Its ALCOHOL not MJ thats the problem ,you bastards !

[wildflower]

i loved having a guiness pint or a home made beer in one had with my vape pipe in the other..with some rocking music..

those times shall come again soon

[Zaknefain]

There is an old saying: “Beer and grass, you’re on your arse. Grass and beer, you’re in the clear.”

 

 

 

ummmm, isnt it the other way around... the mj makes the alcohol have the ability to go into your blood faster.... Or am I wrong?

 

 

 

 

Or, do you have the 'non-processed' alcohol in your system then smoke and have it all hit you at once?

Edited April 9, 2007 by Zaknefain

[freddie]

Mental illness and alcohol is another problem that never seems to get mentioned. It is linked with suicide and depression, not to mention lost brain cells.

[RobbieGanjaSeed]

People who mix cannabis and alcohol say they do it to get more “out of it”, or that they use the second drug to increase the effects of the first

 

That's from the initial post.

 

I don't know if i'm getting it right, but it seems to be claiming people use booze to imporove their grass high. Sounds like somone got something backward.

 

In decades of subcluture shit, the ONLY people I've ever seen get aggresive when grass is even slightly in the equation is two specific cases of psycosis, where lots of grass over years was added to a mental illeness condition. And even then, boith acts of violence were to themselves.

 

And every other instance was booze and grass mixed, where I've seen some incredible explosions of bad behaviour, and I'm sure we all have. I used to eat grass to the exclusuon of any other ingestion method, for years. And a couple times I had a glass or teo of beer. I'd eat some gras at night, and some int he morning, every day, so I was efefctively stoned for about 3 years straight, and not so intensely a year or two either side of that period of my life. I didn't drink much booze then, but when I did drink these couple times I was as pissed as a newt.

 

Given my own small examples of mixing the two, and the way booze is associated with like 90% of all violent crimes people have been charged with, and grass alone has never induced violence not even a single time in my expereince; I'd say that they got this rather important aspect of their study very wrong.

 

Hell, I reckon booze wipes a good stone right down the toilet.

 

cheers

rob

[Jess Stone]

This is just in ,I was watching the ABC 7:00 PM main news and an item came on ,with interview of the NSW Police Commissioner stating,I believe the words were,

" Alcohol is a greater scurge to NSW than ALL illegal drugs combined"

Unfortunately its not on there website yet , I or if someone else spots this ,will post an article link.

It was in reference and an answer to this article and its author who was the first guy interviewed for the ABC news story.

 

Crime's down, except for young drunks

 

The intoxication of young people was the main element in the 4.3 per cent increase in property damage during the two years to December 2006, new figures show.

 

But except for malicious property damage, all major categories of crime across NSW fell or remained stable over the past two calendar years, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) said today.

 

BOSCAR chief Don Weatherburn said most people who drank did not contribute to crime.

 

"(But) there is a minority who drink alcohol and cause endless grief," Dr Weatherburn told reporters in Sydney.

 

Figures for major crimes - including murder, assault, sexual assault, armed robbery and motor vehicle theft - remained stable or fell.

 

Motor vehicle theft dropped by three per cent, home break-ins dropped by four per cent, break-ins at premises other than homes fell by 2.4 per cent and theft from people fell by 6.8 per cent.

 

Although assault has risen over the past 10 years, it levelled off in 2005 and 2006.

 

Young men between the ages of 16 and 24 have a one in 10 chance of being assaulted and most likely by someone they know.

 

"Alcohol is the big driver of the assault problem," Dr Weatherburn said.

 

Older men have a one in 200 chance of assault, he said.

 

Dr Weatherburn said the fundamental challenge was controlling the availability and abuse of alcohol.

 

"I think it's a challenge not only for government but it's a challenge for families as well," he said.

 

"You've got a lot of people out there who still think it's smart to introduce your kids to alcohol very early in life even though we now know that greatly increases the risk of alcohol abuse and addiction.

 

"It's a case of getting a better balance between the availability of alcohol and the harm caused by alcohol."

