Alcohol Abuse in America
Teenage drinking has a storied past in the United States. Alcohol was first introduced to America by the European traders and colonists. Most people instantly fell in love with this new drink. The one-hundred and fifty years between the Colonial period and the Revolutionary War was when alcohol really became popular. Alcohol was considered as a "Good Creature of God". It was used as a medicine and considered a tool for relaxation and good fellowship. This conception of alcohol changed drastically in the mid 1800's. People started becoming concerned about the misuses of alcohol and the side effects occurring from drinking alcohol. This era was known as the "Demon Rum" era. Temperance groups urged moderation
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Alcohol can actually better your health. News reports state that people who drink one or two drinks a day have lower blood pressure and live longer than those who do not. These reports also state that wine raises the good blood cholesterol that prevents the build up of fat in the human arteries. One could assume that the earlier you start drinking, in moderation that is, the better your health will be and you could live longer (Apple 1). One could also rebut that teenage drinking and adult drinking are getting better. Since 1981 the per capita consumption of alcohol beverages has declined (Tapley 1). The percentage of alcohol related crashes has also declined. In 1980, forty-nine percent of teenage automotive crashes were caused by alcohol. In 1999, the percentage has dramatically decreased to twenty-two percent. This decline is even greater than that of older adult drivers (Violence 1). Alcohol has been around for thousands of years, and was and still is perceived as good by most people. Most people like to think that alcohol supplies them with a break from the every day demanding life. In the past, alcohol was actually encouraged by priests and other townspeople (Lang …show more content…
Curfews could be given to teenagers which would cut back on their chances to drink irresponsibly. Also, in order to start your car, you would have to pass a breathalyzer. This would make it impossible for a drunk driver to get behind the wheel, sparing a considerable amount of lives. Anybody can sign the SADD's (Students Against Drunk Driving) Contract for Life. This contract states that if a person is going to drink, to arrange for a designated driver (Vogler 126). Education about alcohol could even be taught in school to make the students aware of its short and long term effects it can have on the body. If the American people are educated, the young and old, most of the problems related to alcohol could be
The hopes of the prohibitionist were dreams of a healthier and more successful nation. Their dreams were spun from the idea of shutting out the alcohol industry and enforcing large industries and stressing family values. The eighteenth amendment consisted of the end of sales, production, transportation, as for importation and exportation of intoxicating liquors. Their imaginations were large and very hopeful. The prohibitionists felt that alcohol is a slow poison of their community. They felt that if the liquor industry was shut out that Americans would spend their hard earned money in the clothing, food, and shoe industries therefore boosting the American economy. Many felt, “Seeing what a sober nation can do is indeed a noble experiment and one that has never yet been tried, (Crowther, 11) Prohibition was a test of the strength of the nation and an attempt at cleaning up societies evils. These reformers denounce alcohol as a danger to society as well as to the human body. Some ethnic hopes of prohibition was to regulate the foreigners whose backgrounds consisted on the use of alcohol for religious purposes. And try to enforce an American valued society upon them. Many reformists felt that ending the use of alcohol would protect American homes and families. They felt that alcohol use was the root of their family’s destruction. Many women felt that their husbands would waste a lot of their income on the purchase of alcohol and not on family needs. Alcohol was often known as a “poison, or sin”. Another hope for the eighteenth amendment was to reduce the crime and death rate. Many people felt that drunkenness was the cause of many of the nations crimes. Prohibitionist felt very passionately on their cause and were often called “dry’s.” They felt their battle was justified and that, “it is manifest destiny that alcohol will not survive the scrutiny,”(Darrow and Yarros, 20).
In 1920 following the ratification of the 18th amendment the country became dry. The 18th amendment made it illegal to manufacture, sell, import, or export drinking alcohol. It would stay this way for a little more than a decade, which became known as the prohibition. Prohibition was a way to clean up the cities and improving the conditions of the US. Prohibition was approved because drinking was thought be a drag on the economy and the leading cause for some of the country's problems such as corruption, child abuse, crime, and unemployment. Fourteen years later in 1932 America had changed its mind and it was repealed. So what changed? The American people had changed their minds about the 18th amendment because crime had increased,
People have believed in medicinal benefits of alcohol since ancient times, using it to cure snake bites and control disease. Even though the belief has begun to dwindle in the early twentieth century, alcohol was legally manufactured for medic...
“By 1830, the average American over 15 years old consumed nearly seven gallons of pure alcohol a year – three times as much as we drink today – and alcohol abuse (primarily by men) was wreaking havoc on the lives of many.” In the 1800s millions of Americans took a pledge to refrain from drinking alcohol. This was known as the Temperance Movement. The temperance movement was a reaction to the increase of alcohol consumption throughout the nation. The opposition to drinking originally stemmed from heath and religious reformers. These groups were crucial to American society for their efforts to tighten social controls. During this era, there were multiple citizens who believed some individuals were living unethically. “These people feared that God would no longer bless the United States and that these ungodly and unscrupulous people posed a threat to America's political system. To survive, the American republic, these people believed, needed virtuous citizens.” Due to these
The desire to control alcohol consumption, or advocate temperance, has been a goal of humanity throughout countless periods of history. Many countries have organized temperance movements, including Australia, Canada, Britain, Denmark, Poland, and of course, the United States. The American temperance movement was the most widespread reform movement of the 19th century, culminating in laws that completely banned the sale of all alcoholic beverages. The movement progressed from its humble local roots to nationwide organizations with millions of members and large amounts of political power. The growth of the temperance movement resulted from the changes in society between the original American settlers and the post-Revolutionary War citizens.
