Dear Editor,

I truly cannot understand why anyone would want to unleash a “demon” on the people of Selma. Not when this demon could be bound up for one day a week. Is not six days of pain and suffering bad enough? Is alcohol really a drug? Yes it is. What exactly is it?

Alcohol is a depressant derived from the natural fermentation of fruits, vegetables and grains. These are brewed and distilled into a wide range of beverages with various alcohol contents and know by many different names. Is there any risk in drinking alcohol?

You may hear that it will loosen you up and help you to relax. What you will not hear, most of the time, is that it can damage the part of your brain that controls coordination, memory, judgment and decision making.

Proven fact: drinking makes you dumber. You may slur your words and lose coordination, and your reactions will become slower. Individual impairment varies among consumers but even in small amounts, alcohol has a definite effect. If you drink a lot and drink fast (binge drinking) you really put yourself in danger.

With binge drinking, the depressant (or dumbing) effects of alcohol can overwhelm the body’s defenses. Unable to move and think clearly, you can do stupid, risky and reckless things that are unsafe, or even lethal. Each year, approximately 5,000 people under the age of 21, die as a result of underage drinking. This includes about 1,900 deaths from car accidents, 1,600 homicides, 300 suicides, and hundreds of other deaths due to accidents like falls, burns and drowning.

The personal tragedies, social consequences and economic costs associated with underage alcohol consumption in the United States are unacceptably high. Scientific research from the past few years indicates the potential for brain impairment in young adolescents, a discovery that adds to the long litany of adverse consequences of underage drinking that burden youth, their parents and the Nation.

Even the Federal Government is now deeply involved in the effort to prevent and reduce underage drinking. Nevertheless, underage drinking has remained a serious and persistent problem. We owe it to America’s youth to mount a greater, more sustained effort to protect them from the consequences and potential consequences of alcohol consumption.

By “we,” I mean the entire nation, government, schools, Churches, parents and friends. A national commitment to preventing and reducing underage drinking will require the involvement of everyone in government, those in the private sector, parents of underage youth who still exercise significant influence over their adolescent’s decisions to drink, and other adults who, in the final analysis, are the greatest source of alcohol for underage drinkers. The Nation cannot afford to underestimate the seriousness of the problem of underage alcohol consumption and its consequences. The truth of the matter is that almost everyone involved agrees that all the research and all the analyses show that: underage drinking is dangerous for youth and society, and nothing short of a national commitment to preventing and reducing underage drinking through increasing public awareness; reducing youthful demand, availability, and access to alcohol; and rigorous research will succeed.

Why open another avenue of access to purchasing alcoholic drinks by legalizing Sunday liquor sales?

There are about 75 reasons listed in the Bible that shows we should not drink.

I believe them all. Don’t drink, ever.

 

Ed Eaton

Pastor of Westwood Baptist Church