Wednesday 20 May 2009

Another deteriorating social indicator

Drug abuse, it doesn't kill as many people as beer and fags, but still depatches around 1,700 people a year in England and Wales. And that is no reason to legalize drug taking.

2001 as a particularly bad year. I would love to know why. Over 1,800 people copped a load their bodies couldn't digest. Any answers?

Like almost all social indicators, drug abuse has deteriorated under New Labour.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

@alice, what drugs are you talking about? The figures look low to me as I thought that there are ~6000 alcohol related deaths per year and ~100,000 deaths for tobacco, so total drug related deaths should be higher?

Anonymous said...

In 2001 the US invaded Afghanistan and heroin production went through the roof.

Alice Cook said...

It doesn't include alcohol and tobacco.

Alice

Electro-Kevin said...

So why do so many politicians seek to legalise drugs ?

Anonymous said...

@electro-kevin
Since alcohol causes much greater deaths why don't politicians seek to make alcohol illegal?

AntiCitizenOne said...

Drug deaths are more related to drug quality (and higher prices).

In 2001 the police "success" in deterring personal chemical choices probably made the drug supplied to the population lower quality and thus increased death and injury.

Anonymous said...

AntiCitizenOne, I think you are correct. Wasn't it 2001 when a lot of addicts were killed by heroine which was mixed with poison?

Electro-Kevin said...

"Since alcohol causes much greater deaths ..."

That depends on which part of the world you study. Do we really want to follow certain South American countries ?

" ...why don't politicians seek to make alcohol illegal?"

The primary purpose of alcohol isn't to achieve intoxication. In fact it is already an offence to be drunk in a public place - including a pub ! It's simply that the police can't deploy enough resources to enforce such a ubiquitous offence.

(By drunk I mean that there need be no evidence of disorder or incapacity.)

Anonymous said...

9/11 and the invasion of afghanistan and the global lockdown caused an interruption in supply and the subsequent (bad) cutting of drugs thus spiking the chart.

Anonymous said...

2001 was the year when the Brit dot com bubble went pop. A LOT of business went down that year. And what do you when you lose all that money you publicly borrowed from friends and family to start pets.com? Why you OD on crack! Or you become a BIG LOSER and move to Camden. That really is where the world's losers seem to collect like scud under the toilet bowl.

Anonymous said...

People want to be high. The “war on drugs” (US) hasn't done anything but make the wealthy wealthier. Money never goes to South America...military equipment goes. The money stays in the states. It a nice way to give taxpayer money to the rich. It's all bullshit. People are harmed more by prescription drugs. Why don't we ban them for all the bad shit they do to people. Aren't we grown ups and responsible for our own lives.