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There is a compulsory tax on alcohol but its consumption is voluntary. That's like saying an income tax is voluntary because you can choose to not have any inco

by ucha 11y ago

There is a compulsory tax on alcohol but its consumption is voluntary. That's like saying an income tax is voluntary because you can choose to not have any income.

Osiris 11y ago
That is true. In fact, some people make this argument that people "mooch" off the government by purposefully restricting their income in order to reduce taxes and qualify for welfare programs.
jameshart 11y ago
Point of this article is that state lottery monopolies impose a tax on gambling. You aren't free to participate in a pooled-cash chance game without paying the lottery 'tax'. It's a consumption tax on gambling. That's probably not a very controversial thing to tax, though.
marincounty 11y ago
For some individuals, especially with certain psychiatric disorders, moderate use of alcohol to control an episode, especially a panic attack(true panic attacks); is not a voluntary consumption. The drug has been vilified, for good reason in many cases, but is used as a sedative to the poor who don't have access to good doctors in too many communities. (I really don't want to debate this. I know when I had panic attacks 2-3 drinks would stop them. I have yet to meet a doctor who won't admit privately that moderate, specific controlled use of alcohol is beneficial to for certain psychiatric disorders. Doctors don't bring it up because it's just not worth worth it. They are afraid of lawsuits because alcohol use carries so many risks, like the real risk of the patient becoming an alcoholic. (Just keeping it real Homies. If you are currently suffering from an anxiety disorder(including some symptoms of PTSD, and the doctor is just offering a heterocyclic drug(like Prozac), or a drug that really does nothing, like Buspirone. Light, specific use of alcohol will help with some symptoms. Don't abuse the drug. Don't start drinking every day, or drinking socially. You only drink to alleviate specific symptomology. You need to save those liver cells because you use alcohol differently from the rest of the population. In other words; don't become a alcoholic? I'll get a lot of heat from this post, but it's meant for individuals who are suffering, and this advice only goes to individuals who have some self-control? If you didn't have self-control before the illness, and life was just a big party, don't follow this advice. Specific use of alcohol to control your symptomology will just result in your disorder getting worse, and yes--you will end up homeless, or worse. I am not a doctor.)
- Asbostos 11y ago
  While I don't know about panic attacks, I think it's known that small quantities of alcohol are either harmless or beneficial to health. The general public can't see shades of grey though, so they only look at the extremes of alcoholism and binge drinking and decide that all alcohol is bad.
- jacobolus 11y ago
  Alcohol is a great anti-anxiety drug and sedative, in small doses (like 1-3 drinks). That’s precisely why it has been so popular for thousands of years. The problems with alcohol are (a) it just treats the symptom and doesn’t help fix whatever underlying issue is causing the stress, (b) it’s easy to take a far larger dose than necessary, far more often than necessary leading to abuse, and (c) acute effects of a large dose and chronic effects of frequent use are both highly destructive.

by ucha 11y ago

There is a compulsory tax on alcohol but its consumption is voluntary. That's like saying an income tax is voluntary because you can choose to not have any income.

Osiris 11y ago

That is true. In fact, some people make this argument that people "mooch" off the government by purposefully restricting their income in order to reduce taxes and qualify for welfare programs.

jameshart 11y ago

Point of this article is that state lottery monopolies impose a tax on gambling. You aren't free to participate in a pooled-cash chance game without paying the lottery 'tax'. It's a consumption tax on gambling. That's probably not a very controversial thing to tax, though.

marincounty 11y ago

For some individuals, especially with certain psychiatric disorders, moderate use of alcohol to control an episode, especially a panic attack(true panic attacks); is not a voluntary consumption. The drug has been vilified, for good reason in many cases, but is used as a sedative to the poor who don't have access to good doctors in too many communities. (I really don't want to debate this. I know when I had panic attacks 2-3 drinks would stop them. I have yet to meet a doctor who won't admit privately that moderate, specific controlled use of alcohol is beneficial to for certain psychiatric disorders. Doctors don't bring it up because it's just not worth worth it. They are afraid of lawsuits because alcohol use carries so many risks, like the real risk of the patient becoming an alcoholic. (Just keeping it real Homies. If you are currently suffering from an anxiety disorder(including some symptoms of PTSD, and the doctor is just offering a heterocyclic drug(like Prozac), or a drug that really does nothing, like Buspirone. Light, specific use of alcohol will help with some symptoms. Don't abuse the drug. Don't start drinking every day, or drinking socially. You only drink to alleviate specific symptomology. You need to save those liver cells because you use alcohol differently from the rest of the population. In other words; don't become a alcoholic? I'll get a lot of heat from this post, but it's meant for individuals who are suffering, and this advice only goes to individuals who have some self-control? If you didn't have self-control before the illness, and life was just a big party, don't follow this advice. Specific use of alcohol to control your symptomology will just result in your disorder getting worse, and yes--you will end up homeless, or worse. I am not a doctor.)

Asbostos 11y ago
While I don't know about panic attacks, I think it's known that small quantities of alcohol are either harmless or beneficial to health. The general public can't see shades of grey though, so they only look at the extremes of alcoholism and binge drinking and decide that all alcohol is bad.
jacobolus 11y ago
Alcohol is a great anti-anxiety drug and sedative, in small doses (like 1-3 drinks). That’s precisely why it has been so popular for thousands of years. The problems with alcohol are (a) it just treats the symptom and doesn’t help fix whatever underlying issue is causing the stress, (b) it’s easy to take a far larger dose than necessary, far more often than necessary leading to abuse, and (c) acute effects of a large dose and chronic effects of frequent use are both highly destructive.