Review: Should ethanol be scheduled as a drug of high risk to public health? | Hacker News Reader

Review: Should ethanol be scheduled as a drug of high risk to public health?

journals.sagepub.com

2 points9wzYQbTYsAIc13 comments

> GHB was subsequently classified as a Class B1 drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act, that is, as a prohibited drug of high risk to public health. The dangerousness level of ethanol was found to be at least similar to that of GHB in this analysis.

Yes obviously. As society we have found out that prohibition currently works perfectly. As clearly we would be insane to continue doing it with other drugs. And we can't be that stupid as society right?

“This highlights a major discrepancy in public policy…”

Let me edit that for clarity -

‘This highlights the ludicrous invasive hypocrisy of current public policy.’

I'd sooner ban alcohol than marijuana, that's for sure.

Yeah, I’d be plenty happy seeing both alcohol and marijuana as scheduled iv or v drugs that you can just get a quick prescription for to alleviate stress, malaise, or what have you.

We tried that in the 1920s and got Al Capone and bathtub gin.

Scheduling is a bit different from a prohibition.

Scheduling means that you’d need to ask a doctor for a prescription for a case of beer, for example.

Just like certain kinds of cough syrup require a prescription.

During Prohibition, ethanol was also available by prescription for "medicinal" purposes. That was a great racket for doctors who could charge anyone who wanted a legal drink.

We already have a shortage of doctors. Doing something like this that would further increase their workload is flat out idiotic.

Also I think it would be crazy to write a prescription for alcohol where benzodiazepines have largely the same effect with less toxicity.

Yikes. You can't be serious?

I am. I have a friend who was an alcoholic (w/ anxiety to go with it) who got a stiff Rx for klonopin, he used to take them every day but he gradually reduced his dose and I think now he only takes them occasionally. He has been sober ever since.

My doc would say it is OK to substitute Valium for alcohol occasionally if you have social anxiety, I think a going to a party with a Valium enhances your fun much the way alcohol does. Used occasionally it is not any more dangerous than alcohol although it is potentially deadly to mix them with alcohol. Long-term they do inhibit learning and memory and also cause falls but so does alcohol and alcohol is bad for your liver, heart and other organs.

This is nuts. You don't understand what you're talking about from a medical perspective.

Care to explain from a psychiatric perspective why you characterize that as nuts?

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