Alcohol-related Harms in Knoxville Tenessee
Problem Definition
In the United States, alcohol is among the leading and harmful drugs. The people in Knoxville consume large volumes of alcohol, and most of them drink at harmful levels, including young adults and teenagers (Rehm, 2011). In Knoxville Tenessee, alcohol is implicated in a wide variety of disorders, diseases, and injuries, as well as many other legal and social problems. Young people in the city are excessively drinking alcohol in a manner that puts their own and passive users’ health at great risk.
Consequences to Patient, Family and Society
The harms of alcohol-abuse are significant and adverse to the society and are more deadly than any other drug in Knoxville Tenessee. Despite the claims in the alcohol industry, its related harms are beyond underage drinking or driving. In this perspective, alcohol consumption exposes patients, families, and the society to harmful consequences as discussed below.
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Harmful Diseases
The major cause of stroke, liver cirrhosis, cancer of mouth, pancreatitis, larynx, and esophagus, and high blood pressure is alcohol abuse (Babor, 2001). To the alcohol users, their health it put at higher risk of getting these diseases which are costly to treat. Other potential health complications caused by alcohol use are mental problems such as depression and poor brain coordination. When these patients get ill, their families get affected psychologically and have to incur a lot of expenses for treatment purposes.
Social Crimes
In Knoxville Tenessee, there have been evidenced sexual and physical assault cases to the society caused by people under the influence of alcohol consumption. The number of rape, crime, family violence, sexually transmitted diseases, vandalism, and unintended pregnancies cases has increased in the city (Rehm, 2011). The major perpetrators of these harms to the society are the alcohol users. Other social crimes caused by alcohol usage are suicide and unintentional injuries that lead to hospitalization of people. Alcohol-related Harms in Knoxville
Accident Injuries
Most accidents and injuries in Knoxville Tenessee are caused by alcohol users. People under the influence of alcohol commit accidents and most of them are highly fatal. Motor vehicle falls, crashes, and drownings are caused by drug abusers. Accidents contribute to people’s death and injuries. As a result, accidents are among the top four leading causes of death for people with the number of motor vehicle crashes increasing each day.
Violence
Alcohol consumption contributes to domestic violence and other violent crimes and cases such as sexual assaults, child abuse, and homicide. In Knoxville Tenessee, over 90 percent of families break due to alcohol abuse (World Health Organization, 2010). Excessive consumption of alcohol in the city gets associated with higher odds of people engaging in criminal activities such as theft and murder.
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Resources and Interventions of Addressing Alcohol Harms
The federal, state and local governments are concerned with the advanced rates of consumptions and its consequences to patients, families, and the society at large. The stakeholders believe that it is important to curb the harms associated with excess and careless drinking of alcohol in Knoxville Tenessee.
Regulation of Alcohol Marketing
The federal, state and local governments have established statutory policies that regulate alcohol marketing activities such as advertising. In Knoxville Tenessee, different brands of alcohol are highly marketed and advertised (World Health Organization, 2010). In response to this menace, regulations prohibiting marketing communications that appeal to young people have been established. Bans discouraging the promotion and consumption of alcoholic beverages have been passed.
Imposition of More Taxes
In the U.S, the government imposes more taxes on alcohol and other drugs to discourage their consumption. This initiative makes beer highly expensive and impossible for the youths to afford. As well, the society becomes more responsible given the inability to consume excess alcohol; this has been a helpful intervention.
Guidance and Counseling
NGO’s, churches, and other places of worship have been on the forefront when it comes to guidance and counseling of alcohol addicts (Van Amsterdam & van den Brink, 2013). Face to face meetings between psychological experts and the drug abusers has been effective in limiting alcohol consumption. Those addicted find it difficult to stop, but through guidance and counseling; they have been able to abstain. Alcohol-related Harms in Knoxville
Accessibility for Patients
Through guidance and counseling, taxes imposition, and alcohol marketing regulations; the addicted people are either forced or enabled to abstain. These strategies have been highly effective in addressing alcohol-related harms to the people living in Knoxville Tenessee. Guidance and counseling interventions have been more effective than the other strategies in managing the health risks posed to patients, families, and the society by alcohol abuse (Miller & Spicer, 2012). Taxes have effectively discouraged the young people from consuming alcohol. Regulations on the promotion and advertising activities by the government have also been effective since the industry fears to get sanctioned in the event they break the law. Other lobby groups have organized anti-drug abuse roadshows campaigns to educate people on the harmful effects of alcohol abuse; this has also helped in curbing the rates of its consumption in the city.
Conclusion
In conclusion, alcohol consumption harms people’s health and behavior. Killer diseases such as cancer, liver cirrhosis, stroke, and high blood pressure are caused by excessive consumption of alcohol. Occasional and long-term consumption of alcohol also leads to crimes and violence, behaviors which are against societal values. Lobbying against alcohol abuse and its abstinence by the government, NGO’s, churches, and other focused groups are highly encouraged in order to curb its harmful effects to patients, families, and the society at large.
References
Babor, T.F., et al. (2001). The alcohol use disorders identification test: Guidelines for use in primary care (2nd ed.). World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2001/who_msd_msb_01.6a.pdf
British Columbia Ministry of Health, Guidelines and Protocols Advisory Committee. (2011). [Clinical practice guidelines]: Problem drinking. Retrieved from http://www.bcguidelines.ca/pdf/problem_drinking.pdf
Miller T, Spicer R. (2012). Hospital-admitted injury attributable to alcohol. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 36(1), 104–112. doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01593.x
Rehm J. (2011). The risks associated with alcohol use and alcoholism. Alcohol Research & Health. 34(2), 135
Van Amsterdam J, van den Brink W. (2013). The high harm score of alcohol. Time for drug policy to be revisited? Journal of Psychopharmacology. 27(3), 248–255. doi:10.1177/0269881112472559
World Health Organization. (2010). Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol. Geneva: WHO, 2010. Available at: http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/msbalcstragegy.pdf.
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