EPTThe Price of a Human Life in Terms of Alcohol - Page 11
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MangoTango
United States3670 Posts
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SlayerS_BunkiE
Canada1717 Posts
and people will never allow it. i don't drink. i don't smoke. but i would never cast any kind of vote to ban them entirely. imo drunk drivers should just be punished a lot more. | ||
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Ziktomini
United Kingdom377 Posts
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resilve
United Kingdom678 Posts
The vast majority (read: nearly all) of fatalities that have alcohol as a main factor are due to someone breaking the law. That is why we have laws - so we can safely use alcohol. If you get in your car drunk and mow down a row of people it is the illegal activity of driving while drunk, not the legal activity of drinking that is the issue. There are legal restrictions that are very stringent on alcohol, such as age/volume/locational limitations, but doing something illegal once drunk and causing a death is due to your illegal action, not the alcohol. We all know that drink-driving, or selling alcohol to a 12 year old is illegal, because it can easily result in a death - that is why they are against the law. Partaking in those actions is what needs to be avoided, not removing alcohol from the equation. Surely, people breaking the law is what causes alcohol-related deaths, not alcohol that is used legally. If you drink alcohol and then act within the law, you will cause no harm to yourself or others. If you act outside the law you will likely cause harm to yourself and others - but since when is that not the case, and why is alcohol special? | ||
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GurZtly
Austria148 Posts
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DuckS
United States845 Posts
On June 16 2011 15:30 MangoTango wrote: Pretty sure we in the US tried this once. It didn't work out too well. This was pretty much my first thought as well. Theoretically, it wouldn't end well - look at prohibition. Alcohol doesn't make you do anything, it's the person drinking, and their self control. | ||
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DuckS
United States845 Posts
On June 17 2011 02:00 GurZtly wrote: Alcohol is legal... but why is weed illegal? I mean think, in the end, they are very similar drugs. Yeah i love my beer and i´m not a weed smoker, but it´s unfair in some kind, is´nt it? Also, how the hell is weed relevant ._. EDIT: sorry for double posting, TL mobile is a bitch to use ^^. | ||
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Randomaccount#77123
United States5003 Posts
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Greggle
United States1131 Posts
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Krehlmar
Sweden1149 Posts
Stupid topic, stupid people will always be stupid, it's a proven fact that alcohol doesn't turn you into someone you are not... you're just that bad person deep inside and need to come to terms with that problem and work it out, banning alcohol isn't how to stop people from being violent. Really really stupid topic. | ||
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Serelitz
Netherlands2895 Posts
But that's the point - not drinking doesn't cause less deaths, only your potential own. As long as you drink responsibly I really don't see the point in this. | ||
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strength
United States493 Posts
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OldBamboo
United States42 Posts
It's a false premise. Even if it were possible for all Americans to come together and say, "Yes, we will abstain from alcohol" you would just see different kinds of deaths. People are idiots, and they consistently make poor choices. If the choice to drive and drink is removed, they'll make another poor choice. If you want to know if I would cease to participate in [activity x] in order to save lives, then the answer to that question is yes. You just can't successfully argue that banning alcohol is a good solution, and you also have the weight of history against you. If you want to end drunk driving, here's a way to do it: http://www.freakonomics.com/2010/07/13/last-call-for-drunk-driving-posts/ | ||
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Tachyon
Denmark146 Posts
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Eppa!
Sweden4641 Posts
On June 17 2011 02:30 Barrin wrote: ... They're not very similar at all other than the fact they they are both mind-altering. How many people die because of alcohol every year? How many people die because of marijuana every year? How many people get diagnosed with serious long-term illnesses from alcohol every year? How many people get diagnosed with serious long-term illnesses from marijuana every year? How many families are ruined/scarred because of alcohol-influenced violence/abuse every year? How many families are ruined/scarred because of marijuana-influenced violence/abuse every year? How many babies are born with deformities because of alcohol every year? How many babies are born with deformities because of marijuana every year? I could keep going, but I shouldn't have to, because on every count alcohol is waaaaaay worse than marijuana. I shouldn't have to cite this because at this point it's actually common knowledge. One can argue that there are more alcohol-users than marijuana-users, and I guess that's probably true, but if you then take these same questions in terms of percentage of users, the story is pretty much the same. Because when compared to alcohol, the fact that it is illegal is utterly ridiculous. How the hell isn't it relevant? Because Laws are not based on what is the most healthy, tobacco is poison its allowed because of culture. | ||
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Schnake
Germany2819 Posts
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Sephy90
United States1785 Posts
On June 17 2011 03:50 Tachyon wrote: You can get a license at 16, die for your country at 18, but not drink alcohol until 21. I think the problem is with your laws, not with alcohol. Starting at such a late age with no experience will lead to these kinds of problems, plus the fact that 16-year olds should never be allowed to drive in the first place. Look to other western countries, compare statistics, and think about why they're different. Make appropriate action based on these thoughts. With alcohol, experience is the key. I heard a while back somewhere that they wanted to reduce the drinking age to 18 because people would drink more responsibly at a younger age or something like that. Has anyone heard of this also? I wanted to bring this up and see what you guys think about it. I want to bring a little more discussion to this matter because I love TL hehehehe. | ||
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CowMoo
United States45 Posts
And like other posters have said, Germany has it right. Almost nobody dies there because the government actually maintains the roads, and people don't drink and drive for cultural reasons. We need to try and achieve this with drunk driving education in schools and on tv. It could also be a to introduce kids to alcohol at an even younger age, 16 or so. (German teenagers are allowed to drink watered-down alcohol, e.g. half beer/lemonade, in restaurants if they are with their parents.) In terms of technology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignition_interlock_device Ford has already presented some ideas about outfitting cars with this, and I believe legislation was introduced to Congress about a year ago that would make these mandatory by somewhere around 2015 (don't believe it passed.) I'm sure that the NHTSA is already well on its way to researching these however. | ||
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SpearWrit
United States300 Posts
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KomradeKevin
United States88 Posts
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