My dad and my uncle both died from alcohol, and the third brother likely will too. I saw myself going that way and stopped drinking. I’m a little over two years sober and would do it again every time.
I'm with you, almost at 2 years sober myself. I had pancreatitus and liver fibrosis, but after about a year, all lab tests were back to normal. I'm grateful every day
Solid advice. Really the only other thing to consider is don't combine it with certain medications and other drugs, especially sedatives. And moderation, of course.
I’m the cycle breaker in my family. I grew up with alcoholic parents… it was super damaging to me. It runs rampant in both sides of my family. I got sober 10 years ago because I never wanted to put my kids through what I went through…
You both made wise choices. Be cautious not to be served food especially desserts with liquor in them. As I understood when I was offered an alcoholic drink as a teetotaler by choice, I overheard a comment that I will be a future drunk, I placed the drink on the table and said"no". Another time I put my hand out as a sign of rejection of alcohol, as it was not my support group. At 19 years of age I was well protecteby a law that was passed that says that while you are on a probationary drivers licence, not one drop of alcohol allowed. 0.00 And I still live with it and I am close to 60. The drinking culture and the illicit drug culture can stay with the privileged few.
I work in IT/data analysis at a drug and alcohol treatment center. I used to be an active heroin/fentanyl addict, but found recovery three years ago. I still, to this day, empathize greatly with alcoholics. They have all the horrible physical, mental, and social consequences that compulsive, protracted ethanol use brings, but on top of that, they have to deal with advertising, marketing, and sales of their drug of choice on websites, TV, gas stations, corner stores, grocery store, restaurants... It's everywhere. I am eternally grateful I never developed a taste nor a penchant for booze. Coming from a person who used to shoot up opioids and nearly lost his life, that's a bold statement, but also starkly true.
And people always asking if they are sure they don't want to drink at least a little bit, telling them that they are boring if they don't drink and alkohol beeing used for cooking. As a woman, people don't belive that you are not pregnant if you don't drink
I've been sober for twenty years, now and whilst I sometimes miss alcohol, I don't miss what it made me become. However, prohibition is no solution. It just creates would-be Al Capones, not sobriety.
Part of the issue is the culture around it. Binge drinking in college definitely puts genetically succeptible people in the line of fire. Places like Italy that have a different drinking culture have much lower rates of alcoholism in young adults afaik. They are introduced to it in a more responsible manner.
@@AgxntAqua This, while i did absolutely used to drink far to much, it was in the form of sipping drinks over the course of the day and a beer or two with meals. As a result i was able to knock it off without any physical withdrawls or health issues, and can have something here and there without going nuts, getting drunk was never something ive enjoyed so the compulsion to get blasted just is not there, it was a matter simply of readjusting habits My sister took less after how she was raised and instead is huge into binge drinking, will down a bottle in an hour or two and currently has an attention span and long term memory that i could only imagine resembles someone who collects concussions for fun at the ripe age of 22
I still remember as a teenager when my friends argued with me when I said that alcohol is a drug. It's not inherently bad, but the insidious nature of ignoring the fact that it is a drug in how we deal with it I think it's the reason it causes so many issues in society
Although isn't it actually INHERRENTLY bad? Alcohol is LITERALLY poisonous to humans. It's just that most bodies can process small quantities, and at least partially repair any damage if given time to 'heal'. However I think booze ALWAYS causes some damage, and would be considered INHERRENTLY 'bad'?
@@StreetPreacherr I don't think it's inherently bad for someone to choose to poison themselves in that way. I think the problem is people don't think of the risks as much as they should, alcohol isn't treated as the dangerous drug that it is. Alcohol is inherently damaging, that doesn't mean it's inherently bad - though it depends on your definition of bad. Mine is basically "causes unreasonable and unnecessary suffering". So using alcohol in moderation itself isn't inherently bad - the damage it does can be justified by the user as the cost of enjoying its other effects - but using alcohol in excess, to the extent that it negatively impacts others or the cost otherwise exceeds the benefit, is of course inherently bad.
I started doing drugs years ago as a teenage, got addicted to heroin. Spent my whole life fighting heroin addiction. I suffered severe depression and mental disorder. Got diagnosed with OCD. Not until my wife recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 8 years totally clean. Much respect to mother nature the great magic shrooms.
Thanks for sharing your story. That's rough I sympathize. Save your health save your mind. Life is better without heroin, cocaine, alcohol and cigarettes. And you have more money in your pocket. God bless everyone who has rejected the devils intentions to be addicted to alcohol and cigarettes etc which can cause so much damage to health. I will pray for you all.
Hey mates! Can you help with the source? I suffer severe anxiety, panic and depression and I usually take prescription medicine, but they don't always help. Where can I find those psilocybin mushrooms? I'm really interested in treating my mental health without Rxs. I live in Germany don't know much about these. I'm so glad they helped you. I can't wait to get them too. Really need a reliable source 🙏
Mushrooms are very medicinal. This is why anybody familiar with psilocybin and any other kind of fungi will tell you, "They are alive." They have a very ancient wisdom. To my experience, all mushrooms have always said, "Pay attention to your life. How you think, how you feel, and what will you do with the information that you always knew, but now are seeing in this point of view." This is why mushrooms are so respected in tribal cultures. This mental health treatment works for me too. Half micro doses do the trick for me. At least a few days at a time with lengthy time in between. Never addictive. Thank you for sharing this point!
@user-or5ke5yn4w it doesn't even have to be liquor (which can get you thrown in jail for your efforts). Brewing beer at home is completely legal, and pretty damn easy
I work in a DUI program, I've seen plenty of people come through our doors who made a stupid mistake, an I've seen many people who have let alcohol ruin their lives and, through their actions, ruin the lives of others. Don't drink and drive.
You are blaming people. Do you blame an over weight person for their diabetes? No. Diabetes is an illness so we treat it. We do not blame people for it. Please stop blaming people for addiction and just treat it like any other illness. Addiction is an illness and the people who suffer are sick. In the words of John Q I say "sick, help, sick help". Blaming people is shaming people and that means people suffer in silence.
@@carmattvidz4426 You misunderstand a plea for people to consider the consequences of their actions and maintain personal responsibility with an attack on those who suffer from a substance use disorder. Making a poor decision and having a diagnosable substance use disorder are very different; not all who drink a few beers and get behind the wheel have a substance use disorder, and not all who have a substance use disorder would get behind the wheel while intoxicated.
That's the whole scam! I've been around the block for a few decades in different ways and all the d n a abuse I've seen was clearly 'self medicating' people. Self included.
@@whackadooNot to diminish the struggle people with ADHD can have in severe cases but I can think of a pretty long list of mood and personality disorders that increase the risk significantly more. Majour depression, schizophrenia spectrum disorders bi-polar spectrum disorders, borderline personality disorder, PTSD, antisocial personality disorder, etc.
I’ve found substances really don’t help if you have mental health issues, especially alcohol. Its the last thing I wanna be taking to be honest but because it’s widely accepted and available its often the first thing people reach for 😖
@@AgxntAqua not saying much, 40% or so of people with ADHD end up checking themselves out of the life hotel intentionally or through substance abuse, thats a coin flips chance, not exactly a mild disorder
Thank you for covering this. As a family member of an alcoholic who has had her life destroyed I will never understand how this toxic substance which kills and destroys just as many people lives as any other illicit drug is socially acceptable and legal.
Prohibition hasn't worked with any drug, anywhere, ever. Plus alcohol is too easy to make to ever be gotten rid of. What does seem to work is normalising not drinking/smoking/using plus harm.reduction while destigmatising addiction in general. I've been sober for over half my life now, yet at social events I still have to put up with endless conversations about alcohol and near-strangers asking me why I'm 'not drinking'. I wish we would quit collectively pretending that alcohol is somehow necessary or interesting to humanity at large, but I'm sure not going to hold my breath.
In many cultures including mine, alcohol was not part of the equation. It was a huge shock when I encountered it in the US college system for the first time.
Actually when prophet muhammad ﷺ came as a messenger to arabia, he eradicated alcohol with prohobition, alcohol at the time was deeply rooted into the society and an integral part of their lives, but still when the revelation came forbidding it, they all poured it out i to the streets, there were rivers of alcohol in the city. In the areas where islam had a strong hold in arabia, alcohol was practically eradicated and non existent. So it is possible to eradicate it with prohobition with Islam
Man I had a gnarly alcohol problem for years. Once it was finally brought o my attention that it was causing relationship issues and my friends were concerned I quit. April 2024 marks 10 years sober.
Anyone who lived with a alcoholic can tell you this is no lie. I don't get the culture of "cool" excessive drinking. It made my whole childhood a living hell.
I'm not a doctor, but as far as I know there is a clinical distinction between binge drinking and chronic alcoholism. A person who binge drinks may not actually be dependent, though they almost certainly are at a higher risk of developing it. I'm living proof of that. I did the whole "college experience" in my mid teens and would binge drink every other weekend or so but never had an issue with dependency. Same with cocaine back in the day actually. Only thing I ever got hooked on was nicotine amd caffeine. Only thing I have never been able to quit is caffeine 😂
@@AgxntAqua Same here. From 15 to about 23 I was drunk at least one day during the weekend. And during my early 20s I always knew where to find some of Pablo's nose powder. But it was never a problem. Now, I have one drink, scotch or rye whiskey, at 5pm and immediately drink half a liter of water. I haven't touched the powder in 30 years. I can't quit the nicotine either and I've cut my caffeine intake down, but I like coffee!
Step-father was an alcoholic. Sober he was Superman and a child’s dream of a father… drunk he was a monster and a nightmare. Very confusing growing up and made me a very mad and angsty teen girl who refused to back down and be a victim. Took me a few years to deal with that trauma and no longer suffer from it myself, to offer forgiveness after I grew older and moved on with my life. He had his demons he fought with nightly that he was running from and tried drowning them out, in turn making demons for me. I refused to become a part of his family’s cycle of abuse and terror…
I just don't understand why we can't learn the same lessons about drugs as we did when we criminalized alcohol. Make them legal, tax them, and stop sending users and addicts to jail.
The reminds me of a teacher I had that once said alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and meth where the perfect examples of a drug thats socially and legally accepted alcohol. Socially unacceptable but legal tobacco. Socially acceptable but illegal cannabis. Finally both socially and legally unacceptable meth.
@@16mopey no, no it wasn't.... the idea of legalization has been around for decades, it's just that rich asshats would rather make easy money throwing people in jail for a plant.
My father was an alcoholic. He died of cancer from asbestos exposure before the alcoholism got him. But I not only watch my intake of everything but made sure my kids grew up understanding not just moderation but family history since there is a genetic component to alcoholism.
