Alcohol Misuse​—A Social Catastrophe

THE drinking of alcoholic beverages has two faces: one happy and the other sad. The moderate drinking of alcohol can make the heart of man rejoice, says the Bible. (Psalm 104:15) Yet, the Bible also warns that misuse can cause harm or can even be deadly, like the bite of a poisonous snake. (Proverbs 23:31, 32) Let us take a closer look at the high cost of the misuse of alcohol.

“A drunk driver ran over a 25-year-old mother and her two-year-old son on Saturday. . . . The young woman, who was six months pregnant, died on Sunday. Her son, who suffered head injuries, is in critical condition,” reported the newspaper Le Monde. Sadly, such accounts are far from rare. Perhaps you know someone who was involved in an accident that occurred because of alcohol misuse. Each year thousands of people are killed or injured in road accidents involving alcohol.

Death Toll

Worldwide, the cost of alcohol misuse in terms of human life is incalculable. In France alcohol abuse is the third cause of death, after cancer and coronary heart disease, killing some 50,000 people directly or indirectly each year. This is “the equivalent of two to three jumbo-jet crashes each week,” according to a report commissioned by the French Health Ministry.

The death toll exacted by alcohol is especially heavy among young people. According to a World Health Organization report published in 2001, alcohol is the leading cause of death among European men aged 15 to 29. It is predicted that soon in some Eastern European countries, misuse of alcohol will kill 1 out of every 3 young men there.

Violence and Sexual Assault

Alcohol contributes to acts of violence. Drinking can remove inhibitions and social restraints and can blur the way one interprets other people’s actions, making a violent response more likely.

Alcohol is a significant factor in domestic violence and sexual assault. A French study of prison inmates suggested that alcohol was involved in two thirds of rapes and indecent assaults. Surveys indicate that in Poland, 75 percent of alcoholics’ wives have been subjected to violence, notes the magazine Polityka. The authors of one study estimated that “the use of alcohol is associated with an approximately two-fold increased risk of homicide within all age groups and that [even] nondrinkers living in homes with alcohol users were at increased risk of homicide.” ​—American Medical Association, Council on Scientific Affairs.

Social Cost

When health and insurance costs and lost productivity resulting from accidents, illness, or premature death are calculated, the financial cost to society is staggering. Alcohol abuse is said to cost Ireland’s four million people at least one billion dollars a year. A source quoted in The Irish Times stated that this sum is equal to “the price of a new hospital, a sports stadium and a jet for every Minister every year.” In 1998 the Mainichi Daily News reported that the economic impact of heavy drinking in Japan was “more than 6 trillion yen [$55 billion] a year.” A report to the U.S. Congress declared: “The estimated economic cost of alcohol abuse was $184.6 billion for 1998 alone, or roughly $638 for every man, woman, and child living in the United States that year.” And what about the psychological cost of broken or bereaved families and stunted educations or careers?

The consequences to society of alcohol misuse are not hard to discern. Do your drinking habits pose a risk to your health and to that of others? This question will be considered in the following article.