Alcohol Hypocrisy
A high school essay on the hypocrisy of alcohol vs cannabis in NZ.
I’m deadly. I kill 1,000 New Zealanders a year. I cost New Zealand $5.3 billion a year, $14.5 million every day. I cause 30% of the deaths from suicide and self-harm and 31% of all criminal offending. You hear from me every day. I’m aggressive, addictive, lethal even. Yet, my younger, more innocent brother is deemed the real demon.
Consider alcohol in the context of the cannabis referendum this year, and I think we may have one of the greatest hypocrisies of our society. Now, I’m not going to sit here and claim that a glass of pinot or a pint of beer is the antichrist incarnated. I’m not for prohibition. Rather, I’m going to show how our prejudices affect how we view drugs in this country. Specifically, the hypocrisy in how we view being drunk and being high.
Why is it that while aunty is slurring her words after a few too many tequilas and grandad is stumbling around this is morally acceptable? Why does this pair of ‘social drinkers’ have the moral high ground while someone simply slouched over on a couch, possibly eating far more than their fair share of snacks is scorned? While it’s fine to joke about this liquid gold, it’s important to remember that both these substances are drugs. But only one reigns supreme causing injury, abuse, and family harm: alcohol.
Despite this, alcohol is promoted, glamorized, and accepted by Aotearoa without question. Can I remind you that our national rugby team is sponsored by Steinlager (a drug company). Simply put, we see alcohol as indispensable for a good time. We long for the happy hour which is embedded in our culture. It’s normal for a night to start with a few beers, then end in blood and tears.
Still, with advertising encouraging our ubiquitous youth binge drinking to worsen, some claim that “drugs” are the real problem. While the drug you drink is given a free pass, the drug you bake into brownie is targeted. Let’s be honest with ourselves. It is irrelevant whether you buy drugs on the street corner, over the counter, or at the pub: they are all drugs. They all have side effects, and they all need to be treated equally based on their effect on society.
The hypocrisy of anti-pot politicians who promote alcohol and drive people to drink is palpable. As Nick Smith poses with his new range of ‘homebrew’, he also argues for drugs to be illegal. Well, not his drug of choice, of course. See, for Nick, this is about fairness. He sees it fair to pick and choose which drugs suit him. The hypocrisy is remarkable that while spouting his views that “happiness does not come in a bong or a bottle”, the Honourable Nick Smith is happy to produce alcohol while locking up pot growers. There are far safer drugs than alcohol. The NZ Drug Foundation, NZ Government Drug Index, and World Health Organisation all use a report where out of a possible 100 points for measures of harm to the user and wider society, alcohol is the most harmful drug, scoring 72 out of a possible 100. It is far more damaging than crack cocaine (54), Tobacco (26), and Cannabis (20). It is the most harmful to others by a wide margin. So why do we celebrate a drug that is widely known to cause deaths and a plethora of other detrimental effects?
The Children’s Commissioner, Judge Andrew Becroft, said that “if you took alcohol out of the court system you’d take 80 percent of violent offences out of the courts.” Currently, we have a substance that leads to reduced impulse control, lowered inhibitions, and a boost in confidence which is overlooked and under-regulated ruling our society. This is despite alcohol being deemed to be at least six percent more addictive than marijuana, according to a 1994 study conducted by epidemiologists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Almost every study between marijuana and alcohol shows that alcohol use is more harmful to the individual, to society, and to taxpayers. Whatever you might think about the effects of marijuana, it is crystal clear that they are less than the harm caused by alcohol. So why then do we demonize a drug that the NZ Drug Foundation, NZ Government Drug Index, World Health Organisation, and National Institute on Drug Abuse find is far less dangerous at face value?
There are many reasons to blame for this, namely our ‘tough on crime’ rhetoric and many outdated misconceptions, not to mention the historic racialized nature of usage. New Zealand’s leading voice in best practice evidence, the NZ Drug foundation agrees that we need change. The status quo is not working. We spend many millions a year on policing a drug that is less harmful than alcohol, leaving thousands with a conviction being denied housing, employment, insurance, and visas. The point is, our current laws pick and choose which drugs are better or worse, not through facts, but through our misguided feelings.
The solution to this you ask? It’s not to keep it illegal, that’s what I know. It also isn’t to treat it like alcohol. We need to make sure those who prefer to make the safer choice of using marijuana are not stigmatized, criminalized, and shunned from the mainstream. While also ensuring that we are not creating a breeding ground for irresponsible and excessive drug use that is politically acceptable just as alcohol is at the moment.
We need to legalise, legislate, regulate, and control. The biggest issue with alcohol is that the industry is left to rule society, advertising, and indoctrinating the youth of today. This could not happen with marijuana when legalised. When voting in the referendums in October, remember that legislation is not about creating a new cannabis market – it’s about putting controls around the existing one. You are voting on the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, not the Cannabis Legalisation and free for all Bill as the anti-pot politicians who promote alcohol would lead you to believe. Unlike for alcohol, there would be no All Blacks sponsorships, no advertising billboards, no tv commercials, and no weed tastings at the supermarket. There would be no sales to under 20’s and there would be regulations ensuring the quality of the product.
And after these regulations (that the alcohol hypocrites oppose for their own drug) were implemented, there would be a decline in use and harm for youth. In Canada, use declined sharply among 15-17-year-olds where cannabis was legalised in 2018. In Uruguay, there was no negative effect of legalization on use in students, with students reporting “greater risks” associated with cannabis consumption. Experts say this is due to the ‘forbidden fruit’ not being so forbidden, and decreased access to marijuana as it moves from the street corner to inside licensed dispensaries. And just like for alcohol, people wouldn’t turn to the gangs to get their supply even if it was cheaper.
Yet, many vehemently argue that as alcohol causes so much harm in New Zealand, we can’t let any more drugs be legalised. I would find this claim much easier to accept if the people who so strongly oppose cannabis legalisation and control put a fraction of the effort into calling for change when it comes to alcohol as well. Again, the hypocrisy is unmistakable.
This saying epitomises the hypocrisy in the prohibition argument. “Three drunks guys will start a fight. Three stoned guys will start a band.” Do you cry crocodile tears over the harm caused by cannabis, while turning a blind eye to the harm of alcohol? And if you are planning to vote NO in the upcoming referendum and you drink or have drunk in the past, pick up a mirror and look at the reflection you see. That is the face of a hypocrite.
Written by Leigh-Guhlize Wede
Thanks, Thomas for your submission. You have an extremely bright path ahead of you with such talented writing skills. We wish you all the best for the future, bro.
The team at Hues of Green.