I have always wondered about the role Alcohol & tobacco played in SUBJUGATING the world's indigeneous peoples.

This should not be a discussion of slavery being used to produce tobacco and alcohol.

Rather I want to talk about how they were USED AGAINST native peoples all over the world, from Africa to North & South America, Australia etc.....

I'll start with a definiton of the effects of alcohol:

Alcohol, specifically ethanol, is a potent central nervous system depressant, with a range of side effects.

Alcohol has a biphasic effect on the body, which is to say that its effects change over time. Initially, alcohol generally produces feelings of relaxation and cheerfulness, but further consumption can lead to blurred vision and coordination problems. Cell membranes are highly permeable to alcohol, so once alcohol is in the bloodstream it can diffuse into nearly every biological tissue of the body. After excessive drinking, unconsciousness can occur and extreme levels of consumption can lead to alcohol poisoning and death (a concentration in the blood stream of 0.55% will kill half of those affected). Death can also be caused by asphyxiation when vomit, a frequent result of over consumption, blocks the trachea and the individual is too inebriated to respond. An appropriate first aid response to an unconscious, drunken person is to place them in the recovery position.

Intoxication frequently leads to a lowering of one's inhibitions, and intoxicated people will do things they would not do while sober, often ignoring social, moral, and legal considerations.

Ethanol acts as a central nervous system depressant. In small amounts, ethanol causes a mild euphoria and removes inhibitions, and in large doses it causes drunkenness, generally at a Blood Alcohol Content of about 0.1%. At higher concentrations, alcohol causes intoxication, coma, and death. A blood ethanol content above 0.4% can be fatal, although regular heavy drinkers can tolerate somewhat higher levels than non-drinkers

Alcoholics develop a number of health problems, with cirrhosis of the liver among the most significant. Unlike withdrawal from some other drugs/intoxicants such as the opioids, withdrawal from heavy alcohol consumption can produce delirium tremens that can be fatal.

Any alcohol consumption during pregnancy carries a heavy risk of permanent mental and physical defects in the child, known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Action on the brain

Ethanol is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and reaches the brain. As a small molecule, it is able to cross the blood-brain barrier. The molecular targets of alcohols actions remain essentially unidentified, although many targets have been suggested, including ion channels[1] and intracellular signaling molecules. Alcohol works on the GABA system at the synaptic level, and it has a rapid onset of action. Essentially, it causes the GABA receptor, which is an ion channel, to remain open longer than it does without the addition of ethanol into the synaptic cleft (the space between two neurons, or brain cells). This causes more negatively charged particles to enter brain cells than would under normal conditions. The overall effect is to slow the functional processes of the brain cell. GABA is commonly known as the brain's "brake" mechanism


Carcinogenic effects

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (Centre International de Recherche sur le Cancer) of the World Health Organization has classified alcohol as a Group 1 carcinogen. Its evaluation states, "There is sufficient evidence for the carcinogenicity of alcoholic beverages in humans.… Alcoholic beverages are carcinogenic to humans (Group 1)."[2]

The U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that "Although there is no evidence that alcohol itself is a carcinogen, alcohol may act as a cocarcinogen by enhancing the carcinogenic effects of other chemicals. For example, studies indicate that alcohol enhances tobacco's ability to stimulate tumor formation in rats.[3] In humans, the risk for mouth, tracheal, and esophageal cancer is 35 times greater for people who both smoke and drink than for people who neither smoke nor drink,[4] implying a cocarcinogenic interaction between alcohol and tobacco-related carcinogens."[5]

"Studies have suggested that high concentrations of acetaldehyde, which is produced as the body breaks down ethanol, could damage DNA in healthy cells. … Researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, Maryland, have added weight to this idea by showing that the damage occurs at concentrations of acetaldehyde similar to those in saliva and the gastrointestinal tract while people drink alcohol. Acetaldehyde appears to react with polyamines - naturally occurring compounds essential for cell growth - to create a particularly dangerous type of mutagenic DNA base called a Cr-Pdg adduct…"[6]

The strongest link between alcohol and cancer involves cancers of the upper digestive tract, including the esophagus, the mouth, the pharynx, and the larynx. Less consistent data link alcohol consumption and cancers of the liver, breast, and colon.


Please note: the BAC percentages provided below are just estimates and used for illustrative purposes only. They are not meant to be an exhaustive reference; please refer to a healthcare professional if more information is needed.

• Euphoria (BAC = 0.03 to 0.12 %)
  • Subject may experience an overall improvement in mood and possible euphoria.
  • They may become more self-confident or daring.
  • Their attention span shortens. They may look flushed.
  • Their judgement is not as good — they may express the first thought that comes to mind, rather than an appropriate comment for the given situation.
  • They have trouble with fine movements, such as writing or signing their name.

• Lethargy (BAC = 0.09 to 0.25 %)
  • Subject may become sleepy
  • They have trouble understanding or remembering things, even recent events. They do not react to situations as quickly.
  • Their body movements are uncoordinated; they begin to lose their balance easily, stumbling; walking is not stable.
  • Their vision becomes blurry. They may have trouble sensing things (hearing, tasting, feeling, etc.).

