Alcohol and Drug Problems Quickscan
Never, never, never forget that we are different. We cannot live like others. Our difference is this: We cannot drink alcohol.
An Alcoholic
One of my earliest memories of comedy involved an aging vaudevillian named Mr. Pastry. With amazing dexterity and comic timing, Mr. Pastry performed "The Passing-Out Ceremony" on "The Ed Sullivan Show." While music played, Mr. Pastry acted out a group of men drinking, dancing, and cavorting until they passed out. Our family laughed and laughed at this act. On vacation we mimed our way to the resort dining hall, acting like a tipsy Mr. Pastry.
But when you think about it, drunkenness isn't all that funny. Consider these facts:
• An estimated ten million Americans suffer from alcoholism, about 4 percent of the population, one in twenty-five.
• If each of these has about four family members or close friends affected by that alcoholism, another forty million Americans are deeply affected (making fifty million, about one-fifth of our population, impacted heavily by alcoholism).
• One in ten social drinkers will become an alcoholic, and there is no way to predict accurately which one that will be.
• According to conservative estimates, about 6 percent of the work force is alcoholic, and they cost employers over fifteen billion dollars a year and contribute to a large proportion of work-related accidents.
• Heavy drinking contributes to an estimated 80 percent of fire and drowning accidents, 60 percent of violent crimes, and 30 percent of suicides.
• Someone dies because of drunken driving every twenty-two minutes.
• Alcoholism is our third-worst national health problem, following only cancer and heart disease.
Added to those cold facts are what pastors see up close: the countless individuals devastated, ...
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