Alcohol Should Be Illegal: Short And Long-term Effects

Alcohol is globally known for being naturally fermented sugars and its intoxicating characteristic is also one of the world’s most popular drinks. Alcohol dates as early as 2700 B.C. and was worshipped by Babylonians for the wine goddess. Consequently, with alcohol being a popular beverage regardless of race, gender or age, it is a fact that alcohol poses many health risks, brings about accidents and can even cause addiction so alcohol so I believe that alcohol be made illegal. Not a lot would agree with my statement, but let me show you why it should be based on the statistics found globally in cases involving alcoholism and addiction, reason for alcohol abuse and addiction or dependency, health risks for short and long-term effects of exposure and consumption of alcohol, preventive or rehabilitating measures for terminating alcohol consumption, and finally their respective counterarguments based on each claim. Some may be wondering why I jest at the idea of drinking alcohol, especially since most of my colleagues seem to be drinking them on a regular basis (mostly during Thursdays) and that as an adult male, I should have the balls to drink them and actually like them. Unfortunately, not all likes the fermented taste and even though I have the taste buds for them, I was and never will be fond of them. I have no allergies as well, just pointing it out, but to be frank, one of the primary reasons why I do not bother with alcohol is because I am a medical practitioner. I have seen some of my colleagues die because of binge drinking alcohol, reasoning that it helps alleviate their stress. While I agree that the drink helps you release endorphins so you would relax, it also clouds your critical thinking and physical ability or mobility for proper coordination therefore leading to accidents, uneducated muttering and sometimes even death. As a medical practitioner, I have also seen my fair share of drunken patients or guardians. I once even experienced getting attacked by a drunken patient because I pointed out how badly he was intoxicated. But regardless of my experiences with alcoholism, I also understand the frustrations and needs of a lot of people to consume it because of their own set of experiences since the real world can be a cruel, tiring and very frustrating place to live in. Taking a scientific approach on this matter, I wish to put emphasis first on the relationship between a person and alcohol. A classic study conducted by Abbey, Smith and Scott back in 1993 have said that alcohol consumption roots from two motives which tackle the etiological reasons for drinking. The first reason is so that people can cope with stress and the second one is due to peer influences. To further support their claims, more than 750 randomly selected individuals from Michigan who drink alcohol were interviewed. After further analysis, their claims were proven to be true and that social drinking was more frequent than stress drinking. Furthermore, due to social drinking, people are more inclined to drink more thus leading to heavy drinking and that the after effects lead to being prone of having drinking problems than heavy drinkers in coping with personal issues. Taking a look at these facts, it is clear that there is a problem not just because of the government, not just because of your peers, but it is also because there is a problem with us as an individual. Alcohol along with drugs have been present before I was even born. Heck, it dates back as early as the stone age (before the Babylonian period that I stated previously). And as previously discussed, alcohol was drunk, then as a way of celebrating gods and goddesses then (McDougall, 2016). Though there may be some groups (may be indigenous) which celebrates their respective spiritual leaders, in today’s world, most would rather drink for various and sometimes unethical reasons. How come drinking alcohol became such a common escape then? It was always common, but it was never serialized how badly it was until the early 1900s, when the media took a role in exposing individuals who have committed crimes and were involved in accidents due to alcohol use. Now, in the twenty-first century, be it with scientific studies or not, alcoholism is so prominent all over the world that seeing a drunken idiot passed out on the streets can be seen more than once in a day. These days, it is more difficult to stay sober than to stay giddy because of the drink. But again, why is drinking alcohol bad? You may argue that alcoholism can be cured through rehabilitation, but it is definitely easier said than done and a lot do not even recover once they become addicted to them. Like I said previously, I have seen many of my peers lose their way because of alcoholism and though not all had accidents, some were involved in pretty bad scandals to the point that they stopped practicing medicine altogether. I also have relatives who died due to intoxication or kidney failure due to overconsumption of alcohol. How does alcohol affect you on a physiological and psychological perspective? Before discussing the statistics found in the United States and all over the world of alcohol addiction, health risks, and rehabilitation, you must first know what is going on in your body whenever you consume alcohol. The human liver is the body’s largest internal organ which weighs about 1.5 kilograms in an average adult. The liver plays a critical role in the human body which includes more than 500 functions such as energy storage, bile production, filtration of toxins, aid in blood clotting, and processing of consuming food and drinks. On a physiological perspective, once a person drinks alcohol about twenty-five percent of the drink is directly absorbed from the stomach into the blood stream, but this highly depends on how strong the alcohol is (concentration), or is it carbonated or not or when a person consumes it with an empty or full stomach. Take note that alcohol will not exit the blood stream until processed; however, the liver is unable to fully process and breakdown the alcohol and thus, there is a need to excrete the remaining via urination, exhalation and perspiration. The liver processes alcohol either by an enzyme known as alco...