Alcohol Linked to 75,000 US Deaths a Year

 Alcohol vs. Pot. 

One no worse than the other?

  Is this the discussion we should be having?

 

By David H. Kerr              

 

 

Obama Says Marijuana No Worse than Alcohol

byVOA News

 

U.S. President Barack Obama says he thinks using marijuana is less dangerous than consuming alcoholic drinks, but has told his daughters he does not advocate pot smoking

 

I love our President, Barak Obama. He has led with courage and humility and he has earned my respect and admiration. It’s a shame though, that he has gotten sucked into the debate about which substance: alcohol or pot is worse for you. 

 

Your child’s drug or alcohol use may be in their genes and/or it may be shaped by your own habits as a parent modeled by your children. It will likely not be improved by what you say but rather by what you do.

 

Is one worse or better than the other?”  My response: “Is this the question we should be asking?”  This discussion may prove how far along we are in our understanding of drugs and their effects. “Which is worse, alcohol or Pot?”   

 

Here are some recreated quotations taken from my notes, depicting two individuals bragging about the effects of pot vs alcohol:

 

“I know a pothead who failed his GED test cause he was high.”

 

“That’s nothin’, I know an alcoholic who never got his law degree cause he was too drunk to pass the test.”

 

“Well I know a pothead who was high and fell into his bathtub and damn near drowned.”

“That’s nothing,’ I know a drunk who drove into a tree and killed his whole family.”

 

“I know a pothead who was shooting for the stars.  Trouble is, his wife left him cause he didn’t see her as one of the stars…”

 

“Yea, well I know an alcoholic who wrote a poem about his victory over drinking, surviving many close calls with death.  His brother read it at his funeral after his fatal auto accident.”

 

These quotes and this essay show the futility of the pot – alcohol debate. 

 

Actually, we could settle this once and for all - a contest of what’s worse:  Drinkers or Potheads.; drunk or stoned.  We need your opinion but only by those who are experienced drinkers and/or potheads – say no less than 10 years of use and abuse.  Be sure to attach your bio including your missed opportunities and accomplishments as a drunk or pothead, your present employment status and your relationship with your wife and family.

 

Until then, I guess we’ll just have to keep up the shots vs. the joints debate until we can determine a winner.  And by the way, while we’re drinking and potting, ya’ll think that the kids are paying attention? “Naw” says Pothead Pa. They live in their own world.  They never notice what I do.

 

The facts?  Alcohol abuse has wreaked havoc and death for thousands of years and yet, many people can drink moderately, with never an increase.  Pot? Well, we don’t have the same robust data on pot yet.  It can’t be tracked as well since it is illegal.  I guess we’ll just have to keep puffin’ to see what happens or maybe make it legal so new potheads can join the old potheads and offer their ideas. 

 

I’ve heard from many “harmless drinkers” who reach the age of 40+ and might say something like this: “hey, I think I may have a little problem here; I crashed the car, lost my license and now I’m blackin’ out every time I drink!”  That’s not what I’m really worried about though says Pothead Pa.  I’m just worried sick about my 15 year old boy. There isn’t a party he goes to that he won’t come home drunk.  I try to talk to him but ya know… he just don’t listen any more.  What’s wrong with kids these days…can’t figure why they don’t want to listen to their dad.  Ya know, l been smokin’ pot for a little while, tryn’ to cut down on the booze and except for my coughing, it’s not a bad way to chill out.  I don’t like to smoke it in the house though cause it smells so, and I don’t want to give my boy any bad ideas.  So I only smoke pot drivin’ back and forth to work – don’t want to get caught drivin’ drunk.  Great upbeat way to start the day though don’t ya think – on pot?  I think I’m havin’ some success cuttin’ out the booze though.  Don’t drink but a little now.”