 

Although crime statistics dropped across NSW during the two-year period, there were some notable increases in specific types of crime in urban and regional areas.

 

Unarmed robbery jumped by 25 per cent in central western Sydney, by 22 per cent in Blacktown and by 28 per cent on Sydney's lower north shore.

 

Blacktown also experienced increases in motor vehicle theft by 23 per cent and fraud sky-rocketed by 43 per cent, which Dr Weatherburn attributed to petrol theft because of higher prices.

 

dude http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/04/18/donweatherburn_narrowweb__300x437,0.jpg

 

article SMH online

Edited April 18, 2007 by Jess Stone

[Jess Stone]

How curious the ABCTV 7:00pm main news has an interview with Commissioner Moroney and he says alcohol is worse than all illegal drugs combined ,no mention on ABC news website,and this herald article quotes Moroney ,but not this quote,are the power of the drug liquor pushers.

Drunk young males fuel rise in violent crime

ALCOHOL-related assaults by young men have fuelled a 10-year increase in violent crime across NSW, a report by the state's Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research shows.

 

The figures, released yesterday, show violent crimes, including assaults and sexual assaults, have risen by about 50 per cent since 1995 - a trend attributed to an increase in alcohol-related domestic assaults and fights at late-trading hotels.

 

Areas with the highest rates of alcohol-related crime were Bourke, Walgett, Lachlan, Sydney city and Coonamble.

 

"The problem we are grappling with pre-eminently is not property crime or robberies but violent crimes, particularly assault," said the bureau's director, Don Weatherburn. "When you're talking about violent crime, pre-eminently you are talking about young men getting tanked up on alcohol and assaulting one another."

 

Dr Weatherburn said alcohol-related assaults mostly involved men aged 16 to 24 and the community and the Government needed to promote more responsible drinking.

 

"The consumption of alcohol is widespread," he said. "There is an increasing trend towards late-trading pubs. Without changes to that it is going to be very difficult to get the assault rate down."

 

The report is likely to increase pressure on the Government to adopt tougher measures to minimise alcohol abuse as it finalises a revised liquor bill.

 

A draft released in November 2005 indicated the Government might water down measures recommended by the 2003 alcohol summit, and that it was preparing to extend hotel trading on Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day.

 

Clubs and hotels are among the biggest donors to state political parties and gave about $1.7 million to the ALP before the 2003 election.

 

A spokesman for the Australian Hotels Association, David Elliott, said yesterday that hotels have "never been safer", but the Government should improve transport around late venues.

 

"If patrons can't get home at 2am they are going to play up," he said. "I would be very suspicious of any suggestion that there was an increase in violence on premises. More than 70 per cent of alcohol is consumed off premises."

 

The Police Commissioner, Ken Moroney, said parents, teachers and church leaders needed to encourage more responsible consumption.

 

But the shadow attorney-general, Greg Smith, blamed the rise in assaults on a lack of police.

...(same old crap from the Liberals...Jess)

The increase in violent crimes defied a long-term drop in property crimes, while most serious crimes had remained stable or decreased in the past two years. Home break-ins fell 4 per cent and car thefts 3 per cent.

article SMHonline

Edited April 19, 2007 by Jess Stone

[Jess Stone]

The Melbourne Age newspaper has gone hard against alcohol the last few weeks and today the 5th May 2007 they went into a feedinghttp://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/sharks/pics/crclshk.gif frenzy,GOOD! Its about time they did and stopped blaming alcohol problems on cannabis.

 

Alcohol: the problem

Jill Stark(rhymes with shark http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/02/01/p-sharksdc.jpg

May 5, 2007

Alcohol has become an intrinsic part of the national character but Australia's cultural love affair with booze is jeopardising the country's health and taking a large chunk out of its hip pocket.

 

There is growing concern about the long-term effects of alcohol abuse as the number of people drinking at levels likely to cause chronic or acute harm rises. While consumption rates are slightly lower than in the 1970s, they are steadily rising again - and the way the nation drinks is changing.

 

One in every eight (13.4 per cent) Australians drink at levels considered risky or high risk for long-term harm, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures for 2005. That is a jump from 10.8 per cent in 2001.

