Should society care about alcohol abuse? Many people believe that to consume alcohol is a personal choice and an expression of free will. Some of those people don't consider how alcohol use affects anyone other than the drinker. By listening to alcohol advertising and watching actors in movies one would get the impression that alcohol gives people an increased social status; they become self-confident, sexually attractive, and fun to be around. Initially people start out drinking for fun; it can relax and reduce inhibitions but at some point and for whatever reasons some people become addicted and can't stop. What often begins as a fun escape and great stress relief can become a habit that can destroy everything good in life. Eventually everyone becomes affected by alcohol use in one way or another. The purpose of this paper is to prove that alcohol affects people who don't drink alcohol at all or those who drink responsibly. Research suggests that alcoholism is a societal disease that negatively affects everyone because alcohol abuse creates higher crime rates, alcoholics cause more accidents and create higher costs in the workplace, and alcohol creates an increase in health-related issues.
There is a strong correlation between alcohol use and violent crime, which is how the phrase "mean drunk" came about. People that abuse alcohol are six times more likely to commit a violent crime and thirteen times more likely to commit a crime on property (McMurran, 1999, p.219). This statistic proves that alcohol plays a role in crime against innocent people. Alcohol has long been suspected to cause anger management issues and violent crime. Many studies have been done to show how alcohol abuse disables the ability to problem solve, to read a situation, and understand consequences. Close to a third of all individuals incarcerated for robbery claim that they had consumed alcohol at the time of the crime (Youngerman & Dingwell, 2010, p.
