Alcoholism And Alcohol

2241 Words5 Pages

Allison Butigian 1/15/14
American Social Issues Period: 4
Alcohol
How does a person change from an innocent, pure child to a wild trouble-maker? One popular icon that has struggled with alcohol is Lindsay Lohan. We all remember her as the young kid from parent trap that has had a pretty successful acting career, but everything changed when she became addicted to alcohol and drugs. Her life seemed to turn for the worst when she was arrested twice for a DUI in 2007 and she confessed that alcohol abuse is what led her to more serious drugs. This is often the case with many individuals that become alcoholics. Within The United States’ society, alcohol is extremely underrated about the drug’s toxicity and danger. Although it is overlooked as a common substance, research has stated that alcohol is the most commonly abused drug in America.
Alcohol abuse is defined as the most destructive use of alcohol while Alcoholism is characterized by the repeated, obsessive and uncontrollable use of alcohol, despite the extremely negative consequences. (Harvey). In the United States along there are approximately 14 million alcohol abusers and slightly less than 7 million alcoholics (Harvey). For some people, based on genetics, they are more likely to develop alcoholism than others (Harvey). Although this is true in many circumstances an addiction correlates with life obstacles. Developing addictions of any kind tends to be a mix of nature and nurture. This means that an individual’s DNA can make them likely to develop alcoholism, but lifestyle of that individual can also push them to become dependent on the drug. Alcoholism, as well as any type of addiction is classified as a disease. It is a chronic and often progressive d...

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...precaution the government can take is raising the tax on alcohol. If it becomes more expensive it will be less appealing, especially towards younger audiences. This could prevent many unintended accidents that would not have happened if the individual did not consume as many drinks (Friedman).
Alcohol has the ability to consume someone’s entire life. It becomes a larger issue each year and when alcoholism takes over an individual they are no longer the same person. Alcohol has so many negative effects on a person’s health it is not worth it to abuse the drug. There are many precautions that could be taken by the community and the government that could slow the growth of alcohol abuse. By educating people at a young age hopefully they can grow into responsible drinkers. We need to create a society that understands how to drink responsibly and not put others at risk.

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