• Confusion (BAC = 0.18 to 0.30 %)
  • Profound confusion — uncertain where they are or what they are doing. Dizziness and staggering occur.
  • Heightened emotional state — aggressive, withdrawn, or overly affectionate. Vision, speech, and awareness are impaired.
  • Poor coordination and pain response. Nausea and vomiting often occur.

• Stupor (BAC = 0.25 to 0.40 %)
  • Movement severely impaired; lapses in and out of consciousness.
  • Subjects can slip into a coma; will become completely unaware of surroundings, time passage, and actions.
  • Risk of death is very high due to alcohol poisoning and/or pulmonary aspiration of vomit while unconscious.

• Coma (BAC = 0.35 to 0.50 %)
  • Unconsciousness sets in.
  • Reflexes are depressed (i.e., pupils do not respond appropriately to changes in light).
  • Breathing is slower and more shallow. Heart rate drops. Death usually occurs at levels in this range.

• Death (BAC more than 0.50 %)
  • Alcohol causes central nervous system to fail, resulting in death.

Alcohol in Caribbean Slave Societies

If slaves were not already familiar with rum in Africa, they were quickly introduced to it during the middle passage or upon their arrival in the Caribbean. Dr. Collins (1811:59), a planter and physician in St. Vincent, advised that, as part of the seasoning process, newly arrived slaves should be given rum "in small quantities, not pure, but diluted in water into a pretty strong grog; for it is the business of the Planter to conciliate them by many compliances with their humour." Rum, therefore, was used as a salutation to try and ease the transition into Caribbean slavery.

British Caribbean sugar planters provided huge amounts of rum to their slaves as part of weekly plantation rations (Long 1774:490). In the late eighteenth century, managers at York estate, Jamaica (GMP) set-aside 800 gallons of rum each year for use on the plantation.

Rum was also given as a reward for good work. Jamaican sugar planter Thomas Roughley (1823:90-91) argued that, as an incentive to the principal headman to do his duty well, "a weekly allowance of a quart or two of good rum...will be found of salutary effect." Planters devised an effective incentives system, which used rum to improve discipline and elicit a favorable slave disposition.



All day every day was after-work drinks........

Indigenous Australians


In 1770, Lieutenant James Cook took possession of the east coast of Australia in the name of Great Britain and named it New South Wales. British colonisation of Australia began in Sydney in 1788. The most immediate consequence of British settlement - within weeks of the first colonists' arrival - was a wave of European epidemic diseases such as chickenpox, smallpox, influenza and measles, which spread in advance of the frontier of settlement. The worst-hit communities were the ones with the greatest population densities, where disease could spread more readily. In the arid centre of the continent, where small communities were spread over a vast area, the population decline was less marked.

The second consequence of British settlement was appropriation of land and water resources. The settlers took the view that Indigenous Australians were nomads with no concept of land ownership, who could be driven off land wanted for farming or grazing and who would be just as happy somewhere else. In fact the loss of traditional lands, food sources and water resources was usually fatal, particularly to communities already weakened by disease. Additionally, Indigenous Australians groups had a deep spiritual and cultural connection to the land, so that in being forced to move away from traditional areas, cultural and spiritual practices necessary to the cohesion and well-being of the group could not be maintained. Unlike in New Zealand, no treaty was ever entered into with the indigenous peoples entitling the Europeans to land ownership. Proximity to settlers also brought venereal disease, to which Indigenous Australians had no tolerance and which greatly reduced indigenous fertility and birthrates. Settlers also brought alcohol, opium and tobacco; substance abuse has remained a chronic problem for indigenous communities ever since.

The combination of disease, loss of land and direct violence reduced the Aboriginal population by an estimated 90% between 1788 and 1900.

The indigenous people in Tasmania were particularly hard-hit, with the last full-blood indigenous Tasmanian, Truganini, dying in 1876, although a substantial part-indigenous community survived.

In Tasmania some non-Aboriginal people were so horrified by what was happening to the Indigenous people they wrote to England seeking action to stop it, from the British Government. The governor of Tasmania, Governor Arthur, declared martial law against the Aboriginal people in 1828 and this was considered a war declaration


Substance abuse


A number of Indigenous communities suffer from a range of health and social problems associated with substance abuse of both legal and illegal drugs.

Alcohol consumption within certain Indigenous communities is seen as a significant issue, as are the domestic violence and associated issues resulting from the behaviour.



Some points to note:

1.
Diseases like smallpox, chicked pox, measles.
If you are vaccinated then you cannot get these diseases, therefore you cannot transmit it to anyone.
If you get these diseases then your risk of dying was very high.

Assuming that the europeans were vaccinated, how come the indigenous people everywhere they "explored" were wiped out?
Can't be by chance, right?

So it seems that Europeans have been using germ warfare (biological weapons) for a long time.........

2.
Proximity to settlers also brought venereal disease

How is VD spread? Sexually.
Therefore there was widespread rapes........
VD wasn't "brought", it was used as a weapon.
Couple centuries ago it was VD, today it maight be HIV.

3.
Settlers also brought alcohol, opium and tobacco;

Again, same drugs yesterday, same drugs today ....