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this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
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This isn't the appropriate way to analyze health policy. If alcohol is bad for you, but we as a society have decided that it is ok for people to poison themselves, then when some unscrupulous capitalists makes it even worse for you, you don't say "who cares it's already bad for you, lol." and then moralize about how if everyone doesn't consume the exact same substances you do, they somehow deserve it.
It is ok for a certain level of toxicity to be permitted, but additional or different unwanted types of toxicity to be a public health concern.
I think you got that wrong.
The idea to share this information is to empower someone to make an informed decision about the potential consequences that their actions could have on their health.
I can't possibly blame someone for not knowing better, as I'm certain that their local wine shop doesn't put cancer warning labels on the bottles.
This also doesn't seem desirable. Societal health isn't achieved by a group of individual decisions. It is created by regulations on how much pesticide should be in consumer goods or how much risk various consumables should pose to an individual.
Caveat emptor isn't a desirable public policy.
However what he showed is that regulators do not reflect the reality of the threat of alcohol consumption on the regulations that are meant to protect the people. Hence the need to inform the individuals who otherwise blindly consider that the current set of regulations leaves no hazardous substances available on the market.
Individuals can work with what they can control, while also pressuring their government to regulate what they can't.
Can you avoid all pesticides? No.
Can you avoid all alcoholic beverages? Yes.
Edit: clarification