 

The National Drug Household Survey of 2004 revealed that more than one-third (35.4 per cent) of Australians over the age of 14 put themselves at risk of short-term harm.

 

The dire, often violent, consequences of excessive drinking are being felt at hospitals all over the country.

 

In Victoria, alcohol-related emergency department presentations have jumped 35 per cent in five years.

 

The economic costs of $7.6 billion a year include $1.87 million damage from road accidents, $1.23 million from crime and $1.95 million in lost work productivity. The Government receives about $5.5 billion a year in alcohol tax revenue.

 

Research from Queensland health economist Christopher Doran suggests about $122 million of that comes from under-age drinkers aged 12 to 17.

Less than 2 per cent of alcohol tax revenue is estimated to go back into treatment and prevention.

 

"In the past five years we're seeing huge alcohol dependency problems with young people," said Dr Yvonne Bonomo, a drug and alcohol physician at St Vincent Hospital's Department of Addiction Medicine. "We're seeing 18 to 20-year-olds with tremor, agitation, anxiety, the shakes, sweating and, in rare cases, seizures. These are symptoms we used to think only happened after a decade of heavy drinking.

 

"People are saying, 'Oh well, a lot of people drink heavily when they're young, they'll grow out of it'. We're not so sure. We certainly haven't seen these levels of problems before. Unless these kids are engaged in treatment their prognosis is likely to be very poor."

 

There is a risk, researchers argue, of Australia following trends in Britain where deaths from cirrhosis of the liver are soaring and drinkers in their 30s are being diagnosed with the disease. With more Australian women drinking more heavily than ever the incidence of foetal alcohol syndrome is expected to rise.

 

Rates of harmful drinking in the over 65s are also increasing, potentially creating a cradle-to-grave future health burden.

 

Alcohol-related brain injury is a concern for the one-in-10 Australians putting themselves at risk. Women need drink only three standard drinks a day (about 300 millilitres of wine) to put themselves at danger. The damage has an accumulative effect and most people are not diagnosed until the disorder is irreversible.

 

"There's a misconception that alcohol-related brain damage is the homeless person sitting on the street with a brown paper bag. But the average Australian places themselves at risk every day," said Sonya Berton, chief executive of Arbias, a service seeing 300,000 Victorians with alcohol or substance-related brain damage.

 

"An average of 10 people die every day as a result of alcohol and as a community we're tolerant of drunkenness and intoxication," said Daryl Smeaton, chief executive of the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation.

 

"The Government sees exactly the same statistics as I see. Nothing is hidden, the evidence is there but there appears to be no sense of giving priority to alcohol."

 

article the AGE

 

 

and

 

 

Alcohol time bomb set to explode

Jill Stark http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/sharks/pics/crclshk.gif

May 5, 2007

Australia's binge-drinking culture is a "ticking time bomb" threatening to overload the public health system within decades, health experts have warned.

 

A rise in dangerous drinking across all age groups, class boundaries and cultural lines has prompted calls for action.

 

Top researchers predict Australia will see a big rise in chronic diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver, cancers and brain disorders in the next 20 years.

 

Addiction doctors say they are seeing a growing trend of drinkers as young as 18 suffering tremors, sweats and even seizures. Many are drinking a bottle of spirits a day, with experts predicting a rise in brain-damage cases.

 

Those in the field have accused governments of failing to tackle the crisis, citing generous political donations from the alcohol industry and huge tax revenues as factors behind the complacency.

 

The claims comes as the World Health Organisation prepares to debate on May 14 a resolution to reduce global alcohol harm, the fifth leading risk factor for premature death and disability.

 

Professor Ian Webster, a drug and alcohol specialist and chairman of the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation, said: "We have got to change the way our culture dances with alcohol or future generations will suffer the consequences. At the moment it's a bit like David fighting Goliath."

 

He said the alcohol industry had "powerful political connections", making cultural change difficult.

