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January 1998 The Temperate Zone- Hidden Addictions By Don Lutz

Since 1975, I've attended scores of lectures, seminars, workshops, conferences and conventions, addressing issues such as organic farming, natural healing and environmental ethics. Most of these have promoted veganism: a philosophy that includes all the interests of inhabitants of this planet, not only those of humans. It has disturbed me that the organizers of many of these events have served alcoholic beverages to attendees. A vegan is, of course, not just a "strict vegetarian" who does not eat or perhaps wear animal products, but someone aware of and concerned with all ethical issues--from racism and sexism to conservation of resources and respect for the environment.

By this yardstick, alcohol is not vegan. All of us, even those who are alcoholics, are aware of the ethical problems associated with alcohol. Most domestic violence has an alcohol component. A high percentage of auto accidents are related to alcohol. While, the alcohol industry is quick to remind us that not all alcohol users are irresponsible, the insidious effects and addictive qualities of alcohol nevertheless make it a high-risk habit for anyone. Alcohol is a major contributor to problems with pregnancy and fetal alcohol syndrome. It inhibits digestion, and compromises the immune system, contributing to a host of problems including cancer, heart disease, ulcers, diabetes, and of course, sclerosis of the liver. The notion that a little bit of alcohol is good for you is little more than a popular myth promoted by the alcohol industry. Even if it were true, how many drinkers can limit their consumption to one ounce or less per day?

More Than Just Health

But vegan philosophy involves more than just human health. Few of us consider that land used to grow grain for the alcohol industry could be better used to grow food for starving people. That "social" beer shared daily by millions of Americans adds up to a tremendous waste of resources, including water and fossil fuels used in the creation, storage and distribution of alcoholic beverages.

The problems associated with alcohol can generally be paralleled by another American "pastime"--the use of nicotine. Responsible health professionals, such as Dr. Agatha Thrash, consider alcohol and nicotine poisons. A hangover is evidence of alcohol poisoning, the most common form of "food" poisoning. Most drinkers also smoke, and their problem is made substantially worse by combining the two drugs. By causing rapid changes in blood sugar levels, alcohol and nicotine, especially in combination, may actually create "addictive personalities" in other wise "normal" people. Nicotine and alcohol are among the most addictive of all known drugs. And, of course, tobacco, like the grain used for alcohol, is not a food crop, it is a cash crop. Valuable resources are wasted so that the tobacco conglomerates can maintain their control over the minds of nicotine addicts.

Alcohol and nicotine are two of the three most seriously abused drugs in the world. The third drug of this unholy trinity is caffeine. Surprised? While the problems with booze and cigarettes are fairly obvious, this is not yet the case with caffeine. Caffeine offers many of the same benefits as the other two. It is very addictive, but much more insidious, because it is part of such innocent-appearing pastimes: drinking coffee and tea. Tea, it's important to note, can be made from countless plants. Some have risky components such as caffeine and tannin, others do not. Commercial teas, with few exception, are high in caffeine. It's no accident: it's addictive, so it sells. I've heard people say, "I don't have a problem with caffeine, I don't drink coffee!" while they guzzle their fifth can of Coca-Cola that day. Caffeine is found in most "soft" drinks, as well as in "diet" pills, "energy" pills and many prescription and non-prescription drugs.

There aren't a lot of studies on caffeine. We know it has similar health risks to nicotine, though it affects the digestive system more than the lungs. Many studies, however, have questionable results, because they study drugs as if they were always used independently. Most people who use one of these drugs, use at least two of them, and often three. What is desperately needed are studies that look at the combined effect of the three, which may be dramatically more profound than the effect of each used independently.

It should be obvious, even to the most defensive, that combining a lot of drugs is dangerous. A person who uses alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, prescription drugs, and any of the illegal drugs, will eventually destroy his or her immune system. A physician friend once showed me a list of drugs he rated as causing the most damage to human health worldwide. His list, worst first, was as follows: nicotine, alcohol, caffeine, non-prescription drugs, prescription drugs, cocaine/crack, illegal amphetamines, illegal barbiturates, heroin, morphine, opium, marijuana. He was quick to remind me that few people use only one of the above, and it is in the combination that the most danger exists.

Just Say No, Sometimes...

You may have noticed that the top five on the above "dangerous" drug list are, with some restrictions, legal. This is because the legality or illegality of drugs is determined by the profiteers and not by health professionals, economists or environmentalists. The current sad state of affairs offers incredible profits for both legal and illegal drugs pushers. Are all the above drugs then not vegan? By ethical definition, anything that causes suffering is not vegan. Abusing any drug is not vegan. Using some of the above intelligently may, however, be considered vegan. For example, the cannabis plant has been used for millennia as a source of food, fuel, fiber and medicine as well as in religious ritual and for recreation. It's not a good idea to smoke anything, but when used conscientiously, cannabis offers great medicinal, economic and environmental benefits, and is potentially a vegan resource.

     Perhaps the most important attribute of vegans is a thirst for knowledge, which, when tempered with compassion, yields wisdom. An open mind and an open heart permit objective assessment of subjective knowledge. An objective look at mortality statistics exposes legal drugs as the real drug problem in American society. And drug abuse--including the abuse of alcohol, nicotine and caffeine--is not compatible with vegan living.

Don Lutz is the author of The Weaning of America: The Case Against Dairy Products (InnerPeace Books). He lives in Panama City, FL.

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