[Murray the R]

About 28 percent of violent crimes involved an offender who was perceived to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Thanks, philman. That's a far cry from the bridge we were being sold here.

Funny how the nanny-staters will lump alcohol and other drugs together when they think it serves their purposes, then turn around and deny that alcohol is a drug.

[TigersEye]

I was about 16 when it first occurred to me that alcohol was probably about the most powerful of all intoxicating drugs. I'm 52 now and nothing has changed my mind about that. Different drugs are powerful in different ways but alcohol is potent across a wide range of effects.

FWIW I don't recommend taking/using any drugs as intoxicants. Never have not even when I was 16. Discussing what I know to be true about them is not an endorsement regardless of what small minds say.