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Why the government should fund research into finding a replacement for alcohol
The Week ^ | March 5, 2015 | Ryan Cooper

Posted on 03/06/2015 7:34:52 AM PST by C19fan

Research into recreational drugs still carries a bad rap, following the anti-drug crusades of the Reagan years and beyond. But such research may be one of the most important scientific investigations happening today.

Here's why: the most popular recreational drugs, particularly alcohol, are atrocious. If pharmaceutical chemists could invent a less toxic replacement for alcohol, the social benefits could be enormous.

Despite the common phrase "drugs and alcohol," which seems to imply that alcohol is merely in a related category, alcohol is definitely a drug. Indeed, as Mark Kleiman writes, alcohol is more like the ur-drug: the oldest, most common, and most widely abused drug in the world.

(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: alcohol; drug; drugs; wod
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The "Gin is Sin" crowd in back. Beer/ale, tea, and coffee were pushed as alternatives to distillates. How about we call Mr. Cooper's substitute "Soma" in honor of the gov't sponsored drug from "Brave New World". If you are a Star Trek there is the infamous synthol the Montgomery Scott rejected.
1 posted on 03/06/2015 7:34:52 AM PST by C19fan
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To: C19fan

We already have alternatives to alchohol…Miller Lite and Bud Light.


2 posted on 03/06/2015 7:38:02 AM PST by albie
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To: C19fan

Or the gub’mint could get out of the business of telling people what they can and cannot do and leave it at that .


3 posted on 03/06/2015 7:38:04 AM PST by NativeSon ( Grease the floor with Crisco when I dance the Disco)
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To: C19fan

Soma.


4 posted on 03/06/2015 7:38:38 AM PST by null and void ( If race doesn't matter, why does it matter so much?)
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To: C19fan

The Progressives started Prohibition, now they want to do it again.


5 posted on 03/06/2015 7:39:48 AM PST by struggle
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To: C19fan

alcoholic beverages have been part of human life from the earliest of days. The problem lies, not in the drink, but in the person and his gluttony, and his inability to control himself.


6 posted on 03/06/2015 7:41:29 AM PST by elpadre (AfganistaMr Obama said the goal was to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-hereQaeda" and its allies.)
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To: C19fan

They should invent nothing, they should let the free market decide and butt out


7 posted on 03/06/2015 7:41:57 AM PST by dila813
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To: NativeSon
"Or the gub’mint could get out of the business of telling people what they can and cannot do and leave it at that."

Oh, no! I, for one, need a guvmint to control me! Otherwise, what might happen?

8 posted on 03/06/2015 7:43:05 AM PST by Da Bilge Troll (Defeatism is not a winning strategy!)
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To: C19fan

I’m thinking about something called “water”. It’s healthy when consumed in moderation, cheap, plentiful, and only moderately intoxicating, though it is somewhat habituating. The only downside I can see is if someone figures out how to abuse “water”, then the government will outlaw “water”.


9 posted on 03/06/2015 7:43:08 AM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: C19fan

OH - that is so radical.


10 posted on 03/06/2015 7:46:08 AM PST by Repeal The 17th (We have met the enemy, and he is us.)
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To: C19fan

That’s all we need, another gubmint “study”.


11 posted on 03/06/2015 7:48:30 AM PST by PROCON (Always Give 100% --- Unless you're donating blood.)
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To: C19fan

How about research into a drug that would counter the effects of alcohol in minutes?


12 posted on 03/06/2015 7:51:58 AM PST by Blood of Tyrants (True followers of Christ emulate Christ. True followers of Mohammed emulate Mohammed.)
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To: Da Bilge Troll

“Oh, no! I, for one, need a guvmint to control me! Otherwise, what might happen?”

I have a guvmint to control me, Mrs. Duffee.


13 posted on 03/06/2015 7:58:25 AM PST by duffee (Dump the Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, joe nosef.)
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To: albie

replacement for alcohol is coffee after lots of drinking : )


14 posted on 03/06/2015 8:02:48 AM PST by minnesota_bound
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To: albie
We already have alternatives to alchohol…Miller Lite and Bud Light.

Don't forget VIP!

15 posted on 03/06/2015 8:06:29 AM PST by sportutegrl
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To: C19fan

Beer, ale, tea and coffee were the only trusted sources of potable water until about the last 25 years or so of the 19th century. And once the natural benefits of caffeine were applied to industry coffee and tea (and somewhat later, soft drinks like Coca Cola) were the only acceptable forms of workplace beverages. It was the busybody temperance women that gave us the fiasco that was prohibition.


16 posted on 03/06/2015 8:09:12 AM PST by Celtic Conservative (Sufficient unto the day are the troubles therof)
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To: elpadre

Alcohol predates civilization. And there are some schools of paleo anthropology that think alcohol brought about civilization, and not the other way around.

CC


17 posted on 03/06/2015 8:12:32 AM PST by Celtic Conservative (Sufficient unto the day are the troubles therof)
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To: C19fan

Western man has done pretty well using alcohol for thousands of years, during the same time they rejected Cannabis as an intoxicant.

Look at the peoples of the world that largely have done the opposite.


18 posted on 03/06/2015 8:17:58 AM PST by ansel12 (Palin--Mr President, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke.)
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To: albie
We already have alternatives to alchohol…Miller Lite and Bud Light. You just won the internet for today.
19 posted on 03/06/2015 8:28:20 AM PST by FateAmenableToChange
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To: dila813
"They should invent nothing, they should let the free market decide and butt out"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What is your argument against adding a safer alternative to the free market?

BTW, how is your buggy whip business doing? (Or, are you a moonshiner?)

20 posted on 03/06/2015 10:04:36 AM PST by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias... "Barack": Allah's current ally...)
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