this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2023
494 points (95.6% liked)

Canada

7185 readers
280 users here now

What's going on Canada?



Communities


๐Ÿ Meta


๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ Provinces / Territories


๐Ÿ™๏ธ Cities / Local Communities


๐Ÿ’ SportsHockey

Football (NFL)

  • List of All Teams: unknown

Football (CFL)

  • List of All Teams: unknown

Baseball

Basketball

Soccer


๐Ÿ’ป Universities


๐Ÿ’ต Finance / Shopping


๐Ÿ—ฃ๏ธ Politics


๐Ÿ Social and Culture


Rules

Reminder that the rules for lemmy.ca also apply here. See the sidebar on the homepage:

https://lemmy.ca


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I always thought the hypocrisy between alcohol and cannabis packaging is ridiculous. If cigarettes and cannabis need to be heavily restricted in terms of having simple, plain packaging with health warnings, anything for sale that can cause health issues should be subject to the same restrictions.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Everything will eventually cause health issues. Some substances are quicker to the punch than others, though. To avoid label fatigue, there is merit in limiting use to the worst offenders.

It has only been in the last few years that we are starting recognizing a greater danger in alcohol than earlier realized. And, indeed, Health Canada labelling requirements for alcohol have become more stringent in that time. As we learn more, it is likely the labelling requirements will continue to evolve as well.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (6 children)

โ€œI donโ€™t want to say that there are necessarily equivalent health risks,โ€

I mean, they said it themselves. Drinking responsibly and in moderation poses no recorded long-term health risks. But even 1 cigarette a day can cause serious harm.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

It looks harmless, since you need to drink in order to stay alive.

But alcohol is nothing more than just poison. Which is why it gives our body the sensation of being poisoned.

And it works in contrary, since it actively dehydrates the body.

load more comments (5 replies)
[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Dooo it. They'll be a bit more tame, though, because moderate drinking is not nearly as deadly as smoking.

load more comments (4 replies)
[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

Warnings now do appear on the back of alcohol in the EU but they're usually small things on the back of the label stating the units of alcohol in the bottle & warning about drinking while pregnant or whatever.

load more comments (6 replies)
[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Because the alcohol industry is still profitable enough for special treatment.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (14 children)

Alcohol is a massive tax revenue in pretty much everywhere in the world, but especially here in Canada. It's pretty obvious when you see the difference in price of a beer here compared to the states, as 90% of that difference is purely taxes. Hell, you can tell the difference between the beer/wine costs in Ontario vs in Quebec. There's a reason why people in Ottawa and Gatineau constantly cross the boarder to buy their poison of choice.

That said, there's also the fact that when the States tried to ban it, they basically created some of the richest criminals in the world in like a single year. Alcohol is so ingrained into modern society that people riot over it.

Tobacco is a comfort luxury that pretty much anybody can get off of with some effort. Alcohol is a crutch that far too many people use to avoid going to some pretty dark places.

load more comments (14 replies)
[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (6 children)

The answer is in the article: โ€œ I donโ€™t want to say that there are necessarily equivalent health risks,โ€

load more comments (6 replies)
[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Don't forget sugar too!

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

@NightOwl a it's so normalized in our society that people are afraid to acknowledge the dangers.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

No one recreationally smokes the same way that people might drink every once in a while.

You also have a lot of money spent by various alcohol manufacturers to keep alcohol from being treated like tobacco. If anything, drinking went up a lot with millennials.

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

@HobbitFoot @NightOwl

I know quite a few people who only smoke on the rare occasions they have a drink.

I was not one of them.

load more comments (1 replies)
[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because those health warnings are meaningless to begin with. We know it's bad for us, we don't need a nanny state to hold our hands at the same time.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We know it's bad for us

You have the knowledge in the back of your mind. The warnings make you have it in active thought.

we don't need a nanny state

Do you truly believe consumers usually/always make rational and reasonable decisions, that don't go against their own interests?

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (9 children)

You have the knowledge in the back of your mind. The warnings make you have it in active thought.

What kind of manipulative power trip behavior control bullshit logic is this?

Do you truly believe consumers usually/always make rational and reasonable decisions, that donโ€™t go against their own interests?

Who the fuck cares? I decide how I live my life. If you want to wear bubble wrap and consume nothing but distilled water and unflavored soy bean paste so you can totally live forever and never need medical treatment, have at.

I'd rather live.

load more comments (9 replies)
load more comments
view more: โ€น prev next โ€บ