I have often wonderd if booze is as adictive as fags,you certainly see plenty of people who are not able to function without a drink.
I was thinking if it is as adictive then woul'd it be possible to put a health warning on the glases and bottles telling people of the risks to their health.
After all if we do it with fags then why not booze?

People can never function the day after without a drink if they've been out on a bender the night before, that's what a hangover is, it's just your body repairing itself from the night before damage.

if alchohol is drunk in reasonable amounts it isn't bad for you, not like cigerettes can be. Drink has never been linked to cancer like cigs have. I think the only warning going up should be at the AA meetings

(I hope your reading this Dee :suspect: )

Only kiding sweetie :P

i wouldnt know, i dont drink at all or smoke

Not too sure if the risks to your health with booze are quite so small,liver damage and memory loss are just 2 of the consequences of alcholol abuse.
Im sure there are many more but maybe someone knows more than me about this.

I voted no..

What are you suggesting Rach :wink:

I'm not addicted to alcohol. Even with work endured stress, personal issues I don't turn to alcohol. I turn to music, relaxation* (*Spelling?) etc..

80% of my alcohol intake is on Fridays, Saturdays and Sunday afternoons :P

Still waiting for that mid-week pint you owe me Rach :suspect:

Umm there are warnings on the bottles in the Hallam Union...

theres a sticker on all the bottles saying something like "70% of accidents in A&E last friday night were alcohol related, THINK!" I've probably got the wording totally wrong but its along those lines

Originally posted by royjames
I have often wonderd if booze is as adictive as fags

It's definitely harder to light

Factually Nicotine is as addictive as heroin. If you injected the nicotine contained in one cigarette into your bloodstream it would kill you.

http://www.lycaeum.org/drugwar/hening.html

Bonny do you think booze is as adictive then?
We certainly see the effects in A and E dont we,I am in favour of some kind of labeling to warn of the risks ot alcholol.

You mean like the risks on Cigarette Packets ??

I'm not a smoker but have grown up around smokers. From what I understand... nicotine is addictive, alcohol not as much.

Sure - you can get some addictive personalities who keep going for alcohol - and it can cause people to do stupid things - but not as bad as nicotine.

It took heart surgery for my grandmother to give up smoking - while she was unconcious for a few days the nicotine started working out of the system - so she managed to avoid the worst of the withdrawls. Pretty extreme way of giving up smoking I think...

I think both are as bad as each other. I drink and smoke (not for much longer). However, I've never been assaulted on a Saturday night by somebody who has had one benson too many.

Erm.....

I don't actually drink as I think it tastes fowl, so have no real experience to talk of. After reading the following link and losing a friend last year due to alcohol (suicide) I would probably say yes.

Like all other drugs it depends on the individual. I am a smoker at the moment (planning to give up very soon as I hate it) but could not imagine being addicted to alcohol, although I have understanding of addiction.

I suppose some people have thier first drink and become addicted, the same as smokers and heroin addicts. it is whatever floats your boat.
http://www.peak.org/~innercom/TxDocs/alcohol.html

Originally posted by dodger
I think both are as bad as each other. I drink and smoke (not for much longer). However, I've never been assaulted on a Saturday night by somebody who has had one benson too many.

Maybe not but everyone around you who doesn't smoke is having the S**T kicked out of their lungs. The dangers of passive smoking are now being discovered as a very real threat.

I don't think Royjames was asking about the dangers though, just the amount of adictiveness (is that a real word?) Do you measure addiction by the timesacle though or the end result????

For instance, 1 cigarette and you will probably have another (addictive)
1 drink, proabaly like it, have another (addictive)

1 shot of heroin ,more than likely to have another (addictive)

the dangers of all these are death.

Cigarettes, harm to yourself and others
Alcohol, harm to yourself and possibly others by not being coherant.
Heroin, harm to yourself, possibly others.

Nicotine is hugely more addictive than alcohol, but alcohol causes greater social problems. A group of smokers socially smoking are highly unlikely to think smashing somebody's face in a good idea.
Conversely, it's hugely difficult to get passive alcohol poisoning, yet a smoker's presence makes me feel ill.
All substances really need to be judged on their effects on: the user, people around the user, and society.

