Government Conspiracy?

Yesterday I spent 9 hours lecturing on alcohol physiology and the question that I am constantly posed came up yet again.

Why is alcohol legal and drugs aren't? is it because the taxman makes so much money out of booze?

So today I thought I would address this.

1. The alcohol industry has powerful a powerful lobby of that there is no doubt

2. Governments bring in billions of pounds from various forms of taxation on the alcohol industry

3. The illegal use of drugs and the supply of those drugs is comparable with prohibition of alcohol in the 1920's and 30's.

The major challenge facing the ordinary person on the street who enjoys a pint of beer or glass of wine is that they have no real information about how things work or what they do. There is a total dichotomous arguement that rages between the alcohol industry and the abolitionists and this is unlikely to go away in the near future because of the symbiotic relationship the two groups have.

Is alcohol totally bad for you? Honestly no it is not. A small amount as part of a good diet may actually be beneficial.

Is alcohol when consumed in quantity and quickly bad for you? Absolutely, binge drinking is a highly damaging way of consuming alcohol.

Is this arguement ever discussed? No. Why? Well because that would be both sides admitting their flaws. What we need is real unbiased information disseminated in an easy to understand way for the ordinary person in the street to be able to digest.

We have long talked about the use of illegal drugs in this country. And the discussion is justified on the harm that drugs cause to individuals. The irony is that many of these drugs are prescribed regualrly by medics every day in the NHS where they can cause an equal amount of damage but that is acceptable because your doctor prescribed it.

The real issue with drugs is of course addiction however that addiction instead of being dealt with openly in our society it is somehow driven underground into a seedy world that leads to crime and deprevation. The Mafia only really became the organisation it did because of prohibition in the USA, the drug cartels and gangs have got their hold because drug taking, which is as old as alcohol consumption, has been driven underground. We somehow frown upon those who have issues with narcotics but accept those that have issues with alcohol.

Is it all about money and power? Well the conspiracy theorists will have you believe this however the reality is that it is all about the oldest economic arguement in the world. The law of supply and demand.

So should Governments take a positive role in this? Absolutely they should be proactive and transparent. Unfortunately that is not the case and that is why the question that I get asked on a regular basis will continue to be asked until the elected representatives have the courage to stand up and say things can be different.