On 2 Jan, 11:20, "Hiram B Culpeper"  wrote:
> Now the madman says that ecstasy is safer than aspirin!http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_arti...
> Perhaps it's about time he laid off the Scotch.

Classic case of how you can use statistics to prove anything.

I guess that more people have died through aspirin than ecstasy.

Of course in the real world, we can see that aspirin does good 99% of
the time, E causes problems related to the type that take it, and the
harm it's definitely likely to create.

"Dewi (Abergele)"  wrote in
news:adc26f71-55b8-493b-aa5e-3c0e23399ef9@i72g2000hsd.googlegroups.co
m: 

> On 2 Jan, 11:20, "Hiram B Culpeper"  wrote:
>> Now the madman says that ecstasy is safer than
>> aspirin!http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.h
>> tml?in_arti... Perhaps it's about time he laid off the Scotch.
> 
> Classic case of how you can use statistics to prove anything.
> 
> I guess that more people have died through aspirin than ecstasy.
> 
> Of course in the real world, we can see that aspirin does good 99%
> of the time, E causes problems related to the type that take it,
> and the harm it's definitely likely to create.
> 

I tried very hard to parse that:  do you mean that you don't like the 
type of people who take ecstasy, and it's a good enough excuse to 
punish them?  Do you mean it causes problems for the brewer's profits? 
Or what?  You could say aspirin has a useful effect for only about 1 in 
10 of those who take it (but you can't tell which 1 in advance), but 
ecstasy causes a pleasant subjective effect in more than 90% of those 
who take it.  This would more accurate, though, in truth, just as 
tendentious.


-- 
Percy Picacity

Percy Picacity <key@under.the.invalid> wrote in
news:Xns9A19C74A5F2E9perspicacity@207.14.116.130: 

> "Dewi (Abergele)"  wrote in
> news:adc26f71-55b8-493b-aa5e-3c0e23399ef9
@i72g2000hsd.googlegroups.
> co m: 
> 
>> On 2 Jan, 11:20, "Hiram B Culpeper"  wrote:
>>> Now the madman says that ecstasy is safer than
>>> aspirin!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.
>>> h tml?in_arti... Perhaps it's about time he laid off the Scotch.
>> 
>> Classic case of how you can use statistics to prove anything.
>> 
>> I guess that more people have died through aspirin than ecstasy.
>> 
>> Of course in the real world, we can see that aspirin does good
>> 99% of the time, E causes problems related to the type that take
>> it, and the harm it's definitely likely to create.
>> 
> 
> I tried very hard to parse that:  do you mean that you don't like
> the type of people who take ecstasy, and it's a good enough excuse
> to punish them?  Do you mean it causes problems for the brewer's
> profits? Or what?  You could say aspirin has a useful effect for
> only about 1 in 10 of those who take it (but you can't tell which
> 1 in advance), but ecstasy causes a pleasant subjective effect in
> more than 90% of those who take it.  This would more accurate,
> though, in truth, just as tendentious.

PS I did wonder if in fact Brunstrom was trying to discredit the 
decriminalisation campaign by association (with himself, that is).  

-- 
Percy Picacity

In message 
          Percy Picacity <key@under.the.invalid> wrote:

> I tried very hard to parse that:

If you hadn't rotted your brain with drugs, you would have had no
difficulty.

> do you mean that you don't like the 
> type of people who take ecstasy, and it's a good enough excuse to 
> punish them?  Do you mean it causes problems for the brewer's profits? 
> Or what?

None of the above.

> You could say aspirin has a useful effect for only about 1 in 
> 10 of those who take it (but you can't tell which 1 in advance), but 
> ecstasy causes a pleasant subjective effect in more than 90% of those 
> who take it.  This would more accurate, though, in truth, just as 
> tendentious.

What nonsense. Aspirin has a useful effect for everyone who takes it to
relieve pain or as a prophylactic against heart disease, provided they take
it in accordance with the instructions.

Ecstasy has *no* useful effect.

Ken Down

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