Firstly I apologise if this is against OPs wishes.
Hi Sasha - I've been to Iran quite a few time thanks (have you?) and Opium is a much bigger issue there than alcohol.
Hey babe.
Wow interesting, didn't expect that.
Yes I was in Iran recently. I have an Iranian & Italian passport, but I was born and grew up in the UK.
Opium is the drug of choice for the older generation in Iran. That being the case over the past decade as the massive youth population of Iran become young adults (roughly 80% of the population are under 30) alcohol & meth has become more popular.
Further cannabis is now the 'in' drug, mainly due to the experiences of older siblings being addicted to meth (shee-sheh in Persian), so younger siblings have chosen cannabis instead as it isn't as bad for you.
People still drive drunk in societies where alcohol is legal - so your argument is a little spurious.
Well my point is the legality or morality of the substance does not, necessarily, alter people's behaviours surrounding that substance.
Also money generated through taxation of the substance can be used to produce propaganda which alters the culture of the economy. For example making drink driving a cultural taboo through advertising campaigns.
My point is it's a little naïve to say that alcohol and tobacco is primarily making people happy without looking at the wider consequences for our society, the society where it is produced, developing countries where the tobacco industry is focussing it's marketing activities - primarily aiming them at children and young people etc
Well I would say the vast majority of people enjoying alcohol are in fact doing so responsibly. It is only a fraction of people drinking who go out and cause trouble in the UK, or worldwide.
The same goes for people who get mental issues from smoking cannabis, very small percentage of actual users. Also there are plenty of successful people who smoke cannabis. Carl Segan, visionary scientist, and he famously smoked pot all the time. So... the pendulum can and does swing both ways.
Tobacco, cannabis and alcohol is not aimed at benefiting humanity - it's aimed at benefitting the businesses that produce it and their investors.
Well I can tell you if they weren't making people happy they would go bust. Both industries started by supplying a demand and making people who wanted those products happy.
The arms trade however was founded with the intention of enslaving and killing our fellow man.
Today due to the global business culture it's all about profits, which isn't tobacco or alcohol's fault, it's our fault for allowing our culture to be so profits based. The first people who started harvest tobacco did so to benefit their fellow man, as did the first person to fermented berries or whatever the first alcohol was fermented from.
Anyway, I started my business not for profit it is to give people honest, homemade, fresh food at good prices. And I give free vegetable soup to poor people and go out of my way to make people as happy as possible every moment. So I am doing my bit for a better, more ethical business culture and I will speak as loudly as I can about changing the profits growth led business model in the future.
Cheers to a better future for all of our fellow citizens of Planet Earth