I've never met a single person who says they regret quitting drinking. 12 years sober, best decision I've ever made. If you have any doubts about alcohol in your life just quit, you won't regret it.
My ex wife forced me to quit and I hated it. I no longer had a way to de-stress or relax at the end of the day. Night times were a hell of stress and insomnia, so after we divorced I went right back to drinking. I guess what sets me apart is I'm strictly a night drinker, I never say drink except on special occasions
@@buyahondasupercub Well, sounds like having to stomach the ex-wife sober was pretty awful, but yeah, sobriety never works when its externally imposed. But hey, if you never quit, you might still be married so do you really regret it?
While I don't disagree with the spirit of the point you're making, it sounds like a bit of a self-selecting sample there. Those who choose not to drink and regret it are highly likely to start again.
I've been sober for 14 years. I have a family member who has been recently diagnosed with alcohol related dementia. I don't think it should be illegal, but not everyone should be drinking.
One big problem is that it's usually not accepted when you don't want to join drinking. There is a lot of peer pressure, especially when you are a man. I did lots of sports as a teenager and I had training events and championships on weekends so I never got used to alcohol. It do not drink alcohol and people will not take no for an answer. It has no religious or health related reasons. But people will argue with me about my personal decision. Sometimes I argue with people, sometimes I simply say no. Sometimes I tell them that I lost a close family member to alcohol, that usually shuts them up.
I agree it's worse for men. As a woman, I can wave off alcohol pushers with "Eh, I'm a lightweight," when I'm not in a drinking mood, and that's that. God forbid you say that as a man, though. Might as well turn in your Man Card and hang up your junk. It's bullshit.
It is worse for men. My dad doesn’t drink, because my grandfather drank himself to death. Yet I can remember him sneakily mixing coca-cola with Sprite making it look like a Whiskey soda when we were at friend’s houses. Because despite him having to drive home afterwards, with his wife and then around 10 year old - he was still pressured into drinking. He had to lie to his friends, to be responsible. “One for the road!”. We had a short visit to Norway, where we learnt about a wine monopoly. In a nutshell, alcohol is heavily taxed, making it super expensive. So people are less inclined to go all out, teenagers can’t afford it, and it’s seen as more of a treat. We weren’t there for long, so I stand to be corrected.
You left out one of the most frightening things about alcohol. If you become an alcoholic, quitting cold turkey can kill you. When your body develops a dependency to alcohol deciding to just stop drinking is deadly. Your body needs to ween off of it slowly. Its terrifying knowing that I can easily buy this thing that if I drink too much I get addicted and my body will legitimately NEED it and if I just cut it off I could die.
Yep, the DTs almost got me a couple times. When I was finally hospitalized for liver and kidney failure, I couldn't be slowly weaned off at that point, so they just assumed I wouldn't survive the detox and chemically knocked me out so I could die without severe perimortem agitation. 😂
Tapering off any substance legal or illegal is highly recommended. Smaller doses spaced farther and farther apart. I used that to get off fentanyl and oxys. Prescribed.
When your father is an alcoholic, you'll cry well into adulthood remembering his abuse. When your father is a stoner, you'll cringe well into adulthood remembering his jokes.
Thank you for this. Alcohol has almost killed me more than once. I've been alcohol free for about 10 years now. People need to understand the real dangers of alcohol.
Im a nurse, on a general medicine unit. Liver cirrhosis is one of the most common illnesses we face, as a result of ETOH. Lemme just say it has scared me enough to drink less wine. Its not a good way to go. I’ve literally seen grown men waste to nothing
People will always want to use substances. The best thing we could do is end prohibition and start quality control, taxing, and setting laws, age limits, and quantity limits of how much you can buy each week/month from a dispensary. You would need to apply for a prescription/membership for those dispensaries. Supplying someone who has reached their limit would be made into a crime, and selling big quantities of non-controlled versions without a license would be made into a tax evasion crime. This would enable the dispensaries of harder substances to point people towards mental health/addiction treatment if they notice someone has problem use of some substances. Cannabis and alcohol would be in a lower schedule with less hard restrictions. You could still brew your own beer and grow your own weed/peyote/shrooms. You could grow poppies for opium wax too with an easily obtainable license, but further processing it into heroin, morphine, or others would be illegal. That would basically be the death of the black market and substance use would be supervised. I'm sure that system would have some loopholes and downsides, but almost anything is better than the current state of things.. people are dying and suffering like never before, and the worst kinds of criminals are becoming billionaires because of all that suffering. Less workforce too. There's a mental health crisis and an evil pharmaceutical system who take advantage of that by prescribing addictive opioids and benzos instead of treating the mental problems. Leading to a fuckton of new addicts every year..
And I forgot to add, you would need to apply for a doctor's prescription for those super hard drugs like morphine and heroin. But having that easier to get dispensary card would allow you to buy milder drugs with less restrictions. Full legalization of all drugs with no oversight or restrictions would be an absolute disaster.
My best friend has a drinking problem and she is trying her best to recover... And I am trying to support her the best I can... I tell her that I love her and that she is still such a wonderful and good person on the daily, because she really is....
My dad passed away from alcoholism (liver cirrhosis) in 2013. Toward the end, he started mixing alcohol and sleeping pills. My dad’s brother and his dad also passed due to alcohol related reasons. It’s bad on that side of my family and really sucks. I have to be super cautious of that side of the family’s predisposition. Thankfully, my mom was never a drinker or her family, so my sister and I were brought up knowing the dangers.
My psychology class just covered this today and we can to the conclusion that better education around it is always the best you can really do and having a safe space to discuss it with your children so they don't do it in secret and potentially get into dangerous situations
Yes! Absolutely the most deadly and destructive drug ever. All the years I spent drinking will probably cut my life short and not to mention the insane amount of money I probably wasted, I could have bought a house with that money.
My half sisters mom literally died recently in her late 30s from liver and kidney failure from alcohol. Yes, even knowing that her liver was failing and that she would die wasn’t enough to make her stop drinking. She left her baby (my half sister) in the hospital as soon as she had her and never saw her daughter. My sister was born at 6 months and luckily didn’t have any major issues. Alcohol completely destroyed that woman. She lived in the SAME COUNTY as my half sister and never once tried to see her daughter and she would even come into my fast food job and order food. She would come into my job a couple times a year and it was terrifying how quickly her physical appearance deteriorated, every time I seen her she looked YEARS older than she did just a few months ago. She was originally a beautiful woman, my sister looks exactly how she looked when she wasn’t on alcohol. I’ve known meth addicts pill addicts and not to say that those things aren’t bad, but I never saw anyone deteriorate as rapidly as my sisters mom. She looked 60 at 30. Alcohol is so much more serious than people realize or want to acknowledge.
I'm 53 years old and Christmas 2022, I literally had a blood alcohol level 300 and ended up in the hospital after 2 large cosmopolitan at my sister's house. I'm an experienced drinker and had my daughter just taken me home, I would have died. My breathing was so shallow. Since that day, I basically have stopped drinking and will do no hard liquor. I talked to my doctor about it and she was very puzzled.
I think our tolerance gets smaller as we age. I could go out drinking all night in my 30s without even having a hangover, but one strong drink puts me under the table these days. I stick to the occasional cocktail, preferably lightweight.
this reinforces the opinion that all drugs should be legal and taxed. no one will stop people from doing these things. but good can come from the taxes (if not used for military/other harmful means). We all could use some good roads/transport infrastructure.
I would probably draw the line at drugs like crystal meth that cause immense damage to the body regardless of how responsible a user you are. But I would decriminalization possession. I would also offer recreational alternatives like MDMA or Adderall that are less harmful overall and easier to manufacture safely.
@AgxntOrange Meth is still prescribed for ADHD, albeit rarely. It’s not any worse than Adderall is, it’s just more potent and has a long half-life. You can’t draw the line anywhere, it’s all or nothing. Meth gets a bad reputation that in some aspects, is well earned, but causes it to be misunderstood. The negative physical health effects are relatively minor compared to alcohol.
@@Sniperboy5551 Potential side effects for Desoxyn are the same when used recreationally as street meth. Granted with less chance of contamination of course. I still think less harmful alternatives would be a better option since the drug 1. Has such a poor reputation already, might as well put it to good use 2. The alternatives offer similar effects with less risk of dependency and chronic abuse As far as alcohol goes, you aren't getting the toothpaste back in the tube now, right? We might just have to cut our losses on that one. Or just drastically change the drinking culture in North America.
YES! Thank you for acknowledging this! So many hypocrites point out how cheap readily-available alcohol causes deaths, but so few of them acknowledge how many new lives are created as a direct result of it. Pretty sure at least half of the commentors under this very video owe their very lives to their parents' use of cheap vodka and / or your regional equivalent. Just think of that, guys. If your mother didn't have a drunken late-night woodlands fling with Daddy and "Uncle Bob", you wouldn't be here today. And cheap distilled spirits made that possible.
@@poopingwhilestanding5801 Back in the day(70s) it was common to get a girl drunk so she couldn't say no to sex. I was warned to always take a friend with me to parties, to hang out.
Despite all these alcohol related problems Simon mentions, there is the other side of the coin, the casual drinker enjoying a mild state of intoxication and the taste of the various types of drinks. One can certainly enjoy wine and beer and some types of stronger drinks purely for the taste and the intoxication if having a bit more than one drink. Millions do this and stop there. Unfortunately not all can but that is no reason to ban the majority to enjoy alcohol in its many different forms.
I gave it up a couple years ago, I actually lost weight and my body is slowly healing. It was the results that I had quitting rather than thinking of the dangers that kept me sober.
I could smell my alcoholic father's liver rotting in him. Every single event in my family was marred by his alcohol addiction. Both of my grandfathers were alcoholics, and their fathers before them. It's the only thing passed down from generation to generation.
Its called a generational curse and it can only be broken by faith and surrender to jesus. Same with my family going back a long way and i too became a heroin addict but after 15 years of addiction i decided enough was enough and i surrendered myself and accepted christ into my life and have been clean for a few years now
Great video.Im a recovering Alcoholic whos been 2 rehab twice and they are full of Alcoholics .Even Heroin addicts say its the worst Drug. Unlike other Drugs you cant get away from it as its everywhere you go.
Another factor with alcohol (if they moved to make it illegal) is that’s it’s almost trivial to make (not make well ofc), fruits and grains left to dry for a few days will accrue wild yeast molds, and this can be used to make weak and crude alcohol Imagine if you could pluck a few leaves off of a wild/common plant from your garden, then using a simple (passive) process involving wild bacteria/mold would then let these microbes to turn those plant-sugars into cocaine… Sometimes forgotten fruit/veg left to rot naturally ferments accidentally, while no-one is accidental making meth in their neglected crisper drawer
Due to the prevalence of alcoholism in my family I chose not to drink. I worked part-time as a nightclub steward for over 15 years and dealt with fights, sexual assaults and countless injuries due to stupid drunken behavior. In my job as a Firefighter I have dealt with quite a few avoidable deaths due to drink driving and house fires caused by drunks trying to cook after a night out.
