From: [d--b] at [hendrix.coe.neu.edu] (Stephen Humble)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs
Subject: Re: Strongest Anti-Legalization Argument?
Date: 07 May 1994 22:52:13 GMT

[f--d--n] at [cs.tulane.edu] (Damon Feldman) sez:
> Your apparent claim that alcohol is more addictive than heroin is
> absurd and requires no references to disprove it.

The following citations are taken from Goodman and Gilman's _The
Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics_, (8th edition, copyright 1990
Pergamon Press).  This book is a widely-used reference.

p538
    The body is able to metabolize the alcoholic content of
    about 30 ml (1 oz) of whisky in an hour (_see_ Chapter 17
    [Hypnotics and Sedatives; Ethanol - deeb]). If the intake is
    sufficiently spread out over the day, each dose of ethanol
    may be metabolized without any substantial increase in blood
    concentration.  On the other hand, the ingestion of only
    modestly larger amounts, but spaced so that the body's
    metabolic capacity is exceeded (e.g., 120 ml [4 oz] of
    whisky every 3 hours), can produce much higher blood
    concentrations, which can induce a clinically significant
    physical dependence in a matter of a few days.

p562
    It is not possible to know in advance which patients are
    only mildly physically dependent and which patients will
    develop delirium tremens.  Since delirium tremens always
    carries with it a certain risk of a fatal outcome, it seems
    appropriate to treat all but the mildest cases of alcohol
    withdrawal with agents that show cross-dependence with
    alcohol.

The authors go on to describe treatment of recovering alcoholics with
barbiturates (like Phenobarbital), benzodiazepines (like Valium),
and/or other CNS depressants to prevent or reverse the alcohol
withdrawal syndrome.

And now for heroin and the other opioids...

p533
    [...], however, the rate at which this tolerance develops,
    in either the addict or the medical patient, depends in part
    on the pattern of use.  With intermittent use, it is
    possible to obtain for an indefinite period desired
    analgesic and sedative effects from doses in the therapeutic
    range.  It is only when drug use is more or less continuous
    that significant tolerance develops.

In other words, as with alcohol, it's possible to use heroin
or other opioids regularly for long periods *without*
developing tolerance.  The instant, inevitable addictiveness
of heroin is a myth.

If an addicted person is unable or unwilling to continue taking
opioids...

p534
    The failure to take food and fluids, combined with vomiting,
    sweating, and diarrhea, results in marked weight loss,
    dehydration, ketosis, and disturbance in acid-base balance.
    Occasionaly there is cardiovascular collapse.  However,
    seizures do not occur and the withdrawal syndrome is rarely
    life-threatening.

So, while the secondary effects of opioid withdrawal can be dangerous,
the withdrawal syndrome itself lacks the life-threatening effects of
alcohol withdrawal.  The addict who undergoes sudden withdrawal will
be in less danger if the addiction was to heroin than if it was to
alcohol.

Chronic alcohol abuse causes damage to the CNS and liver, damage that
frequently persists long after the alcohol abuse has stopped.  Chronic
opioid abuse causes constipation, which might be uncomfortable, but
isn't likely to be serious and goes away after drug use stops.

The greater danger of alcohol abuse compared to opioid abuse is
well-established.  It may be absurd since it flies in the face of
common beliefs about these drugs, but human physiology isn't subject
to the whims of fashion and no amount of political posturing can
change that.

In the United States, heroin addicts face much greater hazards: they
inject unknown quantitie
In the United States, heroin addicts face much greater hazards: they
inject unknown quantities of contaminated drugs with non-sterile
needles, are likely to resort to crime to finance their habits, and
are frequently sent to prisons where they become public burdens while
learning new skills important in the life of a criminal.  These
dangers are not the result of their drug use but occur because
American society demands that heroin users be harrassed, scorned,
hunted, and caged, i.e. the dangers are the result not of the drug but
of living among Americans.

Chimpanzees kill the member of their own troop that's painted pink;
Americans kill their fellow citizens for violating taboos about drugs
- it's all the same thing.  Is it too much to ask Americans to act
according to their lofty ideals instead of their ancient feral
instincts?

--

we are a humane society
	- Dennis Vacco, former US Attorney in _Keep Drugs Illegal_,
	an essay calling for the continuation of the War on Drugs.

Stephen Humble		[d--b] at [meceng.coe.neu.edu]  	Speaker to Computers