Study: Alcohol more lethal than heroin, cocaine

By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer     

LONDON – Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, according to a new study.

British experts evaluated substances including alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana, ranking them based on how destructive they are to the individual who takes them and to society as a whole.

Researchers analyzed how addictive a drug is and how it harms the human body, in addition to other criteria like environmental damage caused by the drug, its role in breaking up families and its economic costs, such as health care, social services, and prison.

Heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine, or crystal meth, were the most lethal to individuals. When considering their wider social effects, alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine were the deadliest. But overall, alcohol outranked all other substances, followed by heroin and crack cocaine. Marijuana, ecstasy and LSD scored far lower.

The study was paid for by Britain’s Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and was published online Monday in the medical journal, Lancet.

Experts said alcohol scored so high because it is so widely used and has devastating consequences not only for drinkers but for those around them.

“Just think about what happens (with alcohol) at every football game,” said Wim van den Brink, a professor of psychiatry and addiction at the University of Amsterdam. He was not linked to the study and co-authored a commentary in the Lancet.

When drunk in excess, alcohol damages nearly all organ systems. It is also connected to higher death rates and is involved in a greater percentage of crime than most other drugs, including heroin.

But experts said it would be impractical and incorrect to outlaw alcohol.

“We cannot return to the days of prohibition,” said Leslie King, an adviser to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and one of the study’s authors. “Alcohol is too embedded in our culture and it won’t go away.”

King said countries should target problem drinkers, not the vast majority of people who indulge in a drink or two. He said governments should consider more education programs and raising the price of alcohol so it isn’t as widely available.

Experts said the study should prompt countries to reconsider how they classify drugs. For example, last year in Britain, the government increased its penalties for the possession of marijuana. One of its senior advisers, David Nutt – the lead author on the Lancet study – was fired after he criticized the British decision.

“What governments decide is illegal is not always based on science,” said van den Brink. He said considerations about revenue and taxation, like those garnered from the alcohol and tobacco industries, may influence decisions about which substances to regulate or outlaw.

“Drugs that are legal cause at least as much damage, if not more, than drugs that are illicit,” he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101101/ap_on_he_me/eu_med_dangerous_alcohol

Ode to Bees

From air and soil,

From bees and sun,

From others toil,

My food is won.

And when I bite,

The soil, the air

The bees and light,

Are all still there.

So I must think,

Each day afresh,

How food and drink

become my flesh. 

And then I’ll see

The air, the sun

The soil, the bee, and me

All one.

- Adapted from a Celtic prayer by Jeanie Martin

Vaccination Update by Dr. Mercola

“If you love your kids, don’t make this mistake:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/09/10/swine-flu-vaccine-may-have-caused-narcolepsy.aspx

Exerpts:

… reports concern teenaged children who developed narcolepsy symptoms one to two months after vaccination against the H1N1 pandemic…

… Australia also banned the swine flu vaccine for children under the age of 5, back in April, 2010, due to excessively high rates of febrile convulsions.

This season’s flu plan for the US:

…The news for this year is that the flu vaccine you’ll get this fall will be a combination vaccine that contains both the regular flu- and the swine flu vaccines – you will not be given the choice to take them individually, as was done last year.

The US Food and Drug Administration(FDA) lists a total of six monovalent and five trivalent flu vaccines approved for the 2010 season in the US, as well as one intranasal flu vaccine.

According to Barbara Loe Fisher this year’s seasonal flu shot will contain three type A or type B viruses, one of which will be H1N1.

[A long-standing source of detailed vaccination information can be found at www.NVIC.ORG.]

Homeopathy in Haiti

check out the work of Robin Murphy and Ingrid Schutt in this 6 minute video.  They are working through Homeopathy Without Borders:

http://www.lotushealthinstitute.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69

more from Emoto on Water

Dr. Masaru Emoto is the scientist from Japan who has done all the research and publications about the characteristics of water. Among other things,his research has actually revealed that water physically responds to thought, emotions and words no matter the distance. Many people have a predominantly angry emotion when they consider what is happening in the Gulf.  And this sends a message that makes the situation worse. (note how this can help in all areas of life including our bodies and any biology).  The prayers, thoughts and words are best when accurate.  Know what you are saying and be as litterally clear as possible since the manifest world is litteral the metaphors can get confusing and intentions sometimes lost.

And while seemingly justified in that emotion, we may be of greater assistance to our planet if we feel and hold loving and positive emotions while thinking about the Gulf of Mexico and its life forms.  Dr. Emoto believes that water instantly responds to thoughts and their corresponding feelings, and he has tested his hypothesis many times.  He believes that if we sincerely, powerfully and humbly pray the prayer that Dr. Emoto, himself, has proposed, the Gulf will respond and heal itself.  I am passing this request to people I believe may be willing to participate in this prayer, to set an intention of love and healing that is so large, so overwhelming, that we can perform a miracle in the Gulf of Mexico.