Been there done that in a much better place now. My advice, start right now, dont wait to finish what you have left around the house or do a "ill do next week" Start today, and dont keep a timer on how many days its been or whatever, Every day your goal is to not drink, and if you do than your goal is to make sure a couple beers doesent turn into a case. Focus on each day and each week improving from before
The last time I drank in any great degree, I was 20. I drank so much that I was vomiting for a day and a half. For almost a year afterward, I had trouble maintaining my grip on things or even grasping objects period. For several years afterward (about 5 or so), I couldn't walk in a straight line--I'd wind up listing to one side or the other, even though I was stone sober. I didn't touch anything with ethyl alcohol in it for about two decades after that episode, and now when I do drink it's one drink and that's it. I have an immense deal of sympathy for those who suffer with alcoholism, and I think that we as a people need to treat it as the public health issue that it is (just like we should treat every other addiction as a public health issue).
One of the reasons weed was criminalized was because it was an easy way to target people of color. That's why you'd see absurd sentencing for possession and use of it. Same thing could be said about crack cocaine vs powdered cocaine.
Alc is much worse than weed. Im an alcoholic and i used to smoke before. The power difference in these 2 drugs is crazy. High alc dose is very similar to heroin.
My mother was a life-long alcoholic - eventually died because of it. She brought insurmountable misery into my life and my father's. I had to "babysit" her at home from when I was as young as 5. She nearly killed me a dozen times while forcing me into a car so she could drive to the liquor store and it took me getting to the age of 9 before I could explain to dad why I was scared of mom (she nearly crashed so many times with me in the car and had numerous fender benders). I despised her.. I still despise her and I was relieved when she died. I despise all alcoholics, I have very little sympathy for them, they ruin lives and bring misery to everyone around them. Damn alcoholic robbed the first 20 years of my life which were supposed to be among my best / most enjoyable.. instead it was fill with constant fear for myself and fear for my stupid, drunk worthless mother. If not for my father, who (like me) has never consumed a drop of alcohol in his life, I might've ended up like her. Fortunately I had a good role model to look up to.
I have struggled with addiction to substances, particularly opiods, and have always felt alcohol caused the most damage to me and those around me. I could see that it was the consequences of the substance as viewed by a society you suffer that differs. I'm in a much better place within and in surroundings but the perspective and life lessons from suffering are invaluable to me today. I can honestly say I feel grateful for all of it in some way, the most painful experiences became the most important insight.
My excessive drinking absolutely made me a better person by the end of it, one, it gave me more empathy twords other peoples problems because i had the first hand example of how stuff can easilly get out of hand. But most importantly that moment of clarity where i was sitting there and had the "wait, this is not normal, like at all, huh, why am i doing that, thought and it got me to finally backtrack and the "Why" behind alot of my behaviors besides the overdrinking. That being said i would never advertize that as a method for other people to solve those problems, probably could have solved it much quicker and healthier with therapy BUT, it worked out right eventually
@@therideneverends1697 The moment of realizing the WHY behind the WHAT, I can say was the most profound, life-changing, insight I've experienced. Never thought it possible, it came to me rather than me chasing it. Glad to hear others relate on their journey. Thanks for sharing, stay present. I'll always wonder if there may be another way, but the suffering seems inherently necessary in ways. Maybe not so extreme as I had, it's all relative and subjective experiences uniquely perceived by each individual. Only you know you, it's why I know I can't save anyone from themselves. I've tried and suffered for it, but nobody could save me either. Empathy.
I am currently 28 years old and in my early 20s I was as close to an alcoholic as you can get without actually being one. I was luckily not yet physically addicted to it but it had screwed nearly every aspect of my life. Four years ago I met my current partner and she managed to stop me drinking about 6 months into our relationship, I haven't touched it since. Best decision of my life and I owe it to my girlfriend ❤
in my early 20s, i was a seasonal firefighter. one week my stations two captains were both off and we had a captain cover who was also the region's head medical liaison. while watching the macneil lehrer newshour, jim lehrer was interviewing the country's general surgeon who was saying heroin were as addictive as cigarettes (which lehrer as a smoker couldn't accept). this lead me and the captain discuss heroin. at the end of the discussion the captain said that many people would always try to alter their lives with substances he believed that policy should be to limit social consequences, and without encouraging different drugs, saying domestic abuse and driving dui was most common with alcohol, people who used narcotics didn't care much for moving and activity due to becoming ill and it's use was less detrimental to society than alcohol and that individually it was impurities used to cut heroin was the main cause to an individual's long term health consequences than the drug itself.
This was yet another fascinating video Simon. One thing you didn't touch upon is that alcohol's effects can be self limiting - if you drink too much, it may well simply come straight back out the way it went in! Or you might just fall asleep before you hit the danger zone. Whereas with something like fentanyl, once it's in you (in too large a quantity) your only hope is another drug that can reverse the effects. This makes alcohol a more predictable substance, and probably contributes to its social acceptabilty. It's difficult to picture a parallel universe where the family are laughing because "Granny's had too much fentanyl again" at Christmas and has gone a bit cold. The thoughts about grapes, grains and religion were really interesting too. As a Catholic i find it intriguing that our Lord chose to make wine His Blood and not, say, grape juice. Why did it need to be something potentially deadly? St. Paul says that the Eucharist can in fact kill you (i.e. condemn the soul) if you consume it without examining your conscience first. So probably not an accidental decision!
Perhaps we should require that a sizeable portion of alcohol taxes go towards harm-reduction efforts. Seems we could mediate the risk with the costs of risk mitigation.
Finally a comment with a sane workable solution All the rest of these comments sulking about their sad lives, and ineffective solutions was doing was tempting me to create a drinking game
I don't think I personally know any adult who hasn't drank alcohol. Most of my friends and family drink occasionally. This includes my 90 year old grandmother who drinks a glass of wine or brandy every now and then. I haven't met any alcohol addict so far. Also, I haven't heard of anyone dropping dead after their first drink. Which can't be said about fentanyl and other hard drugs.
My dad is dying from alcoholism at the moment. It’s slow and painful for everyone involved. I quit alcohol years ago it just doesn’t sit well with my temperament.
In covid South African banned alcohol sales and it had a significant effect on the amount of traumas seen in all hospitals around the country as well as the lowest record of road deaths
I haven’t had a drop in about 8 years and I don’t miss it at all. In fact, it never crosses my mind and even when I go to a restaurant where everyone is drinking I always just get a soda or a sweet tea. I have no pressure at all to drink because drinking is stupid.
Don't wait until you're a full-blown alcoholic before you address your problematic drinking. Leaving it until you're physically dependant is not a necessary part of sobriety. If you are worried about your drinking, if it is negatively affecting your life then now is as good a time as any to deal with your drinking. Just because you're "not an alcoholic" doesn't mean you haven't got a problem. It's far easier and preferable to deal with it sooner than later. I'm approaching 9 years of sobriety and I don't miss it one bit. I don't miss waking up with regret and despair. I don't miss the broken social connections. I don't miss any of it, not now. I reached a point where apologies had long before stopped meaning anything. The only one that does is my continued and lifelong sobriety. My shame has become a rod of iron, a backbone to replace all those empty, mealy-mouthed promises to do better.
I think the simple rule of "If you have to question if your over doing it, then you likely are" is really the best start. no reason to let a mild alcohol use disorder turn into full alcoholism
Alcohol, whiskey, uisce beathe, is and always was an integral part of Irish life for millenia, it's easy to demonise a substance that's also been used for many other uses apart from just drinking it. How many lives has it saved from sterilising wounds and implements used in operations etc.. being used as fuel? People will always abuse whatever's there to block out the pain of day to day life and have a good time.
Im a daily heavy drinker, probably alcoholic, but it has had no ill effects on my life. On the contrary it makes me sleep soundly, helps me destress, makes any bad feelings go away. Literally my cure for mental illness. Ive stopped before andnim just plain better off on the sauce
i like that u bring up the point that alcohol is so harmful as it is because it is readily available. i shudder imagining an entire population being able to trip/speed/etc legally. as much as i am ultimately grateful for my experiences with acid; i've had 3 psychotic breaks on it, despite how many ppl i've talked to who say that acid is 'just a chemical bro'. from what i've understood of the stats i've heard of, 'freaking out' on acid is rare. and maybe that is the case so far, but imagine a population of millions getting access to it. certainly it'd be more often than rarely. i think the biggest problem is just ppl's attitude and understanding to drugs. people have the wrong idea of how drugs are experienced, addiction, how it affects someone, etc etc. for example, if i offer someone acid and they go "oh wow!! this will be so cool, just like in the movies right?? lets go to a bar on this broo", then they lose my offer. with that attitude/understanding, i'd be scared of how they'd deal with their effects, how'd they'd treat fellow trippers, and how well they would handle a difficult trip, and soooo much more. imagine this, but population-wide, with no one to tell them first that it definitely, certainly will not be what they think, and that they HAVE to be careful with it; regardless of how funny it sounds or looks in media, or from exaggerated trip reports, or whatever. if there was a button that'd make drugs (atleast the ones i like) legal, i would forget about it for a few years. i really don't think people are ready to handle it.
Yea but what no one mentions is that 1 drink isn’t as bad for you as 1 use of many illicit drugs. Most of the negative effects or alcohol come with chronic or overuse. Acute and occasional usage is rarely dangerous and sometimes even protective. Not to say it isn’t a poison, it is, but using meth or heroine even once can throw off your life as you spiral into addiction. With alcohol it’s possible but much less likely.
I was at my uncle's wedding (at age 10) and was at his main table at the reception dinner. He was gifted some very classy alcohol and he was constantly mixing cognac with my coke/lemonade. In about an hour after this reception dinner, I was busy puking up... and suffered hangover in the following hours. I had learnt my lesson regarding alcohol poisoning and had learnt not to go there again.
I worked as a nurse at a rehab for a time. Every time we would get a new person for ETOH the morning after they dry out I have seen B/Ps of 200/120. We have to give them Ativan by I.V. to bring them back to normal range. Normally they would spend the first 3 days in an Ativan stupor as we slowly ween them off the Ativan over two weeks. I have seen people with an ETOH Blood level of .3 %.
I consume so little alcohol, I thought Simon was talking about painkillers at first. After turning 21, didn't like the taste of beer. Wine was fine. Some mixed drinks were pretty good. Then I got put onto a medicine that reacts...poorly to alcohol dropping by to say hello. I'm the only one in my friend group to have never been drunk. I dunno if I've even ever had a buzz. Now we're all old enough that getting drunk isn't really something they seek out anymore anyways.
