Why aren't cigarettes or alcohol considered illegal drugs? I mean alcohol can be as mind altering as drugs

Question

can't it?

No I don't do drugs and I seldomly drink maybe once a year.

Answer 1

In one word: money. The cigarette and alcohol lobbies are extremely powerful and they will do practically anything necessary to ensure that they remain legal even though they are responsible for tens of thousands of ugly deaths and injuries each year.

Answer 2

I doubt it. I understand the argument, and can see the gateway theory, but find the concept unlikely. Marijuana is basically it's own classification, it's basically harmless (although I believe driving after using isn't safe), and most studies would say it's safer than alcohol. With everything else, there is a defined risk involved and most other drugs have a heavy dependency and risk of death. I think most of the people who would move on to other drugs would most likely do so on their own accord and not because of its illegality. I think the better question is whether American society can function at a globally productive and competitive rate when you have a significant proportion of population that is getting stoned?

Answer 3

Alcohol and Nicotine are both classified as drugs.

Both of these drugs have a special legal status in the US, and the State and Federal governments make a ton of money from the taxes on alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.

Whether or not these drugs should be made illegal for adults (they are illegal for children) has been debated, is being debated, and will continue to be debated. There are strong arguments on both sides of the question and many vested interests in government and in the industries that manufacture alcohol and tobacco products.

A famous attempt (prohibition) was made to make alcohol illegal in the USA in 1920. It was later acknowledged a failure and was repealed in 1933.

Answer 4

Tobacco, and alcohol are legal because the means of production can be easily regulated by the government, therefore are easily taxed. During prohibition, production could not be monitored, therefore could not be taxed. Ultimately the government realized that it was costing millions to keep alcohol laws enforced, thus repealing the ban on alcohol. The reason narcotics remain illegal is two fold:
1. The means of production can not be easily monitored(thus taxation is not easy.)
2. There is not yet a way to test sobriety in regards to drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroine, etc. Until there is a simple field sobriety test for this, it will remain illegal.

Answer 5

alcohol can be mind altering and is just as bad as drugs. Too much is too much for the body to handle especially the brain...Cigarettes cause illness of the heart and body but does not cause anyone to get drunk or drive drunk. Drugs does a lot more then cigarettes and it is close to the effects of alcohol . both affect the brain and the way one would normally think and act..

Answer 6

Prohibition has already been tried and discarded as unworkable. Common sense tells us not to repeat that mistake.
As far as tobacco goes, as others have said, it's all about the money BIG tax that smokers pay on cigarettes....now up to around $3.00 per pack of twenty!
or, if the average smoker smokes a pack a day, over the course of just ONE year, they will have paid just over $1,000 in taxes than non-smokers. one million smokers = $ 1,000,000 yes that's one BILLION dollars. Regardless of your opinion on smoking, does singling out one section of society to be taxed in this extreme seem fair to you? Health concerns aside, for that is a whole 'nother movie.

Answer 7

Because although they are drugs in their own right, the effects on the body are generally not as severe in the instant you take a dose. But the long term damage can be worse than that of drugs. But I believe that all drugs should be legal. Who is the government to tell us if we want to destroy our bodies, and our livelihood? And I would never take drugs myself.

Answer 8

I wish alcohol was illegal to sell than I would still have my niece alive and well. Boycotting it would stop it but who's going to do that? It's a big wish.

Answer 9

because the gov wants use to feel as though we have a freedom but your right they should be highly illegal... they are dangerous lik crack cocaine and other drugs ... they sould only be consumed under supervision with a designated drive..

Answer 10

Because of all the money generated from the taxes.