Alcohol should be Illegal

Alcoholism is a major problem in the United States and throughout the world. In America alone there are an estimated ten million active alcoholics (Dulfano, 1992, p. 12). It is impossible to estimate the number of non-alcoholics affected by the disease. This number includes the battered spouses and children of alcoholics, the victims of drunk driving, and the employers whose alcoholic employees perform their work tasks with diminished capacity. A study in Great Britain revealed that the economic costs of medical bills, road accident damage, law enforcement expenses, unemployment and premature death related to alcohol amounts to an estimated 2.4 billion pounds per year (Economist, 1996, p. 22). In the United States, alcohol abuse has become the number one killer of teenagers, many of whom are killed by their own peers: "Nationally, six drunken teen drivers will kill somebody on a typical day" (Olinger, 1991, p. 122). Alcohol is one

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nd an increase in underground drug-dealing activity. Federal agencies benefit from their high profile efforts to eradicate crack cocaine use whereas focusing on alcohol as a potentially harmful substance leads to complaints of invasion of personal liberties by the average American. Not only is alcohol a drug, alcoholism is a disease. A combination of biological, psychological, and cultural factors contribute to the development of alcholism in any individual. Although there is no conclusive indication of how the alcoholism of family members is associated, studies show that the majority of all alcoholics have had a close relative who is an alcoholic. Some researchers therefore suggest that certain alcoholics have an inherited physical predisposition to alcohol addiction: "We know that it is transmitted genetically . . . And like all inherited traits, it manifests itself where it will, among rich and poor, without respect of person, without the volition of parents or children . . . " (FitzGerald, 1991, p. 96). Granted, it is possible to abuse alcohol for a short or contained period of time without developing alcoholism. For example, some people may drink abusively during a personal crisis and then resume normal drinking. A
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Approximate Word count = 3378
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page)

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