I get all this. Look I know all substance bad. However I'm interested, what is the functionality rates of people who regularly drink alcohol vs the regularly use crack, heroin, meth and fentanyl? Because in my limited scope, someone who drinks everyday is likely to be more functional than those who use illicit drugs. So yeah, alcohol is the most widely distributed and perhaps dangerous drug, but most people can have a couple beers everyday and continue to be successful, while people doing hard drugs everyday typically give up everything for them.
As my father once said: " If four young men get together with a bottle of whiskey, they are likely to start a fight. If four young men get together with a bag of marijuana, they are likely to start *a band* . "
I think the biggest issue - like with many addictions - is in the denial of those afflicted. I'm trying to keep my alcohol consumption to a reasonable level with at least several days between indulging and months between "over" indulging... but a late relative for example didn't even consider beer or wine alcohol anymore and wouldn't even realize that he had a problem. My advice: Listen to people who are close to you. 'Cause "friends in the pub" usually only see you for a brief moment occasionally so they lack judgement about how extreme the behaviour is: they only see you "drink a few beers a week" and don't see all the combined load... once a person is so in denial, it's practically impossible to do anything without going to a professional, and good luck with that...
As I'm watching this I'm looking across the road to the house of my deceased friend. He was a self employed chartered accountant. For the last twelve years of his life he drank half a litre of neat single malt whisky every night. He was genuinely surprised when, shortly before his death, he was told he was an alcoholic whilst in hospital.
Wow - 500 mL (17 fluid ounces) of alcohol in one sitting! When I drink scotch/whiskey it’s between 50 mL to 100 mL with ice over the course of an hour with some food. I would pass out long before I got to 500 mL that’s tragic.
There's much more to be said for why alcohol is legal while most other similarly and less dangerous drugs are banned. For starters, other drugs have just as rich a history in society, just not western ones. Alcohol has historically been popular with upper classes, aiding its social acceptance and creating a feedback loop: It's popular because it's legal and it's legal because it's popular. Taxes could be raised for every other substance, but their criminalization serves other functions too. In the US for example, black people are incarcerated at much higher rates on possession charges despite similar consumption rates, which disenfranchises them from voting (especially important in red states since they heavily tend towards voting blie) and provides cheap forced labour for private companies, essentially modern slavery.
I personally think its primarily class-based, not to say that race doesn't play a component because it certainly does. I was a working class white guy who lived in a semi-rural area and we got harassed constantly. Coincidentally the kids who partied in their 8 bedroom homes never had that issue
@@AgxntAqua It's absolutely both, the race angle is just also more pronounced and obvious with regards to the war on drugs specifically. The class disparity is a general through-line of the entire legal system.
I was a functional alcoholic for about 30 years. I had a heart attack at 35 that should have killed me, but I was back to work and drinking within a month. I had a stroke at 45. Then I quit drinking after spending months in the hospital and rehab learning how to do things a 5-year-old does daily. I can't even tie my own shoes. I would love to say I don't crave a drink, but that would be a lie. I'd run over a preschool for a good margarita if it wouldn't have a horrible reaction with my medications. You could say alcohol pretty much ruined my life, but I'd do it all over again. I have very bad anxiety, and without alcohol, I would never have accomplished about 90% of the things I did in my life. Since I quit drinking, the doctors put me on more anxiety meds and prescribed two ESA animals. So now instead of alcohol, I take drugs that don't work as well as alcohol, and I have two very expensive cats to keep me from succumbing to intrusive thoughts.
@@Nesseight The thing is, sugar is EVERYWHERE and more often than not, in alarming quantities. It's also been fed to each and every one of us since childhood, because companies know that's just the way to keep buyers coming for more.
After years of casual use, I went for a cold turkey dry month just as an experiment and now I'm nearly 6 years alcohol free... and I absolutely recommend it.
@@Max-kw2hpand just because you are apparently trying to find ways to justify your alcoholism doesn't mean that alcohol isn't responsible for killing not only the people that consume it, but innocent bystanders EVERY DAY.
@@captainspaulding5963 This is very interesting. Please clarify your diagnosis and treatment options. You must be very smart, and I must have a problem if you said so. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
As an alcoholic, please don't. It seems so ok, but you quite literally go from ok to a wreak very fast. It's crazy how fast it happens. I went from just a guy having a good time to drinking daily. Please be safe everyone!
You gotta drink your beer in the closet, but you can have it lol. At the annual church fair they sell daiquiris. I’m prone to nausea so luckily I won’t touch it.
The end of this video was proven in the US by the Prohibition Era. Several of the most famous gangsters from that time became what they were because they dealt in alcohol on that thriving black market Simon mentioned.
As a child of a former alcoholic I can agree with this. My brother has fetal alcohol syndrome and I will have to take care of him for the rest of my life. Sadly, he is also an alcoholic. Lucky my parent got sober after my brother’s birth and I remember her journey of sobriety. I avoid alcohol and raised two children who are alcohol free and successful.
"I fought against the bottle, but I had to do it drunk" Leonard Cohen - "That Don't Make It Junk" (2001) "Some people say alcohol's a drug. It's not a drug, it's a drink!" Brass Eye (1997)
As a recovered alcoholic I completely agree that alcohol is the worst drug on the planet. In my 20s I experimented with other drugs and never had an issue, alcohol took me 7 years to get off as it is so readily available.
My story is just like so many other people's, alcohol started off innocently enough. It was social at first, only drinking on the weekends with friends. Flash forward 6 years and I'm drink every night till I black out. Absolutely destroying my relationships around me. I'll be 3 years sober come April. Alcohol to me is a demon that so quickly grabs you and drags you down while you don't even notice the effects. It was absolutely insane how my life changed so negatively and I didn't even notice.
I worked security at a pool and there was a big sign that said "No Drugs". I went to boot someone out for having beers there. The property manager disagreed, saying it was "just beer" and "not a drug". When I pointed out the effects of it, as well as extra risks from being around water with large amounts of alcohol, the increased chances of drowning or injury, she told me I was too uptight. I demanded a transfer and let my bosses know the situation, and potential liability about having a security guard where someone died because they were drunk at a pool - the account was dropped less than a week later.
Alcohol has the unique property of being made from the food we eat. The other chemicals considered being used for pharma/recreational uses exclusively. The difference of base material probably influences acceptability of alcohol over other drugs.
Yes. That whole "elevated mood" thing can trick people. Booze often *enhances* a mood that's already there, for good or ill. I do certainly enjoy a drink now and then, but I rarely if ever go truly overboard. I absolutely HATE being ill. Drinking an entire lake's worth of water before bed can work, but it can also be, um, inconvenient. Thank you Simon!
My dad, an alcoholic in his 80s is now suffering from Alzheimer’s. An entire life being the narcissistic addict and now needs support for everything It’s ruined our lives, my childhood and now my 50s. It may be an illness but it screwed with everyone he came into contact with.
My dad and my uncle both died from alcohol, and the third brother likely will too. I saw myself going that way and stopped drinking. I’m a little over two years sober and would do it again every time.
I've been sober over 12 years now. Still never met a single person who says they regret quitting drinking.
Well played! Keep it up! 💪😎👍
Well done!!
I'm with you, almost at 2 years sober myself. I had pancreatitus and liver fibrosis, but after about a year, all lab tests were back to normal. I'm grateful every day
Good for you. I'm proud of you ❤
My dad always told me that if you want to drink, you can't be angry or sad, and you have to have foood in your stomach.
Your dad was gay
Yep. People think it drowns sadness or anger, it doesn't. It just numbs it for a bit
Solid advice. Really the only other thing to consider is don't combine it with certain medications and other drugs, especially sedatives. And moderation, of course.
Good advice. Once you're legally, emotionally, and mentally adult, you could drink as it goes against that advice, but responsibly.
I honestly envy people who can drink normally and not risk absolute disaster. I am one of those who just shouldnt at all. PTSD is a bitch
My parents both broke the cycle of generations upon generations of alcoholism. I am so thankful they did. Their childhoods sounded terrible.
I’m the cycle breaker in my family. I grew up with alcoholic parents… it was super damaging to me. It runs rampant in both sides of my family. I got sober 10 years ago because I never wanted to put my kids through what I went through…
You both made wise choices. Be cautious not to be served food especially desserts with liquor in them. As I understood when I was offered an alcoholic drink as a teetotaler by choice, I overheard a comment that I will be a future drunk, I placed the drink on the table and said"no". Another time I put my hand out as a sign of rejection of alcohol, as it was not my support group. At 19 years of age I was well protecteby a law that was passed that says that while you are on a probationary drivers licence, not one drop of alcohol allowed. 0.00 And I still live with it and I am close to 60. The drinking culture and the illicit drug culture can stay with the privileged few.
Don't let alcohol, medications, and illicit drugs be the undesirables that trigger the unwanted lifestyle illnesses.
I work in IT/data analysis at a drug and alcohol treatment center. I used to be an active heroin/fentanyl addict, but found recovery three years ago. I still, to this day, empathize greatly with alcoholics. They have all the horrible physical, mental, and social consequences that compulsive, protracted ethanol use brings, but on top of that, they have to deal with advertising, marketing, and sales of their drug of choice on websites, TV, gas stations, corner stores, grocery store, restaurants... It's everywhere.
I am eternally grateful I never developed a taste nor a penchant for booze. Coming from a person who used to shoot up opioids and nearly lost his life, that's a bold statement, but also starkly true.
Keep up the good work 🙏
And people always asking if they are sure they don't want to drink at least a little bit, telling them that they are boring if they don't drink and alkohol beeing used for cooking. As a woman, people don't belive that you are not pregnant if you don't drink
I've been sober for twenty years, now and whilst I sometimes miss alcohol, I don't miss what it made me become. However, prohibition is no solution. It just creates would-be Al Capones, not sobriety.
Part of the issue is the culture around it. Binge drinking in college definitely puts genetically succeptible people in the line of fire.
Places like Italy that have a different drinking culture have much lower rates of alcoholism in young adults afaik. They are introduced to it in a more responsible manner.
💯. The answer is proper education, not the fear mongering type that most schools do.
