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From: jbuck@epimass.UUCP (Joe Buck)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,net.med
Subject: Re: Drug Abuse - True Problem or Media Hype?
Message-ID: <463@epimass.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 12-Sep-86 19:51:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: epimass.463
Posted: Fri Sep 12 19:51:39 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 14-Sep-86 06:03:22 EDT
References: <720@scc.UUCP> <20756@rochester.ARPA>
Reply-To: jbuck@epimass.UUCP (Joe Buck)
Organization: Entropic Processing, Inc., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 21
Xref: watmath talk.politics.misc:58 net.med:4770

In article <20756@rochester.ARPA> ray@rochester.ARPA (Ray Frank) writes:
>In article <720@scc.UUCP>, steiny@scc.UUCP (Don Steiny) writes:
>> 
>> " . . . more people (570)
>> died from appendicitis last year than from cocaine abuse (563)." [p. 64]
>> 
>I find it immposible to minimize the dangers of drug abuse from such com-
>parisions.  Appendicitis certainly does not contribute to the crime rate.  Nor
>does it lead to anti-social behaviour in any way.

You're right, Ray.  A fairer comparison would be to legal, but
harmful, drugs like tobacco (350,000 deaths a year) and alcohol
(25,000 deaths in drunk driving wrecks alone).  Can you explain
to me why cocaine use is worse for society than alcohol and tobacco
use?

-- 
- Joe Buck 	{hplabs,fortune}!oliveb!epimass!jbuck, nsc!csi!epimass!jbuck
  Entropic Processing, Inc., Cupertino, California

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