While much of the attention regarding substance abuse focuses on new designer and synthetic drugs, alcoholism remains the leading drug problem. Alcohol is associated with 73% of felonies, 83% of homicides and 41% of rapes in the United States. The cost is upwards of $200 billion per year.
In addition, alcohol is the drug of choice among America’s youth. Seventy-two percent of students have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by the end of high school, and 39% have done so by 8th grade. 55% of 12th graders and 18% of 8th graders reported having been drunk at least once.
Youth who start drinking before the age of 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence or abuse in their lifetimes than those who begin drinking at age 21 years or later. The average age at which young people begin to drink is now 13 years old.
In Talbot County, the County Health Department, which is the largest provider of addiction treatment services in the county, serves about 450 clients per year. They report alcohol abuse is the primary treatment issue for our adults. The University of Maryland Shore Medical Center at Easton’s out-patient treatment program serves 155 adult clients a year. They report seeing the same trends as the Health Department.
Excessive alcohol use is the third leading lifestyle-related cause of death in the United States, resulting in approximately 80,000 deaths each year. It can present in two forms, heavy drinking and binge drinking. Heavy drinking is defined as an average of more than two drinks per day for men or an average of more than one drink per day for women. Binge drinking is defined as the ingestion of five or more drinks during a single occasion for men or four or more drinks during a single occasion for women.
Alcohol abuse is a disease that is characterized by the sufferer having a pattern of drinking excessively despite the negative effects of alcohol on the individual’s work, medical, legal, educational, and/or social life. Alcohol abuse affects about 10% of women and 20% of men in the United States, most beginning by their mid teens.
Alcohol impairs judgment when consumed and can lead to drinking and driving, unintended sexual activity, violence, or other dangerous behaviors. Alcohol abuse can lead to long-term health issues like cardiovascular disease, cancer of the throat, liver, or mouth, anxiety and depression, dementia, liver disease, and much more.
For further information on the dangers of alcohol and other drugs, contact Talbot Partnership at 410-819-8067. Please also visit our website atwww.talbotpartnership.org or find us on Facebook
Ellicott McConnell says
When I read. over and again, of drug abuse, including alcohol, by our younger generation, I think back to my own pre-WWII childhood, and wonder where things went wrong. I grew up on the Connecticut shore, in Groton, “Submarine Town” which in many ways had the attractions of our Eastern Shore, though to a much lesser degree. Even so, we simply were too busy to have the slightest interest in alcohol. It just never occurred to us; we were too busy. A few adults, of course, spent evenings in a local tavern, but we thought it a stupid way to waste time.
With this in mind, I wonder if television and accompanying electronic marvels may be blamed. Our only external entertainment was the radio, and although we had a few favorite programs, they did not lend themselves to extended periods of mutual inactivity. We sat around briefly, but then looked for something else to do. And of course, there was the matter of money. My first job after leaving high school was for the minimum wage…….fifteen dollars for a fifty hour week. This offered little incentive to buy anything more impermanent, or expensive
than a five-cent Hershey Bar.
It is obvious that something has changed, and it might be productive to determine what that may have been.
Mary Kramer says
Dear Ms. McConnel,
If you have any interest in learning more about our coalition or supporting our up coming event please contact me at [email protected].
Thank you, Mary Kramer , Chairman
https://parentscoalitionoftalbotpartnership.org/2013/09/17/talbot-bar-association-and-talbot-partnership-will-hold-golf-and-gala-event-to-benefit-the-talbot-parent-coalition/