@@AgxntAqua This, while i did absolutely used to drink far to much, it was in the form of sipping drinks over the course of the day and a beer or two with meals. As a result i was able to knock it off without any physical withdrawls or health issues, and can have something here and there without going nuts, getting drunk was never something ive enjoyed so the compulsion to get blasted just is not there, it was a matter simply of readjusting habits
My sister took less after how she was raised and instead is huge into binge drinking, will down a bottle in an hour or two and currently has an attention span and long term memory that i could only imagine resembles someone who collects concussions for fun at the ripe age of 22
Good for you. This is hard. My husband has been sober for around the same length of time. I'm proud of both of you. 💗🙏👏
Awesome
I still remember as a teenager when my friends argued with me when I said that alcohol is a drug. It's not inherently bad, but the insidious nature of ignoring the fact that it is a drug in how we deal with it I think it's the reason it causes so many issues in society
Although isn't it actually INHERRENTLY bad? Alcohol is LITERALLY poisonous to humans. It's just that most bodies can process small quantities, and at least partially repair any damage if given time to 'heal'. However I think booze ALWAYS causes some damage, and would be considered INHERRENTLY 'bad'?
@@StreetPreacherr I don't think it's inherently bad for someone to choose to poison themselves in that way. I think the problem is people don't think of the risks as much as they should, alcohol isn't treated as the dangerous drug that it is.
Alcohol is inherently damaging, that doesn't mean it's inherently bad - though it depends on your definition of bad. Mine is basically "causes unreasonable and unnecessary suffering". So using alcohol in moderation itself isn't inherently bad - the damage it does can be justified by the user as the cost of enjoying its other effects - but using alcohol in excess, to the extent that it negatively impacts others or the cost otherwise exceeds the benefit, is of course inherently bad.
Alcoholism is an addiction not a disease as well.
@@StreetPreacherr I think that they meant that the miscategorization of alcohol as not a drug is not inherently bad.
I started doing drugs years ago as a teenage, got addicted to heroin. Spent my whole life fighting heroin addiction. I suffered severe depression and mental disorder. Got diagnosed with OCD. Not until my wife recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 8 years totally clean. Much respect to mother nature the great magic shrooms.
Thanks for sharing your story. That's rough I sympathize. Save your health save your mind. Life is better without heroin, cocaine, alcohol and cigarettes. And you have more money in your pocket. God bless everyone who has rejected the devils intentions to be addicted to alcohol and cigarettes etc which can cause so much damage to health. I will pray for you all.
Hey mates! Can you help with the source? I suffer severe anxiety, panic and depression and I usually take prescription medicine, but they don't always help. Where can I find those psilocybin mushrooms? I'm really interested in treating my mental health without Rxs. I live in Germany don't know much about these. I'm so glad they helped you. I can't wait to get them too. Really need a reliable source 🙏
Hey! Yes Mr.medmushies
Mushrooms are very medicinal. This is why anybody familiar with psilocybin and any other kind of fungi will tell you, "They are alive." They have a very ancient wisdom. To my experience, all mushrooms have always said, "Pay attention to your life. How you think, how you feel, and what will you do with the information that you always knew, but now are seeing in this point of view." This is why mushrooms are so respected in tribal cultures. This mental health treatment works for me too. Half micro doses do the trick for me. At least a few days at a time with lengthy time in between. Never addictive. Thank you for sharing this point!
How do I reach out to him? Is he on insta
The fact that anyone can easily brew it in their own home is another reason it can't be stopped
exactly. wanted to say the same. it is hard to cook meth at home but you can easily make moonshine without any education or special knowledge.
It's quicker and easier to make crack. Coke is rife round here
You can literally make it in a toilet while in prison
@user-or5ke5yn4w it doesn't even have to be liquor (which can get you thrown in jail for your efforts). Brewing beer at home is completely legal, and pretty damn easy
Making wine = leave unpasteurised fruit juice in a container in a warmish place for a while
I work in a DUI program, I've seen plenty of people come through our doors who made a stupid mistake, an I've seen many people who have let alcohol ruin their lives and, through their actions, ruin the lives of others.
Don't drink and drive.
Never drink while you're driving. Only drink at stop signs, lol
Same for texting and driving. I see so many people swerving in and out of the lane and have almost been hit twice.
Drink then drive
You are blaming people. Do you blame an over weight person for their diabetes? No. Diabetes is an illness so we treat it. We do not blame people for it. Please stop blaming people for addiction and just treat it like any other illness. Addiction is an illness and the people who suffer are sick. In the words of John Q I say "sick, help, sick help". Blaming people is shaming people and that means people suffer in silence.
@@carmattvidz4426 You misunderstand a plea for people to consider the consequences of their actions and maintain personal responsibility with an attack on those who suffer from a substance use disorder. Making a poor decision and having a diagnosable substance use disorder are very different; not all who drink a few beers and get behind the wheel have a substance use disorder, and not all who have a substance use disorder would get behind the wheel while intoxicated.
As long as people struggle with their mental health, addiction and misuse of substances will always be a problem for most 😢
That's the whole scam! I've been around the block for a few decades in different ways and all the d n a abuse I've seen was clearly 'self medicating' people. Self included.
Add in stuff like ADHD and you have an increased chance of developing a substance use disorder. 😢
@@whackadooNot to diminish the struggle people with ADHD can have in severe cases but I can think of a pretty long list of mood and personality disorders that increase the risk significantly more.
Majour depression, schizophrenia spectrum disorders bi-polar spectrum disorders, borderline personality disorder, PTSD, antisocial personality disorder, etc.
I’ve found substances really don’t help if you have mental health issues, especially alcohol. Its the last thing I wanna be taking to be honest but because it’s widely accepted and available its often the first thing people reach for 😖
@@AgxntAqua not saying much, 40% or so of people with ADHD end up checking themselves out of the life hotel intentionally or through substance abuse,
thats a coin flips chance, not exactly a mild disorder
Thank you for covering this. As a family member of an alcoholic who has had her life destroyed I will never understand how this toxic substance which kills and destroys just as many people lives as any other illicit drug is socially acceptable and legal.
Prohibition hasn't worked with any drug, anywhere, ever. Plus alcohol is too easy to make to ever be gotten rid of. What does seem to work is normalising not drinking/smoking/using plus harm.reduction while destigmatising addiction in general. I've been sober for over half my life now, yet at social events I still have to put up with endless conversations about alcohol and near-strangers asking me why I'm 'not drinking'. I wish we would quit collectively pretending that alcohol is somehow necessary or interesting to humanity at large, but I'm sure not going to hold my breath.
In many cultures including mine, alcohol was not part of the equation. It was a huge shock when I encountered it in the US college system for the first time.
@@riaagarwal6840😮 Goodness! I can imagine.
Actually when prophet muhammad ﷺ came as a messenger to arabia, he eradicated alcohol with prohobition, alcohol at the time was deeply rooted into the society and an integral part of their lives, but still when the revelation came forbidding it, they all poured it out i to the streets, there were rivers of alcohol in the city. In the areas where islam had a strong hold in arabia, alcohol was practically eradicated and non existent. So it is possible to eradicate it with prohobition with Islam
Man I had a gnarly alcohol problem for years. Once it was finally brought o my attention that it was causing relationship issues and my friends were concerned I quit. April 2024 marks 10 years sober.
I’ll be sober for 10 years in April too!!
Anyone who lived with a alcoholic can tell you this is no lie. I don't get the culture of "cool" excessive drinking. It made my whole childhood a living hell.
I'm not a doctor, but as far as I know there is a clinical distinction between binge drinking and chronic alcoholism.
A person who binge drinks may not actually be dependent, though they almost certainly are at a higher risk of developing it.
I'm living proof of that. I did the whole "college experience" in my mid teens and would binge drink every other weekend or so but never had an issue with dependency. Same with cocaine back in the day actually.
Only thing I ever got hooked on was nicotine amd caffeine. Only thing I have never been able to quit is caffeine 😂
@@AgxntAqua Same here. From 15 to about 23 I was drunk at least one day during the weekend. And during my early 20s I always knew where to find some of Pablo's nose powder. But it was never a problem. Now, I have one drink, scotch or rye whiskey, at 5pm and immediately drink half a liter of water. I haven't touched the powder in 30 years. I can't quit the nicotine either and I've cut my caffeine intake down, but I like coffee!
Child of an alcoholic, developed my own addiction which I’ve kicked. Nicotine and caffeine- yep yep yep!
Same. Still dealing with the issues to this day. I have been sober for 10 years…
Step-father was an alcoholic. Sober he was Superman and a child’s dream of a father… drunk he was a monster and a nightmare. Very confusing growing up and made me a very mad and angsty teen girl who refused to back down and be a victim. Took me a few years to deal with that trauma and no longer suffer from it myself, to offer forgiveness after I grew older and moved on with my life. He had his demons he fought with nightly that he was running from and tried drowning them out, in turn making demons for me. I refused to become a part of his family’s cycle of abuse and terror…
I just don't understand why we can't learn the same lessons about drugs as we did when we criminalized alcohol. Make them legal, tax them, and stop sending users and addicts to jail.
Both my brothers passed from it. OK once in a while but when you do it every day your life will definitely get cut short.
Or like my dad, live to 80 and develop Alzheimer’s and be an even bigger problem for us all.
My friend is sober amd has been for years but is dying from liver failure caused from alcohol abuse, sad thing to watch
@@CoinManKak it's an awful way to go.
The reminds me of a teacher I had that once said alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and meth where the perfect examples of a drug thats socially and legally accepted alcohol. Socially unacceptable but legal tobacco. Socially acceptable but illegal cannabis. Finally both socially and legally unacceptable meth.
Cannabis shouldn't even be on the list, wtf
@@I_am_Jesus_though in fairness thiswas told to me before the idea of legalization of cannabis came up.
@@16mopey no, no it wasn't.... the idea of legalization has been around for decades, it's just that rich asshats would rather make easy money throwing people in jail for a plant.
@@16mopey Tobacco was socially acceptable well into the 2000s, so exactly when did you have this teacher? 😂
@@I_am_Jesus_though eh, its not as bad as alcohol in many ways but its not entirely free of risk
My father was an alcoholic. He died of cancer from asbestos exposure before the alcoholism got him. But I not only watch my intake of everything but made sure my kids grew up understanding not just moderation but family history since there is a genetic component to alcoholism.
I've never met a single person who says they regret quitting drinking. 12 years sober, best decision I've ever made. If you have any doubts about alcohol in your life just quit, you won't regret it.
My ex wife forced me to quit and I hated it.
I no longer had a way to de-stress or relax at the end of the day.
Night times were a hell of stress and insomnia, so after we divorced I went right back to drinking.
I guess what sets me apart is I'm strictly a night drinker, I never say drink except on special occasions
@@buyahondasupercub Well, sounds like having to stomach the ex-wife sober was pretty awful, but yeah, sobriety never works when its externally imposed. But hey, if you never quit, you might still be married so do you really regret it?
While I don't disagree with the spirit of the point you're making, it sounds like a bit of a self-selecting sample there. Those who choose not to drink and regret it are highly likely to start again.
@@huwday1131 yeah, that's actually a really valid point.