Now let’s give energy of love and gratitude to all the living creatures in Mexico Gulf by praying like this.

To whales, dolphins, pelicans, fishes, shellfishes, planktons, corals, algae and all creatures ion Gulf of Mexico:

I am sorry.
Please forgive me.
Thank you.
I love you.

Masaru Emoto
May, 9th 2010

Two links to his work:

http://www.masaru-emoto.net/english/dr.emotos_message_2.html

 

http://raising-angels.com/emoto-peace-project

Dana Ullman on the Huffington Post

Dana is a respected writer about many aspects of homeopathy, including its relationship with energy, science, and research…. not to be missed…Go Dana!

Energy Medicine: Futuristic Healing With Ancient Roots
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/energy-medicine-futuristi_b_632418.html

Unplugging From Your Medicine Cabinet: Respecting the Body’s Intelligence
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/homeopathy-treatment-unpl_b_570725.html

Lies, Damn Lies and Medical Research
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/medical-research-lies-dam_b_555525.html

How Scientific Is Modern Medicine Really?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/how-scientific-is-modern_b_543158.html

Homeopathic Medicine: Europe’s #1 Alternative for Doctors
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/homeopathic-medicine-euro_b_402490.html

The Case FOR Homeopathic Medicine: The Historical and Scientific Evidence

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/the-case-for-homeopathic_b_451187.html

Transition World

It all started in Kinsale Ireland about 15 years ago, then Rob Hopkins wrote the Transition Handbook.  Today there are 68 official initiatives and thousands of communities getting it throughout the world including www.TransitionUS.org.

Michael Brownlee of Transition Colorado spoke here on Friday night.  He spoke of post energy, post population, post waste, post pollution, post everything while quoting Richard Heinberg, Albert Bates, James Howard Kunsler and others.  Alot to take in, about how cheap energy created social inequality, obesity and economic dislocations over the past 100-150 years.  More importantly, he spoke of how we need to increase our resilience with re-localization and community wide transition involving elders, children, people of all ages.  Transition is the catalyst to create resilient local communities that are less vulnerable to global shocks.  Local in all respects: food, energy, currency, government, medicine, culture, goods, with re-skilling and resiliency.  Creating sustainable, permanent culture, that is permaculture.  Gary Snyder has said, “The most radical thing you can do is stay home.”

The real issue of our age is how we make a graceful and ethical descent, according to David Holmgren.  It needs to be broad, deep and contagious, a movement from the bottom that is unstoppable.  We need to ignite a fire that will not go out.  Some view the issue negatively, the transition movement is about positive change.

In my opinion, homeopathy is and will be a significant part of transition, because it is holistic: looking at the whole, the objective is harmony at all levels, minimum doses having maximum effect.  Everything is interconnected in classical homeopathy, and there are no accidents.

Are Americans overtreating?

Even the conventional press is catching on:

“Overtreated: More medical care isn’t always better”

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100607/ap_on_he_me/us_med_overtreated

websites for reference

Miranda Castro reminds us of good sites to do some of your own research:

Cosmetics safety for men, women and children:
www.cosmeticsdatabase.com

Drug safety/side effects; herbs and supplements:
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/

http://www.brighterdayfoods.com/common/adam/index.asp?storeID=AD4DB884427948DBA7A06D81F925991B

Patients’ experiences with conventional medicines:
www.askapatient.com

I recommend www.mercola.com for a free weekly alternative news subscription.

A quick snip from Mercola.com this morning, with which I heartily agree:

“Barbara Loe Fisher is the founder of the National Vaccine Information Center, www.NVIC.org, which is, unquestionably, the best resource for vaccine safety and efficacy information on the Internet.

If you need to make a decision about whether or not the risk benefit ratio of a specific vaccine is appropriate for you or someone in your family, this is the go to site you need to review before you make your decision. It will provide you with loads of objective unbiased information that you simply will not get from the media, the CDC or your doctor.”

Bee well!

FDA scientists: FDA’s ability to protect public health is at risk

When my father closed his general practitioner (M.D.) practice in Washington, D.C. after 30 years, he worked in the newly established section of the FDA: Adverse Reactions to Drugs.  He didn’t speak much about his work in practice or at the FDA, though during the later years I recall his muttering… “don’t ever take a drug unless you absolutely have to, we are barely starting to uncover the adverse reactions….”  I don’t think he would like the current state of affairs.

http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/fda-survey-brochure.pdf

and….

The Silent Epidemic — Legal Prescription Drug Abuse

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/25/the-silent-epidemic–legal-prescription-drug-abuse.aspx