McGill Tribune

Crack cocaine smiled euphorically. Heroin snorted from nervous laughter. Alcohol slugged and slurred. Standing under the blinding floodlights of the stage, all three finalists joined shaking hands and braced for the moment of truth. Who will claim the title of “the worst drug in the world?”

Last week, Dr. David Nutt and his colleagues published the results of a study which aimed to categorically assess the harms caused by the misuse of drugs in the United Kingdom. They sought to determine the harmful impact of 20 different drugs by scoring them out of 100 on a variety of perceived harms posed either to the individual (e.g. drug-specific death, damage to health) or society (e.g. crime, economic cost). One hundred indicated the most harm possible, and zero indicated none.

Each drug received three scores: one for “harm to users,” one for the “harm to others,” and an overall sum.

Hushing the anxious crowd to pin-drop silence, a booming voice finally announced the winner. “Alcohol!”

Rising to their feet, the judges nodded at each other with hasty approval. It was hardly a contest. With a score of 72, alcohol didn’t just surpass its competitors, it humiliated them. Heroin and crack cocaine, who scored 55 and 54 respectively, ducked their heads down and stepped forward to claim silver and bronze. (Magic mushrooms came in last, with a score of 6.)

According to this study, alcohol causes more harm to a person than 16 other drugs, and more harm to society than almost all the other 19 drugs combined. Alcohol is the only drug that poses more harm to society than to the individual who consumes it. Alcohol, which is sold virtually unrestricted to anyone above the age of 18 in our province, poses up to 50 times more harm to others than at least 10 illegal drugs, including LSD, ecstasy, anabolic steroids, mushrooms, and ketamine.

To me, this suggests either an illiterate government or a government that legitimizes drugs based on reasons beyond the facts.

The reason is quite simple: Canadians love drinking.

In 2004, 80 per cent of Canadians reported to have consumed alcohol within that year. Unless our government is prepared to anger four out of five Canadians and sober them up to the inadequacy of their politics, they’re better off looking the other way. After the dismal failure of the 1920s Prohibition, lawmakers learned that legislation is a powerless tool to manipulate drug abusers. In fact, it likely encourages the opposite result. Thus, any sincere effort to reduce drinking amongst Canadians must rely on the ancient wisdom of conviction without compulsion.

You know the facts: alcohol has been linked to mouth cancer, breast cancer, bowel cancer, oesophageal cancer, pharyngeal cancer, laryngeal cancer, and liver cancer. Alcohol has been correlated with various types of cognitive impairments, including dementia. Alcohol has fanned the flames of domestic abuse, it has destroyed millions of relationships, and it has single-handedly created “drunk driving.” Above all, alcohol tastes plain awful. Yet you, or someone you know well, will drink tonight anyway.

We can certainly talk about drinking “moderately” (an undefined term) and the fact that some health benefits have been shown in lighter drinkers. But these benefits are easily obtained from other sources without the accompanying harms of alcohol. And while some people may have an unfaltering self-discipline and an unassailable immunity to peer pressure, it’s safe to say that the overwhelming majority of drinkers don’t do it for the health benefits.

All of this leaves me with a puzzled question. Why drink?