That’s because if they did regret it, they would just go and have a drink with their friends, they wouldn’t moan that they regret quitting
I've been sober for 14 years. I have a family member who has been recently diagnosed with alcohol related dementia. I don't think it should be illegal, but not everyone should be drinking.
This needs to be delivered to a wide audience in many languages.
Why? What would that accomplish?
@@eldsprutandedrake keep spreading the message of the dangers of addiction
One big problem is that it's usually not accepted when you don't want to join drinking. There is a lot of peer pressure, especially when you are a man.
I did lots of sports as a teenager and I had training events and championships on weekends so I never got used to alcohol.
It do not drink alcohol and people will not take no for an answer. It has no religious or health related reasons. But people will argue with me about my personal decision. Sometimes I argue with people, sometimes I simply say no. Sometimes I tell them that I lost a close family member to alcohol, that usually shuts them up.
I agree it's worse for men. As a woman, I can wave off alcohol pushers with "Eh, I'm a lightweight," when I'm not in a drinking mood, and that's that. God forbid you say that as a man, though. Might as well turn in your Man Card and hang up your junk. It's bullshit.
It is worse for men. My dad doesn’t drink, because my grandfather drank himself to death. Yet I can remember him sneakily mixing coca-cola with Sprite making it look like a Whiskey soda when we were at friend’s houses. Because despite him having to drive home afterwards, with his wife and then around 10 year old - he was still pressured into drinking. He had to lie to his friends, to be responsible. “One for the road!”.
We had a short visit to Norway, where we learnt about a wine monopoly. In a nutshell, alcohol is heavily taxed, making it super expensive. So people are less inclined to go all out, teenagers can’t afford it, and it’s seen as more of a treat. We weren’t there for long, so I stand to be corrected.
You left out one of the most frightening things about alcohol. If you become an alcoholic, quitting cold turkey can kill you. When your body develops a dependency to alcohol deciding to just stop drinking is deadly. Your body needs to ween off of it slowly. Its terrifying knowing that I can easily buy this thing that if I drink too much I get addicted and my body will legitimately NEED it and if I just cut it off I could die.
Yep, the DTs almost got me a couple times. When I was finally hospitalized for liver and kidney failure, I couldn't be slowly weaned off at that point, so they just assumed I wouldn't survive the detox and chemically knocked me out so I could die without severe perimortem agitation. 😂
Tapering off any substance legal or illegal is highly recommended. Smaller doses spaced farther and farther apart. I used that to get off fentanyl and oxys. Prescribed.
Withdraw seizures 😢
When your father is an alcoholic, you'll cry well into adulthood remembering his abuse. When your father is a stoner, you'll cringe well into adulthood remembering his jokes.
I'm so glad I got that correct. Thank you crippling addiction issues
Thank you for this. Alcohol has almost killed me more than once. I've been alcohol free for about 10 years now. People need to understand the real dangers of alcohol.
Im a nurse, on a general medicine unit.
Liver cirrhosis is one of the most common illnesses we face, as a result of ETOH.
Lemme just say it has scared me enough to drink less wine.
Its not a good way to go.
I’ve literally seen grown men waste to nothing
We made alcohol illegal in the US a long time ago, and it did NOT go well.
And how are the current prohibitions for other substances going?
@@StreetPreacherr about the same. Lol
People will always want to use substances. The best thing we could do is end prohibition and start quality control, taxing, and setting laws, age limits, and quantity limits of how much you can buy each week/month from a dispensary. You would need to apply for a prescription/membership for those dispensaries.
Supplying someone who has reached their limit would be made into a crime, and selling big quantities of non-controlled versions without a license would be made into a tax evasion crime.
This would enable the dispensaries of harder substances to point people towards mental health/addiction treatment if they notice someone has problem use of some substances.
Cannabis and alcohol would be in a lower schedule with less hard restrictions. You could still brew your own beer and grow your own weed/peyote/shrooms. You could grow poppies for opium wax too with an easily obtainable license, but further processing it into heroin, morphine, or others would be illegal.
That would basically be the death of the black market and substance use would be supervised.
I'm sure that system would have some loopholes and downsides, but almost anything is better than the current state of things.. people are dying and suffering like never before, and the worst kinds of criminals are becoming billionaires because of all that suffering. Less workforce too.
There's a mental health crisis and an evil pharmaceutical system who take advantage of that by prescribing addictive opioids and benzos instead of treating the mental problems. Leading to a fuckton of new addicts every year..
And I forgot to add, you would need to apply for a doctor's prescription for those super hard drugs like morphine and heroin. But having that easier to get dispensary card would allow you to buy milder drugs with less restrictions.
Full legalization of all drugs with no oversight or restrictions would be an absolute disaster.
@@Litepaw 100% agree with you.... adopt the Portugal model. Remove the stigma and taboo and people begin to get help.
My best friend has a drinking problem and she is trying her best to recover... And I am trying to support her the best I can... I tell her that I love her and that she is still such a wonderful and good person on the daily, because she really is....
My dad passed away from alcoholism (liver cirrhosis) in 2013. Toward the end, he started mixing alcohol and sleeping pills. My dad’s brother and his dad also passed due to alcohol related reasons. It’s bad on that side of my family and really sucks. I have to be super cautious of that side of the family’s predisposition. Thankfully, my mom was never a drinker or her family, so my sister and I were brought up knowing the dangers.
As someone who has had difficulties with alcohol addiction I appreciate Simon bringing a little light to the issue. I am almost 18 months sober 🎉
My psychology class just covered this today and we can to the conclusion that better education around it is always the best you can really do and having a safe space to discuss it with your children so they don't do it in secret and potentially get into dangerous situations
Yes! Absolutely the most deadly and destructive drug ever. All the years I spent drinking will probably cut my life short and not to mention the insane amount of money I probably wasted, I could have bought a house with that money.
Is it not also the drug that's lead to the most lives created?
@@johnd5740 if you need a drink to have sex with someone then what does that say about them or you ? Level up your standards don't drown them
@@SystemaAlphahe just saying people be breeding like rabbits and liquor is definitely a part of it
@@johnd5740Probably not. But it is definitely the cause of the most amount of unwanted pregnancies.
Raise your hand if you regret quitting drinking.... what? no one.... yeah.
"i bet it's the opio-" *puts down cider*
Yeah, that was my first guess as well.
My half sisters mom literally died recently in her late 30s from liver and kidney failure from alcohol. Yes, even knowing that her liver was failing and that she would die wasn’t enough to make her stop drinking. She left her baby (my half sister) in the hospital as soon as she had her and never saw her daughter. My sister was born at 6 months and luckily didn’t have any major issues. Alcohol completely destroyed that woman.
She lived in the SAME COUNTY as my half sister and never once tried to see her daughter and she would even come into my fast food job and order food. She would come into my job a couple times a year and it was terrifying how quickly her physical appearance deteriorated, every time I seen her she looked YEARS older than she did just a few months ago. She was originally a beautiful woman, my sister looks exactly how she looked when she wasn’t on alcohol.
I’ve known meth addicts pill addicts and not to say that those things aren’t bad, but I never saw anyone deteriorate as rapidly as my sisters mom. She looked 60 at 30. Alcohol is so much more serious than people realize or want to acknowledge.
I'm 53 years old and Christmas 2022, I literally had a blood alcohol level 300 and ended up in the hospital after 2 large cosmopolitan at my sister's house. I'm an experienced drinker and had my daughter just taken me home, I would have died. My breathing was so shallow. Since that day, I basically have stopped drinking and will do no hard liquor. I talked to my doctor about it and she was very puzzled.
I think our tolerance gets smaller as we age. I could go out drinking all night in my 30s without even having a hangover, but one strong drink puts me under the table these days. I stick to the occasional cocktail, preferably lightweight.
“Nobody laughs, nobody invites Uncle Terry back next year.” 😂😂😂
Everyone knows not to fuck with Uncle Terry once he's had some drink in him...
this reinforces the opinion that all drugs should be legal and taxed. no one will stop people from doing these things. but good can come from the taxes (if not used for military/other harmful means). We all could use some good roads/transport infrastructure.
Education.... the taxes from legal drugs/alcohol should go to fund education
I would probably draw the line at drugs like crystal meth that cause immense damage to the body regardless of how responsible a user you are. But I would decriminalization possession.
I would also offer recreational alternatives like MDMA or Adderall that are less harmful overall and easier to manufacture safely.
@AgxntOrange Meth is still prescribed for ADHD, albeit rarely. It’s not any worse than Adderall is, it’s just more potent and has a long half-life. You can’t draw the line anywhere, it’s all or nothing. Meth gets a bad reputation that in some aspects, is well earned, but causes it to be misunderstood. The negative physical health effects are relatively minor compared to alcohol.
@@Sniperboy5551 Potential side effects for Desoxyn are the same when used recreationally as street meth. Granted with less chance of contamination of course.
I still think less harmful alternatives would be a better option since the drug
1. Has such a poor reputation already, might as well put it to good use
2. The alternatives offer similar effects with less risk of dependency and chronic abuse
As far as alcohol goes, you aren't getting the toothpaste back in the tube now, right? We might just have to cut our losses on that one. Or just drastically change the drinking culture in North America.
drinking before pregnancy often causes pregnancy.
YES! Thank you for acknowledging this! So many hypocrites point out how cheap readily-available alcohol causes deaths, but so few of them acknowledge how many new lives are created as a direct result of it. Pretty sure at least half of the commentors under this very video owe their very lives to their parents' use of cheap vodka and / or your regional equivalent. Just think of that, guys. If your mother didn't have a drunken late-night woodlands fling with Daddy and "Uncle Bob", you wouldn't be here today. And cheap distilled spirits made that possible.
Yet, a woman is always the victim....
@@poopingwhilestanding5801 Back in the day(70s) it was common to get a girl drunk so she couldn't say no to sex. I was warned to always take a friend with me to parties, to hang out.
@H0lyMoley why are you implying that's a good thing? How is unplanned pregnancy good?
@@bobobobo1693 Well it is not the end of the world either.
Despite all these alcohol related problems Simon mentions, there is the other side of the coin, the casual drinker enjoying a mild state of intoxication and the taste of the various types of drinks. One can certainly enjoy wine and beer and some types of stronger drinks purely for the taste and the intoxication if having a bit more than one drink. Millions do this and stop there. Unfortunately not all can but that is no reason to ban the majority to enjoy alcohol in its many different forms.
The only drug so insidious that people expect you to justify your non use and then imply that if youre not a user, you must be a bit strange or odd
in all fairness, it used to be that way with cigarettes also
I gave it up a couple years ago, I actually lost weight and my body is slowly healing. It was the results that I had quitting rather than thinking of the dangers that kept me sober.
I could smell my alcoholic father's liver rotting in him. Every single event in my family was marred by his alcohol addiction. Both of my grandfathers were alcoholics, and their fathers before them. It's the only thing passed down from generation to generation.