 

The above is a fictional account based on thousands of stories and my understanding of addicts and drunks over several decades, coming to Integrity House for help.  They often came to my door with no family or friends, left - alone.  No job either but some are lucky enough to get a welfare check every month and they get some free meals and housing thanks to the shelter.  Without treatment, welfare$ = get drunk or high.  It’s up to them to enter treatment.  Many don’t.  I’ve said this before; the disease of addiction is relentless.  Here are some facts from a 2002 study by the “Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)”:

 

http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/healthmedical/a/drugabuse.htm

22 Million Americans are Drug-Alcohol Dependent

Marijuana most commonly used illicit drug

 

An estimated 22 million Americans abused or were dependent on drugs, alcohol or both, in 2002, according to the latest report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Some 19.5 million Americans -- 8.3 percent of the total population ages 12 and up -- currently use illicit drugs, 54 million take part in binge drinking and 15.9 million are heavy drinkers.

While 7.7 million people needed treatment for their drug problem and 18.6 million needed treatment for a serious alcohol problem, the report shows that only 1.4 million received drug abuse treatment and 1.5 million were treated for their alcohol problem. Over 94 percent of people with substance use disorders who did not receive treatment said they did not believe they needed treatment…”

Is this some kind of intellectual debate, alcohol vs pot?  Have we no other way to spend our time?  I know, how about spending it with our children - clean and sober!  That’s a good start - role model.

 

I have been in the business of substance abuse treatment since 1965 and have spoken to thousands whose lives have been wasted or ended with alcohol and/or drug addiction.  I’ve heard all the creative stories and reasoning from addicts as to why drinking or heroin won’t hurt you as well as which is worse or better. 

 

Now we know far more about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and the potential dangers of a possible excessive habit forming “deadbeat” pot use and its drain on creativity and focus.  I think that this debate is misdirected without facts.  In fact, maybe pot can help my neurophathy?  Problem is, if I smoke anything, I get asthma.  Having had both, I think I prefer neurophathy.  Here’s a link for some good things about “medicinal marijuana use” and its positive effects on neurophathy:

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/PainManagement/21939

 

Addictions can be debilitating and are difficult to stop as many know by now.  There are so many opportunities to put tested and untested substances in our bodies, why add pot to the list?  Talk to a smoker or overeater.  These habits become part of one’s lifestyle and lifestyles are very difficult to change.  The lifestyle surrounding excessive drug or alcohol use or overeating has to be changed in order for a person to remain clean and sober or to learn to ‘eat healthy.’  We’ve found that the drug or alcohol usually can’t just be removed without a replacement.  What would that be?  For many it has been eating – not so great.  For others it is exercise or walking or marathons or singing or reading or yoga…or time with the kids.  For many more, too far along in their addiction lifestyle, long term residential treatment is the only alternative. 

 

Two things we have learned about the causality of addiction:

1. It’s a genetic disease – alcohol, drugs, food
2. Our behavior and addiction lifestyle will be replicated by our children if it isn’t already in their genes.

 

Know these facts as you draw on your next joint or pop open your 5^th beer in an hour, and say, “I’m, ok….I can handle it….”  Instead of alcohol or pot, how about more time with the kids, a brisk walk, some yoga and a bowl of cheerios?  You’ll be the better for your new alcohol and drug free attitudes and actions and your children will model your safe, healthy and positive lifestyle.

 

*****************************************************************************

 

Obama: Pot not worse than alcohol

cnn.com

Paul Callan and Nick Gillespie discuss President Obama's remarks that marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol.

 

January 20, 2014

Obama Says Marijuana No Worse than Alcohol

by VOA News

U.S. President Barack Obama says he thinks using marijuana is less dangerous than consuming alcoholic drinks, but has told his daughters he does not advocate pot smoking.

In a wide-ranging interview with New Yorker magazine, Obama said that while he smoked marijuana as a youth, he now views it "as a bad habit and a vice." But he said smoking pot was "not very different" than the cigarette habit he engaged in through much of his adult life before quitting.

He said marijuana smoking is not as dangerous as drinking "in terms of its impact on the individual consumer." But he said it is "not something I encourage."

