Newsflash! Alcohol and Tobacco worse than Drugs!

Well, it looks like the secret is finally out. The social cost of tobacco and alcohol is higher than that of drugs. Of course, anyone with half a brain knew this to be true from the beginning. Hmm, let's see:

• When was the last time you saw a stoned person (marijuana user) get into a fight? Beat his girlfriend?
• How many people have you seen get belligerent when they can't find a joint?

Now, I agree, marijuana use has it's own health issues. It makes you lazy and unmotivated. It contains something like ten times the tar of a tobacco cigarette when smoked. However, you don't smoke twenty joints a day.

The rest of the drugs, like Heroin, PCP, and the new synthetic drugs, are of course a serious problem. They cloud thought, can increase aggressiveness both during use and during the down phase, and cause a lot of petty crime to be committed by their desperate users. But to throw them in jail?

Isn't addiction a disease, and should we not treat it as such?

Just look at Holland. Sure, they have a high drug use rate. But look at the social costs - they have them minimized.