Its called a generational curse and it can only be broken by faith and surrender to jesus. Same with my family going back a long way and i too became a heroin addict but after 15 years of addiction i decided enough was enough and i surrendered myself and accepted christ into my life and have been clean for a few years now
or by having some self worth and realizing it is destroying your life. god has nothing to do with that. @@ZaneBerry1992
@@ZaneBerry1992that's insane. I'm the sober one and the only atheist in my family 😂
Bringing religion into addiction like it’s science is so disrespectful. Clown shit
I feel your pain. I will never escape from the damage that was done to me having to watch my mother drink herself to death.
Great video.Im a recovering Alcoholic whos been 2 rehab twice and they are full of Alcoholics .Even Heroin addicts say its the worst Drug.
Unlike other Drugs you cant get away from it as its everywhere you go.
Another factor with alcohol (if they moved to make it illegal) is that’s it’s almost trivial to make (not make well ofc), fruits and grains left to dry for a few days will accrue wild yeast molds, and this can be used to make weak and crude alcohol
Imagine if you could pluck a few leaves off of a wild/common plant from your garden, then using a simple (passive) process involving wild bacteria/mold would then let these microbes to turn those plant-sugars into cocaine…
Sometimes forgotten fruit/veg left to rot naturally ferments accidentally, while no-one is accidental making meth in their neglected crisper drawer
Just chilling with my beer listening to why it is the most dangerous drug in the world, thanks Simon
Due to the prevalence of alcoholism in my family I chose not to drink.
I worked part-time as a nightclub steward for over 15 years and dealt with fights, sexual assaults and countless injuries due to stupid drunken behavior. In my job as a Firefighter I have dealt with quite a few avoidable deaths due to drink driving and house fires caused by drunks trying to cook after a night out.
Crazy. Im sat her half drunk telling myself over and over day after day i need to stop drinking and i come across this.
Been there done that in a much better place now.
My advice, start right now, dont wait to finish what you have left around the house or do a "ill do next week"
Start today, and dont keep a timer on how many days its been or whatever, Every day your goal is to not drink, and if you do than your goal is to make sure a couple beers doesent turn into a case.
Focus on each day and each week improving from before
Prohibition showed how bad an idea it was to ban alcohol….
20 years ago i was almost dead /.,.,. now im 20 years sober
The last time I drank in any great degree, I was 20. I drank so much that I was vomiting for a day and a half. For almost a year afterward, I had trouble maintaining my grip on things or even grasping objects period. For several years afterward (about 5 or so), I couldn't walk in a straight line--I'd wind up listing to one side or the other, even though I was stone sober. I didn't touch anything with ethyl alcohol in it for about two decades after that episode, and now when I do drink it's one drink and that's it.
I have an immense deal of sympathy for those who suffer with alcoholism, and I think that we as a people need to treat it as the public health issue that it is (just like we should treat every other addiction as a public health issue).
The same exact thing can go for weed, the tax revenue off of legalizing it is probably pretty dang high, weird the government was fighting it so hard
I think you might of missed the point of the video my friend
@@its_a_trap2101 I didn't, I was just comparing weed and alcohol in terms of the tax revenue and people just doing it anyway if it's illegal
One of the reasons weed was criminalized was because it was an easy way to target people of color. That's why you'd see absurd sentencing for possession and use of it. Same thing could be said about crack cocaine vs powdered cocaine.
At least here in america racism is the root of the battle against weed
Alc is much worse than weed. Im an alcoholic and i used to smoke before. The power difference in these 2 drugs is crazy. High alc dose is very similar to heroin.
My mother was a life-long alcoholic - eventually died because of it. She brought insurmountable misery into my life and my father's. I had to "babysit" her at home from when I was as young as 5. She nearly killed me a dozen times while forcing me into a car so she could drive to the liquor store and it took me getting to the age of 9 before I could explain to dad why I was scared of mom (she nearly crashed so many times with me in the car and had numerous fender benders). I despised her.. I still despise her and I was relieved when she died. I despise all alcoholics, I have very little sympathy for them, they ruin lives and bring misery to everyone around them. Damn alcoholic robbed the first 20 years of my life which were supposed to be among my best / most enjoyable.. instead it was fill with constant fear for myself and fear for my stupid, drunk worthless mother.
If not for my father, who (like me) has never consumed a drop of alcohol in his life, I might've ended up like her. Fortunately I had a good role model to look up to.
I have struggled with addiction to substances, particularly opiods, and have always felt alcohol caused the most damage to me and those around me. I could see that it was the consequences of the substance as viewed by a society you suffer that differs. I'm in a much better place within and in surroundings but the perspective and life lessons from suffering are invaluable to me today. I can honestly say I feel grateful for all of it in some way, the most painful experiences became the most important insight.
My excessive drinking absolutely made me a better person by the end of it, one, it gave me more empathy twords other peoples problems because i had the first hand example of how stuff can easilly get out of hand. But most importantly that moment of clarity where i was sitting there and had the "wait, this is not normal, like at all, huh, why am i doing that, thought and it got me to finally backtrack and the "Why" behind alot of my behaviors besides the overdrinking.
That being said i would never advertize that as a method for other people to solve those problems, probably could have solved it much quicker and healthier with therapy BUT, it worked out right eventually
@@therideneverends1697 The moment of realizing the WHY behind the WHAT, I can say was the most profound, life-changing, insight I've experienced. Never thought it possible, it came to me rather than me chasing it. Glad to hear others relate on their journey. Thanks for sharing, stay present. I'll always wonder if there may be another way, but the suffering seems inherently necessary in ways. Maybe not so extreme as I had, it's all relative and subjective experiences uniquely perceived by each individual. Only you know you, it's why I know I can't save anyone from themselves. I've tried and suffered for it, but nobody could save me either. Empathy.
I am currently 28 years old and in my early 20s I was as close to an alcoholic as you can get without actually being one. I was luckily not yet physically addicted to it but it had screwed nearly every aspect of my life. Four years ago I met my current partner and she managed to stop me drinking about 6 months into our relationship, I haven't touched it since. Best decision of my life and I owe it to my girlfriend ❤
You owe it to yourself ❤
in my early 20s, i was a seasonal firefighter. one week my stations two captains were both off and we had a captain cover who was also the region's head medical liaison.
while watching the macneil lehrer newshour, jim lehrer was interviewing the country's general surgeon who was saying heroin were as addictive as cigarettes (which lehrer as a smoker couldn't accept).
this lead me and the captain discuss heroin.
at the end of the discussion the captain said that many people would always try to alter their lives with substances he believed that policy should be to limit social consequences, and without encouraging different drugs, saying domestic abuse and driving dui was most common with alcohol, people who used narcotics didn't care much for moving and activity due to becoming ill and it's use was less detrimental to society than alcohol and that individually it was impurities used to cut heroin was the main cause to an individual's long term health consequences than the drug itself.
Man, the MacNeil Lehrer News Hour... that's a blast from the past lol 😂
👍✌️
This was yet another fascinating video Simon.
One thing you didn't touch upon is that alcohol's effects can be self limiting - if you drink too much, it may well simply come straight back out the way it went in! Or you might just fall asleep before you hit the danger zone. Whereas with something like fentanyl, once it's in you (in too large a quantity) your only hope is another drug that can reverse the effects.
This makes alcohol a more predictable substance, and probably contributes to its social acceptabilty. It's difficult to picture a parallel universe where the family are laughing because "Granny's had too much fentanyl again" at Christmas and has gone a bit cold.
The thoughts about grapes, grains and religion were really interesting too. As a Catholic i find it intriguing that our Lord chose to make wine His Blood and not, say, grape juice. Why did it need to be something potentially deadly? St. Paul says that the Eucharist can in fact kill you (i.e. condemn the soul) if you consume it without examining your conscience first. So probably not an accidental decision!
Perhaps we should require that a sizeable portion of alcohol taxes go towards harm-reduction efforts. Seems we could mediate the risk with the costs of risk mitigation.
Finally a comment with a sane workable solution
All the rest of these comments sulking about their sad lives, and ineffective solutions was doing was tempting me to create a drinking game
I don't think I personally know any adult who hasn't drank alcohol. Most of my friends and family drink occasionally. This includes my 90 year old grandmother who drinks a glass of wine or brandy every now and then. I haven't met any alcohol addict so far. Also, I haven't heard of anyone dropping dead after their first drink. Which can't be said about fentanyl and other hard drugs.
My dad is dying from alcoholism at the moment. It’s slow and painful for everyone involved. I quit alcohol years ago it just doesn’t sit well with my temperament.
In covid South African banned alcohol sales and it had a significant effect on the amount of traumas seen in all hospitals around the country as well as the lowest record of road deaths
But how many fatal domestic disputes and deaths from alcohol withdrawal? I have a feeling that those two statistics rose sharply.
Keep up the good work
I haven’t had a drop in about 8 years and I don’t miss it at all. In fact, it never crosses my mind and even when I go to a restaurant where everyone is drinking I always just get a soda or a sweet tea. I have no pressure at all to drink because drinking is stupid.
Great video and well explained.
Don't wait until you're a full-blown alcoholic before you address your problematic drinking. Leaving it until you're physically dependant is not a necessary part of sobriety.
If you are worried about your drinking, if it is negatively affecting your life then now is as good a time as any to deal with your drinking. Just because you're "not an alcoholic" doesn't mean you haven't got a problem. It's far easier and preferable to deal with it sooner than later.
I'm approaching 9 years of sobriety and I don't miss it one bit. I don't miss waking up with regret and despair. I don't miss the broken social connections. I don't miss any of it, not now. I reached a point where apologies had long before stopped meaning anything. The only one that does is my continued and lifelong sobriety. My shame has become a rod of iron, a backbone to replace all those empty, mealy-mouthed promises to do better.
I think the simple rule of "If you have to question if your over doing it, then you likely are" is really the best start.
no reason to let a mild alcohol use disorder turn into full alcoholism
the Irish word for Whiskey is uisce beatha which means water of life
Alcohol, whiskey, uisce beathe, is and always was an integral part of Irish life for millenia, it's easy to demonise a substance that's also been used for many other uses apart from just drinking it. How many lives has it saved from sterilising wounds and implements used in operations etc..
being used as fuel? People will always abuse whatever's there to block out the pain of day to day life and have a good time.
Im a daily heavy drinker, probably alcoholic, but it has had no ill effects on my life.
