spadge

It is printed on our cigarettes that SMOKING KILLS so why havn't they done the same with alcohol!!!

Ever since I stopped drinking, I have been reading lots of books related to the dangers of alcohol and I can't believe the damage it can do to your organs!

Atm I am reading a book called DRINK by Ann Dowsett Johnston.
The Intimate relationship Between Women and Alcohol.

This book is a must for women and parents and all who want to understand the experience of alcoholism.

I have just been reading of how we even have children who are alcoholics - FGS Something has to be done about this culture and fast!!!

Jsbodhi

Yes I agree, I had no idea all of the bad things it does!

Soberwolf

I've read ADJ's book and it is a excellent book

Jsober

It sure can! The long term effects can kill and so can the short term toxicity. Alcohol also causes tremendous destruction as far as car accidents and violence.

Autumnlover19

I agree. Why is smoking shunned but alcohol is still not shunned? It is the worst poison there is and yet it is still glamorized. I hate it. I'm so tired of struggling.

jobei

You got it right spadge! It can and does kill daily. The controllers of alcohol across the planet have made a literal fortune from alcohol sales and continue to do so. They have one of the most powerful lobby's in the world and use it effectively to glamorize drinking and get ppl started young. They have also successfully lobbied to keep any type of ingredient list from alcohol bottles. This is quite deliberate to mask the dangers of drinking. It's a shame, I bet just putting the info that one shot of hard liquor has about 100 empty calories in it would deter some in the early years from consuming it. Hopefully someday it will be transparent!

MIRecovery

Because drinking too much is an inconvenient truth for millions. If I ignore it. It does exist, NOT!!! Also there is big money behind alcohol and at least in the US. He who has the most money is he who shapes public policy

Anna

That book is on our book list.

spadge

I've been up since 3am! I couldn't sleep - I just had to finish this book!

We need to get the message across to our youngsters in schools, the dangers of alcohol.

I thank God that my own children did not follow in my footsteps.

Delilah1

I haven't read this one yet, I will need to add it to my list!

JD

Yep, alcohol is the only drug in the world that many people think you have a problem if don't use it.

ALinNS

It's a very good question and something I have wondered about for years.

I read an article in our local city newspaper a month or so ago, it was an interview with an ER Doc, he said he is very concerned at the high number of patients in their mid 20's to early 30's with livers of someone he would expect to be in their late 50's to 60's.

A while back I was searching the net to find out, about all I came across was a study in Britain but it stands to reason the same data would apply to other countries. Alcohol costs 2.4m per hour, Cigarette's cost 1.7m per hour

http://www.channel4.com/news/alcohol...o-graphic-quiz

But as you note our governments say nothing.

Andrew

entropy1964

Smoking kills more people annually than alcohol. Way more. Costs the US something like 200 Billion in healthcare costs. I believe in the US something like 400, 000 + die a year from tobacco related diseases compared to 75,000 alcohol related deaths. Alcohol in the US is a huge source of tax revenue and is something like 200 Billion in sales annually. Its a money thing!

1 in 5 people smoke in the US. Only about 20 million of us have alcohol related SUD. But all that being said, there should be far more warnings and education, especially in high school, so that kids understand the dangers of alcohol.

FormerWineGirl

It's a long history for society's love of alcohol, with the fermentation process going back thousands of years. The geanie is out of the bottle, (no pun intended) and it can never be put back in. Prohibition didn't work, so the government takes the "if we can't beat 'em, we'll join 'em" mentality, making a killing (again - no pun intended) along the way. Money really is the root of all evil.

Mountainmanbob

I agree but, our culture of today is not willing to give up their booze and drugs.

It's sad what is happening and it seems that about all that we can do as (one) is to promote sobriety for the suffering ones we know and run into in our lives.

Thank God that we are sober today.
M-Bob

ozm8ey

Because in moderation its not bad for you. Where I live it has a label saying know your limit and shows how many standard drinks it contains

picturebigger

agree. i've said before, would have been ideal if someone told me alcohol is literally poison. needs a skull and crossbones on the label. might as well have started drinking drain cleaner. it's incredible the laundry list of damage it does to the body. and the mind? good grief, not long ago they did LOBOTOMIES on alcoholics. it turns our brain into sludge. blows my sober mind now to see all the happy beer commercials with sexy women and dance music. it's funny to watch them but picture everyone dancing and cheering with ice cold cans of Pine-Sol. lol it's so true.

ScottFromWI

Blaming society for our ills helps no one. Taking personal responsibility for ourselves and to help those around us as much as possible does.

hopeful4

Many things in excess can and will kill you. It's our society today. People demand what they want, when they want it. Not willing to say NO. Children are being taught if they want something they DESERVE it. I was not raised that way.

I also think it has a lot to do with society not being willing to admit struggles, etc. Children should start counseling in school so it becomes socially acceptable, not a stigma. People need to have others to open up to about their problems and challenges, not self medicate through addiction.

Life is hard. We must teach our society, at a young age, to cope with the challenges of life. If not, as young adults, they reach out to the wrong coping mechanisms.

That is just my .02

Elphaba

I agree that more awareness needs to be brought forward about the addictive properties of alcohol. When I was a youth we were educated about the addictive natures of cocaine, heroin, etc, but the only warning for alcohol was not to drink and drive. I steered clear of the hard drugs because an addict wasn't one of my goals. In my 20's I could take a drink and leave it at one so it never occurred to me I had the potential to become an alcoholic because alcoholic's were born that way and could never handle their drinking. In my thirties I started to think maybe I was a problem drinker. By the time I was forty I was clearly addicted to alcohol.