Alcoholism solution paper

Andrew Bell

McNally

English 112

December 9, 2013

Alcoholism: Solving the Problem

            Alcohol is over forty percent easier to obtain than in 1980 because of its cheaper cost, lower tax, and now there is a liquor store on every street corner of major cities. The number of people suffering from alcoholism has more than tripled to an estimated 140 million people (Gunzerath 20). An alcoholic is defined as any persons who have an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor, or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency (Becker 34).  People who consume high amounts of alcohol on a regular basis risk both damage to the liver as well as the brain. Today more than two million American’s suffer from alcohol-related liver disease such as cirrhosis (a chronic disease of the liver marked by degeneration of cells, inflammation, and fibrous thickening of tissue). Not only can the brain lose functions such as long-term memory but it can also cause the permanent loss of brain cells (Edenberg 336).

            Alcoholism not only affects the people who are suffering from it, but also society as a whole. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism conducted research that shows forty percent of all aggressive incidents involve alcohol. Twenty two percent of police’s time is spent on cases involving alcohol, and thirteen percent of all employees’ sick days are alcohol related (Gunzerath 15). Of course drinking and driving is still the chart topper and one of the biggest issues on the road today. Every thirty minutes, a person will be killed by a drunk driver, in 2012 over 10,000 people were killed in a drunk driver crash. This problem is becoming one of the most common causes of death for people on the road today.

            The problem is alcoholism is too prevalent and is on the rise globally. This has many contributing factors that are both in our everyday life but also some genetic aspects. Because this is a global issue that so far hasn’t been solved, even though many have proposed solutions to the problem but none so far have shown the kind of results that people are looking for. Some have imposed taxes in their countries making it more expensive to purchase alcoholic beverages in general, while others have just increased the penalty for alcoholic behaviors (Chaiyasong 91). Even still, some focus not on trying to forcefully make people quit but instituting a more gradual solution, this aim is to educate people on the problem of alcoholism and make the possibility of help more accessible (or rather required).

            All of these options have their own pros and cons, as well as a possibility to succeed. This is why I believe the solution isn’t simply one of these ideas, but instead a combination of all the ideas. My solution to the problem of rising alcoholism is: to increase the excise tax, to more strictly enforce punishments in alcohol related crimes, and to better educate the society on the problems and ways of helping alcoholics.

            To begin with, Alcoholism can develop from many different areas from your genes, environment, or simply the time of life you are going through. First scientists have found that there is a correlation between genes that are passed down from generation to generation that can make you more likely to develop and alcoholic lifestyle (Edenberg 337). Howard Edenberg researched these genes and found that it’s not a single gene, but a combination of several genes that cause this increased chance. Using family studies a scientist would examine a particular family that had a history of alcoholism, then they would compare the genes to a family with no history of it. What was found was not a precise gene that they could simply cause alcoholism, instead they found that the interaction of certain genes was he cause.

            In addition, an article was published in the Annals Of the New York Academy of Science, in this studies scientists focused on the correlation between a child’s certain situation they grow up in and how that effects their probability to become dependent on drinking. This study found that children raised in environments where alcohol was both consumed regularly and abused, their chances of developing similar behavior was far more likely than that of other people. Not only that, but also children who grew up or were around smoking had a much higher chance of becoming alcoholics. This peculiar connection between smoking and drinking is explained through the dependence of a substance, for example if the child’s father smoked to relieve stress then when the child was old enough they would recognize the ability of a substance to provide comfort.

            Another environment that relies heavily on drinking is college. Students in college have a recently found sense of freedom; most of the kids are experiencing this kind of freedom for the first time in their lives. This makes it a great time for experimenting with things without having to worry about being punished by their parents directly. Not only this but college parties have begun to idolize the idea of drinking as much as you can in one night. This sort of reaction formation can be very dangerous to the students because they will want to drink more and more often, and will begin to rely on it as the only way to have a “good time” (Demers 200). 

            The last factor has a huge impact on the probability of becoming dependent of alcohol. If for example someone is going through an emotionally hard time in their life such as the loss of a loved one, they may turn to alcohol as a way to drink away their sorrows. When this is repeated over and over the person will become dependent on alcohol as a way to forget the loss of the loved one, and will think the only way to be happy is to drink. Another way people can become alcohol dependent is by drinking to reduce stress (Becker 34). Howard Becker wrote in his article that alcohol has anxiety relieving properties, however at the same time it creates an imbalance of hormones that are created by the hypothalamus.

            If a person becomes dependent on alcohol they may even show signs of withdrawal if they don’t have the substance, making this a real disease. Just like with other addictions there are patterns of gender differences; Sharaf Khan et al wrote about the gender differences and the likelihood of a certain sex becoming alcohol dependent. They found that men were at a much higher risk to developing a disorder involving alcohol, such as alcohol dependence. While women are more likely to develop mood or anxiety disorders, yet these disorders have been found to increase the chance of developing into an alcohol disorder (Sharaf 1697). Another instance they found was the likelihood was greater for women to seek out help after being diagnosed with an alcohol disorder, while men had more of a “pride” issue and sought help much less often.

