Alcohol is one of the most consumed drugs worldwide. Alcohol consumption dates back to the Neolithic period circa 10,000 BCE (Patrick 12-13 ) and is the oldest psychoactive drug. Alcohol consumption is tied to religious ceremony, social gatherings, and cultural events; drinking alcohol is even simply equated to fun. The popularity of alcohol can also be tied to a physiological reaction in the human body, “drinking alcohol induced opioid release in... areas of the brain implicated in reward valuation.”(Mitchell et al. 116). Perhaps these social and cultural endorsements, coupled with specific physiological responses, make addiction and abuse a common progression of consumption. The negative impact of alcohol is observable in both the mental, physical, and social health of individuals who consume it and in the effect it has on our justice system. It is this likelihood of addiction that presents a valid reason for an outright prohibition; over-consumption only serves to potentiate the negative effects of alcohol. Ethyl alcohol should be an illegal substance; the social, economic, and health effects of alcohol consumption are devastating.
For instance, the consumption of grain alcohol is linked to a variety of negative mental and physical health effects. According to Grønbæk alcohol consumption, even at low levels, causes euphoria and confusion with an increasing blood-alcohol level leading to coma and death, and with consistent consumption an increased risk of dementia. There is also a strong correlation between alcohol consumption and a variety of destructive physical diseases; these range from malnutrition to more serious conditions like liver cirrhosis, stroke, and a variety of cancers (Grønbæk 407-420). Alcohol abuse and exces...
... middle of paper ...
... U.S. $224 Billion in 2006." Centers For Disease Control And Prevention. N.p., 17 Oct. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
"Tax Collections Cumulative Summary Fiscal Year 2006." Alcohol And Tobacco Tax And Trade Bureau. N.p., 27 Mar. 2007. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
Hall, Wayne. "What Are the Policy Lessons of National Alcohol Prohibition in the United States, 1920–1933?"Addiction 105.7 (2010): 1164-1173. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
Thornton, Mark. "Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure." CATO Institute. N.p., 17 Jan. 1991. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
Gusfield, Joseph R. "Introduction." Symbolic Crusade: Status Politics and the American Temperance Movement.University Of Illinois Press, 1986. 1. Web. 02 Mar. 2012.
Enoch, Mary-Anne, and David Goldman. "Problem Drinking and Alcoholism: Diagnosis and Treatment." American Academy of Family Physicians 65.3 (2002): 441-449. Web. 05 Mar. 2012.
Okrent, Daniel. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. New York: Scribner, 2010. Print.
The hopes of the prohibitionist were dreams of a healthier and more successful nation. Their dreams were spun from the idea of shutting out the alcohol industry and enforcing large industries and stressing family values. The eighteenth amendment consisted of the end of sales, production, transportation, as for importation and exportation of intoxicating liquors. Their imaginations were large and very hopeful. The prohibitionists felt that alcohol is a slow poison of their community. They felt that if the liquor industry was shut out that Americans would spend their hard earned money in the clothing, food, and shoe industries therefore boosting the American economy. Many felt, “Seeing what a sober nation can do is indeed a noble experiment and one that has never yet been tried, (Crowther, 11) Prohibition was a test of the strength of the nation and an attempt at cleaning up societies evils. These reformers denounce alcohol as a danger to society as well as to the human body. Some ethnic hopes of prohibition was to regulate the foreigners whose backgrounds consisted on the use of alcohol for religious purposes. And try to enforce an American valued society upon them. Many reformists felt that ending the use of alcohol would protect American homes and families. They felt that alcohol use was the root of their family’s destruction. Many women felt that their husbands would waste a lot of their income on the purchase of alcohol and not on family needs. Alcohol was often known as a “poison, or sin”. Another hope for the eighteenth amendment was to reduce the crime and death rate. Many people felt that drunkenness was the cause of many of the nations crimes. Prohibitionist felt very passionately on their cause and were often called “dry’s.” They felt their battle was justified and that, “it is manifest destiny that alcohol will not survive the scrutiny,”(Darrow and Yarros, 20).
Prohibition not only failed in its promise to curb the social problem created by alcohol. It actually promoted s...
The "Lectures on Temperance". New York : Sheldon, Blakeman, 1857.
Okrent, Daniel. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. New York: Scribner, (2010) : 255.
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, many saw alcohol as a cause of instability among communities. To counteract the effects of alcohol on American society, The Temperance Movement, Prohibition Party and many others sought to enact anti-liquor laws that would prohibit the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol. On January 19, 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment had taken effect and a nationwide ban on alcohol was enacted. This was thought of as a solution to the many problems that America had at the time, but it only made matters worse. The American society had been greatly affected by the Eighteenth Amendment in many negative aspects such as increasing crime and violence, worsening the economy, and much more.
