Tobacco, Alcohol, Drugs Kill 7 Million a Year

Reuters ^ | 25 Feb 2003 | Reuters

[Hemingway's Ghost]

CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) - Tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs prematurely kill about 7 million people worldwide each year and the number is rising, according to a study released in Australia on Tuesday.

Professor Juergen Rehm, director of Switzerland's Addiction Research Institute, said in the Australian capital Canberra the global burden of disease resulting from smoking, drinking and taking drugs was huge.

"One reason for this is increased worldwide exposure to these substances, especially in the highly populated emerging economies of Southeast Asia and China," Rehm told Reuters before presenting his study to an international drug-research symposium in Perth.

"Another is that the relative share of diseases associated with substance abuse, such as chronic disease, accidents and injuries, as well as HIV and hepatitis, are predicted to increase."

Rehm said tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs were responsible for about 8.9 percent of the total global burden of disease in the year 2000, with his study building on some research he conducted for the World Health Organization last year.

He said tobacco was the number one killer addiction in 2000, responsible for 4.9 million deaths or 71 percent of the total drug-related deaths -- a jump of more than one million since 1990.

The rise was most marked in developing nations although most smoking-related diseases were found in industrialized countries.

About 1.8 million deaths were attributable to the use of alcohol, about 26 percent of all drug-related deaths, with the proportion greatest in the Americas and Europe. Russia's alcohol problem was particularly pronounced.

Illicit drugs caused about 223,000 deaths, or three percent of all drug-related deaths.

"The most surprising finding from this research is that alcohol has become the number one risk factor in developing countries with emerging economies like China and Thailand over the past decade, above tobacco," Rehm said.

Rehm said although the outlook seemed bleak, he hoped his research could be used by governments to formulate policies to combat the preventable deaths and disease.

He said increasing taxes on alcohol and tobacco had proved to be a more effective way to reduce drinking and smoking, and resulting disease, than treatment or health care intervention.

Copyright 2003 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

"Illicit drugs caused about 223,000 deaths, or three percent of all drug-related deaths."

[JennysCool]

Okay. So this means these 7 million people are never gonna die if they give up their vices of choice? Oh! They'll live LONGER!!! I see. More good news for the nursing home lobby.

[dirtboy]

Illicit drugs caused about 223,000 deaths, or three percent of all drug-related deaths.

The war on (some) drugs is like declaring war on terrorism and attacking Peurto Rico instead of Afghanistan and Iraq.

[MrLeRoy]

LOL!

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Hey, when the DOJ crows about busting roach clip hawkers, that tells me we've got domestic terrorism whipped.

[biblewonk]

I feel sorry for people who believe numbers like this.

[dirtboy]

Hey, when the DOJ crows about busting roach clip hawkers, that tells me we've got domestic terrorism whipped.

Yeah, who knows if Al Qaeda was planning to use roach clips instead of box cutters to hijack airliners next time?

[Lee Heggy]

I agree. Alcohol, tobacco and drugs are too indiscriminate and often target the wrong people. I much prefer the accuracy of vectored methods of extermination like cruise missles or a well sighted rifle.

[MosesKnows]

Oh! They'll live LONGER

Do they really live longer or does it just seem longer?

[dirtboy]

I feel sorry for people who believe numbers like this.

Perhaps you can point out how they are in error, then.

[MosesKnows]

Illicit drugs caused about 223,000 deaths

Interesting number when you consider that government approved legally prescribed drugs kill more each year than illict drugs.

[johnb838]

That's absolutely true. We were just discussing malaria here and one person said "If we could tamp down malaria in the third world, and reduce population growth..." and I was like "malaria (which kills Many many children) is helping to control population growth. Nobody wants to think about these things as they relate to humans, but some of these diseases thin the herd. Annihlating them just creates other problems.

Fortunately, I believe death is only a beginning and that these little souls are not lost. Humanists, who believe that this world is all there is, put way too much emphasis on keeping people alive at all costs, and it can't be done. You can't beat mother nature, and natures way. If there are too many people the herd is going to be thinned, if not by malaria, then by dengue fever, tuberculosis, starvation, war... the list is endless and we can't control everything.

/rant

[biblewonk]

Perhaps you can point out how they are in error, then.

Simple, just try and imagine doing a paper and discovering that number. Where would you go, where did the source you find go? A good example is all the various numbers reported for how many Christians there are in the country. They are all different and who is calling whom a Christian these days.

[wbill]

I would like to point out that, despite all the advances in medicine, and all of the government programs, the human mortality rate still is firmly fixed at 100%.

[BlackbirdSST]

"Illicit drugs caused about 223,000 deaths, or three percent of all drug-related deaths."

Take this to the logical conclusion, and one would have to believe that "Prescribed" drug's are responsible for 97% of all drug-related death's. More ammo to throw at the drug warriors, cool! Blackbird.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

I feel sorry for people who believe numbers like this.

Why's that?

[dirtboy]

Simple, just try and imagine doing a paper and discovering that number. Where would you go, where did the source you find go?

Wouldn't be that hard, plus you can take partial data and model it - it may not be 100 percent accurate, but any errors will not significantly change the fact that illegal drugs are a relatively minor cause of death compared to legal drugs such as alochol and tobacco.

[dirtboy]

Simple, just try and imagine doing a paper and discovering that number. Where would you go, where did the source you find go?

I do find it interesting that you are refuting what you perceive to be inferrence with your own inferrence.

[Publius6961]

Gee, I wonder why blood pressure, obesity and heart disease were left out?

[JennysCool]

GREAT rant!