Good parsing of headlines/stats. I'm the child of an alcoholic, so all the feels about how this drug gets to be legal while millions do time for small amounts of pot but... despite the recent headlines, little evidence that occasional drinkers are at some worrisome health risk.https://twitter.com/d_spiegel/status/1032878415450386433 …
-
Show this thread
-
Common pattern. There is an X which has catastrophic outcomes for some segment. But the harms from X don't nicely fit into a linear dose-response narrative. So you are left with the trade-off discussion: freedom/benefit of majority/most vs those at risk. But that's uncomfortable.
2 replies 7 retweets 52 likesShow this thread -
So the narrative oscillates between panics/prohibition and hands off my X. You see this in opioid discussions too: it is of obvious huge benefit to chronic pain patients who would be gravely harmed by denial and it also facilitates catastrophic harm to those who abuse/misuse it.
3 replies 6 retweets 42 likesShow this thread -
It would be so much better if more people, journalists especially, got in the weeds of what the findings/stats actually mean, and that we had the real discussion: how do you preserve benefits/freedom while protecting those at risk of harm? Topic after topic falls into this trap.
3 replies 20 retweets 79 likesShow this thread -
Alcohol causes damage/hurt around the world and competes with tobacco in harm; and little doubt it is also a cancer risk. On the other hand, the occasional drinkers of milder forms don't seem to be facing a huge risk. That's not a neat a story, and not a good headline! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
5 replies 5 retweets 58 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @zeynep
It's weird that with alcohol (or other substances) any increase in risk, no matter how minute, is presented in stories as unacceptable whereas people make risk/benefit calculations with things like driving everyday
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
i agree accept i don't think people do risk/benefit calculations with driving. It's more like they are under an illusion of control and invulnerability.
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.