ElderWolfPerson842
We buried my cousin last summer. He was 32 when he hanged himself…
We buried my cousin last summer. He was 32 when he hanged himself from a closet coat rack in the throes of alcoholism, the fourth of my blood relatives to die prematurely from this deadly disease. If America issued drinking licenses, those four men – including my father, who died at 54 of liver failure – might be alive today.
Addiction to alcohol is one of the primary public-health problems in the United States. It causes more than 19,000 auto fatalities each year; it is responsible for more than a third of deaths from drowning and fires. Booze is a central factor in divorce. It can trigger incest, child and spousal abuse, suicide, homicide, assault and other crimes. It can kill by the liver, the kidneys, the heart, the pancreas, and the central nervous system. The total cost, from increased jail time to workplace injuries and lost productivity, is impossible to measure, but a conservative estimate is as high as $90 billion per year. As ways to trim health-care costs are considered we must recognize that alcoholism is a big contributor to hospital admissions.
I spent two years working as a counselor in a chemical dependency treatment center and met these “statistics” on a daily basis. I remember the bright young man who because he passed out while smoking, lost both legs to terrible burns; the nurse with a master’s degree who lost her license and became a prostitute; and there was the cheerful grandmother dying of liver failure, with only a few weeks to live. Their families cared about them but could do nothing. I have seen the helplessness in my own family.
About two thirds of adolescent and adult Americans drink alcohol. Of those, from 8 to 12 percent will become alcoholics or problem drinkers. Much is being done to confront this huge public health crisis as judges increasingly sentence drunk drivers and other alcohol related offenders to treatment programs and participation in Alcoholics Anonymous. I propose that a national system of licensing, with appropriate penalties, would do more.
Drivers are licensed by every state. There are licenses for fishing and for hunting. Hunters are often required to attend gun safety classes before they venture afield. These licenses are revocable; if you fail to keep to accepted norms the state suspends your right to drive, hunt or fish and imposes criminal penalties should you violate that suspension.
Although this might seem a farfetched idea, I believe drastic measures are needed. Licensing drinking would acknowledge the growing medical consensus that roughly one drinker in 10 has a genetic predisposition for addiction. In many cases, future alcoholics are dangerously unaware of their internal time bomb. They don’t aspire to become drunks, but once trapped in the disease they can do enormous harm to others and themselves.
Because some potential alcoholics would not bother to apply for a drinking license, licensing would act as a screen, preventing a small percentage of the misery up front. Those who do seek a license would follow a path similar to existing driver’s licensing procedures.
Applicants would be required to study a manual containing basic information about alcohol and the law, much like the driver’s manual we all memorized in high school. How many drinks will it take to intoxicate a 150 pound man? Perhaps this information learned while preparing for the license, can make drinkers stop and think.
Answer all questions in complete sentences.
What is the issue (topic) being discussed in the essay? (2 points)
What is the writer’s position? Make sure you write one complete sentence. (Include the issue. Answer in a complete sentence. Avoid using “the writer” or “the position” in this sentence. (2 points)
What is the writer’s proposition (suggestion)? (Include the issue. Answer in a complete sentence. Avoid using “the writer” or “the proposition” in this sentence. (2 points)
What kinds of evidence does the author provide? Identify and support each piece of evidence. You must have at least 4 pieces of evidence and they must be labeled. Remember to treat evidence like patterns. ( Pattern and detail) (12 points) Sample: Cause and Effect : cause- too few college programs effect-there are not enough qualified therapists
