Alcohol has a negative effect on society in a number of ways. The first of which is the unintended deaths caused by alcohol. This is primarily due to drunk driving where one third of all accidents are caused by drunk drivers and half of all accidents that involve fatalities are the result of drunk driving. Alcohol is very addictive and because it is readily available people view it as an acceptable vice. The government has deemed it legal, so it cannot really be that bad. However, the fact of the matter is that alcohol can turn into an extreme problem when dealing with people who have a genetic propensity for alcohol. These people are not the type that can take one drink and walk away they would like to have that ability to take a drink of alcohol and walk away but they are simply unable.
Alcohol has numerous negative effects on the body from liver damage to reducing sexual performance. There is practically no area of the body that alcohol does not affect with its poisonous ways. It kills brain cells and drinking over a long period of time kills a lot of brain cells. True we have a certain amount that we can lose during a lifetime but chronic drinking can cause irreparable damage to the brain. In addition to this, you can actually die from alcohol withdrawal, which is true of very few drugs. Many people have compared detoxing from alcohol to detoxing from heroine. The trouble is alcohol withdrawal is generally considered to be a worse experience than detoxing from heroine. True only 5% of people whom withdrawal from alcohol experience delirium tremors but of that percentage there is a very real chance of death.
There are many drugs out of there of all different kinds that effect the body in all different ways. Alcohol is no better or worse than any drug by itself but the fact that we do not really consider it to be a drug is perhaps the most dangerous thing about alcohol. The fact that it is acceptable to have a couple beers after a round of golf and then drive home could be considered a problem. In most states, .08 is the legal limit and depending on your tolerance and weight a few beers in a short amount of time is enough to get you legally drunk. Also, very few people start drinking alcohol considering the fact that they may turn into an alcoholic. The fact that it is legal makes people more willing to try it for a first time and if they have a genetic propensity for alcohol it may be a ride that they are never able to get off of unit it ends in death or serious damage to the major organ systems of the body. (The facts above were retrieved from the Website from the Center for disease Control)
