Alcoholism Is the Worst Drug Problem in the U.S. Essay

The facts are plain and simple, that alcohol and driving do not mix. About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol related crash at some time in their lives. Every single injury and death caused by drunk driving is totally preventable. To curb this national travesty, concerned Americans need to examine the problems, the effects, and the solutions to drunk driving. First of all, America has had a problem with drunk driving since Ford perfected the assembly line. Alcoholism is a problem in and of itself, but combined with driving can have a wide range of effects. The consequences of this reckless behavior can include a first time DUI or licenses suspension; a small fender bender, or worst of all a deadly crash. Most

Although there are many commercials, ads, documentaries, seminars, etc. on the reasons why people should never drink and drive, you would be surprised how many people still get behind the wheel after having had more than just a drink or two. We might not realize it but every day, about 28 people in the United States die in car crashes that involve a drunk driver. This equals to one death every 51 minutes! It’s so sad because these statistics could be way better if people had a well thought out plan prior to going out drinking. There has been research found relating to Drinking and Driving Behaviors since this topic is now becoming more of an issue in this generation than it was in the past. For instance, Schell, Chan, and Morral (2006), found that some people who have a DUI record tend to have pretty high expectations of themselves even after having some drinks in their system (e.g., “I feel more relaxed when drinking"), so with that being said those people with higher confidence were the ones more likely to be engaged in drinking and driving activity. While intoxicated, we often don’t consider any negative consequences that can happen to us but as you’ll see on the news, on social media, in the newspapers, etc. driving while under the influence can be very dangerous and even fatal.

Every 51 minutes in America, someone is killed in a drunk driving crash. A dangerous issue facing society today is the problem of teen drinking and driving. Currently an approximate of 10,076 people die in drunk driving crashes per year. If positive progress to ceasing this act does not happen, teens will continue to drink and drive putting everybody on the road at risk. Teens who drink and drive put everyone on the road at risk, causing serious crashes that could be preventable.

Alcohol abuse has become one of the principal causes of mortality and morbidity in the United States causing more than 200,000 deaths every year (Hendey, Dery, Barnes, Snowden, &

“Eighty percent of twenty-one year olds admit to purchasing alcohol for younger friends (Bonnie 5). If twenty-one year olds give alcohol to their younger friend, what makes people think that eighteen year olds wouldn’t do it too. If the legal drinking age is lowered to eighteen, eighteen year olds in high school might have sibling that is in middle school so those middle schools will also have access to alcohol. Surveys show that the most common source for alcohol among eighteen to twenty year olds is their twenty-one to twenty-four-year-old peers (Clark). Teen drinking can cause suicides. There is more pressure on teen than adults and when alcohol is added to the mix is only increases those effect (Arguments). Alcohol an affect you being a good student and it can also increase the risk of depression, violence and suicide. “Drinking and drug use may begin very early for young Americans. A new study has shown that by the time a teen reaches late adolescents, most of them have drank alcohol and use illicit substances”(National Institute). The younger you start can increase the risk of alcoholism at a young age. This can eventually lead to death.

Underage drinking is on the rise despite harsher laws to stop it. Itappears to have always been around despite whether the legal age to drink is 18 or 21. One of the main issues with underage drinking is that the brain in the teenager is not fully developed in the region of judgment and decision making. Because of this teens are known for deciding to do the wrong thing. That often includes drinking alcohol or experimenting with illegal drugs. many teenagers do not just have onedrink, they usually participate in binge drinking. This can continue long into adulthood and soon develop into a full blown alcohol problem.

Alcohol is a legalized drug that clouds judgment and reduces inhibition, making it a common factor in automobile accidents, violent crimes (including child abuse) and the spread of sexually transmitted disease.

