From the "Well, Duh..." files..

[Jer]

You're right, I won't tread on your right to eat funyons.

Who'll think o da chirrens!

[hatidua]

but alcohol is a non-addictive (in terms of chemically speaking) substance, but you still have people who have developed a psychological dependency.

A hardcore alcoholic going cold turkey can die from stopping suddenly, which makes the psychological argument a tad tenuous at best.

[Jer]

A hardcore alcoholic going cold turkey can die from stopping suddenly, which makes the psychological argument a tad tenuous at best.

Alcoholism is the ONLY drug addiction that a human can die from the withdrawal alone despite urban legend. Some will claim that heroin withdrawal can also kill yet it's the drug used to help lessen the effects that has been proven to cause death, not the heroin withdrawal itself. To clarify on the topic of alcohol withdrawal death, the deadly factor is that the brain adjusts for a slowed heart rate due to the depressant nature of the alcohol which taken in extreme amounts can require a lot of hormone dump to keep the heart pumping enough to sustain life. If this is done for long enough the body will adjust this to a near permanent state to where if someone quits cold turkey this amount of hormone present suddenly spikes the heart activity and can lead to heart attack and death.

Funyuns can NOT mirror this condition despite what the anti-Funyun propagandists like hghclsswhitetrsh will try to convince you.

[Ronin13]

A hardcore alcoholic going cold turkey can die from stopping suddenly, which makes the psychological argument a tad tenuous at best.

Eh, yes, but not chemically- that is the body adapting to the heavy intake of alcohol into the system, and it's a physical dependency instead of a chemical one like say nicotine or amphetamine. But that aside, those who are not at risk of heavy withdraw symptoms that can be fatal, the "minor league" alcoholics, have more of a psychological addiction- like that whole "Can't take this meeting without a sip of whiskey" or "I can't start the day with out bourbon in my coffee."