The United States is in the midst of a debate on the use and criminality of marijuana.  National laws still call for criminal penalties for its possession, but some states allow its sale for use as a medical treatment and voters in two western states, Colorado and Washington, have approved its sale for recreational use.

 

According to a recent NBC News report:

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6089353/ns/health-addictions/t/alcohol-linked-us-deaths-year/#.UuKFXtIo4Z4

 

Alcohol abuse kills some 75,000 Americans each year and shortens the lives of these people by an average of 30 years, a U.S. government study suggested Thursday.

 

Excessive alcohol consumption is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States after tobacco use and poor eating and exercise habits.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which published the study, estimated that 34,833 people in 2001 died from cirrhosis of the liver, cancer and other diseases linked to drinking too much beer, wine and spirits.

 

Another 40,933 died from car crashes and other mishaps caused by excessive alcohol use.

 

Researchers considered any man who averaged more than two drinks per day or more than four drinks per occasion to be an excessive drinker. For women it was more than one drink per day or more than three drinks per occasion.

 

“These results emphasize the importance of adopting effective strategies to reduce excessive drinking, including increasing alcohol excise taxes and screening for alcohol misuse in clinical settings,” the study said.

 

Men accounted for 72 percent of the excessive drinking deaths in 2001, and those 21 and younger made up 6 percent of the death toll.

 

Light or moderate drinking can benefit a person’s health, but heavy drinking increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disorders, certain cancers and liver disease.

 

Excessive drinkers are also more likely to die in car accidents. The United States aims to cut the rate of alcohol-related driving fatalities to 4 deaths per 100,000 people by 2010, a 32 percent drop from 1998.

Bipolar: Picking Up The Pieces

I am not an expert in bipolar disorder and am certainly not a doctor. At no point did I receive training in the illness or even formal familiarization. However, in the mid-1990s, my then-wife was bipolar, and whatever I learned about bipolar, and it was a lot, was from 'living' with her.
To begin with, bipolar disorder is one characterized by extreme highs and lows where it involves emotions, moods and physical activity.

When someone "cycles," or shifts between extremely high activity and positive mood to extremely low activity and mood, there is even a change in personality. The change in personality can be so total it is amazing. However, as I understand it, some people who are bipolar cycle frequently while others do not.

Why know this? Most people are not impacted by bipolar disorder. Well, true enough. But I am speaking to those people who are and their families, friends and loved ones. Because bipolar disorder is no joke. I went through hell with my ex-wife for two years,  before I absolutely could not take it anymore and divorced her. No one wants a divorce, not ever, but it all went too far. And why? She wouldn't take her medication because she "liked the way her highs felt and wasn't going to give them up." She would explain, "I feel on top of the world when I am on an 'up-cycle,' " she said.

Maybe Mary (her name wasn't Mary, but why be vindictive?) was having a good time, but I sure as hell wasn't. And, I went to see her psychiatrist, and he explained this disorder as best he could to me to try and understand and help Mary. However, Mary was having none of it. Despite the fact she went to her psychiatrist and therapist loyally, she would not take medication for long stretches and then only take meds for a little while.

So, here's what I didn't sign up for when I married her: sexual promiscuity with other men, extreme use of drugs and alcohol, spending sprees on credit that we could not pay back, tirades and screaming, all-night 'processing feelings,' days of not leaving the couch or showering, unexplained absences for long periods and generalized insanity; every single day, no let-up. And, at that time, she exhibited no signs she wanted help or treatment at all despite the fact she openly lied to her clinicians as she received their treatment (which she would not implement at home). In Mary's case, she was deceptive to her doctors and caregivers.

Not all people afflicted with bipolar disorder are impacted as heavily by the disorder as Mary, nor are deceitful to doctors during care. But, Mary sure as hell was. And, none of that was necessary. Thank God for medical advances in the Modern Era, which possesses medication to arrest the disorder so people with it may have long and relatively normative lives. But, there is a common problem in some people effected by the disease in that they will not take their medications because they like the 'high' that comes along with it, from what I have seen in my experience.