 

An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report on GP consultations reveals that risky consumption of alcohol among 18 to 24-year-old men jumped from 40 per cent of patients in 1999 to 49 per cent in 2006, while rates for women rose from 33 to 36 per cent. Rates for 25 to 44- year-old men grew from 35 to 41 per cent and 22 to 25 per cent in women.

 

International researcher Professor John Toumbourou, from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, said alcohol could be dangerous for young brains but Federal Government guidelines did not rule out drinking for under 18s, suggesting only that it be "kept to a minimum".

 

"With children there's really no evidence at all that a moderate exposure to alcohol does any good," he said.

 

"Increasing numbers of families will be affected by alcohol dependence and abuse. As this generation moves through young adulthood into adulthood we'll see an increase in all categories of illness related to alcohol, and it's an extensive list - liver failure, a variety of cancers, brain damage and higher deaths down the line. To me that's a ticking time bomb."

 

Older generations are also a growing concern, with risky drinking among 65 to 74-year-old women rising from 15 per cent in 1999 to more than 17 per cent in 2006 and from 12 to 14 per cent in over 75s.

 

The director of the National Drug Research Institute, Professor Steve Allsop, said: "Even if nothing changes we're going to have a substantial increase over the next 20 years of older people who are drinking at levels that cause harm to themselves and potentially to others. And it may be that things get worse rather than better because if the baby boomers take their drinking habits into older age that's going to be a real problem."

 

Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation president Alex Wodak said millions were affected by alcohol-related crime, domestic violence, health and social problems but governments were loath to tackle an alcohol industry that had an annual turnover in excess of $50 billion, contributing 2.5 per cent to the nation's gross domestic product.

 

"There are so many forces seeking to liberalise the availability of alcohol and so few sources trying to keep a lid on alcohol consumption," he said. In 2002-03, funding to political parties from the alcohol beverage industry and hotels association was just under $7 million.

 

The federal Minister for Ageing, Christopher Pyne, who has responsibility for alcohol, drugs and tobacco, said policy was based on "sound data and evidence".

 

He said $25.2 million was being spent on a national alcohol campaign, $50 million on treatment and $5 million on education programs.

The chief executive of the Hotels Association Victoria, Brian Kearney, said donations were made to ensure governments were "as fully informed as possible", and "any proposition that the industry is trying to influence politicians to retain the status quo is ill-founded". ( sure ...Jess)

 

Alcohol is directly responsible for 3000 to 4000 deaths in Australia each year, more than twice the number of deaths caused by all other drugs combined, excluding tobacco.

 

"Illicit drugs capture the headlines . . . but politicians aren't proud to speak about anything to do with alcohol," Professor Webster said.

 

A senior drug and alcohol worker, who asked not to be named, saying he feared jeopardising government funding, said Australians were being "fed a line" on crystal meth or "ice".

 

"Alcohol is not a vote winner," he said. "Getting tough on ice is an absolute winner and that's why even (Opposition Leader Kevin) Rudd is coming out and saying ridiculous things about ice because he knows there are votes in it.

 

"Alcohol is the number one issue in our community affecting more people than anything else."

 

article the AGE

 

HOLY HELL THERE TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT ALCOHOL FOR A CHANGE INSTEAD OF REEFER MADNESS,there are more anti-booze articles from today the 5th as well,they are going for the jugular http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/sharks/pics/crclshk.gif

Edited May 5, 2007 by Jess Stone

[Jess Stone]

Also from the AGE the 5th May ,2007

 

Alcohol: the solution

Jill Stark http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/sharks/pics/crclshk.gif

May 5, 2007

There is a recurring problem in the attempt to reduce alcohol harm. "What's popular doesn't work and what works isn't popular," according to internationally renowned alcohol policy researcher Professor Robin Room, the president of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia.

 

High-profile media campaigns urging the public to drink responsibly are far less effective than reducing density of alcohol outlets, restricting trading hours and increasing taxes, he argues.

 

But despite international evidence proving the success of such measures, the industry is not supportive.