On the contrary it makes me sleep soundly, helps me destress, makes any bad feelings go away. Literally my cure for mental illness. Ive stopped before andnim just plain better off on the sauce
i like that u bring up the point that alcohol is so harmful as it is because it is readily available. i shudder imagining an entire population being able to trip/speed/etc legally. as much as i am ultimately grateful for my experiences with acid; i've had 3 psychotic breaks on it, despite how many ppl i've talked to who say that acid is 'just a chemical bro'. from what i've understood of the stats i've heard of, 'freaking out' on acid is rare. and maybe that is the case so far, but imagine a population of millions getting access to it. certainly it'd be more often than rarely.
i think the biggest problem is just ppl's attitude and understanding to drugs. people have the wrong idea of how drugs are experienced, addiction, how it affects someone, etc etc.
for example, if i offer someone acid and they go "oh wow!! this will be so cool, just like in the movies right?? lets go to a bar on this broo", then they lose my offer. with that attitude/understanding, i'd be scared of how they'd deal with their effects, how'd they'd treat fellow trippers, and how well they would handle a difficult trip, and soooo much more.
imagine this, but population-wide, with no one to tell them first that it definitely, certainly will not be what they think, and that they HAVE to be careful with it; regardless of how funny it sounds or looks in media, or from exaggerated trip reports, or whatever.
if there was a button that'd make drugs (atleast the ones i like) legal, i would forget about it for a few years. i really don't think people are ready to handle it.
Yea but what no one mentions is that 1 drink isn’t as bad for you as 1 use of many illicit drugs.
Most of the negative effects or alcohol come with chronic or overuse. Acute and occasional usage is rarely dangerous and sometimes even protective. Not to say it isn’t a poison, it is, but using meth or heroine even once can throw off your life as you spiral into addiction. With alcohol it’s possible but much less likely.
I was at my uncle's wedding (at age 10) and was at his main table at the reception dinner. He was gifted some very classy alcohol and he was constantly mixing cognac with my coke/lemonade. In about an hour after this reception dinner, I was busy puking up... and suffered hangover in the following hours. I had learnt my lesson regarding alcohol poisoning and had learnt not to go there again.
If you had alcohol poisoning you'd need your stomach pumped. Like my friend Jenny did when she was 14
OMG! That's horrible!
@@SOBNo1 not necessarily!
I worked as a nurse at a rehab for a time. Every time we would get a new person for ETOH the morning after they dry out I have seen B/Ps of 200/120. We have to give them Ativan by I.V. to bring them back to normal range. Normally they would spend the first 3 days in an Ativan stupor as we slowly ween them off the Ativan over two weeks. I have seen people with an ETOH Blood level of .3 %.
I bet Simon went right home after this recording day and enjoyed some wine 🍷
I consume so little alcohol, I thought Simon was talking about painkillers at first. After turning 21, didn't like the taste of beer. Wine was fine. Some mixed drinks were pretty good. Then I got put onto a medicine that reacts...poorly to alcohol dropping by to say hello. I'm the only one in my friend group to have never been drunk. I dunno if I've even ever had a buzz. Now we're all old enough that getting drunk isn't really something they seek out anymore anyways.
GOOD ONE THANKS, SHARE SHARE
I get all this. Look I know all substance bad. However I'm interested, what is the functionality rates of people who regularly drink alcohol vs the regularly use crack, heroin, meth and fentanyl?
Because in my limited scope, someone who drinks everyday is likely to be more functional than those who use illicit drugs. So yeah, alcohol is the most widely distributed and perhaps dangerous drug, but most people can have a couple beers everyday and continue to be successful, while people doing hard drugs everyday typically give up everything for them.
As my father once said: " If four young men get together with a bottle of whiskey, they are likely to start a fight. If four young men get together with a bag of marijuana, they are likely to start *a band* . "
I think the biggest issue - like with many addictions - is in the denial of those afflicted. I'm trying to keep my alcohol consumption to a reasonable level with at least several days between indulging and months between "over" indulging... but a late relative for example didn't even consider beer or wine alcohol anymore and wouldn't even realize that he had a problem. My advice: Listen to people who are close to you. 'Cause "friends in the pub" usually only see you for a brief moment occasionally so they lack judgement about how extreme the behaviour is: they only see you "drink a few beers a week" and don't see all the combined load... once a person is so in denial, it's practically impossible to do anything without going to a professional, and good luck with that...
oh man that is concerning, so much so in fact I need a drink now... :(
As I'm watching this I'm looking across the road to the house of my deceased friend. He was a self employed chartered accountant. For the last twelve years of his life he drank half a litre of neat single malt whisky every night. He was genuinely surprised when, shortly before his death, he was told he was an alcoholic whilst in hospital.
Wow - 500 mL (17 fluid ounces) of alcohol in one sitting! When I drink scotch/whiskey it’s between 50 mL to 100 mL with ice over the course of an hour with some food. I would pass out long before I got to 500 mL that’s tragic.
@@ragtowne I'm similar. Takes me almost two years to drink a bottle of single malt.
There's much more to be said for why alcohol is legal while most other similarly and less dangerous drugs are banned. For starters, other drugs have just as rich a history in society, just not western ones. Alcohol has historically been popular with upper classes, aiding its social acceptance and creating a feedback loop: It's popular because it's legal and it's legal because it's popular.
Taxes could be raised for every other substance, but their criminalization serves other functions too. In the US for example, black people are incarcerated at much higher rates on possession charges despite similar consumption rates, which disenfranchises them from voting (especially important in red states since they heavily tend towards voting blie) and provides cheap forced labour for private companies, essentially modern slavery.
I personally think its primarily class-based, not to say that race doesn't play a component because it certainly does.
I was a working class white guy who lived in a semi-rural area and we got harassed constantly.
Coincidentally the kids who partied in their 8 bedroom homes never had that issue
@@AgxntAqua It's absolutely both, the race angle is just also more pronounced and obvious with regards to the war on drugs specifically. The class disparity is a general through-line of the entire legal system.
I was a functional alcoholic for about 30 years. I had a heart attack at 35 that should have killed me, but I was back to work and drinking within a month. I had a stroke at 45. Then I quit drinking after spending months in the hospital and rehab learning how to do things a 5-year-old does daily. I can't even tie my own shoes.
I would love to say I don't crave a drink, but that would be a lie. I'd run over a preschool for a good margarita if it wouldn't have a horrible reaction with my medications.
You could say alcohol pretty much ruined my life, but I'd do it all over again. I have very bad anxiety, and without alcohol, I would never have accomplished about 90% of the things I did in my life. Since I quit drinking, the doctors put me on more anxiety meds and prescribed two ESA animals.
So now instead of alcohol, I take drugs that don't work as well as alcohol, and I have two very expensive cats to keep me from succumbing to intrusive thoughts.
Tbh, I'd say the most addictive and inconspicuous drug is SUGAR.
Sugar can be destroyed by yeast tho bro
@@Nesseight The thing is, sugar is EVERYWHERE and more often than not, in alarming quantities. It's also been fed to each and every one of us since childhood, because companies know that's just the way to keep buyers coming for more.
Please don't drink alcohol if you wanna numb the sadness. Only sip it if you wanna have more fun than you already have.
Alcohol
After years of casual use, I went for a cold turkey dry month just as an experiment and now I'm nearly 6 years alcohol free... and I absolutely recommend it.
what drew you to it? what benifits do you notice?
Carfentanil, it's toxicity level is equal to nerve gas!
Very, very interesting episode. Thanks Simon
Alcohol isn't the problem. Not respecting it is
I got off this poison in 2022 and hope to stay off forever. Really is the worst thing to ever happen to society.
Same here! Stay strong!
2020 here. I had, and was, a problem
Just because you are addicted, it doesn't mean everyone in society has unhealthy relationship with alcohol.
@@Max-kw2hpand just because you are apparently trying to find ways to justify your alcoholism doesn't mean that alcohol isn't responsible for killing not only the people that consume it, but innocent bystanders EVERY DAY.
@@captainspaulding5963 This is very interesting. Please clarify your diagnosis and treatment options. You must be very smart, and I must have a problem if you said so. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
As an alcoholic, please don't. It seems so ok, but you quite literally go from ok to a wreak very fast. It's crazy how fast it happens. I went from just a guy having a good time to drinking daily. Please be safe everyone!
As a Roman Catholic, it’s part of my religion.
You gotta drink your beer in the closet, but you can have it lol. At the annual church fair they sell daiquiris. I’m prone to nausea so luckily I won’t touch it.
The end of this video was proven in the US by the Prohibition Era. Several of the most famous gangsters from that time became what they were because they dealt in alcohol on that thriving black market Simon mentioned.
As a child of a former alcoholic I can agree with this. My brother has fetal alcohol syndrome and I will have to take care of him for the rest of my life. Sadly, he is also an alcoholic. Lucky my parent got sober after my brother’s birth and I remember her journey of sobriety. I avoid alcohol and raised two children who are alcohol free and successful.
"I fought against the bottle, but I had to do it drunk"
Leonard Cohen - "That Don't Make It Junk" (2001)
"Some people say alcohol's a drug. It's not a drug, it's a drink!"
Brass Eye (1997)
As a recovered alcoholic I completely agree that alcohol is the worst drug on the planet. In my 20s I experimented with other drugs and never had an issue, alcohol took me 7 years to get off as it is so readily available.
My story is just like so many other people's, alcohol started off innocently enough. It was social at first, only drinking on the weekends with friends. Flash forward 6 years and I'm drink every night till I black out. Absolutely destroying my relationships around me. I'll be 3 years sober come April. Alcohol to me is a demon that so quickly grabs you and drags you down while you don't even notice the effects. It was absolutely insane how my life changed so negatively and I didn't even notice.
I worked security at a pool and there was a big sign that said "No Drugs". I went to boot someone out for having beers there. The property manager disagreed, saying it was "just beer" and "not a drug". When I pointed out the effects of it, as well as extra risks from being around water with large amounts of alcohol, the increased chances of drowning or injury, she told me I was too uptight. I demanded a transfer and let my bosses know the situation, and potential liability about having a security guard where someone died because they were drunk at a pool - the account was dropped less than a week later.
I agree with you but they probably meant no illegal drugs. Alcohol is a hard drug imo so it should be treated the same, but unfortunately it isn’t!
Alcohol has the unique property of being made from the food we eat. The other chemicals considered being used for pharma/recreational uses exclusively. The difference of base material probably influences acceptability of alcohol over other drugs.
Yes. That whole "elevated mood" thing can trick people. Booze often *enhances* a mood that's already there, for good or ill. I do certainly enjoy a drink now and then, but I rarely if ever go truly overboard. I absolutely HATE being ill. Drinking an entire lake's worth of water before bed can work, but it can also be, um, inconvenient. Thank you Simon!
My dad, an alcoholic in his 80s is now suffering from Alzheimer’s. An entire life being the narcissistic addict and now needs support for everything
It’s ruined our lives, my childhood and now my 50s. It may be an illness but it screwed with everyone he came into contact with.