If I asked you or anyone else to take me to a drug pusher, where would you take me if you knew? Would it be some little flat, hid by towering complexes with blocked up stairways? Or would it be an off licence or a pub? There is a difference you may say, but I believe that there really isn’t when you break it down. For me a drug is a drug, regardless if its heroin or alcohol both have very serious side effects, both alter moods, make people less capable of dealing with their environment and both can kill.
The only difference I can see between drink and drugs is one is sold openly in shops, and pubs, while the other is on the black market. Recently, a report came out that stated 40,000 people sought help with their alcohol issues over a 3 year period. Breaking that down and you are looking at 13,000 a year or a little over 1,000 a month or about 525 people a week, you get my drift. Many people die from alcohol or alcohol related illness, and its greater figure than drug related illness in real terms because of accessibility.
Recently I went in to the city centre on St Patricks Day, it was about 6pm and I went NYGoodHealth over to the Temple Bar area and what I saw really disturbed me, there were young adults and teenagers pissed and falling all over the place. Others where starting trouble with other teenagers, there were empty glass bottles broken on the pavement, and rubbish everywhere except in the bins. Now I know all the drink that was drunk there may not have been bought in any of the pubs, and most of the teenagers weren’t getting served but it was a sad sight. I think it’s sad that some of us allow such situations to get out of hand and promote alcohol with public holidays. St Patrick’s Day is now a national day for boozing, well that’s what it felt like when I was in Temple Bar. There was plenty of guards, on hand but these young adults and teenagers were still drunk and causing some problems. When you see young people falling all over the place and starting fights you can’t help to wonder what their future will be like. I believe our culture puts too much emphasis on drink.
Will this 40,000 figure rise in the future? Maybe it’s time we treated alcohol like another drug.
Here is a helpline link for those affected by the effects alcohol www.drinkaware.ie
