Drinking alcohol is nearly as old as mankind itself. First used as a food source, it has long been an integral part of practically all cultures throughout the history of the world. People use it to relax and it is seldom absent from any celebratory event no matter how large or small. Alcohol also causes psychological, emotional and physical problems affecting employment and relationships. It is also a leading cause of death including both for the chronic drinker and the innocent victims of alcohol-related accidents. Alcohol can be good or evil depending on the level of personal responsibility exercised by the individual drinker.
According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (Alcoholism, 2000), alcohol is among the three largest causes of preventable mortality in the United States. Contributing to approximately 100,000 deaths annually, only tobacco and diet/activity patterns contribute to greater death tolls. The Council also estimates that, despite laws against underage drinking, approximately 13.8 million Americans over the age of 18, representing about seven percent of the population, have experienced difficulty controlling their alcohol consumption, including 8.1 million people who are alcoholic.
It is particularly disturbing to note that the prevalence for drinking problems is among those individuals within the 18 to 29 age group with a greater number of men experiencing problems than women by a factor of almost three to one. Despite laws against underage drinking, more than half of all high school seniors in this country have reported being drunk at least once and a third of them have reported having three or more drinks in a row in the weeks prior to the survey while another 76 million people, almost half of all Americans, have reported being exposed to alcoholism within the home (Alcoholism, 2000). These numbers are particularly alarming as studies continue to show that individuals who have started drinking before age 15 are up to four times more likely to develop alcoholism than those who started at age 21 and there is a greater tendency for alcoholism to run within family lines.
Legislators are reluctant to prohibit the responsible adult consumption of alcohol motivated by questions of personal autonomy and choice. Most Americans, especially those who are knowledgeable of the Constitution, believe constraining what adults do in private including what they can put into their bodies is clearly unconstitutional and an infringement on personal liberties unless this action infringes upon the rights of others.
Everyone can differentiate between the wide-ranging social consequences that exist between a person who consumes an occasional alcoholic beverage and one who commits crimes while drunk. The right to drink, responsibly, is the constitutionally guaranteed right of every adult American. If this freedom is taken away, other liberties will follow until we have the type of country the Founding Fathers were trying to break away from.
The rhetoric of those who condone alcohol use is compelling but would they also allow any type of drug to be legalized as well while citing the same civil liberty concerns? It is not an issue of freedom, it’s a safety issue. We are not ‘free’ to drive 125 miles-per-hour through a school zone because of the safety issue. Alcohol can affect not only the physical health of the individual, but can have long term repercussions on their psychology and social life as well, strongly affecting the way they relate to the world and those around them and only controllable through life-long voluntary measures such as Alcoholics Anonymous. Physically, alcohol can have a dramatic impact upon an individual’s body particularly as it affects the liver.
Alcohol, without it, civilization may not have progressed as it did but many believe it to be the scourge of modern society. It is the essence of life and cause of many thousands of deaths, a multi-million dollar business which costs Americans millions in health-related expenses. Without it, celebrations are less vivacious but those who celebrate too much then drive and often kill the innocent. It has been and always will be manufactured, sold and consumed. Even after prohibition in the early part of the last century, it was manufactured, sold and consumed. Alcohol was there at the beginnings of humanity and will be there at the end. The question is how to alleviate the detrimental affects. Moderation and education is the only answer.
References
Alcoholism. (2000). “Alcohol-related Statistics.” WebMagic. Web.