EVIL OF ALCOHOL 
If one thing were going to bring this country to a devastating and painful halt, then it would most definitely be alcohol. No other substance has caused nearly the amount of death, chaos, crime, and pain. And to make matters much worse, it is almost completely ignored as a poison, or even as a drug. It boggles my mind when I see how ignorant people are concerning alcohol, especially in college settings.
The most devastating effect of alcohol is its addictiveness. In 1992, an estimated 27 ½ million people where addicted to alcohol (Grant). This ended up costing the affected, their families, and taxpayers over $148 billion (NIAAA). Besides the costs, alcoholism has ruined the lives of millions. The number one cause of child abuse always has, and always will be alcoholism. A recent study found that the number of abused and neglected children had more than doubled from 1986 to 1997 to 3 million. A rise more than eight times that of the rise of the population of children (Elrod). 915 child welfare professionals were surveyed, and 90% said that alcohol alone is the main cause of child abuse and neglect (Elrod).
We can also thank alcohol and the alcohol industry for over 110,000 Deaths in 1996. Deaths from cirrhosis of the liver, drunk driving, alcohol induced fights and accidents, and cancer just to name a few (NIAAA). Over 300 people die every day in America of something alcohol related. But how does the average American look at alcohol? Most people will say that it is a "safe" and "social" activity.
Unless you consider 110,000 deaths "safe" and unless you consider rape and assault as being "social" then these are simply misnomers created largely by the alcohol industry.
Most Americans are unfortunately unaware that alcohol is the most common and widely used date rape drug. A study of the urine samples of 578 rape victims showed that 36% of them had alcohol in their system. Less than 1%, 5 victims, showed evidence of the "date rape drug" Rohypnol (El Sohly). In more than half the cases, the man was drunk.
Alcohol has also had a phenomenal impact on the crime world. A study by the British Medical Association showed that alcohol was present in 64% of all public offences and 40% of all violent assaults. Alcohol was also present in 60-70% of homicides, 75% of stabbings, 70% of beatings, and 50% fights (IAS). How can one look at that and say that alcohol is safe and social? It is obvious that people are not responsible with their drinking, and are bringing it onto the people around them. Alcohol remains the number one cause of all crime.
Alcohol and Academics
Alcohol can have a big impact on a student's ability to succeed academically. According to a 1992 survey by the CORE Institute of more than 50,000 college students from across the country, "A" students averaged about 3 drinks per week, "B" students averaged about 5 drinks per week, "C" students averaged about 7 drinks per week and "D" & "F" students averaged about 11 drinks per week. Students who misuse alcohol report missing more classes and performing poorly on an assignment or exam more often than those who chose to drink responsibly or not at all. In addition, there is research, which indicates that a person's ability to think critically can be impaired for up to 30 days following the consumption of alcohol.
Alcohol and Sexual Assault
The majority of sexual assaults that are experienced by college students are acquaintance or "date rapes." The majority of those sexual assaults involve the use of alcohol on the part of the perpetrator or the victim/survivor. Alcohol can impair a person's judgment and make it difficult for two people to communicate about what they want and do not want to do sexually.
If a person is intoxicated, they cannot legally give their consent to have sex.
In addition to the use of alcohol, there has recently been a marked increase in the use of drugs such as GHB and Rohypnol to facilitate a sexual assault. These drugs are odorless and tasteless and can be easily dissolved in a drink. These drugs can result in a loss of inhibition, unconsciousness, and the inability to remember events that took place while under the influence.
Alcohol and Violence
Because of its impact on judgment and emotions alcohol use can often result in acts of violence, including sexual assaults, hate crimes, and fighting. According to a variety of surveys, between 50% and 80% of violence on college campuses are alcohol related.
Other Studies
Consequences of Underage Alcohol Use Alcohol-the most widely used drug among youth-causes serious and potentially life-threatening problems for this population. Research indicates that drinking is associated with risk-taking and sensation-seeking behavior among adolescents. Alcohol has dis-inhibiting effects that may increase the likelihood of unsafe activities.
Alcohol-Related Fatalities
In 1997, 21 percent of the young drivers 15 to 20 years old who were killed in crashes were intoxicated. For young drivers, alcohol involvement is higher among males than among females. In 1997, 25 percent of the young male drivers involved in fatal crashes had been drinking at the time of the crash, compared with 12 percent of the young female drivers involved in fatal crashes.
According to national data, drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death among adolescents and young adults. Factors contributing to youth drowning include alcohol, which can severely affect a swimmer's coordination and judgment. Forty to 50 percent of young males who drown were drinking when they died, and an equal percentage of all diving accidents are alcohol related.
Approximately 240,000 to 360,000 of the nation's 12 million current undergraduates will ultimately die from alcohol-related causes Physical and Mental Health People who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who wait until age 21. Each additional year of delayed drinking onset reduces the probability of alcohol dependence by 14 percent.
Adolescents who drink heavily assume the same long-term health risks as adults who drink heavily. This means they are at increased risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver, pancreatitis, hemorrhagic stroke, and certain forms of cancer.
Adolescents who use alcohol are more likely to become sexually active at an earlier age, to have sex more often, and to engage in unprotected sex, which places them at greater risk of HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases.
One study showed that students diagnosed with alcohol abuse were four times more likely to experience major depression than those without an alcohol problem.
Alcohol use among adolescents has been associated with considering planning, attempting, and completing suicide. Research does not indicate whether drinking causes suicidal behavior, only that the two behaviors are correlated.
Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can lead to serious and permanent brain damage in the unborn child. This can result in mental retardation and severe emotional problems as the child grows up.
Academic Performance
A lower dosage of alcohol will damage a young brain compared to a fully mature brain, and young brains are damaged more quickly. Alcohol exposure during adolescence is linked with a reduced ability to learn compared with those not exposed until adulthood.
Alcohol is implicated in more than 40 percent of all college academic problems and 28 percent of all college dropouts. At both 2- and 4-year colleges, the heaviest drinkers make the lowest grades High school students who use alcohol or other substances are five times more likely than other students to drop out of school or to believe that earning good grades is not important.
Crime
About half of college students who are victims of crime are drinking when they are victimized. In a high percentage of serious crimes, alcohol is found in the offender, the victim, or both, and alcohol-related problems are disproportionately found in both juvenile and adult offenders. Ninety-five percent of violent crime on college campuses is alcohol related, and 90 percent of college rapes involve alcohol use by the victim and/or assailant.
WHAT CAN ALCOHOL DO
Once upon a time there was a very tyrant ruler who invited a godly man and offered him to choose and commit any one of the three sins. The three sins were as follows:-
to kill an infant
to rape a woman
to consume a glass of wine
The man looked at the infant and said to himself, “this is a beautiful small baby. What harm has he done to me? Who knows how long has he got to live in this world?”
With this good thought in his mind, he refrained from killing that infant.
He then looked at the woman and thought to himself, “This is someone’s daughter. She can also be someone’s sister. She might be someone’s mother. What harm has she done to me that I attack her modesty?”
He said to himself that he would not harm an innocent person and become a victim of such a grave sin.
Finally, he looked at the alcohol and said to himself, “no doubt consuming alcohol is a terrible sin. Drinking a glass of wine is at least not going to harm anyone except myself.”
With this idea in mind he drank a glass of wine and got intoxicated. As a result of this, he killed the infant and also raped that woman.
This is alcohol.
COMMON SENSE
My parents told me about Mr. Common Sense early in my life and told me I would do well to call on him when making decisions. It seems he was always around in my early years but less and less as time passed by. Today I read his obituary. Please join me in a moment of silence in remembrance, for Common Sense had served us all so well for so many generations.
Today we mourn the passing away of a beloved old friend by the name of Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in a bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valued lessons as knowing when to come out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm and that life isn’t always fair.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than what you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in charge).
His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Report of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, a teen suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, spilled it in her lap and was awarded a lot of money.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.
He is survived by two stepbrothers: My Rights and Ima Whiner.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
PLEASE DO REMEMBER HIM IN YOUR PRAYERS.
Saving the Lord
Dinesh Vora
The Lord's man padre was driving around curving mountain roads enjoying himself of romantic memories of the past, singing songs with the radio and in full bliss. Suddenly a drunk came from behind wanting to go ahead of him started honking heavily.
The padre gave him the way, the drunken zoom passed ahead of him. The padre lost control, swirled downwards the side slope bumping thru rocks, he managed to stop the car down below. He got out of the car and started climbing back to the road hoping to catch the drunk, curse him to hell, chastise and make him pay for his car, and get a ride back home with him.
The kindly drunken stopped, came back to help and yelled at the rock climbing preacher,”Are you OK?
Hoping not to scare the drunken away, with fright of walking through spooky mountain alone in back of his mind, keeping his cool the Padre yelled back, "Don't worry my son, wait up there, I had my Lord riding with me."
The angry drunken yelled back, "Heartless dunce, you had better let the Lord ride with me next time, when driving up the mountains. You could have killed him."
Born n raised a Muslim child…parents forced religion into my mind…Allah was the creator of all mankind…without his guidance we would all be blind…every time I strayed off, they would make sure to remind…without him there would be no light to shine…there would be no meals to dine…if we made him happy, he would make us smile…but if we upset him, we would have to pay when we faced him on trial…
I started to grow up and become my own man…doing my own thang, taking my own stands…I heard my parents words, but I wasn’t trying to listen, wasn’t trying to understand, I had my own mind, my own plans…chilling and smoking the blunts is where it began…that started to go out and drink as much as I can…was out partying every night…getting drunk, getting into fights…soon enough, I didn’t know the difference between wrong and right…to me it was all alright…didn’t even realize that my future was getting less and less bright…
Broken jaws, to drinking thru straws…no one felt what I felt, no one saw what I saw…I was disobeying gods laws, living a life full of flaws, had to put this on pause…took a look at myself and started to withdraw…needed to start altering my ways…future was already in a haze…if I didn’t begin to change, I would suffer the rest of my days…after all the craze, and the drug and liquor infested phase…I found myself on my knees with my hands raised…asking for forgiveness saying “Allah its only you that I praise”…
Due to increasing products liability litigation, beer manufacturers have accepted the FDA's suggestion that the following warning labels be placed immediately on all beer containers:
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like an idiot.
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not.
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe you are invisible.
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell the same boring story over and over again until your friends want to strangle you.
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may cause you to thay shings like thish.
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe that your ex is really dying for you to call them at 4:00 in the morning.
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may cause serious rug burns on the forehead and chin area.
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, handsomer and smarter than some really big guy named Bubba.
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may cause a flux in the time-space continuum, whereby gaps of time may seem to disappear.
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may result in pregnancy.
WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what the heck happened to your pants.
