Alcohol Abuse​—How Much of a Threat?

More people than ever before are having problems with alcoholic beverages. Tens of millions of persons throughout the world have become dependent on alcohol to the point where it is damaging their lives. But it is not only their own welfare that is being threatened by alcohol abuse. Millions of others who do not have a drinking problem are affected by those who do.

THE word “abuse” means the misuse of something that can have its proper place in the lives of people. But because something is misused, that does not necessarily mean that it must be condemned for everybody.

Alcoholic beverages can be enjoyed by people who want to use them, in moderation and under control, usually without any ill effects. But when they are used in excess, then this becomes an abuse of alcohol, which is harmful, even deadly, to the abusers as well as to others.

The fact that alcoholic beverages need not be condemned can be seen in the Bible. There God is spoken of as arranging a future time of happiness for mankind when, among other things, he will provide “a banquet of well-oiled dishes, a banquet of wine.” (Isa. 25:6) Surely the Creator would not use wine as a symbol of happiness if it were an item forbidden to mankind. Also, Jesus Christ made “fine wine” at a wedding celebration, showing that it can have its proper place.​—John 2:1-10.

Who Are the Alcoholics?

A common impression of an alcoholic is that of a stupefied drunk lying on a sidewalk. But that is the exception, not the rule.

It is estimated that about 95 percent of those who have serious drinking problems are not hopeless, habitual drunks. They are not any one particular type of person, either. They make up a cross section of society such as you will find in any neighborhood, holding jobs, caring for homes, raising families.

Alcohol abusers are found in all age groups. However, the most rapid increase now is among younger people and women. Sadly, many more pre-teen-age children are becoming involved with alcohol abuse.

Of course, a person who may drink immoderately at times is not necessarily an alcoholic. For instance, he may be careless on an occasion, drink too much and lose control of his senses. But he may thereafter get very good control over his drinking and not repeat his indiscretion.

However, people who have a definite drinking problem have this in common: to a lesser or a greater degree they are dependent on alcohol. They do not want to be, yes, they feel that they cannot be, without it.

What they also have in common is that their alcohol dependence harms their lives in some way​—emotionally, physically, economically or socially.

A Growing Threat

World Health magazine states: “On any assessment, drink-related disabilities would rate as one of the world’s largest amalgams of health problems.” This publication also observes: “In most parts of the world the incidence grows, sometimes at an explosive rate.”

In the United States, there are now an estimated 10 million alcohol-dependent people, an increase of several million in recent years. Millions of others are acquiring unwise drinking habits that could lead to alcoholism.

The threat to life and happiness by alcohol abuse is very real; it is no joke. For example, a vehicle driver who has been drinking is a major threat to life. Each year, in the United States alone, an estimated 25,000 people die in alcohol-related traffic accidents. That is about half the highway deaths. And some 500,000 are injured by drinking drivers. Most of the drivers who had been drinking were not just ‘social drinkers,’ but were problem drinkers, alcohol-dependent drinkers.

In a California study of 1,000 fatally injured drivers, 65 percent of those responsible for the accidents were under the influence of alcohol.

In addition, each year there are about 20,000 deaths from alcohol-related accidents in the country, other than highway accidents. Nearly two thirds of all the murders and almost a third of all the suicides are alcohol related, as well as half the fire deaths and drownings. Thousands die from alcohol-related illnesses.

In fact, in the United States, each year far more people are killed or injured due to alcohol abuse than were killed or injured in any year of the Vietnam War. Also, Federal Bureau of Investigation reports indicate that over 40 percent of all arrests involve alcohol-related incidents.

Drinking has become so widespread and troublesome that about one out of every five Americans polled says it is causing serious trouble in his or her family. So strongly do some feel about such difficulties that about 20 percent now favor a return to prohibition.

Alcohol abuse threatens innocent persons in another way. Dr. Fritz Henn, a psychiatry professor at the University of Iowa Medical School, says: “In our studies and in others, alcohol seems to be involved in a large number of both rapes and child molestations. It is probably the single most consistent feature in either of these offenses.”

About one out of every 10 workers in the United States has some degree of alcohol dependence. This results in a drain of about $25 billion a year to the economy from illness, absenteeism, inefficiency and accidents. “Excessive drinking is responsible for more loss to industry than all other diseases combined,” relates U.S. News & World Report.

In the Soviet Union, the press continually reminds its readers that a large share of crime, traffic accidents, divorce, job absenteeism, juvenile delinquency and drownings is to be attributed to alcohol abuse. The government has raised the price of alcoholic beverages in its attempts to stem the rising tide of alcoholism.

Alcoholism is considered France’s largest domestic problem. A judge in the city of Lille said that the most common complaint by women seeking divorce was their husband’s drinking. In Brest, a police chief stated: “I have seen so much alcoholism that it has traumatized me​—and I can’t help thinking about all the cases we miss.” Sixty percent of the country’s industrial accidents were blamed on alcohol abuse.

In a South American country, a high official called alcohol abuse his country’s “most serious social disease.” In nation after nation, the reports are similar.

Without question, then, a plague of alcohol abuse​—of major proportions—​is sweeping over large parts of the world. But how and why does alcoholism develop in a person? How can you tell if someone is becoming alcohol dependent, or already is? How can people with serious drinking problems be helped?