Puck

A Journal of the Irrepressible

Follow the Money

2 comments

For several years we’ve been hearing reports that moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages is a “heart healthy” activity. And for almost as long I’ve been saying, Follow the money. If you trace the funding for such studies back to their sources you find the wine industries of France and California footing the bill. Now it looks as though I’ve been right all along. “All those health benefits of moderate drinking may be based on nothing but a common methodological error in the studies, a meta-analysis suggested,” reports Medpage Today along with numerous other sources. A “common methodological error”? Wasn’t it Mark Twain who said, there are lies, damn lies, and statistics? When the wine industry is footing the bill for data analysis the error is not merely methodological, which is far too neutral a term. This is the spinning of data to support an industry. Various vested interests–grape growers, wine makers, retail outlets, and especially the federal government of the United States–want you to believe that alcoholic beverages are somehow “healthy.” The tobacco industry would like you to believe the same thing about cigarettes and, historically, that industry has engaged in the same sort of data spin as the wine industry has been pulling for the past decade or so. All of this is designed to divert our dizzy little short-attention-span minds from the obvious: alcohol is a dangerous drug–but it’s legal. Meanwhile, the planet’s only safe intoxicant is demonized throughout the world. It’s time to call the bull-shitters’ bluff: make alcohol illegal and legalize cannabis.

  • Share/Bookmark

Written by Brian

March 31st, 2006 at 1:55 pm

Posted in drugs,food

«
»

2 Responses to 'Follow the Money'

Subscribe to comments with RSS or TrackBack to 'Follow the Money'.

  1. There are many medicinal benefits of marijuana, which some medical doctors say alleviates the pain and nausea associated with AIDS, cancer, cancer treatment, and other diseases. I was recently in a serious car accident, in which I was hit by a drunk driver. I broke 6 ribs, my neck, and several vertebrae in my back. I was in the hospital for the last 2 months, and in rehabilitation 6 months since. I have been prescribed medication for my chronic pain, but have stopped taking it after I noticed I was becoming addicted to pain killers. My doctor recommended the use of cannabis as an alternative to prescription drugs, and issued a medical marijuana card (I live in California; where it’s legal to grow a few plants). I decided to purchase a grow box using hydroponics, for growing indoors, inside instead of outside; as it would be the easiest way to quickly get my garden producing the natural cocktail I require, and to make it through the day. My pain is almost in-imaginable. After 2 months I now have some beautiful plants awaiting harvest, and look forward to a natural way of relieving my pain. It’s cheaper, and for me more effective. I know marijuana is illegal in most of the country, but for me it is a godsend. I really believe that it should be legalized as an alternative medicine for those in need. Just my 2 cents…

    Hydroponics

    23 Aug 07 at 1:41 pm

  2. A couple of weeks ago at least one news broadcast that I happened upon reported dramatically on a recently published study which cites evidence that our beloved and ever-so-healthy vino is not-so-healthy for those of us with udders, i.e. it is a contributor to breast cancer. Thank goodness those cancer researchers did not give in to the lure of egregious yet smooth talking money sucking grape growers and clan!

    Well, hang on now…perhaps we should whip out the GPS (Global Position of Spin), and um, Follow the money. First let us stipulate that solicitation for charity contribution dollars is a full body contact sport, and no one of us is safe from the heart wrenching or terrifying ploy to wrest that last dollar out from under our mattress. Surely, then, finding a cancer-causing agent that would cause millions upon millions of us wine-drinking breast-bearing females, and those who care for us, to conclude that chemo and bad wigs are imminent from “healthy” sipping has its funding advantages. Imagine the charity coffer expansion as we drop our collective glass of wine in horror and race to our charity-contributing checkbook with one hand behind our head and the other checking the opposite breast for lumps after pinning on a pink ribbon. Ouch. Following the money hurts.

    K2

    8 May 08 at 6:04 pm

Leave a Reply