Arias, M.D., A. J., & Kranzler, M.D, H. R. (n.d). Treatment of co-occurring alcohol and other drug Use disorders. Retrieved from http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh312/155-167.htm
“For every family that is impacted by drugs, there are another 10 to 15 families impacted by alcohol abuse. It's a pretty big deal. We have a tendency to only look at part of the puzzle.” (Kevin Lewis). As a society we tend to categorize the severity of addiction in a way that drugs are the most dangerous and alcohol being just a problem. Because alcohol addiction can be a slow progressive disease many people don’t see it in the same light as drug addiction. An addiction to drugs is seen as being a more deadly and dangerous issue then that of alcohol because a drug addiction can happen more quickly and can kill more quickly. Alcohol is something that is easy to obtain, something that is found at almost every restaurant. People with an alcohol addiction can not hide from alcohol as easy as a drug addict. Approximately 7 million Americans suffer from alcohol abuse and another 7 million suffer from alcoholism. (Haisong 6) The dangers of alcohol affect everyone from children with alcoholic parents, to teenagers who abuse alcohol, then to citizens who are terrorized by drunk drivers.
It was apparent that Prohibition didn’t achieve its goals, instead, it added to the existing economic and social problems, as well as creating new problems that would be prominent in today’s society. Organized crime grew into an empire, disrespect for the law grew, the per capita consumption of alcohol increased dramatically, city officials fell to gangsters, and the government lost money. It is obvious that prohibition was a miserable failure from all points of view. Reasonable measures were not taken to enforce the laws, so they were practically ignored.
The problem of alcohol abuse has been recognized for thousands of years, but only more recently have we begun to see alcohol addiction as a treatable disorder. According to the Classical Disease Model of `Alcoholism,' habitual use of alcohol can be identified as a disease. Webster's Dictionary defines the concept of `disease' as follows: "Any departure from health presenting marked symptoms; malady; illness; disorder." Therefore, as many occurrences of alcohol excess provoke such symptoms, it is somewhat understandable that `alcoholism' is classified as a disease. The Classical Disease Model appears to offer a hopeful option. Treatment and sobriety can allow people to lead fulfilling lives. Adjacent to the notion of alcoholism as personal failure or moral deterioration, the Classical Disease Model appears to be a more desirable concept as it provides a motive for the alcoholic to seek treatment and gain sympathy, minimizing personal guilt. As alcoholism is seen as a progressive and, to an extent, hereditary illness for which those afflicted are not accountable, victims avoid being ostracized from society (Jellinek, 1960). Labeling the problem as a `disease' allows the medical profession to take responsibility for the treatment of alcoholism, which puts the problem in a more favourable light than if it were in the hands of psychologists or social workers, thus detaching the stigma connected with the problem while it is put on a par with other diseases such as diabetes or cancer. However, critics of the Classical Disease Model believe stigma helps reduce alcohol problems and aids the alcoholic. Any effort to reduce the stigma which is faced by the alcoholic will reduce pressures to moderate consumption and could have the additional ...
Wechsler, H., Nelson T., & Weitzman, E. (February 2000). From Knowledge to Action. Change [On-line], Available: www2.gasou.edu/library/ (Galileo)(EBSCOhost)(Search=Alcohol Abuse).
Prohibition has been called the “noble experiment” that failed (Hanson 26, 27). One of the reasons behind its monumental failure is that it made criminals of ordinary
Alcohol abuse is the most common problem, nowadays. In fact, majority of people drink alcohol repeatedly to the point where they have difficulty to stop. Statistics show that, as much as, “40% of college students report drinking five or more drinks in one episode” (Walters & Baer, 2006). Alcohol has become more popular over the years as advertisements, simultaneously with commercials of it, filled the media. It also is easily accessible and cheap in comparison to other psychoactive substances. On the other hand, alcohol safety awareness programs are barely noticeable. My research will present how alcohol and its abuse gets into people’s lives and how it influences their physical and mental health, as well as, social existence.
Alcoholism is a disease that affects many people in the United States today. It not only affects the alcoholic, but also their family, friends, co-workers, and eventually total strangers. The symptoms are many, as are the causes and the effects.
Alcohol in the form of alcoholic beverages has been consumed by humans since pre-historic times, for a variety of hygiene dietary, medicinal, religions and recreational reasons. According to the NIH Senior Health, drinking too much alcohol affects many parts of the body. It can be especially harmful to the liver, the organ that metabolizes (breaks down) alcohol and other harmful substances. People who drink heavily for a long time can develop diseases such as liver inflammation (alcoholic hepatitis) or severe liver scarring (cirrhosis). Alcohol-related liver disease can cause death. According to the statistics in the year 2010 by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and prevention) the number of discharges with chronic liver disease and cirrhosis as the first-listed diagnosis was 101,000 persons, while the number of deaths has been 31,903 persons.