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If you don’t understand the difference then read these two articles: https://ourworldindata.org/smoking https://ourworldindata.org/smoking https://ourworldinda

by Gatsky 7y ago

If you don’t understand the difference then read these two articles: https://ourworldindata.org/smoking https://ourworldindata.org/smoking https://ourworldindata.org/alcohol-consumption https://ourworldindata.org/alcohol-consumption

kazinator 7y ago
"Smoking deaths typically affect older populations: more than half of deaths occurred in people over 70 years old; 93% were over 50 years." LOL! Death from age-related natural causes also affect older populations. Most of those who die of natural causes are over fifty.
listenallyall 7y ago
No thanks. What is the point you are trying to make? That alcohol-related vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 16-24 year old Americans? (http://www.faddintl.org/nationalstats.html http://www.faddintl.org/nationalstats.html) For whatever it's worth, smokers generally have 25 years in which to quit, before any serious negative consequences arise (and often more like 40+ years). Alcohol causes massive amounts of physical and emotional damage to young people, directly and also indirectly (inflicted by drinkers onto non-drinkers), much of it fatal.
- Gatsky 7y ago
  We are losing the thread here. We are talking about substance abuse disorders. You were arguing that many people are addicted to alcohol as a 'whatabout' counter argument to my point about smoking. The articles I referenced show that firstly, smoking is a significantly bigger cause of harm, despite your contention that smokers have 'a long time to quit'. The reason for this of course is that they don't quit, because they are addicted. This is exactly why we need to stop people from smoking in the first place. Secondly, at the end of the alcohol article, you can see that the prevalence of alcohol use disorders does not increase with alcohol consumption. This is because many people drink alcohol in a non-pathological fashion, even in large amounts (which is nevertheless harmful), and would seem to contradict your argument that alcohol use disorders are a big problem. Even the example you give shows a similar pattern. Most vehicular deaths are in 16-24 year olds, whether alcohol was involved or not. Alcohol compounds the problem, but it doesn't drive it completely. Notice that I am not disagreeing with you that alcohol causes a lot of harm. It does. As I said, alcohol and tobacco are fundamentally different, on neurophysiological, social and cultural levels.

by Gatsky 7y ago

kazinator 7y ago

"Smoking deaths typically affect older populations: more than half of deaths occurred in people over 70 years old; 93% were over 50 years." LOL! Death from age-related natural causes also affect older populations. Most of those who die of natural causes are over fifty.

listenallyall 7y ago

No thanks. What is the point you are trying to make? That alcohol-related vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among 16-24 year old Americans? (http://www.faddintl.org/nationalstats.html http://www.faddintl.org/nationalstats.html) For whatever it's worth, smokers generally have 25 years in which to quit, before any serious negative consequences arise (and often more like 40+ years). Alcohol causes massive amounts of physical and emotional damage to young people, directly and also indirectly (inflicted by drinkers onto non-drinkers), much of it fatal.

Gatsky 7y ago
We are losing the thread here. We are talking about substance abuse disorders. You were arguing that many people are addicted to alcohol as a 'whatabout' counter argument to my point about smoking. The articles I referenced show that firstly, smoking is a significantly bigger cause of harm, despite your contention that smokers have 'a long time to quit'. The reason for this of course is that they don't quit, because they are addicted. This is exactly why we need to stop people from smoking in the first place. Secondly, at the end of the alcohol article, you can see that the prevalence of alcohol use disorders does not increase with alcohol consumption. This is because many people drink alcohol in a non-pathological fashion, even in large amounts (which is nevertheless harmful), and would seem to contradict your argument that alcohol use disorders are a big problem. Even the example you give shows a similar pattern. Most vehicular deaths are in 16-24 year olds, whether alcohol was involved or not. Alcohol compounds the problem, but it doesn't drive it completely. Notice that I am not disagreeing with you that alcohol causes a lot of harm. It does. As I said, alcohol and tobacco are fundamentally different, on neurophysiological, social and cultural levels.