STAT.com, a medical news web site, has just completed an in-depth study of the impact of alcohol on American lives. They naturally take a medical approach to the problem but this is clearly a Macroeconomic issue.
Studies show that about 10% of the American population combines obesity with alcohol abuse. The cost of treating the illnesses, such as diabetes and liver failure, not to mention the economic impact of alcoholism by work loss and injury, is immense.
6 takeaways from STATâs investigation into the U.S. alcohol epidemic
âThe Deadliest Drugâ catalogs the nationâs failure to address excessive alcohol use as a leading cause of disease, injury and death
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Drinking, and especially heavy use, is driving an epidemic of injuries, illnesses, and deaths in the United States. Despite recent declines in drinking, alcohol remains the nationâs deadliest drug â more deadly than opioids, fentanyl, methamphetamines, or heroin.
Alcohol kills 178,000 Americans each year and sickens countless more. Yet the public, corporations, lawmakers, and federal officials mostly act as though the problem doesnât exist. ⌠[end quote]
This article is free. Itâs a summary of in-depth reporting which is behind a paywall.
As a lifelong non-drinker and avoider of drinkers I say we should just ban it. That should solve all our problems. (I know, I know)
Some other stats: [National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)] via AI websearch
For people who seek help -------
First Year: Roughly 25% to 40% maintain complete sobriety for the full 12 months after formal treatment.
Two Years: If someone reaches two years of sobriety, the probability of them staying sober increases to 60%.
Five Years: After five consecutive years of sobriety, the risk of relapse drops to less than 7%; the vast majority remain sober for life
So recidivism rates approach the âwhy botherâ rate. Another relevant stat is: Only 7% seek help. Thatâs â7â not â77â or even â37â. Good luck trying to treat the ones who donât seek help.
The health effects of alcohol have been known for a long time. But education of that fact is all we have.
Voters do not see alcohol as a drug. Not likely it will ever be regulated as a drug.
Prohibition was an effort to ban use for a variety of reasons. Social benefits usually cited. Health effects rarely mentioned. It clearly did not work.
What do you propose to address this issue? What is the solution?
I think the solution is education. The government could publicize the health effects the way they publicized the effects of smoking. Alcohol bottles currently have a message cautioning against drinking during pregnancy but this could be expanded. The government could pay for publicity campaigns. And local governments could encourage teaching about the harms of alcohol in schools the way they do today about the harms of smoking.
If people realized how deadly the combination of alcohol and metabolic disease is at least some people might change their behavior. Most alcohol-drinkers arenât addicts (out-of-control drinking) so thereâs plenty of room for modification.
The study I cited above said that 1 in 10 Americans (10%) are both obese and also heavy drinkers. If alcoholics are 1 in 30 (3%) that leaves 7% of the population that should be capable of reducing their heavy drinking to save their lives. Thatâs a lot of people.
Driven by mass advertising in the early 20th century, adult smoking peaked at 45% in 1954. Today, thanks to strict public health campaigns and policy changes, overall rates have plummeted to roughly 11%.
Although alcohol advertising is banned on TV, I notice they still play on cable.
Perhaps the ad ban should be expanded.
Also in ball games on TV you often see beer logos on the walls. A subtle way to avoid the ban. I think many signs are inserted electronically and do not actually exist at the ball park.
Humans have always gotten high somehow or other, and shifting the substance used to cannabis might (might!) be a good idea. The tombs of the fearsome Scythians often lacked alcohol vessels, but often had cannisters holding caches of cannabis. I have cut my alcohol consumption down to 10 beers or equivalent a week partly by taking up vaping marijuana. I had to do something strongly relaxing because after decades of having good teeth my dentists raised the alarm about damage I was doing from grinding my teeth, despite my regular practice of meditation. Too much stress starting sometime in early 2025âŚ.
Logic dictates a guy buy the less expensive, safer, weaker, legal pot, but illogic rules. The illegal stuff is extremely dangerous. There is a new thing being added that is more dangerous than Fentanyl.
Not judging anyone here. But I never have understood this. What is the compulsion to get âhighâ or âa buzzâ or whatever? Iâve known people that actually seek to get drunk as frequently as they can (usually Fri-Sun). Why? You just feel sick afterwards, and any problems you may be trying to âdrownâ will still be there when it wears off. Makes absolutely no sense to me. I like my brain to be firing on all cylinders, not dulled into a stupor.
Just a couple of anecdotes. 1poordad, when I was about 16 or so, wanted to âteachâ me to be a âsocial drinkerâ. He had me try all sorts of things (wines, scotch -perhaps the most vile drink in existence-, gin, brandyâŚno beer or vodka as he didnât drink those). I hated all of it. He said I had to âacquireâ a taste for it. Why? If I donât like it, I donât like it. So, it backfired, because I donât drink. Iâve had a couple of sips of mai-tais in Hawaii (one was good, the others were repulsiveâŚdonât know the difference in the mixes). Other than that, nada for almost 50 years. Not what he wanted.
As for other substances, I never felt the urge to try any. Iâm not doing needles, and the smell of cannabis is nauseating to me. The other anecdote is when I had to have my back surgery, I couldnât lay flat. But even in the recliner, my muscles were spasming. Couldnât sleep. I had a script for vicodin. That stuff was amazing. I took one pill, and within about 30 minutes I felt a wave go over me as the pain went away, and I was able to drift off to sleep. I ended up taking maybe 4 or 5 of them during my recovery. The rest of the pills got tossed.
That is so funny; my mother felt I needed to learn to appreciate wine when I was 18 and we spent a dinner at a restaurant in NJ and Iâm trying various types of wine. All of it tastes like vinegar. The only one I remember is liebfraumilch (?spelling)! And I have some oxycodone pills somewhere that I save in case of some crippling pain I had once, recurring! Probably useless at this point.
The health benefits of alcohol are mostly nonsense. It doesnât exist. Iâve been alcohol free for nearly 3 years now after my cardiologist told me âjust stop, all of itâ. Why? Because of my heart surgery? Because of my health history? âAlcohol is a poisonâ. And after that it became clear.
Trust me, the signs exist at the park. One of the biggest sponsors of sports is beer, and included in their sponsorship of the team are the âpour rightsâ. (Three stadia have been named for beer at one time or another: Miller Park in Milwaukee, Coors Field in Denver, and Busch Stadium in St. Louis.) [Funny side story: Augustus Busch petitioned MLB to name the stadium Budweiser Stadium but was turned down. So he had it named âBusch Stadiumâ and then once that was approved, had the brewery create a new brand: Busch Beer.]
Been that way since the beginning of human time. Alcohol, mescaline, peyote, cannabis, wine, moonshine, and as soon as âside effectsâ are discovered it goes on the list: cocaine, crack, heroin, heck even cigarettes are a stimulant, constricting blood vessels and whatnot. And, of course, itâs addictive!
Sometimes recreational. What is the compulsion to get on a roller coaster? Sometimes for escape. Sometimes to deaden pain. Consciousness has many states, some you reach with drugs, others with meditation or whatever. Heck, I have a cat that pesters me any time I go near the catnip jar. Seems to be universal-ish.