Mary stood her ground: No meds! Well, no marriage can stand up to a partner flaunting out-of-relationship sexual liaisons in another partner's face, or spending every cent and more than they have, or coming home to find another partner 'coked up' or drunk, or sleeping for days and stinking from not showering, not working and when not constantly attacking me in one cycle, crying for forgiveness in the other.

Right out of college, where we met, Mary was a young teacher who immediately found a position in the Piscataway, New Jersey school district. She taught art. Meanwhile, I received a job as a small-town reporter out of college, but I was ambitious and eager to rise through the ranks.

Mary didn't take her medications, so she couldn't find time to work after that and quickly quit/lost her job (hard to tell which). Then, rather than support me, she turned our marriage into a sham and almost cost me my entire career. How we would have lived I do not know.

I remember one Christmas like it was yesterday. When she was 'up' on a cycle, she used our credit cards to buy gifts for not only her mother and sister but also for cousins she hadn't seen in years, as well as high-school and college friends she was out of contact with. And, she said she didn't care if we didn't have a dime, because she "was going to be happy this Christmas no matter what!" And, after Christmas? She said, "We can kill ourselves after Christmas and be done with everything!"

No joke, folks, I didn't think that sounded bad. No, I did not want to divorce my wife. I loved her. Despite the fact I had been married previously, I worked as hard as I could in my marriage to Mary because I do not really believe in divorce. But let me tell you, no one in the Bible ever had to deal with a woman like this. And, there is a point at which no one can take it anymore. I made it to that point and beyond.

Luckily, I didn't have to decide about going on, because after a string of affairs on me, Mary fell "in love" with a degenerate gambler and decided to take up with him. She made my decision for me. He wasn't just a gambler: He was the kind of gambler who had loan sharks and bookies looking for him. He had to sell television sets from his home, steal from his parents and run and hide to avoid beatings by people he owed money to because of gambling and/or drugs.

Well, I cannot say I wished her well at the time. My heart was broken, my wallet was bare, my ego was stomped upon and  I barely managed to hold on to my career, which I ended up more than salvaging and ended up doing quite well at for some time. I had to go through Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, though, because she buried me in debt.

The last time I saw her face-to-face was after I received a job as an editor for a large weekly newspaper in Middletown, New Jersey. Mary came to my office demanding something or other after our divorce was final. I informed her we were no longer married, business between us was settled and anything between us had been addressed in a Monmouth County, New Jersey courtroom. Still, she persisted. It ended with me threatening to call the police to have her removed from the building. And then, despite all of the mess, there was finally silence -- blessed silence.

Why was all this needed? Not because Mary was a bad person. Mary was and is a very good person, who is now remarried and has a kid. I believe she takes her medication now, and probably doesn't miss a dose. She doesn't want her life falling apart around her again.

From talking to Mary's doctor and doing independent research in the library about bipolar disorder, I learned it is not uncommon for people with the disorder to go on spending sprees with money they don't have, be so hyper sexual with random people they become promiscuous despite serious relationship obligations, lose jobs from not showing up or not clean themselves and sleep for days.

If you are in a relationship with a bipolar person, you better understand what you are getting into with a person so afflicted by talking to a doctor or other credible medical person for advice. Like I said, not everyone is as heavily impacted by the disorder as Mary. And, Mary would have been, could have been fine if she had just have taken her medication: It was that important.

Mary never told me she had bipolar disorder before we got married. We had only known each other a few months and got married spontaneously in, no joke,  Las Vegas, Nevada. Nevertheless, I took this marriage very seriously. I paid for being haphazard and spontaneous for a long time.

This is why I urge people to understand the disorder by talking to professionals. They can decide what they want to do from there. But, bipolar disorder is serious business that deserves serious attention and support by everyone involved. Bipolar disorder may make people with the disorder spontaneous, but there is nothing spontaneous about addressing it -- and people should know that in order to help whomever they know with it.

Again, thanks for stopping by and I'll be talking to you later...alligator.