XPost: uk.politics.drugs, uk.legal   
   From: pxhxz@cadence.com   
      
   In article <5qWdnTikDeVy4NrXnZ2dnUVZ8qudnZ2d@bt.com> "Aidy"  writes:   
      
   >Heroin in itself is a dangerous drugs and overdose can be fatal.  It is also   
   >addictive.   
      
   Actually, heroin in moderation causes almost no deleterious effects to the   
   body.  Injecting can cause bad effects, and heroin does cause constipation,   
   but that is easily treated.   
      
   Heroin by itself takes far more relatively to kill than alcohol (in other   
   words, the LD/ED -- Lethal Dose to Effective Dose -- ratio is higher with   
   heroin than with alcohol).  Usually heroin "overdose" deaths are because of   
   mixing heroin with CNS depressants (typically alcohol) or due to the fact   
   that the heroin is cut with who-knows-what because of prohibition.   
      
   And you are wrong about tobacco not being dangerous in itself.  Nicotine is   
   a deadly poison.  However, much of the nicotine is destroyed by the heat and   
   oxidative process of a burning cigarette.   
      
   Note that alcohol overdose can kill as well.  There are reported alcohol   
   overdose deaths every year.  For example, some people die on their 21st   
   birthday from celebrating their first day of legal drinking by attempting to   
   down 21 shots of liquor.   
      
   -Pete Zakel   
    (phz@seeheader.nospam)   
      
   "What is a magician but a practising theorist?"   
      
   				-Obi-Wan Kenobi   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)