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by mushbino 1595 days ago
There isn't a chemical distinction that separates alcohol from other drugs, only social constructs.
2 comments

You're being downvoted even though you're absolutely right.

I'm assuming that arbitrary distinction makes it a lot easier to rationalize drinking alcohol while they stigmatize or demonize people who say, smoke weed or eat psychedelic mushrooms (or any other drug, really) in reasonable quantities, even if they are extremely productive members of society.

Right, and social constructs carry more weight in cultural/societal norms which is why I doubt anyone will ever say I'll have a glass of drugs with dinner tonight even though a lot of people know there isn't a technical, chemical distinction.
Nobody says "I'll smoke some drugs" either, closest thing you'll hear people say is that they're going to smoke some weed.

"Alcohol and drugs" is a harmful distinction when we're talking about substance use, abuse, or harm reduction because it automatically implies that alcohol is categorically different from (and less harmful than) other drugs, thus reinforcing the misinformation and antiquated beliefs.