therapy standing up for truth against alchoholism and Dr.Kabongo for narrating the diverse investments in the Land of Promise&Plenty of thruthful use even of sinful abuse. The spirit of alchohol is brewd up in dark cellars and being taken up into light is gulped into darkness down the gullets.It’s temporary investment to lighten up a depressed spirit makes the genius of a Milton lose his Paradise.
With no disclaimer to my appointed freedom and with warm regards to both–Sastry.M
Thus spake our resident philosopher.
If alcohol were banned, then there’d be far less binge drinking and our teenagers would have nothing to do when on holiday in Greece or Spain. Or on a Saturday night, for that matter. Think of the kids!
I don’t think that banning alcohol will help particularly. Always remember that Al Capone and all the other mafia bosses were outspoken supporters of Prohibition.
@Dr.Kaplan-Thanking you belatedly as a resident philosopher I always feel that ego seeks to stay erect and overcome obstacles while mind always goes astray with incoherent and random musings given the creative human freedom of choice over actions.If ego is beset with a spirit of righteousness no randomness can deviate it from its linear path and the feed back of correction is immediate at any point of inflected deviation of wrong doing. Such are the sages,rishis and mahatmas who set examples to common laity with their exemplary traits of living. However the energies of ego are entropied into randomness as a necessity of creative requirement to maintain an average distribution under the shade of Gauss’ bell shaped curve to maintain equal probabilities in the physical world. Hence an ego with no purpose to know the real definition of human existence gets carried away by virtual musings of the mind wasting energies in an inchorent manner and accentuated at times with an emotional resonance of harmful conviction. Thus a strong ego- willed personality like Al Capone and other mafia bosses may posses a virtue negating the need of alcoholic drinks but still posses no definition of human purpose although supporting prohibition but enjoying their egoistic vagaries inflicting in harmful ways. The general public who are meek and submissive rely upon spiritous liquors to bemuse themselves with a strength of joy in a created virtual environment and retun to their random sorrows when the spell is excreted. It is then that a sage named Jesus beckoned to train them to seek the peace coherently within themselves from the burden of sorrows of daily life and find the stright path of righteous living.
@Dr.Kaplan-Thanking you belatedly as a resident philosopher I always feel that ego seeks to stay erect and overcome obstacles while mind always goes astray with incoherent and random musings given the creative human freedom of choice over actions.If ego is beset with a spirit of righteousness no randomness can deviate it from its linear path and the feed back of correction is immediate at any point of inflected deviation of wrong doing. Such are the sages,rishis and mahatmas who set examples to common laity with their exemplary traits of living. However the energies of ego are entropied into randomness as a necessity of creative requirement to maintain an average distribution under the shade of Gauss’ bell shaped curve to maintain equal probabilities in the physical world. Hence an ego with no purpose to know the real definition of human existence gets carried away by virtual musings of the mind wasting energies in an inchorent manner and accentuated at times with an emotional resonance of harmful conviction. Thus a strong ego- willed personality like Al Capone and other mafia bosses may posses a virtue negating the need of alcoholic drinks but still posses no definition of human purpose although supporting prohibition but enjoying their egoistic vagaries inflicting in harmful ways. The general public who are meek and submissive rely upon spiritous liquors to bemuse themselves with a strength of joy in a created virtual environment and retun to their random sorrows when the spell is excreted. It is then that a sage named Jesus beckoned to train them to seek the peace coherently within themselves from the burden of sorrows of daily life and find the right path of righteous living.