Alcohol

A legal commodity. Yes, with certain restsrictions. Indulged in by many who think it to be innocuous. Yes, for them perhaps in their myopic view. Now, for the "but." But, it is an enormously huge problem -- one that adopts a "scorched earth" strategy as it devastates lives and families and leaves tragedy, heartache, and destruction in its wake. We need simply to see alcohol through a panoramic lens.

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Recently, the messengers to the Arkansas Baptist State Convention passed a resolution entitled “On the Number One Drug Problem in America.” No, it did not deal with methamphetamine, crack cocaine, heroin, or marijuana – alcohol was the subject of that resolution. Not only is it the biggest drug problem in the U.S.; it’s a bigger problem than that of all the other drugs combined.

The resolution won’t necessarily cause us to turn the corner on alcohol. Neither did it dictate how people should think about alcohol. What it did do is share some empirical data to illustrate just how harmful that drug is to our culture and how astronomical the cost is to everyone for the excessive consumption and abuse of alcohol. The numbers represent a staggering blow to our quality of life and a drag on our ability to move forward and improve the lives of our fellow Americans.

Below are some of the facts recited in the resolution. This information was found in the results of studies of the impact of alcohol for the year 2006, the last year for which complete computations are available. The American Journal of Preventive Medicine and The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence published the findings of the studies. If you missed seeing the resolution, you will find this information very interesting and eye-opening.

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Consider the following:

• The annual economic cost of excessive alcohol consumption in the U.S. was put at the very conservative figure of $223.5 billion (other studies put the figure closer to $280 billion).

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• Alcohol is responsible for 79,000 deaths annually in the U.S. (and the loss of 2.3 million years of potential life), making it the third-leading preventable cause of death in the country.

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• The annual cost of alcohol-attributable crime is $73.3 billion.

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• In addition to premature death, excessive alcohol consumption is directly related to increased disease and injury (including liver cirrhosis, certain cancers, unintentional injuries, violence, and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder), property damage from fire and motor vehicle crashes, alcohol-related crime, and lost productivity.

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• One-quarter of all emergency room admissions, one-third of all suicides, and more than half of all homicides and incidents of domestic violence are alcohol-related.

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• Nearly half of all traffic fatalities are alcohol-related.

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• Between 48% and 64% of people who die in fires have blood alcohol levels indicating intoxication.

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• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the leading known cause of mental retardation.

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• On a per capita basis, the annual economic impact of excessive alcohol consumption in the U.S. has been put at up to nearly $1,000 per person.

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We shouldn’t read these numbers with glazed eyes. The statistics establish without a doubt that alcohol takes a staggering toll on individual lives and families, communities, and the nation as a whole. A short and incomplete list would include death, debilitating injury, serious, chronic illness of spouses, parents, children, and other loved ones, divorce, destroyed relationships, broken homes, and displaced children, child and spouse abuse, bankruptcies, foreclosed homes, failed businesses, lost jobs, rampant crime, and the loss of self-respect and good standing in the community.

No, we shouldn’t become complacent, apathetic, and indifferent about alcohol. We should be diligent in warning others, particularly our children and youth, about the dangers of alcohol and the risks it poses. The last time I looked these verses were still a part of the Bible. “Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.”