--
JGH

Originally posted by bonny
I don't actually drink as I think it tastes fowl
What "it" are you referring to? I don't drink red wine, Boddington's, brandy or grapefruit juice because I think they taste fowl. Your statement is like saying you don't eat vegetables because you don't like turnip.

--
JGH

Originally posted by bonny

For instance, 1 cigarette and you will probably have another (addictive)
1 drink, proabaly like it, have another (addictive)

1 shot of heroin ,more than likely to have another (addictive)

Bonny
Strange thing, addiction. You have to LEARN to be addicted. It happens 'socially'
Remember your VERY first drink of alcohol. It tasted FOUL!
You got used to the taste through drinking socially (Almost everyone else was doing it so it couldn't be THAT foul surely) Kidding yourself..
Same applies to cigarrettes - first one - choking, feeling sick - carry on because your friends are doing it. You get used to it. Becomes 'normal'
Heroin - I new a bloke in the eighties. (Heroin addict) he told me that the first few times he ever had heroin, it made him feel ill and vomit. He carried on because his peer group where using it. He got used to it. He is still an addict now.
I don't think addiction to any substance is 'instant' I think you learn to be addicted.

nicotine is far more addictive than alchohol. And alcohol is not harmful in small doses (in fact it has numberous benefits), whereas smoking is immediately harmful, hence the difference in warnings.

Originally posted by Cyclone
nicotine is far more addictive than alchohol. And alcohol is not harmful in small doses (in fact it has numberous benefits), whereas smoking is immediately harmful, hence the difference in warnings.


im not sure on this, but i thinlk you may be reffering just to wine here

Originally posted by Robbie_Lovin
im not sure on this, but i thinlk you may be reffering just to wine here
Wine does have some beneficial effects that aren't due to the alcohol. However, alcohol itself has beneficial effects in small amounts. The most obvious is it beibg a relaxant. If you can't get to sleep half a pint of Brown before going to bed can send you off.

--
JGH

there was also a large study (reported in new scientist) that showed a clear correlation between intelligence and the amount you drink, although the relation started to break down at very high levels. They didn't try to prove which was the cause and which the effect though.

any alcohol acts as a relaxent though and reduces stress on the heart.

Well the result of the poll indicates that fags are indeed more adictive that booze.
Still I think a warning is a good idea on the drinks you purchase,anyway got to go now as I need a drink.

I've never smoked but from what I've seen I would say no - nicotine is more addictive.

Originally posted by jgharston
What "it" are you referring to? I don't drink red wine, Boddington's, brandy or grapefruit juice because I think they taste fowl. Your statement is like saying you don't eat vegetables because you don't like turnip.

--
JGH

Erm, alcohol. That was what the thread was about.

All alcohol does not taste pleasant to me. Of course I drink or I would not be here posting on this thread, I would be dead. I thought that might be obvious.

:loopy:

Originally posted by bonny
Erm, alcohol. That was what the thread was about.

All alcohol does not taste pleasant to me. Of course I drink or I would not be here posting on this thread, I would be dead. I thought that might be obvious.

:loopy:

I think his point might have been that lumping all alcoholic drinks together is rather a broad category as across the range there are vast differences in taste.
I could be wrong, but alcohol itself is virtually tasteless (or maybe completely).

Originally posted by Cyclone
I think his point might have been that lumping all alcoholic drinks together is rather a broad category as across the range there are vast differences in taste.
I could be wrong, but alcohol itself is virtually tasteless (or maybe completely).

But I am no coinisseur of alcohol as I stated I don't like the taste.

What I mean is I don't like the taste of alcoholic drinks (all). I have tried various drinks, but they make me wince. Perhaps it is the drying affect it gives you in your mouth that I don't like.

If there is no taste to alcohol (which there isn't) then why not drink something without it? What is it about it that makes people like it? To me is is similar to having medicine forced down you as a child.

If I say i don't like it as I don't like how it tastes, how is anyone ever going to experience what I experience? It's impossible.

I'm sure I am not some sort of freak either just because I don't like alcoholic drinks, there are planty of people that probably feel the same as me.