            Alcoholism is responsible for more than 2 million cases of liver disease, as well as the increased number of fatalities related to alcohol consumption. The damage that alcohol has on the body in high amounts is extraordinary. The loss of brain cells, which do not come back, as well as numerous types of cancer that can develop from the use of alcohol (“Alcohol Abuse and The Law”). Some other problems that an alcoholic risks developing are; arthritis, heart disease, hypoglycemia, kidney disease, malnutrition, and obesity are just a few physical diseases that alcoholics have a higher risk of getting. Mentally alcoholism can also cause depression, anxiety, insomnia, and has even been related to schizophrenia.

            However alcohol disorders don’t only effect the person who has developed the addiction but also society as a whole. One of two murders, one of four suicides, one of every three-road accidents, are all due to alcohol. People who are more associated with alcohol are more frequently involved in fights, and long term alcoholics have been found to have little to no control of their emotions. Because of this alcoholics tend to overreact in situations, and use alcohol as a way to burry their bad emotions. This makes their feelings lay dormant until the next time they can no longer control the bottled up emotions and explode. Alcohol related crimes have increased two-fold over the past decade worldwide.

            The article “ Treating Alcoholism Reduces Financial Burden On Care-Givers and Increases Quality-Adjusted Life Years” explains the burden the primary caregiver bears while looking after an alcoholic. The caregiver burden was measured before and twelve months after rehabilitation, also looking at the quality of life for both the caregiver as well as the alcoholic. The average caregiver spent 676 dollars a month on the alcoholic before rehab but after they only spent twenty. Not only did the caregiver save money but also the average time spent caring for the affected went from over 32 hours a month down to under eight (Salize 65). Alcoholism not only affects the person who has it but also society as a whole.

            Given that the rise of alcoholism globally is a problem that seems to be endless, many have tried to come up with solutions. Some stress that the only solution is through increased severity of punishments, for example in “Alcohol Abuse and The Law” an article published in the Harvard Law Review they propose huge fines, license revoking, and even jail time. These punishments would also be enforced strictly, because of the problem that arises when someone is told they are going to jail and get off with community service it increases the chance that they will do it again. Another type of punishment would be an increase in the likelihood of catching the alcohol abusers. We in some areas have already started this, for example with drunk drivers the police are setting up checkpoints along the roads to catch them. If someone is worried that they will get caught it will decrease the likelihood that they will participate in said actions.

            Contrary to punishment another solution was simply raising the tax on alcohol. In an experiment conducted by the Thai government where the tax on brandy, blended, and white spirits were raised in two rural cities. What they found was that a decrease in alcohol related issues was seen almost overnight in both cities, and also a decrease in the irresponsible consumption of these liquors. This was because the alcoholics who spent everything they had on alcohol could no longer afford it in their everyday lives, and the more responsible people could. A negative of this experiment was that one town in an attempt to revolt, began to illegally manufacture the alcohol. This of course led to an increase in arrests, which turned out to be a positive because the people saw the government was reinforcing the promised punishments (Chaiyasong 95). This experiment showed both sides of what could happen when you increase the tax on alcohol, one town it totally solved the problem, while the other really only made it worse.

            Another way people have tried to solve the problem is through better educating people about the problem as well as the opportunities for rehab. The article written by Meriam Janssen et al, talks about how educating the public on the rising issue of alcoholism alone isn’t enough to solve the problem, however it lays a solid foundation to work off (Janssen 11). By educating people on the risks of alcoholism and some early signs that usually come before alcohol dependence, the number of people that suffer from alcoholism will decrease which will help prevent the spread of the disease. However we don’t totally disregard the people who already are diagnosed alcoholics, there is still an opportunity to educate them on the support groups and all the different options for rehab, and the road to recovery. This solid foundation would help start a revolution against fighting the addiction to alcohol.

            Similarly, the article by Andree Demers et al focuses on when we should be educating the younger generations on alcoholism. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, found that educating kids about alcoholism in the later years of college around the time that drinking becomes legal for them isn’t soon enough. Some schools around the world have begun to educate children as young as fifth grade on the effects of alcohol on the body. When students were asked what they knew about alcohol teachers, and parents found that kids thought it was cool or seen as a right of passage into adult hood. Many blamed this on the praise media puts on it, using alcohol in movies or even making commercials about alcohol look cooler (Demers 191). Now in college students say that drinking is something that’s expected of you to fit in. That’s why we are educating at an early age, the hope is to make the younger generations better understand the risks of drinking even when they are old enough to do it legally.

            As stated above the solution to the problem isn’t a singular thing that needs to be enforced but a combination of multiple ideas that we have tried. The first step is educating, by making people aware of the problem there will be an increase in support to end the problem. Next is the increased tax, although this would probably one of the hardest ideas to get passed. If the tax was increased even a little the money being made from the tax could come back and fund the project to better educate people on alcoholism making sure nothing is done without purpose. Then, one of the most important steps would be enforcing the punishments, If people know that there are consequences and no way around them they will be less likely to participate in said actions. Lastly, if we made rehab something that was required by the courts as something everyone who was involved with alcohol incidents had to do. Not only people who had gotten in trouble but also make organizations like AA easier to access for people who are headed down the wrong path and need some outside health.

            Alcoholism is a problem that has been on the rise worldwide, and even though many have tried to enforce a solution none have worked so far. The ideas were all good but each had its own weakness, this is why by combining them is the only way. By combining the ideas of many you get all of the strengths but none of the weaknesses. The only way to stop the rise in alcoholics worldwide is to educate, tax, enforce punishment, and provide better ways to help cure the diseased. With this I believe we can end the pain and strife caused by alcoholism.