The Evils of Alcohol

If one thing were going to bring this country to a devastating and painful halt, then it would most definitely be alcohol. No other substance has caused nearly the amount of death, chaos, crime, and pain. And to make matters much worse, it is almost completely ignored as a poison, or even as a drug. It boggles my mind when I see how ignorant people are concerning alcohol, especially in college settings.

The most devastating effect of alcohol is its addictiveness. In 1992, an estimated 27 ½ million people where addicted to alcohol (Grant). This ended up costing the affected, their families, and taxpayers over $148 billion (NIAAA). Besides the costs, alcoholism has ruined the lives of millions. The number one cause of child abuse always has, and always will be alcoholism. A recent study found that the number of abused and neglected children had more than doubled from 1986 to 1997 to 3 million. A rise more than eight times that of the rise of the population of children (Elrod). 915 child welfare professionals were surveyed, and 90% said that alcohol alone is the main cause of child abuse and neglect (Elrod).

We can also thank alcohol and the alcohol industry for over 110,000 deaths in 1996. Deaths from cirrhosis of the liver, drunk driving, alcohol induced fights and accidents, and cancer just to name a few (NIAAA). Over 300 people die every day in America of something alcohol related. But how does the average American look at alcohol? Most people will say that it is a “safe” and “social” activity. Unless you consider 110,000 deaths “safe” and unless you consider rape and assault as being “social” then these are simply misnomers created largely by the alcohol industry.

Most Americans are unfortunately unaware that alcohol is the most common and widely used date rape drug. A study of the urine samples of 578 rape victims showed that 36% of them had alcohol in their system. Less than 1%, 5 victims, showed evidence of the “date rape drug” Rohypnol (ElSohly). In more than half the cases, the man was drunk.

Alcohol has also had a phenomenal impact on the crime world. A study by the British Medical Association showed that alcohol was present in 64% of all public offences and 40% of all violent assaults. Alcohol was also present in 60-70% of homicides, 75% of stabbings, 70% of beatings, and 50% fights (IAS). How can one look at that and say that alcohol is safe and social? It is obvious that people are not responsible with their drinking, and are bringing it onto the people around them. Alcohol remains the number one cause of all crime.

I had a very personal story involving alcohol that made me realize what alcohol really is. I made the mistake of going to a hotel party that had a lot of alcohol there. At the time I’d been having mixed feeling about alcohol so I decided not to drink. Unfortunately, I was the only one who didn’t drink there. Everyone else drank themselves into a drunken stupor, and puked all night. One person though, who had past experience in mental hospitals and rehabilitation, pulled out a huge knife and began to saw into his own hand. He cut all the way down to bone and cut right through a vessel. Huge amounts of blood pumped out of the giant gash in his hand. Nobody else seemed to notice or care, so I was left with the responsibility to save this person’s life. I didn’t even know this person and I had to wrap up his hand in toilet paper and duct tape to stop the bleeding. I ordered someone to call someone with a car, because no one wanted to be caught drinking underage. For 20 minutes I kept his hand elevated and kept him awake. By the time someone came to pick him up, he had grown extremely pale from the huge loss of blood, and was barely awake. He went to the emergency room and got 12 stitches. After that I decided not to drink ever again, and found a movement called “Straight-Edge.” A group of people that listen to rock music and live a clean lifestyle without drugs or alcohol.

The way I look at, a person who supports alcohol and buys alcohol, is a person that supports rape, child abuse and violence. You cannot say that you are against these issues while at the same time supporting them. If you were truly against these issues then you would not be supporting the number one cause of it. Every year the alcohol industry makes 100’s of billions of dollars that go right back out into society to keep killing and ruining lives.

How can we stop this epidemic of poison? Simple. For one, stop drinking alcohol. It’s easy to do if you are not addicted. Secondly, educate people about alcohol; show alcohol for what it really is. People today are blind from the truth about alcohol. Stop supporting an industry that kills thousands of people. You wouldn’t pay an assassin to kill people you don’t know, don’t pay a multi-billion dollar industry to do it either. Educate people about what alcohol really is. The alcohol industry refuses to take the responsibility of informing people about the gross amounts of death and violence that they are responsible for. They love the fact that most of America thinks that alcohol is a fun and social activity that makes you more attractive. Make yourself better than the industry of death. Don’t swallow the garbage they try to shove down your throat. Educate yourself and others about alcohol. Also, if you know someone who is an alcoholic, don’t be afraid to help him or her. Giving up alcohol could save their life.

Over a period of time, I’ve grown to hate alcohol. I see absolutely no good in it, and no advantage a person can claim it to have will ever outweigh its frightening disadvantages. I don’t, however, believe in prohibition. I think that a person does have the right to drink if they choose to, as long as they are responsible and don’t affect others. I think it would be much more effective to educate people so they choose to stop drinking themselves, rather than just taking it away. I do believe in stronger penalties for a person that commits a crime while under the influence of any drug.

If you are a person who is against rape, violence, disease, and crime, then I urge you to not support the number one cause of it. When you throw money down on the counter of a liquor store, that money could very well be the money that produces the alcohol responsible for another person’s death. I would be devastated if I paid money to kill someone.