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It just seems absurd that people who look down upon people who use cocaine, prescription pain pills, heroin, etc. will drink alcohol, sometimes on a daily basis and not think that they are using a mind altering and potentially damaging drug, the same as what those people are doing, only difference being that it is legal.
Example: Why do people think that it is not only socially acceptable, but often imperative, to serve alcohol at a wedding, yet even if they live in a state where recreational marijuana is legal, you don't go to a wedding and find a joint at each place setting. I mean, they have a similar effect on the brain and both are legal, but yet marijuana is considered taboo and something used by "druggies" and lower class people, while alcohol is widely accepted as something that one must use to enjoy oneself at a social function.
Alcohol has destroyed many a family, drunk drivers kill people every day somewhere, and alcoholism destroys one's life if it is bad enough to control them, yet you never hear of people thinking that alcohol should be banned or criminalized. I realize that prohibition didn't work, but neither is the war on illegal drugs today, so if one drug (alcohol) can be legal, why do people become outraged at the thought of other mind altering substances being legalized?
Disclaimer: I don't use alcohol and have never tried any type of illegal drug, and I am not advocating the legalization of illegal drugs by any means. I am just curious about why people differentiate between alcohol and other drugs.
Short answer: money. Tobacco and alcohol give lots of money in tax. If tobacco and alcohol were banned, many countries would go bankrupt.
Long answer: Western or Christian democracies put an emphasis on self control..."do the right thing", "choose wisely", so moderation is always the goal rather than prohibition, regarding alcohol.
Moderate drinking is associated with upper class people and high iq people...a beer here, a cocktail there...always having a little nice buzz but never drunk, always "in control".
So society blames those who cannot control themselves since otherwise we would have to change the very core of Western societies...and its never gonna happen.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Alcohol is only mind altering in certain quantities depending on the person's size and tolerance. Most people can have 1-2 beers or glasses of wine, even one shot without feeling any effect at all. That's why the law only considers drivers to be impaired at a certain blood alcohol level, .08 in our state. With drugs such as cocaine, prescription pain pills, and heroin you cant say "I'll just take one" or "just shoot up once" without having some effect. Most of it, though, is historical. Alcohol has been around and acceptable for thousands of years, with the exception of prohibition in the U.S. which lasted only 13 years.
Short answer: money. Tobacco and alcohol give lots of money in tax. If tobacco and alcohol were banned, many countries would go bankrupt.
Long answer: Western or Christian democracies put an emphasis on self control..."do the right thing", "choose wisely", so moderation is always the goal rather than prohibition, regarding alcohol.
Moderate drinking is associated with upper class people and high iq people...a beer here, a cocktail there...always having a little nice buzz but never drunk, always "in control".
So society blames those who cannot control themselves since otherwise we would have to change the very core of Western societies...and its never gonna happen.
Plus, wine is supposed to be the blood of Christ .
How does that make the image not gross? Do what you want, but I prefer not to drink blood, literally or symbolically.
Lol, most of the people who heard Jesus give this teaching said the same thing.
John 6
3 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
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