Spring Break
The key to ending alcohol consumption is social pressure
Saleh Ibrahim
Issue date: 3/18/09 Section: Commentary
Perhaps there is no drug that is more harmful, yet as widely and legally used as alcohol. Alcohol kills 6.5 times more people than all other illicit drugs combined.
According to the Department of Transportation, 13,000 people lost their lives in fatal crashes involving legally drunk or alcohol-impaired drivers in 2007, with over 400 of those deaths in Connecticut alone. Overall, alcohol directly and indirectly kills 100,000 Americans every year through drunk driving, falls, liver failure cancer and stroke.
Alcohol consumption costs the living also.
Nearly 14 million Americans have been diagnosed with or exhibit the type of behavior that could elicit a diagnosis of alcohol abuse. And this is not counting the lives indirectly affected by alcohol-related problems such as domestic violence.
It makes sense that drinking should eventually be prohibited altogether, like all other risky drugs. However, the experience of the Prohibition era (1920-1933), in which alcohol emerged victorious, led the country to declare defeat. The lesson, so they thought, was that prohibition doesn't work as expected. If we care to look into the experience of other nations that defeated drinking, we might find more lessons to help us in our quest against alcohol.
Some 1,500 years ago, drinking was so common among Arabs that almost every poem had to start by describing wine, the woman who is pouring it, or the cup that is full of it. Drinking and getting drunk was the norm. Drinking was much more intertwined with Arab culture, and the arguments against drinking were much weaker than they are today.
Ancient Arabs obviously didn't have to worry about drunk driving, and they never knew when they died of cirrhosis of the liver. However, Muhammad took the seemingly impossible task of changing this culture of alcoholism and ultimately prohibiting drinking altogether. In the 23 years of his ministry, he completely transformed his society.
First of all, Islam transformed the Arab culture from one centered merely on the satisfaction of the desires of the flesh to a culture that looks up to a higher moral, intellectual and spiritual standard. Islam mandated five daily prayers that are the central pillar of Islam. No Muslim enters heaven without establishing the daily prayers. Islam also mandated fasting throughout the month of Ramadan, from dawn to sunset, training Muslims to control themselves from eating and drinking even water.
According to the Department of Transportation, 13,000 people lost their lives in fatal crashes involving legally drunk or alcohol-impaired drivers in 2007, with over 400 of those deaths in Connecticut alone. Overall, alcohol directly and indirectly kills 100,000 Americans every year through drunk driving, falls, liver failure cancer and stroke.
Alcohol consumption costs the living also.
Nearly 14 million Americans have been diagnosed with or exhibit the type of behavior that could elicit a diagnosis of alcohol abuse. And this is not counting the lives indirectly affected by alcohol-related problems such as domestic violence.
It makes sense that drinking should eventually be prohibited altogether, like all other risky drugs. However, the experience of the Prohibition era (1920-1933), in which alcohol emerged victorious, led the country to declare defeat. The lesson, so they thought, was that prohibition doesn't work as expected. If we care to look into the experience of other nations that defeated drinking, we might find more lessons to help us in our quest against alcohol.
Some 1,500 years ago, drinking was so common among Arabs that almost every poem had to start by describing wine, the woman who is pouring it, or the cup that is full of it. Drinking and getting drunk was the norm. Drinking was much more intertwined with Arab culture, and the arguments against drinking were much weaker than they are today.
Ancient Arabs obviously didn't have to worry about drunk driving, and they never knew when they died of cirrhosis of the liver. However, Muhammad took the seemingly impossible task of changing this culture of alcoholism and ultimately prohibiting drinking altogether. In the 23 years of his ministry, he completely transformed his society.
First of all, Islam transformed the Arab culture from one centered merely on the satisfaction of the desires of the flesh to a culture that looks up to a higher moral, intellectual and spiritual standard. Islam mandated five daily prayers that are the central pillar of Islam. No Muslim enters heaven without establishing the daily prayers. Islam also mandated fasting throughout the month of Ramadan, from dawn to sunset, training Muslims to control themselves from eating and drinking even water.
Viewing Comments 1 - 7 of 7
Jihad Bob
posted 3/18/09 @ 6:56 PM EST
Allahu Ackbar - it's a trap!!!
Waleed Ahmad
posted 3/18/09 @ 11:47 PM EST
You are assuming that no one in the arab world drinks. As we saw with "the prohibition era" just because something is illegal doesn't mean people do not do it. (Continued…)
Waleed Ahmad
posted 3/18/09 @ 11:52 PM EST
I made a few typos in the above comment and it's not the best organized post but it was quick.
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posted 3/19/09 @ 4:58 AM EST
I agree, cigarettes and liquor shouldn't be advertised because by doing that they're giving minors an idea that make them curious and wanting it to try. (Continued…)
Webby
posted 3/19/09 @ 8:41 AM EST
In general, I think Saleh is urging a cultural shift, not a legal shift, and with that I agree.
American culture glorifies drinking. What happens in the locker room after a World Series win? They spray each other with champagne. (Continued…)
Faisal
posted 3/19/09 @ 1:51 PM EST
That is true, there is definitely an alcohol culture and the media does promote drinking. Years ago cigarette smoking was also promoted in the USA but now the attitudes have shifted. (Continued…)
Rifat
posted 3/20/09 @ 1:16 AM EST
hey Saleh, great job on the article :)
all the praises due to almighty, may God almighty give all of us at UCONN and elsewhere the right frame of mind to make the right choices in life and live a harmless life to self and others including environment. (Continued…)
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