Alcohol as an acceptable adjunct for occasions in our society Essay

There are approximately 50% or 126 million of Americans whom are past month alcohol drinkers, or also known as current drinkers. Also, approximately 23% or 55 million of Americans binge drink, and 6.6% or 16 million Americans reported heavy drinking. The estimated spending for healthcare services to treat alcohol problems, and its medical consequences of alcohol is 18.8 billion dollars a year. Alcohol is also officially linked to at least over half of all highway fatalities. To date, alcohol has been tried by 41% of 8th graders, 63% of 10th graders, 75% of 12th graders, and 87% of college students. Also there was an estimated 82 billion dollars lost in potential productivity due to alcohol and other drug use. We all know that alcohol is offered almost everywhere we go. At parties, in bars, in clubs, in stores, and restaurants. People consume alcohol for every occasion they can think of, or just to make their problems go away and to make them feel better, even though it is just for a limited amount of time. We all know what alcohol does, and can do. Why do we always chose alcohol at a party, in a bar, at a restaurant, or in a store? People can have fun without it. Alcohol is used to socialize better, but why cant people socialize without it? Why is alcohol used as an acceptable, unnecessary addition to celebrations such as parties, weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries, and as a way of relaxing and relieving stress and anxiety? People know what alcohol is about but yet continue drinking massively into more disasters. Reference: Drugs and Society Tenth Edition Chapter 8 p.182-191, U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alcoholconsumption.html#cat1 People use alcoholic beverages to enjoy while chatting with friends. Thinking about the effects of alcohol on the health of a person using it is never apparent. The holidays are the time when alcoholic beverages are mostly abused of which includes parties and small gatherings of friends and families. In this case, the people responsible in that activity such as hosts and party organizers must think of the safety of every drinking pattern. Any risky of harmful pattern must be regulated and prevented. I am not saying that it is acceptable to use alcohol during parties. What I am trying to say is that when drinking alcoholic beverages cannot be prevented during holidays, proper caution must be used in doing so to prevent untoward incidents.