There isn't much point in me listing alcoholic beverages I don't like because I don't like any. It isn't the effect i don't like either, because being slightly drunk feels quite pleasant ( I have been drunk when younger, by forcing myself to drink something that tasted unpleasant).

you already answered your question about why not drink an alternative. We like the effect it has on us.

I wonder if you could identify in some sort of blind trial which of vk iron brew and real iron brew or reef and j20 orange had alchohol in them...

I can understand why there are certain drinks that you would dislike, alcohol when it's strong enough does have a burning effect, and most lagers/bitters etc... taste pretty bad the first time you try them.

but alcopops could be switched with soft drinks and i don't think i could tell the difference (without waiting for the effect to kick in, obviously i could tell then).

i'm not trying to force you to drink though, i don't really care either way, just speculating about it.

Fact - Nicotine is far more addictive then alcohol although some people do get addicted to alcohol.

Fact - Nictotine is more addictive than heroin, although the withdrawal is not the same.

These are facts in the biological physiological saddictiveness sense, ask any scientist.

With regards to the question of harm, then this is a different matter.

Nicotine, Heroin, alcohol all cause harm to the individual and others around them in different amounts. They also have differing social acceptablilities. They cause different side effects.

But to answer the question, No alcohol is not as addictive as nicotine.

I for one, would rather be addicted to nicotine than alcohol or heroin since these are more dangerous to be addicted to.

I read this :

From: Neil Johnson <njj>
Subject: Re: Dole And Tobacco -Reply by Jack Heningfield
X-Cc: jerose@mercury.acpub.duke.edu
To: Multiple recipients of list DIV28 <DIV28@gwuvm.gwu.edu>


I would like to thank this nations leading expert on addiction, Jack Henningfield for pointing out that nicotine is more addictive than heroin, alcohol, or cocaine. A true voice uncorrupted by tobacco money. I would also add that tobacco has a far higher death rate (33%?) than either heroin, alcohol, or cocaine. Yet, addiction criteria alone does not determine the nicotine (or illicit drug) health threat.

The body of scientific evidence now indicates that harm associated with both heroin & nicotine is the result of contaminates in the drug delivery devices. Other than addiction itself neither nicotine nor heroin pose significant behavioral or toxicological threats (given the use of safe/effective drug delivery devices).

The result of this scientific understanding, in the interest of public health, has led to the current over the counter sales of safe high purity nicotine chewing gum and soon to be OTC nicotine patches.

The issue of alcohol/cocaine addiction, use, and harm is a little more complex than posed by nicotine/heroin addiction. Alcohol and cocaine addiction are causative of both behavioral & biological problems. However most daily users of either alcohol or cocaine have no problem regulating usage at levels that do not cause behavioral or biological harm. The effect of daily light/moderate alcohol consumption being relaxation & lowered risk of heart disease. The effect of light/moderate cocaine consumption being the equivalent of prescription ritalin (increased levels of dopamine), ie increased attention span, less impulsive behavior, and better ability to focus on desired tasks.

Sincerely,
Neil Johnson

Originally posted by Cyclone
but alcopops could be switched with soft drinks and i don't think i could tell the difference (without waiting for the effect to kick in, obviously i could tell then).

i'm not trying to force you to drink though, i don't really care either way, just speculating about it.

But I can tell the vast difference between alcopops and soft drinks. Alcohol has a sharpness to it that I don't like.

Maybe I just don't have the palette for alcohol

Thanks for the link Phan most interesting.
I still beleive that more education is needed on the possible harmful effects of alcholol abuse,it seems to me that the emphasis has revolved around cigs and that alone.

Originally posted by royjames
Thanks for the link Phan most interesting.
I still beleive that more education is needed on the possible harmful effects of alcholol abuse,it seems to me that the emphasis has revolved around cigs and that alone.

i'd guess that the main reason for that focus is that cigarettes are harmful and physically addictive immediately.
Whereas alcohol is harmful in large quantities (not really thinking about social consequences, just medical) and far less addictive.

We probably all know at least several people who are addicted to nicotine and thus smoke. I don't know anyone who is addicted to alcohol.