Police estimate the harm from alcohol to be about $7.8 billion a year.

TL;DR:

  • Alcohol $7.8b
  • All illicits: $1.8b
  • Meth: $0.365b

I wanted a figure for cannabis and found this from 2020:

PDF https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/the-nz-illicit-drug-harm-index-2020-10-feb.pdf

  • All illicits: $1.9b
  • Meth: $0.824b
  • Cannabis: $0.911

I notice that the per kilograms measure for harm is also useful to account for volume of usage, but think that per ‘dose’ would be better.

  • Meth: $1.1m per kg with 743kg consumption
  • Cannabis: $0.35m per kg with 58000kg consumption

These figures include ‘associative crime’ as harm. So it apparent counts the cost of buying it as harm, it also counts the tax loss of that expenditure, so IMHO it skews unfavourabley to higher expenditure. But put that aside.

These figures show that all illicit drugs combined are less harmful to society than alcohol, and tautologically the harm is inflated by illegality.

  • absGeekNZ@lemmy.nzEnglish
    4·
    6 months ago

    Agreed.

    But the situation is more nuanced than simply saying everything is up for grabs.

    Weed should be fully legal, controlled quality and trusted. Tax revenue would help pay for health complications from the usage.

    There needs to be a harm based assessment of each substance.

      • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
        43·
        6 months ago

        Every comment you’ve made here has been completely devoid of nuance, insight, or intelligence, and quite frankly, you sound like a bit of a moron.

        Methamphetamine is an incredibly addictive and harmful substance, with drastic health risks to it’s consumption, and making it easier to access is a terrible idea.

          • liv@lemmy.nz
            2·
            5 months ago

            Heheh.

            Seriously though I wish professors didn’t say stuff like that. It’s bad pedagogy.

          • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
            21·
            5 months ago

            If you’ve genuinely been to university, this shows that intelligence and education don’t always follow one another.

              • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
                11·
                5 months ago

                I’m pointing out that people who hold a viewpoint that one thing is the way to go in all situations, with no exceptions, is something I typically associate with a lack of critical thinking ability.

                  • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
                    12·
                    5 months ago

                    Here’s the list of side effects of Desoxyn, which contains 5mg (five thousandsths of a gram) of methamphetamine.

                    And you want to legalise this?

                    Remember that this medication has been prescribed because your doctor has judged that the benefit to you is greater than the risk of side effects. Many people using this medication do not have serious side effects.

                    This medication may raise your blood pressure. Check your blood pressure regularly and tell your doctor if the results are high.

                    Tell your doctor right away if you have any serious side effects, including: signs of blood flow problems in the fingers or toes (such as coldness, numbness, pain, or skin color changes), unusual wounds on the fingers or toes, mental/mood/behavior changes (such as agitation, aggression, mood swings, depression, thoughts of suicide, hallucinations, abnormal thoughts/behavior), uncontrolled muscle movements (such as twitching, shaking), outbursts of words/sounds, swelling ankles/feet, extreme tiredness, rapid/unexplained weight loss, change in sexual ability/interest, frequent/prolonged erections (in males), vision changes (such as blurred vision).

                    Get medical help right away if you have any very serious side effects, including: fainting, severe headache, fast/pounding irregular heartbeat, seizures, symptoms of a heart attack (such as chest/jaw/left arm pain, shortness of breath, unusual sweating), symptoms of a stroke (such as weakness on one side of the body, trouble speaking, sudden vision changes, confusion).