The Risks Of Drinking Alcohol

Alcohol is a drink that is consumed orally and has an intoxicating effect. A drug when it is defined using medical terms is any substance that when consumed affects body functions whether positively or negatively. The argument is that medically prescribed drugs can help one recover from a certain illness but when drugs are taken for fun can lead to addiction and other bad side effects.

As per the above given definition, alcohol qualifies to be a drug and thus should be controlled like other drugs. The essence of this paper is to support the argument that alcohol is a dangerous drug and thus should be controlled.

Alcohol is one of the most abused drug with the most affected being the youths. No one wants to become an alcoholic victim but one accidentally finds himself in it. It is hard to determine when one would become its victim or not as there are many underlying factors that act as catalyst. One person may consume it for a short time and become addicted while another might take along time before becoming one.

There are two theories that are advanced by psychologists and sociologists and thus each of them takes the respective perspective. According to psychologists there are some genetic predispositions that determine if one will become an addict or not.

The argument behind this is that if ones parents were addicts then the chances of one becoming like them are higher. The other theory advanced by the later is that there are some social factors that may cause one to become addicted these are factors like environmental factors such as cultural exposures and other social practices.

Any drug that can lead to addiction like alcohol is dangerous and thus should be controlled. Apart from this, it has a wide range of health effects for example it interferes with normal brain functioning something that causes psychiatric disorders such as depressive disorder, panic disorder and anxiety disorder. Unlike other dugs like cocaine and heroine where withdrawal can only be fatal if one has other health complications, alcohol withdrawal can be fatal.

The reason behind this is that when alcohol is taken it stimulates the GABA receptors something that causes anxiety and when it is consumed in large amount and consistently, it desensitizes and reduces these receptors thereby causing the body to be entirely dependent on it such that when it is abruptly stopped, it leads to the breakdown of the central nervous system.

The victim immediately registers some life threatening seizures or convulsions, hallucinations and in extreme cases it results to heart failure (Cohen, Sidney. 1983).

Socially it has led many to lose their prestigious jobs as when people become addicted they are forced to consume it even when they are supposed to be busy at work and in sober mind. This economically affects the productivity of companies as drunken people cannot be expected to be productive. If anything they make them incur loses as they put off the very customers they are expected to serve. For this reason, alcohol is an obstacle to development and should thus be banned completely (Cohen, Sidney. 1983).

Studies show that alcohol car related car accidents are the main cause of death of the youth between 15 and 24. It also increases suicide, homicide and drowning cases as in most cases victims who commit suicide are drunkards or those who are drowned are its victims.

Alcohol also interferes with ones thought system and for this reason; most drunkards do no reason appropriately. Alcoholism leads to reduced judgment and that is why victims can cross a busy road without checking whether the road is safe or not and one end up being hit. Most car accidents are drivers who are under the influence of drugs. Like it is mentioned above, alcohol clouds ones judgment such that it is hard to think straight.

When one is drunk he/she loses control over everything such that one is aware that something is happening but cannot take the appropriate measure and that is how accidents result. “Alcohol, even at low doses, significantly impairs the judgment and coordination required to drive a car safely.” (Partnership for a Drug Free America).

According to a survey that was done by the Davis Law Group in 2007, about 12, 998 died in car accidents where drivers were under the influence of alcohol. If these cases are to be reduced, then the government must wake up and adopt a zero tolerance strategy to alcoholism (Davis Law Group. 2007).