 

"I don't think it helps that the Federal Government put $5 million into Drinkwise, an industry-funded organisation meant to educate the public about responsible alcohol use. Fundamentally, the industry's interest is in channelling any concerns about alcohol into strategies that won't affect their bottom line," said Professor Room.

 

....further

 

The way alcohol is marketed has also come under fire.

 

Brian Kearney, chief executive of the Australian Hotels Association Victoria, said the industry was committed to a reduction in the abuse of alcohol. He said statistics commissioned by the Distilled Spirits Industry Council show a decrease in teenage binge drinking.

 

But Wayne Hall, former director of the National Drug Alcohol Research Centre, is not convinced. "Their profitability depends on binge drinking and alcohol abuse and that's something they and the Government have been very reluctant to acknowledge," he said.

 

"If you speak out on the issue you get branded a wowser or a neo-prohibitionist or someone who's denying that there are benefits from alcohol use . . . You don't win friends in Government by saying it."

 

full article the AGE

 

and from the 3rd May

Alcohol may shrink brain, scans show(MAY !!!!! DOES !...Jess&well documented)

Chee Chee Leung http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/sharks/pics/crclshk.gif

May 3, 2007

DRINKING large amounts of alcohol might not only leave you with a headache in the morning — it could also shrink your brain.

 

The warning comes after researchers examined the brains of more than 1800 people, ranging from former and non-drinkers to heavy drinkers.

Using magnetic resonance imaging scans, the study found that people who had more than 14 drinks a week had an average 1.6 per cent reduction in the ratio of brain volume to skull size compared with non-drinkers.

 

Study author Carol Ann Paul, of Wellesley College in the US, said the effect was slightly larger in women than men, and drinking large amounts of alcohol seemed to have the greatest impact on brain volume among women aged in their 70s.

 

While previous research had shown low to moderate alcohol consumption helped reduce cardiovascular disease, she said, the new findings revealed a very different result for brain volume — which can be seen as a measure of brain ageing.

 

"Greater alcohol consumption is negatively correlated with brain volume. There appears to be no beneficial effect of low to moderate drinking on brain volume."

The findings, presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Boston, are the latest to link alcohol with brain size.

 

Several years ago, US researchers found moderate drinkers had smaller brains than those who abstained, while a separate study of 79 alcoholics showed females were losing almost twice as much grey matter as men.

 

In the 1990s, Professor Clive Harper, of the University of Sydney, examined the brains of dead people and found that even moderate or social drinking could reduce brain size.

 

Emeritus professor Jim McLeod, consulting neurologist at the University of Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, said the latest study provided another layer of information. He said other studies had shown some of the pathological changes were reversible if people stopped drinking.

 

Dr Richard Cash, principal researcher at arbias — an alcohol and substance-related brain injury support service — said alcohol could affect brain functions, such as memory and logical thinking, and the new study appeared to back that up.

 

"This is valuable evidence of the neurosciences to support what we've been seeing from our neuropsychological studies," he said. "Generally speaking, (brain) volume is related to processing power."

 

The most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show about one in every eight adults consumed alcohol at a risky or high-risk level. An average of five or more drinks a day for men, and three or more for women, is considered a long-term risk.

 

article the AGE http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/sharks/pics/crclshk.gif

 

and this Even the experts are unsure how much is safe

and this Booze alert for pregnant mums

and this Don't blame kids for drinking: expert

and this Please don't do what I did, pleads mother who drank

and this Bracks girl falls into binge-drink culture

http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/sharks/pics/crclshk.gif

Edited May 5, 2007 by Jess Stone

[forged]

(quote): People who mix cannabis and alcohol say they do it to get more “out of it”, or that they use the second drug to increase the effects of the first. One of the greatest problems people appear to experience when they mix these two drugs is “greening out”. This refers to the situation where people, for reasons that we don’t understand and cannot predict, feel physically sick after smoking cannabis. They might go pale or even green; they can feel sweaty and dizzy; they experience nausea and might even throw up; and they feel like they have to lie down. But even then, they still feel bad.

 

might be a bit late, but when me be young greened and had a chuck, i catched me breath back and had another billybong, the chuck was from the ALCOHOL not the weed