In the 1600's and 1700's, the American colonists drank large quantities of beer, rum, wine, and hard cider. These alcoholic beverages were often safer to drink than impure water or unpasteurized milk and also less expensive than coffee or tea. By the 1820's, people in the United States were drinking, on the average, the equivalent of 7 gallons of pure alcohol per person each year (“drinkingprohibition” 1). As early as the seventeenth century, America was showing interest towards prohibition. Some people, including physicians and ministers, became concerned about the extent of alcohol use (“There was one...” 1). They believed that drinking alcohol damaged people's health and moral behavior, and promoted poverty. People concerned about alcohol use u...
Most people point to wars, Presidents or the economy when asked to describe the history of the United States, but what about alcohol. Social history in general has always taken a back seat to political and economic history, mostly because many aspects of social history are not exactly bright spots from the past. Alcohol, for example, is actually a much bigger aspect of our history than one may expect. As a matter of fact, early America was centered around drinking as a kind of social event. William Rorabaugh’s book Alcoholic Republic outlines how prevalent drinking really was during the years after the Revolutionary War. Rorabaugh argues that post-colonial Americans should be considered alcoholics. However, the evidence Rorabaugh uses
During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, many saw alcohol as a cause of instability among communities. To counteract the effects of alcohol on American society, The Temperance Movement, Prohibition Party and many others sought to enact anti-liquor laws that would prohibit the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol. On January 19, 1920, the Eighteenth Amendment had taken effect and a nationwide ban on alcohol was enacted. This was thought of as a solution to the many problems that America had at the time, but it only made matters worse. The American society had been greatly affected by the Eighteenth Amendment in many negative aspects such as increasing crime and violence, worsening the economy, and much more.
Most alcoholics proceed to a stage where their brains or their bodies have been so harmed by alcohol that the effects persist even when they are not drinking. This stage may be reached...
Some believes that liquor prohibition was helpful with removing some of the America’s issues. That liquor was a huge drag on the economy. Also that drinking was behind America's most serious problems according to the background essay “Prohibition: Why Did America Change Its Mind?”. Drinking was behind serious issues such as corruption, child abuse, crime, unemployment and worker safety. That is not accurate mainly because during the prohibition, there was an enlargement of crime
The temperance movement at the time used a minimum drinking age to gradually bring about the ban of alcohol altogether. In 1919 the temperance movement got what they wanted and the 18th Amendment was created banning the sale of alcohol in America. This ultimately failed, resulting in increased gang violence and bootlegging. In 1933, due to a change of public opinion, the ban was lifted with what is called the 21st Amendment. After prohibition, what was left of the temperance movement was to make sure that a minimum drinking age remained.
The growing awareness of alcohol hazards has made people more cautious of their drinking habits, particularly young adults. At present young adults have the highest prevalence of alcohol consumption than any other age group. They also drink more heavily, experience more negative consequences, and engage in more harmful activities, specifically drunk driving. Although surveys have documented a decline in recent years, consumption rates remain highest from late teen years to the late twenties (Johnston1-3). Despite the long-term decline since 1982 in alcohol related traffic deaths, a 4 percent increase occurred between 1994 and 1995 among young adults age 21 and over (Hingson 4). As alcohol-impaired driving persists, legal and community initiatives intervene to help reduce the problem, as well as, continuing research on possible solutions.
Alcohol has been around for a long time. Alcohol dates all the way back to the Before Christ times and has been around ever since. When people think of alcohol they think of something that lets them let loose and have fun. Alcohol can be a way to have a little fun, but when the use becomes excessive it can become dangerous. Even drinking too much for one night can be risky. There are many ways in which alcohol affects someone's life. Abusing alcohol cannot only affect the drinkers life, but also the lives of the people around them.
Bang! You're on the floor, unconscious... how come? Alcohol that’s why. You were just a simple 16 year old male. Living an average American life with your friends, but you’re an alcoholic. One day you took it way too far and you got alcohol poisoning and your liver just shuts down. This story is not completely uncommon for teenagers in the United States. In fact, about 5,000 teenagers die from some part of their body shutting down from alcohol each year. To understand teens who have problems with alcohol, one must comprehend it and its effects on the victim and the victims' family and how it can possibly be treated.
Underage drinking causes people to make bad decisions, such as; driving while intoxicated, becoming pregnant, and making a complete fool out of themselves. While intoxicated, are just being a few instances that can and will impact your life forever. Some individuals don’t understand what alcohol really does to the body. Beer has empty calories that will make you gain weight. Which is why a lot of alcoholics have larger stomachs, or another term many people use for these large stomachs is, “beer belly.” Some people may say that alcohol helps you escape your problems and is a stress relevant. Alcohol will not only bring more stress onto your life, it will also bring more problems. As much as people may feel alcohol helps, it really won’t help.