Drinking alcohol when you're a teen develops brain problems, your brain is developing until your in your twenties. Alcohol affects the brain development which causes many problems (Underage Drinking). Teenagers happen to be more vulnerable to becoming addicted to alcohol because of the pleasure center in the brain. Drinking relaxes you and releases endorphins throughout the body causing teens to easily get addicted. Drinking alcohol causes you to make poor decisions which results in risky behavior. For example, Alcohol increases the risks for physical and sexual assault. Drinking puts you more at a risk to be a victim of assault or even commit it. Alcohol doesn't just make the risks for assault increase, it also ruins your life. Alcohol ruins relationships between people who care about you. “I have destroyed two relationships because I hurt them so much through my drinking, but I put drinking first. My family are so hurt that their daughter's killing herself for apparently no reason” (The Truth about Alcohol). Jamie use to be a teenage alcoholic, she said that alcohol wasn't just ruining her life, it was ruining her family’s life too. Making poor decisions doesn't just affect the person who is drinking but it eventually affects their family and the people around them. Jamie knew that her family was hurt by the choices she was making, she still continued to drink, she was addicted and

In this day and age, when it comes to alcohol consumption and laws of alcohol use in countries around the world, many people debate about whether the legal drinking age should be raised, lowered, or stay the same. What about a society where alcohol would be illegal?? Well, when it comes to the sheer number of deaths that occur from drunk driving alone, you’d end up agreeing with it. To add to this, addiction is always a risk to be taken into consideration, because it leads to alcohol poisoning, eventually causing death. All in all, alcohol is something that is just as addictive as any other drug, and should it be treated as an illegal drug as well. The following are just some of the many reasons why this should be so.

Alcohol is something that has been part of human nature for thousands of years. It has been used by means of medical, social, religious, and cultural settings (Information about Alcohol, n.d.). Alcohol is going to be a product that will be a part of our lives for many years to come, definitely past our lifetime. A problem that we see today is the use of drinking and driving. This is one of life’s more dangerous and stupid activities, but people still decide to do it. People like to push their abilities to the edge, which could end up causing death to themselves and others. When we watch the news, there always seems to be at least one crash that involved a drunk driver. You have to remember that one incident happened in our city,

If you drink and drive, you are not only a danger to yourself but also to your passenger, other road users and pedestrians. In fact, every 30 minutes, someone in this country dies in alcohol-related crash. Every 30 minutes! And last year alone more than one million people are injured in

As stated by NIAAA, UNDERAGE DRINKING: A MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGE, The younger you are when you start drinking, the greater your

Alcohol in large doses can be very detrimental to not only the user but to people around him/her. For example, if a man was to go to a club and drink a lot of alcohol, in which his body cannot withhold; his heavy intakes will lead to dizziness, vomiting, and impaired breathing and in extreme cases, unconsciousness and coma that can lead to death. According to Caron, underage drinking is a leading public health problem in the United States. Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of drinking: 1,900 from motor vehicle accidents, 1,600 from homicides, 300 from suicides, and hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drowning. This shows that anyone on the road near an intoxicated driver is in grave danger as they can be killed or badly injured in an instant as the drunk driver has slight control over anything they are doing. Many reckless kills have been made by drunken drivers/people over the years resulting in many families to pay the price of losing a family member for no relevant reason at all but making alcohol increase death rates that could be provoked by intruding prohibition.

Another drinking related activity that is deadly is drunk driving. Drinking and driving kills someone every fifty-three minutes. Every fifty-three minutes a mother and father loses their child because of an alcohol related accident. Every ninety seconds alone someone is injured. These deaths and injuries could be easily prevented if people would think before acting. If people would give up their keys or find a designated driver 10,000 people a year wouldn’t lose their lives. Drinking and driving takes the lives of many innocent woman, children, and men.

Alcohol can corrupt the society in many different ways. It can cause poverty, and suffering, as well as take money away from supporting things that are important like schools, colleges, and the government. Instead of supporting schools, and colleges a “ huge portion of the entire capital of the nation is mortgaged for the support of drunkards”(Major problems in the early Republic). Instead of using money to support things that will affect everyone positively, money is being used to take care of people that